Two-Nation Theory
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The Two-Nation Theory was the basis for the creation of Pakistan in 1947. It stated that Muslims and Hindus were two separate nations by every definition, and therefore Muslims should have a separate homeland in the Muslim majority areas of British India, to enable them to live according to the teachings of Islam. The theory was rejected by many in India, However many Hindus such as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar endorsed the Two-Nation Theory. Many also saw the theory as a creation of a few Muslim intellectuals, and believed that the state of Pakistan may not be long-lasting. [1].
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[edit] History
The ideology of Pakistan took shape through an evolutionary process, based on historical experience. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan began (1817-1898) the period of Muslim self-awakening; Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), (the poet of East), provided the philosophical explanation; Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) translated it into a political reality; and the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan passed the Objectives Resolution in March 1949 to give it legal sanction. The All-India Muslim League, in attempting to represent Indian Muslims, felt that the Muslims of the subcontinent were a distinct and separate nation from the Hindus. At first they demanded separate electorates, but when they came to the conclusion that Muslims would not be safe in a Hindu-dominated India, they began to demand a separate state. The basis for the separate state was neither territorial, racial, linguistic nor ethnic; but based on adherence to Islam. The League demanded self-determination for Muslim-majority areas in the form of a sovereign state. However, after partition, a significant number of Muslims remained in the officially secular Hindu-majority India. On the contrary, few Hindus or Sikhs chose to remain in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The evidence cited for the differences dates to the beginning of the eleventh century, when the scholar Al-Biruni (973-1048) observed that Hindus and Muslims differed in all matters and habits. Allama Iqbal's presidential address to the Muslim League on 29 December 1930 is seen as the first introduction of the two-nation theory in support of what would ultimately become Pakistan. Ten years later, Jinnah made a speech in Lahore on 22 March 1940 which was very similar to Al-Biruni's thesis in theme and tone. Jinnah stated that Hindus and Muslims belonged to two different religious philosophies, with different social customs and literature, with no intermarriage and based on conflicting ideas and concepts. Their outlook on life and of life was different and despite 1,000 years of history, the relations between the Hindus and Muslims could not attain the level of cordiality. The only difference between the writing of Al-Biruni and the speech of Jinnah was that Al-Biruni made calculated predictions, while Jinnah had history behind him to support his argument.
[edit] Statements and sayings
In his Presidential Address delivered at Lahore, on March 22-23, 1940, he explained:
| It is extremely difficult to appreciate why our Hindu friends fail to understand the real nature of Islam and Hinduism. They are not religious in the strict sense of the word, but are, in fact, different and distinct social orders, and it is a dream that the Hindus and Muslims can ever evolve a common nationality, and this misconception of one Indian nation has troubles and will lead India to destruction if we fail to revise our notions in time. The Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, social customs, litterateurs. They neither intermarry nor interdine together and, indeed, they belong to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Their aspect on life and of life are different. It is quite clear that Hindus and Mussalmans derive their inspiration from different sources of history. They have different epics, different heroes, and different episodes. Very often the hero of one is a foe of the other and, likewise, their victories and defeats overlap. 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 for the government of such a state.[1] |
Allama Iqbal's statement explaining the attitude of Muslim delegates to the Round-Table Conference issued in December, 1933 was a rejoinder to Jawahar Lal Nehru's statement. Nehru had said that the attitude of the Muslim delegation was based on "reactionarism." Iqbal concluded his rejoinder with:
| In conclusion I must put a straight question to pundit Jawhar Lal, how is India's problem to be solved if the majority community will neither concede the minimum safeguards necessary for the protection of a minority of 80 million people, nor accept the award of a third party; but continue to talk of a kind of nationalism which works out only to its own benefit? This position can admit of only two alternatives. Either the Indian majority community will have to accept for itself the permanent position of an agent of British imperialism in the East, or the country will have to be redistributed on a basis of religious, historical and cultural affinities so as to do away with the question of electorates and the communal problem in its present form.[2] |
[edit] References
- ^ Official website, Nazaria-e-Pakistan Foundation. "Excerpt from the Presidential Address delivered by the Quaid-i-Azam Lahore on March 22-23, 1940". Retrieved on 2006-04-22.
- ^ Official website, Iqbal Academy, Lahore. "Iqbal and the Pakistan Movement". Retrieved on 2006-04-22.
[edit] External links
- Story of Pakistan website, Jin Technologies (Pvt) Limited. "The Ideology of Pakistan: Two-Nation Theory". Retrieved on 2006-04-22.
- Official website, Nazaria-e-Pakistan Foundation. "The Two-Nation Theory". Retrieved on 2006-04-22.
