wanted to change the wrong impression that was being created in their minds by
the messages and activities of organisations like the Muslim League, the Hindu
Mahasabha and the RSS. Congress argued that Hindus and Muslims were not people
of two different nations, but part and parcel of one Indian nation. However, the
British were eagerly listening to the fears of the League about Hindu domination
and suggesting ways to make the Muslims secure.
The “Pakistan” Resolution
Many people now felt that the separate governing arrangements were needed
for regions where Muslims were in majority. For example, the Urdu poet
Mohammad Iqbal, the writer of the song “Sare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan
Hamara”, spoke of a need for a “North- West Indian Muslim state” in his
presidential address to the Muslim League in 1930.
The name Pakistan or Pak-stan (from
Punjab, Afghan, Kashmir, Sind and
Baluchistan) was coined by a Punjabi Muslim
student at Cambridge, Choudhry Rehmat Ali.
This young student wrote pamphlets between
1933 and 1935. He desired a separate national
status for this new entity. No one took Rehmat
Ali seriously in the 1930s, especially the
League and other Muslim leaders who
dismissed his idea merely as a student’s dream.
The political situation in India changed
when British started following the policy of
‘Divide and Rule’ and Congress failed to
address the fears of Muslims. On 23 March
1940, the Muslim League moved a resolution and demanded autonomy for the
parts of the subcontinent where Muslim were in majority. This ambiguous resolution
never mentioned partition or Pakistan. However, in later years, it became known
as the Pakistan resolution. People were thinking of different ways to solve the
issues raised by the League and a new nation state of Pakistan was one among
these alternatives. But since the discussions and negotiations were not working
out, the idea of a separate nation state of Pakistan became stronger. The Congress
was unable to fulfill the demands of M A Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League.
From 1940 to 1946, the League convinced Muslim masses about the benefits
and need for a separate nation. Peasants could imagine a state where Hindu zamindars
and moneylenders did not exploit them. Traders, businessmen and job seekers could
think of a state where competition from Hindu traders, businessmen and job seekers
would not be there. There would be greater religious freedom. There would be
