Saturday, May 15, 2010

Partition before and after the struggle for Independence

India was fighting for Independence since it was conquered by British East India Company at the battle of Plassey in 1757 . The Independence struggle took  violent steps on several occasions including the revolt by the  Sepoys in 1857. To stream line the struggle for Independence a platform was formed, namely, Indian National Congress in 1885.The All India Muslim League (AIML)  was formed in Dhaka in 1906 by Muslims who were suspicious of the Hindu majority Indian National Congress. In 1930, after 23 yrs. Poet, Philosopher and Writer Allama Iqbal , in his presidential address, demanded a separate state for Muslims. The Sindh assembly in 1935, passed a resolution making it a demand . M.A. Jinnah, who was a prominent member of Congress prior to M.K.Gandhi and a staunch supporter of United India, was then inducted by Iqbal, Jouhar and others to lead this movement. The 1932 communal Award which seemed to threaten the position of Muslims in Hindu-majority provinces catalysed the resurgence of the Muslim League, with Jinnah as its leader. In the mean time, Choudhury Rahmat Ali, a Cambridge student and President of Pakistan movement in UK, who coined the word PAKSTAN (i was added later on), narrated as P for Punjab, A for Afghasn, K for Kashmir, S for Sindh and Tan from Balochistan, issued a pamphlet "NOW OR NEVER"  on 28 Jan 1933. In 1940, Jinnah made a statement at the Lahore Conference explaining his "Two Nation" theory. In spite of the disagreement between the  Muslim political leaders of other political parties, such as Khaksar Tehrik, for a separate state, who was arrested on 19 March,1940, Veer Savarkar of Mahasabha , M.K.Gandhi, India was divided by a single movement "DIRECT ACTION" to face the consequences .