In September 1939, Lord Linlithgow, the Viceroy, proclaimed India’s entry into World War II without sounding out public opinion in the country through the main political parties.
In his talks, later, with Jinnah, Gandhi and other leaders, he failed to persuade both the Congress and the Muslim League to lend unqualified support to the war effort. Britain offered, as a quid pro quo for support o the war effort, to consult, at the end of the war, with the political parties in India, as well as with the Indian princes about a modification of the federal scheme embodied in the Government of India Act, 1935. The Congress demanded a declaration of Indian independence, immediate transfer of maximum power, and assurance that the future constitution would be framed by an Indian constituent assembly. It held out the threat of civil disobedience if these demands were not met. The Muslim League made it clear that any future constitution must have the approval and consent of Muslim India. The party did not hinder the war effort. Chief Ministers of the Punjab and Bengal owing allegiance to the Muslim League cooperated with the defense authorities engaged in the prosecution of the war. As a sequel to the failure of its talks with the viceroy, The Congress ministers in eight provinces resigned. Jinnah called for the observance of 22 December 1939 as the Day of Deliverance and Thanksgiving to mark the end of the “tyranny, oppression and injustice” of the Congress regimes against the Muslim minority in those provinces. The day was celebrated by Muslims across India with great éclat and a sense of profound relief. So skeptical was the All India Muslim League of getting a fair and just deal for the Indian Muslims from the predominantly Hindu Congress that, at its annual session held in Lahore just three months later, the League adopted the historic resolution demanding that the North – Western and Eastern zones of \India be constituted into independent Muslim states. The Lahore Resolution soon came to be known as the Pakistan Resolution thanks to the virulent anti – League propaganda hype mounted by the Hindu press. Chaudhri Rehmat Ali, a student at the Cambridge University, had coined the acronym ‘Pakistan’ (P for Punjab, A for Afghania, K for Kashmir, S for Sind, and tan for Baluchistan). Jinnah the inspirational and charismatic leader of India Muslims had fashioned a crowd as it were into a nation. He proceeded to consolidate the Muslim League, which became an effective political organ of the Masses and was able to fight the ruling British on the one hand and the powerful Hindu Congress on the other. He transformed a mere political party into an epic movement, which he led, with an indomitable will and unshakable resolve, to freedom and sovereign statehood in the space of just seven years. But more of that a little later. The landmark resolution adopted by the Muslim League on March 23 1940 was moved by A K Fazlul Haq, Chief Minister of Bengal and was seconded by Chaudhry Khaliquzzan, the Up Muslim League leader. The resolution stated that : no constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principle, namely that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority, as in the north – western and eastern zones of \India, should be grouped to constitute independent states in which the constituent ….Adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided in the constitution for minorities….for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights. The basic concept underlying the resolution was explained by Jinnah in his presidential address. He said, “It has always been taken for granted mistakenly that the Musalmans are a minority. The Musalmans are not a minority. The Musalmans are a nation by and definition….What the unitary government of India for 150, years has failed to achieve cannot be realized by the imposition a central federal government….except by means of Armed forces….The problem in India is not of an inter – communal character but manifestly, of an international one, and it must be treated as such….The Hindus and Muslims belong….to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions…To yoke together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the government of such a state. This was Jinnah’s exposition of the famous two – nation theory which sparked so much controversial debate. \the Congress leaders rejected it out of hand. Incidentally, the Hindu Mahasabha President, V D Savarkar, had not infrequently referred to Hindus and Muslims as two nations. Nirad S Chaudhri, in his Autobiography, had written, “The so-called two nation theory was formulated long before Mr. Jinnah or the Muslim League: in truth, it was not a theory at all: it was a fact of history.” The joint committee of British Parliament on Indian constitutional reforms, which was chaired by Lord Linlithgow, who in 1937 was named the Viceroy of India, had stated in 1934: India is inhabited by many races….often as distinct from one another in origin, tradition and manner of life as are the nations of Europe. Two-thirds of its inhabitants profess Hinduism….over 77 millions are followers of Isla, and the difference between the two is not only of religion in the strict sense but also of law and culture. They may be said, indeed, to represent two distinct and separate civilizations. The joint committee’s report proceeded, and formed the basis of, the Government of India Act, 1935. The Pakistan Resolution of March 23, 1940, was modified in April 1946 by the Muslim League Legislators ‘Convention held in Delhi to say that the north-western and eastern zones of India should be grouped so as to constitute a single independent state to be named Pakistan. The incomparable Jinnah, Quaid-i-Azam of 100 million Muslims of the subcontinent, rewrote the history of South Asia by carving out an independent and sovereign Muslim State in 1947: largest Muslim State and the fifth largest in the world.
In his talks, later, with Jinnah, Gandhi and other leaders, he failed to persuade both the Congress and the Muslim League to lend unqualified support to the war effort. Britain offered, as a quid pro quo for support o the war effort, to consult, at the end of the war, with the political parties in India, as well as with the Indian princes about a modification of the federal scheme embodied in the Government of India Act, 1935. The Congress demanded a declaration of Indian independence, immediate transfer of maximum power, and assurance that the future constitution would be framed by an Indian constituent assembly. It held out the threat of civil disobedience if these demands were not met. The Muslim League made it clear that any future constitution must have the approval and consent of Muslim India. The party did not hinder the war effort. Chief Ministers of the Punjab and Bengal owing allegiance to the Muslim League cooperated with the defense authorities engaged in the prosecution of the war. As a sequel to the failure of its talks with the viceroy, The Congress ministers in eight provinces resigned. Jinnah called for the observance of 22 December 1939 as the Day of Deliverance and Thanksgiving to mark the end of the “tyranny, oppression and injustice” of the Congress regimes against the Muslim minority in those provinces. The day was celebrated by Muslims across India with great éclat and a sense of profound relief. So skeptical was the All India Muslim League of getting a fair and just deal for the Indian Muslims from the predominantly Hindu Congress that, at its annual session held in Lahore just three months later, the League adopted the historic resolution demanding that the North – Western and Eastern zones of \India be constituted into independent Muslim states. The Lahore Resolution soon came to be known as the Pakistan Resolution thanks to the virulent anti – League propaganda hype mounted by the Hindu press. Chaudhri Rehmat Ali, a student at the Cambridge University, had coined the acronym ‘Pakistan’ (P for Punjab, A for Afghania, K for Kashmir, S for Sind, and tan for Baluchistan). Jinnah the inspirational and charismatic leader of India Muslims had fashioned a crowd as it were into a nation. He proceeded to consolidate the Muslim League, which became an effective political organ of the Masses and was able to fight the ruling British on the one hand and the powerful Hindu Congress on the other. He transformed a mere political party into an epic movement, which he led, with an indomitable will and unshakable resolve, to freedom and sovereign statehood in the space of just seven years. But more of that a little later. The landmark resolution adopted by the Muslim League on March 23 1940 was moved by A K Fazlul Haq, Chief Minister of Bengal and was seconded by Chaudhry Khaliquzzan, the Up Muslim League leader. The resolution stated that : no constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principle, namely that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority, as in the north – western and eastern zones of \India, should be grouped to constitute independent states in which the constituent ….Adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided in the constitution for minorities….for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights. The basic concept underlying the resolution was explained by Jinnah in his presidential address. He said, “It has always been taken for granted mistakenly that the Musalmans are a minority. The Musalmans are not a minority. The Musalmans are a nation by and definition….What the unitary government of India for 150, years has failed to achieve cannot be realized by the imposition a central federal government….except by means of Armed forces….The problem in India is not of an inter – communal character but manifestly, of an international one, and it must be treated as such….The Hindus and Muslims belong….to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions…To yoke together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the government of such a state. This was Jinnah’s exposition of the famous two – nation theory which sparked so much controversial debate. \the Congress leaders rejected it out of hand. Incidentally, the Hindu Mahasabha President, V D Savarkar, had not infrequently referred to Hindus and Muslims as two nations. Nirad S Chaudhri, in his Autobiography, had written, “The so-called two nation theory was formulated long before Mr. Jinnah or the Muslim League: in truth, it was not a theory at all: it was a fact of history.” The joint committee of British Parliament on Indian constitutional reforms, which was chaired by Lord Linlithgow, who in 1937 was named the Viceroy of India, had stated in 1934: India is inhabited by many races….often as distinct from one another in origin, tradition and manner of life as are the nations of Europe. Two-thirds of its inhabitants profess Hinduism….over 77 millions are followers of Isla, and the difference between the two is not only of religion in the strict sense but also of law and culture. They may be said, indeed, to represent two distinct and separate civilizations. The joint committee’s report proceeded, and formed the basis of, the Government of India Act, 1935. The Pakistan Resolution of March 23, 1940, was modified in April 1946 by the Muslim League Legislators ‘Convention held in Delhi to say that the north-western and eastern zones of India should be grouped so as to constitute a single independent state to be named Pakistan. The incomparable Jinnah, Quaid-i-Azam of 100 million Muslims of the subcontinent, rewrote the history of South Asia by carving out an independent and sovereign Muslim State in 1947: largest Muslim State and the fifth largest in the world.
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