Two-Nation Theory
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The Two-Nation Theory was the basis for the Partition of India in 1947. It stated that Muslims and Hindus were two separate nations by every definition, and therefore Muslims should have an autonomous homeland in the Muslim majority areas of British India for the safeguard of their political, cultural and social rights, within or without a United India.
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[edit] History
The ideology of Pakistan took shape through an evolutionary process, based on historical experience. Muslim Modernist and reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan began (1817-1898) the period of South Asian Muslim self-awakening and identity; Poet Philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), (the poet of East), provided the philosophical explanation; and Barrister Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) translated it into the political reality of a nation state. 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 League demanded self-determination for Muslim-majority areas in the form of a sovereign state promising minorities equal rights and safeguards in these Muslim majority areas. However, after partition, a significant minority, almost 1/3rd of the Muslims, remained in the Hindu-majority India and many Hindus chose to remain in a Muslim-majority Pakistan over India[1], although many left out fear of death if they did not leave.[2] [biased source][3][4] [not in citation given]
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, the erstwhile ambassador of Hindu Muslim unity 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] Support
Some right wing Hindu leaders such as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar endorsed the Two-Nation Theory. However, Savarkar, the leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, believed that the new nation state of Pakistan should be formed somewhere in the Middle East as opposed to being in the lands in which Vedic religion was founded and in which Hinduism thrived until the Islamic invasion.
[edit] Criticism
Critics of this theory, some in Pakistan, point to the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, as an example that a homogeneous Muslim majority may not always guarantee unity or security and that this concept was buried in the succession of East Pakistan now Bangladesh.[1].
According to Riencourt 1983, the theory was a creation of a few Muslim intellectuals.[5]
Recently, the Government of Pakistan decided to revise history textbooks with a new interpretation of the Two-Nation theory, giving a moderate and less biased interpretation of the theory.[6] An editorial in Pakistani daily Dawn remarked that it was "long overdue" and that after "1971, when Bangladesh was born, the two-nation theory receded into the background as it lost its rationale."[7]
[edit] Statements and sayings
In Quaid-i-Azam's 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 religions 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.
– [8]
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.
– [9]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_hindu.html
- ^ Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947 by S. Gurbachan Singh Talib - Chapter 1
- ^ Religious cleansing of the Hindus by Dr. Koenraad Elst
- ^ Panel 33 European Association for South Asian Studies
- ^ [http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19821201faessay8309/amaury-de-riencourt/india-and-pakistan-in-the-shadow-of-afghanistan.html India and Pakistan in the Shadow of Afghanistan], Amaury de Riencourt, Foreign Affairs, Winter 1982/83
- ^ Two-Nation theory says Pak to be less biased Pakistani media praises government for its move towards tolerance December 10, 2006 Asia Media, Times of India
- ^ Revising the textbooks December 09, 2006 Dawn (newspaper)
- ^ 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 April 22, 2006.
- ^ Official website, Iqbal Academy, Lahore. "Iqbal and the Pakistan Movement". Retrieved on April 22, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Story of Pakistan website, Jin Technologies (Pvt) Limited. "The Ideology of Pakistan: Two-Nation Theory". Retrieved on April 22, 2006.
- Official website, Nazaria-e-Pakistan Foundation. "The Two-Nation Theory". Retrieved on April 22, 2006.
Categories: Cleanup from October 2006 | All pages needing cleanup | Articles lacking sources from November 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Wikipedia articles with biased sources | Articles with unsourced statements since April 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Pakistan Movement | Muhammad Ali Jinnah
