The concept of an independent Muslim nation emerged
gradually from the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In 1885, the
Indian National Congress was founded as a forum, which later became a party,
to promote a nationalist cause.[37] Although the Congress attempted to
include the Muslim community in the independence struggle and some Muslims
were very active in the Congress, the majority of Muslim leaders did not
trust the party, viewing it as a "Hindu-dominated" organization. Some
Muslims felt that an independent united India would inevitably be "ruled by
Hindus", and that there was a need to address the issue of the Muslim
identity within India. Thus in 1877, Syed Ameer Ali formed the Central
National Muhammadan Association to work towards the political advancement of
the Muslims, but the organisation declined towards the end of the nineteenth
century. A turning point came in 1900 when the British administration in the
United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh), acceded to Hindu demands and made
Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, the official language. The Muslims
feared that the Hindu majority would seek to suppress Muslim culture and
religion in an independent India. The All-India Muslim League was founded on
December 30th, 1906, on the sidelines of the annual All India Muhammadan
Educational Conference in Shahbagh, Dhaka.[39] The meeting was attended by
three thousand delegates and presided over by Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk. It
addressed the issue of legitimate safeguards for Muslims and finalised a
programme. A resolution, moved by Nawab Salimullah and seconded by Hakim
Ajmal Khan. Nawab Viqar-ul-Milk, declared:
The constitution and principles of the League were contained in the "Green
Book", written by Maulana Mohammad Ali. Its goals at this stage did not
include establishing an independent Muslim state, but rather concentrated on
protecting Muslim liberties and rights, promoting understanding between the
Muslim community and other Indians, educating the Muslim and Indian
community at large on the actions of the government, and discouraging
violence. However, several factors over the next thirty years, including
sectarian violence, led to a re-evaluation of the League's aims.Among those
Muslims in the Congress who did not initially join the League was Muhammed
Ali Jinnah, a prominent Bombay lawyer and statesman. This was because the
first article of the League's platform was "To promote among the Mussalmans
(Muslims) of India, feelings of loyalty to the British Government". In 1907,
a vocal group of Hindu hard-liners within the Indian National Congress
movement separated from it and started to pursue a pro-Hindu movement
openly. This group was spearheaded by the famous trio of Lal-Bal-Pal - Lala
Lajpat Rai , Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal of Punjab, Bombay and
Bengal provinces respectively. Their influence spread rapidly among other
like minded Hindus - they called it Hindu nationalism - and it became a
cause of serious concern for Muslims. However, Jinnah did not join the
League until 1913, when it changed its platform to one of Indian
independence as a reaction against the British decision - taken under the
enormous pressure and vociferous protests of the Hindu majority - to reverse
the 1905 Partition of Bengal, which the League regarded as a betrayal of the
Bengali Muslims.[43] Even at this stage, Jinnah believed in Muslim-Hindu
co-operation to achieve an independent, united India, although he argued
that Muslims should be guaranteed one-third of the seats in any Indian
Parliament.
The League gradually became the leading representative body of Indian
Muslims. Jinnah became its president in 1916, and negotiated the Lucknow
Pact with the Congress leader, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, by which Congress
conceded the principle of separate electorates and weighted representation
for the Muslim community.[44] However, Jinnah broke with the Congress in
1920 when the Congress leader, Mohandas Gandhi, launched a law violating
Non-Cooperation Movement against the British, which a temperamentally law
abiding barrister Jinnah disapproved of. Jinnah also became convinced that
the Congress would renounce its support for separate electorates for
Muslims, which indeed it did in 1928. In 1927, the British proposed a
constitution for India as recommended by the Simon Commission, but they
failed to reconcile all parties. The British then turned the matter over to
the League and the Congress, and in 1928 an All-Parties Congress was
convened in Delhi. The attempt failed, but two more conferences were held,
and at the Bombay conference in May, it was agreed that a small committee
should work on the constitution. The prominent Congress leader Motilal Nehru
headed the committee, which included two Muslims, Syed Ali Imam and Shoaib
Quereshi; Motilal's son, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, was its secretary. The League,
however, rejected the committee's report, the so called Nehru Report,
arguing that its proposals gave too little representation (one quarter) to
Muslims – the League had demanded at least one-third representation in the
legislature. Jinnah announced a "parting of the ways" after reading the
report, and relations between the Congress and the League began to sour. |
|
|
