The Resolution Of Pakistan

Lahore on 21.-03-1940 a meeting of All India Muslim League was held. New members of the League were elected on the same night at the residence of Nawab Shah Nawaz Mamdot on Empress Road the manuscript of Lahore. Resolution was prepared in English Language in which Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, Malik Barket Ali, Nawabzada Liaqat Ali Khan, Ch. Khaliq-uz-Zaman and Maulana Zafar Ali Khan participated. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan translated it into Urdu. On 22-03-1940 a meeting of the Muslim League was convened in which Nawab Shah Nawaz Mamdot presented his welcome address. In an extempore speech of 100 Mounties Mr. M.A. Jinnah said Hindu-Muslim unity is impossible and impracticable. He explained Hindu-Muslim unity is merely a dream for both Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religions, philosophy, social, customs, creeeds, conventions and educational and literary inheritance. They neither interline nor intermarry. To yoke together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical majority and the other a minority, must lead ot growing discontent. Mussalmans are a nation, according to any definition of nation and they must have their homeland, their territory and their state. They have different epics, different heroes and different episodes. Their history, historical events and religious heroes are different. Hero of one nation is considered the enemy of the other. Victory of one nation is considered to be the defeat for the other. They are two separate nations, so they must have a separate, independent and sovereign state where they could lead their lives according to the tenets of Islam, in harmony and peace.

            Nawab Sir Shahnawaz Mamdo, President of the Punjab Muslim League invited the Central Muslim League to hold its annual session in Lahore. On 22nd March, 1940, at 2.30 p.m. the annual session of the Muslim League started with the recitation from the Holy Quran. Then Anwar Qureshi read Mian Bashir Ahmad’s famous poem, “Millat Ka Pasban Hay Muhammad Ali Jinnah”.

            On the significant day of Friday 23rd of March, 1940 in Minto Park, Lahore, about one hundred thousand Muslims attended the historic meeting. It was Leagues’ 27th Annual Session, which was presided over by the Quaid-e-Azam M.A. Jinnah, Maulvi A.K. Fazal-ul-Haq, Sher-e-Bengal, Chief Minister of bengal moved the famous historic Lahore Resolution. It was passed unanimously on 24-03-1940. It was seconded by Chaudhry Khaliq-uz-Zaman and others like Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, Sardar Aurangzeb Khan, Haji Sir Abdullah Haroon, Nawaz Ismail Khan, Qazi Isa Khan, Mrs. Muhammad Ali Jauhar, I.I. Chundrigar and Dr. Muhammad Alam.

TEXT OF THE RESOLUTION

            The Lahore Resolution resolved at the Lahore session of the All India Muslim League held on March 23, 1940.

            This session of the All India Muslim League emphatically reiterates that the scheme of the federation embodied in the Government of India Act, 1935 is totally unsuited to and unworkable in the peculiar condition of this country and is altogether unacceptable to the Muslims in India.

2.         The Muslims in India will not be satisfied unless the whole constitutional plan is reconsidered de novo (anew) and that no revised plan would be acceptable to the Muslims unless it is framed with their approval and consent.  

3.         Resolved that it is the considered view of this session of the All India Muslim League that no consitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to the Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principles, namely, that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted, with such territorial readjustment, 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 unit shall be autonomous and sovereign. That adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided in the constitution for minorities in these units and in these regions for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them, and in other parts of India where the Mussalmans are in minority, adequate effective and mandatory safeguards shall be specially provided in the constitution for them and other minorities for the protection of their religious, cultural, economical, political, administrative and other rights and interest in consultation with them.

            This session further authorizes the Working Committee to frame a scheme of constitution in accordance with these basic principles providing for the assumption finally by the respective regions of all powers such as defiance, external affairs, communications, customs and such other matters may be necessary.

            The Pakistan Resolution provided that no constitutional plan would be workable or acceptable to the Muslims less than an independent country which mainly on the principle that geographically continuous units were demarcated in the region to constitute a separate Muslim Homeland namely “Pakistan”. The British Government offered to set up a Constituent Assembly after the War to determine future consitution of India wherein minorities would be assured of their rights. The Muslim League accepted but the Congress rejected the offer. During the winter, 1941-42 the course of war took an unfavourable turn for the British and political situation in the sub-continent became a cause of concern for them. To placate the Indian opinion a Mission headed by Sir Stafford Cripps was sent which proposed a new Indian dominion after war but these proposals were again turned down. In August 1942 when the Japanese invaded India, the Congress passed a Resolution requiring the British to quit India on which Government declared it an unlawful organization. Mr. M.A. Jinnah observed that movement by the Congress was an invitation to civil war and instead demanded that the British should first partition the sub-continent and then quit. In 1945 Lord Wavell held a Conference at Simla on the subject but it broke down on the question of participation of Muslim members in which the Congress opposed the nominations by Muslim League.

            After failure of the Simla conference elections were held in the winter of 1945-46 in which the Muslim League captured all the Muslim Seats. At the end of Election, a Cabinet Mission was sent by the British Government, which started deliberations. The Congress was not prepared to accept partition of sub-continent. In the meantime Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah held a Convention of the Muslim League at Delhi in which it was declared that nothing less then self-determination was acceptable to the Muslims otherwise they would resist the decision by force. The Cabinet Mission failed and announced the Union of India at their own.

INTERIM GOVERNMENT

            When in the absence of proper safeguards, the Muslim League rejected the Cabinet Mission, the Congress agreed to join the interim Government. The five seats meant for the Muslims were filled with the nationalist Muslim leaders. This led to a wild reaction and the country came to be rocked by Hindu-Muslim riots on an unprecedented scale almost bordering on civil war. In order to ease the situation, the Viceroy appealed to the Muslim League to join the Interim Government in October 1946.

            As the year 1947 dawned, the Hindu-Muslim struggle gained in intensity and severity. The country was on the brink of civil war within the interim Government, there was acute bitterness and the Hindus and the Muslims pulled in opposite directions. It was in the context of this grave situation that Lord Attlee, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, made a statement on February 20, 1947. The statement declared that power would be transferred to the responsible Indians by a date not later than June, 1948. It was added that if an agreed Constitution was not worked out by a fully representative Assembly by that date, the Government would have to consider to whom the power of the Central Government in the British India should be handed over on the due date whether as a whole to some form of the Central Government or in such other way as might seem most reasonable and in the best interests of the Indian people.

MOUNT BATTEN AND HIS PLAN

            In March, 1947 Lord Wavell was replaced by Lord Mountbatten as the Viceroy. On June 3, 1947 Lord Mountbatten announced his plan for the transfer of power. According to this plan, the provincial legislative assemblies of Bengal and the Punjab were asked to meet in two parts, one representing the Muslim majority district and the other the rest of the provinces. The members of the two parts of each legislative assembly sitting separately were to vote whether or not, the province should be partitioned. If a simple majority of either part decided in favour of partition, division would take place. This was a preliminary step of temporary nature as for final partition detailed investigation of boundary questions will be needed for which a Boundary Commission will be set up.

            Both the Congress and the Muslim League accepted the Mountabtten plan. The provinces of the Punjab and Bengal each were divided into two provinces. _____ a referendum a district of Assam Province also joined the East Pakistan. Similarly referendum was also held in the North Western province and the people of the province opted for Pakistan. The Indian Independence Bill was introduced in the British Parliament and on receiving the Royal assent in July, 1947 separate provincial Governments were set up for Pakistan and India on July 29, Quaid-e-Azam was nominated as the Governor-General of Pakistan. On August 14, 1947 Pakistan was established. That was the culmination of a long struggle, which the Muslims of the sub-continent had waged for a separate homeland in the name of Islam and Lahore was an important and focal center of this struggle.

            On 30th of June, 1947 the Punjab Boundary Commission was established which heard the viewpoints of all the political factions and considered various proposals for dividing the territories of both the dominions i.e. Pakistan and India. This Boundary Commission was headed by Sir Cyril Radcliff and had 11 hearings in the city of Lahore. Finally Sir Cyril Radcliff gave his award on 12th August, 1947 which divided Punjab into East and West Punjab. The West belonging to Pakistan.

            The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan met at Karachi on 14-08-1947 and Viceroy Lord Mountbatten addressed the members. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was of course the first Governor-General. Pakistan came into being in the name of Islam. Quaid-e-Azam was very clear on this issue. He expressed his views in this respect on various occasions.

            It is, however, unfortunate that Quaid-e-Azam soon parted us on 11th September, 1948 and could not see establishing the Islamic State as dreamed by him. The leaders of the Muslim League tried to continue his mission and in the year 1949 passed the famous objective resolution which provided guidelines to enforce Islamic System in the country. The text of objective resolution lays down the broad principles of our Islamic Government.