Jinnah, initially a staunch supporter of the Hindu-Muslim unity gradually became disillusioned with the idea of Hindus recognizing Muslims as a separate entity who were entitled to rights and position in a secular India, used this factor to rally around the cause for a nation state. Jinnah’s explained the importance of a sovereign Pakistan in All India Muslim League presidential address delivered in Lahore, on March 22, 1940, he said, “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. 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. ” (Ideology of Pakistan, 18:10) However it is important to realize that Jinnah’s struggle for a separate state for Muslims stemmed from the want to achieve an impartial inclusive democracy and a secular state rather than an exclusivist theocracy run on divine ideals. Therefore, Jinnah rejected the slogans of ‘Pakistan ka matlab kaya, La illaha ilallah.” His speech on August 11th made it absolutely clear that the principles of the two nation theory would have no part to play in building the foundation of citizenship of the new state. For Jinnah and the Muslim League, the Two Nation Theory was not an ideological position etched in stone. It was the restatement of the arguments needed to ensure national status for Muslims in a multinational independent India. (Hamdani, 1) Significantly, after partition, Jinnah went back to using the word 'community' for Hindus and Muslims instead of nations.
Has the Two Nation Theory been vindicated in the last seventy years?
It is often argued that the two nation theory died with the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, for it failed to unite East and West Pakistan on the basis of religion. Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has gone so far as to say that the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 proves that the Two-Nation Theory of Pakistan's founders was a "farce" and "it was the biggest fraud played with the Muslims of India” because had the theory been right, the government would agree to open borders and allow Indian Muslims to settle in Pakistan and exiled stranded Pakistanis living in Bangladeshi camps. Professor Samuel Martin Burke says that the two-nation theory was even more strongly asserted in that the Awami League rebels had struggled for their own country, Bangladesh, and not to join India. In so doing, they had put into practice the theory behind the original resolution to form Pakistan, which envisaged two Muslim states at the two extremities of the subcontinent. (Did Two Nation Theory…Bangladesh? 17) However it is important to realize the ideological fallacy that Pakistan was created on the grounds of TNT. Jinnah himself, as mentioned before, never stood parallel with the ideology behind the theory or considered it the groundwork for the formation of Pakistan. The separation of Bangladesh does not reflect on the failure of the Pakistan, but conforms to the initial idea envisaged by Jinnah to constitute two independent Muslim states at the extremities of the subcontinent. The Pakistan Resolution passes in Lahore 1940 demanded “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 Units shall be autonomous and sovereign" (Did the two nation..Bangladesh? 21) Therefore, the idea behind Pakistan was to ensure autonomy and sovereignty for the Eastern Wing rather than path of resentment and bitterness that exacerbated relations between East and West Pakistan. Muslims had inherited the concept of domination and exploitation from the British colonial legacy and hence began the domination of ‘brown sahib’ over the Bengalis to which the oppressed rebelled. However, the separation did not reflect on the failure of an ideology which never contributed to the formation of an independent Pakistan, i.e the two nation theory but rather adhered to the inevitability of autonomous states being formed.
The Ethnic Divide
Presently, Pakistan is plagued by ethnic, socio economic, political and provincial differences that seem to keep worsening with time. These differences have weakened the democratic and institutional structure of Pakistan and stunted growth and development due to lack of coalition amongst provinces. The political factors in ethnic politics have been highlighted by Hamza Alvi, a noted Pakistani sociologist, who has stressed the over-developed state structure, weak political institutions, and the perception of “Punjabi hostility” as major causes of regional-ethnic conflicts. (Hamza Alvi, “Authoritarianism and Legitimating of State Power in Pakistan”, in Subtrata Mitra) In the pre secessionist movement 1971, there were six major ethnic groups: Baloch, Bengalis, Mohajirs, Punjabis, Pashtuns, and Sindhis. Sindh and Balouchistan experienced mass migration from parts of India after 1947 and also after 1979 when refugees migrated after the Soviet war. At the time, only ANP (Awami National Party) demanded Pakhtunistan complaining about Punjabi domination. Unequal distribution of economic resources has led to mass discontentment and finally separatist movements in the case of Bangladesh and now Balochistan. Punjabi and Pashtun migration in Sindh have led to Sindhi and Mohajir movements. (Akhter, 15:4) They use language as a basis for separate identity, and a parallel can be formed by examining the pre partition circumstances between Hindus and Muslims using language as a barrier. The Baloch separatist nationalism begs the question if the East Pakistan crisis will repeat itself? The Balochs have a tribal system of territorial domain governed by Sardars, and the politics of civil war have resulted in fragmented and disintegrated federalism, the same way ethnic issues translated to civil war in East and West Pakistan. The Baluch separatist do not let other faction exist in their puritan land and Punajbis and Hazara people are being targeted. Target killings increased after the military operation of Akbar Bugti in 1996 who claimed Baluchistan was for the Baluch only. Thus ethnic differences were consolidated in the form of ethno-centric politics under Ayub Khan’s regime who wanted to create an authoritarian regime and created severe conflicts by declaring Urdu as the official language of both East and West Pakistan. These differences were later acted upon and promoted when General Zia tried started targeting his rivals in Punjab, NWFP and dismissed the elected governments in Baluchistan. This cycle of ethnic differences has perpetuated a longstanding debate of a polarized, fragmented Pakistan ever emerging into a democratic united country with reconcilable differences. In light of the events that have unfolded themselves over the course of the past seventy years, any notion that the two nation theory could hold together a unanimous Pakistan fails miserably as the political, class conflicts, and especially the ethnic divide has fractured the wholeness of the state in Pakistan.
However, the failure of the two nation theory does not imply that the creation of Pakistan was a mistake or a premature step towards independence. The differences which existed seventy years ago which necessitated the creation of Pakistan can still be viewed today in light of the events that are unfolding in India today with the Modi government and the movement against the Muslims. Prime Minister Modi is credited for mass murdering a 1000 or so Muslims in Gujrat in 2002 during his reign as chief minister. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have moved chauvinistically to achieve a Hindu nationalist state and the drive against Muslims has become persistent lately with beef sellers driven out of work as the government banned the consumption of beef. In March 2015, Subramanian Swamy, a senior BJP leader, declared in a that mosques, unlike temples, are not holy places and thus can be demolished. Two days later, the BJP chief minister of the northern state of Haryana that the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu holy text, would become mandatory throughout the state. (Traub, 4:1) The mistrust between Pakistan and India has deepened under the Modi government who has done nothing to curb the inflammatory rhetoric. The recent cricket T20 series snub Pakistan faced from India as the activists shouted anti Pakistan slogans prevented the BCCI chief Shashank Manohar from meeting the PCB counterpart, Shahryar Khan. These recent events have put Muslims in India in a very precarious and fearful state of their harmonious existence in India, and it remains a sensitive issue if Pakistan and India will be able to reconcile their differences and also if the Muslims across the border will be ensured their rights in the struggle for a Hindu nationalist India by the current Indian government.
Conclusion:
Religion had a major part to play in uniting the Muslims in pre independence India. The slogans of “Pakistan ka matlab kaya, La illaha illalah” brought a surge of unity and pride amongst the Muslims to find common grounds to rebel against the oppression from the Hindus. However the situation became much more complex and extended to factors beyond religion such as political divide, under representation of the Muslims, the gap in education between Hindus and Muslims and economic grievances. With the formation of Indian National Congress in 1885, the Muslim elite in India were discontent that their status with respect to the Hindus was generally decaying. The Congress presented a Hindu domination party and the malcontent Muslims elite refused to acknowledge it as an equal representative of Muslim rights and thus formed the rival All India Muslim League in 1906. The idea for a separate nation became stronger and more inevitable as can be seen when the Hindus rejected the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 which ensured a Muslim majority area with sovereign Muslim rights. These issues created a rift between the two entities until harmonious co-existence in the subcontinent became impossible for the Muslims. The Two Nation Theory, although an important drive behind uniting the Muslims of India, was not the reason which led to the formation of the potential ‘inclusive democracy, not reliant on exclusivist theocracy’ that Jinnah wanted. Two nation theory or not, the formation of a separate sovereign state for Muslims was a necessity to ensure a safe haven for the Muslims in light of the events that unfolded between the two communities in pre independence India. Even today, the unresolved dormant aggressiveness against the Muslims in India has started to bubble up in the form the Hindu chauvinist RSS and BJP government. Pakistan still suffers from an ideology crisis for a state which claims to have Islam as its backbone, however, for the sake of a better prosperous future of Pakistan, the ethnic issues needs to be resolved at the federal and provincial level to achieve the path for development and success for Pakistan as a whole, and not just the advancement of Punjab at the expense of other provinces.
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