FROM ‘PAKISTAN RESOLUTION’ TO PAKISTAN

1. FROM ‘PAKISTAN RESOLUTION’ TO PAKISTAN By Mahboob Popatia

2. FROM ‘PAKISTAN RESOLUTION’ TOPAKISTAN Political Developments in the South Asian Subcontinent, 1940-47

3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES • To understand the circumstances in which the ‘Pakistan Resolution’ was moved and passed. • To study the political events that led to the emergence of Pakistan as an independent state.

4. CONTENTS • Background • Two-nation Theory • ‘Pakistan Resolution’, 23 March 1940 • 8 ‘August Offer’ 1940 • Sir Stafford Cripps’ Proposals, 30 March 1942 • ‘Quit India’ Movement, 8 August 1942 • Raja Gopalachari’s Formula, February 1943 • Jinnah-Gandhi Talks, September 1944

5. Simla (Shimla) Conference, 25 June-14 July 1945 • General Elections, December 1945 – February 1946 • Delhi Convention, April 1946 • Cabinet Mission Plan, 16 May 1946 • Elections of the Constituent Assembly, July 1946 • ‘Direct Action’ Day, 16 August 1946 • Formation of the Interim Government, September 1946 • Partition Plan, 3 June 1947

6. BACKGROUND • The Muslim quest for political, economic and cultural safeguards • Allama Iqbal and Chaudhry Rahmat Ali: The Idea of a Muslim homeland • The Congress rule in the Hindu-majority provinces, 1937-1939

7. TWO-NATION THEORY • “The Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, social customs, literatures. They neither intermarry or interdine together and, indeed they belong to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions.” Quaid-i-Azam

8. “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 up for the government of such a state” Quaid-i-Azam

9. PAKISTAN RESOLUTION “No constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to the Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principles, viz., that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary, 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.”

10. The AUGUST 1940 OFFER • Expansion of the Governor-General’s Executive Council • Establishment of an Advisory War Council • Safeguards for the minorities in the future constitution • A representative Indian body to frame the new constitution after the war • All parties and communities to cooperate in the war efforts

11. SIRSTAFFORD CRIPPS’PROPOSALS, MARCH 1942 • An elected body to frame a constitution • Indian princely states to have representation in the constituent assembly • The provinces to have the right to secede

12. ‘QUIT INDIA’ MOVEMENT, AUGUST 1942 The ‘Quit India’ resolution adopted by the All India Congress Committee demanded the “withdrawal of the British power from India” and authorized “the starting of a mass struggle on non-violent lines on the widest possible scale” under the leadership of Gandhi

13. RAJA GOPALACHARI’S FORMULA, FEBRUARY 1943 • Endorsement of the Indian demand for independence • A commission to demarcate contiguous districts in the north-west and east of India, wherein the Muslim population was in absolute majority • A plebiscite to be held to decide if the majority was in favor of forming a sovereign state separate of India

14. JINNAH-GANDHI TALKS,SEPTEMBER 1944 • Agenda: Raja Gopalachari’s formula • Differences over: a) concept of nation b) composition of electorate c) timing of plebiscite d) objective of plebiscite

15. SIMLA CONFERENCE,JUNE-JULY 1945 • Reconstitution of the Governor-General’s Executive Council • All members of the Governor-General’s Executive Council to be Indians except the Governor-General and the Commander-in-Chief

16. GENERAL ELECTIONSDECEMBER 1945-FEBRUARY 1946 • All India Muslim League secured 86.6% of the total Muslim votes and all 30 seats reserved for Muslims in the Indian Legislative Assembly • Indian National Congress secured 91.3% of the total general votes and 57 seats in the Assembly of 102

17. DELHI CONVENTIONAPRIL 1946 “ The zones comprising Bengal and Assam in the North-East and Punjab, NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan in the North-West of India, namely Pakistan zones, where the Muslims are in a dominant majority, be constituted into a sovereign independent state . . .”

18. CABINET MISSION PLAN16 MAY 1946 • Indian Union comprising British India and Princely States with three subjects: Foreign Affairs, Defense and Communications with necessary Finance • Grouping of provinces • Three-tiered system of government • Formation of an interim government

19. ELECTIONS OF THECONSTITUENT ASSEMBLYJULY 1946 • Indirect elections were held for the Constituent Assembly of India • Muslim League decided not to sit in the Indian Constituent Assembly

20. ‘DIRECT ACTION’ DAY16 August 1946 • Quaid-i-Azam called upon the Indian Muslims to demonstrate their resolve to achieve Pakistan • The ‘Great Calcutta Killings’

21. FORMATION OF THE INTERIM GOVERNMENT, SEPTEMBER 1946 • Differences over Muslim representation in the interim government • Representation of the Indian National Congress • Representation of the All India Muslim League • Working of the interim government

22. THE PARTITION PLAN3rd JUNE 1947 • The areas of the subcontinent not represented in the Constituent Assembly were to decide whether their constitution was to be framed by the existing Constituent Assembly or by a new one • The legislative assemblies of Bengal and Punjab were each to meet in two

23. parts representing the Muslim majority areas and the rest of the province. Each part was to decide by a simple majority whether the province was to be partitioned or not. If either of the two favored partition, it was to be effected accordingly. • It would be the choice of the legislature of Sindh to join the existing Constituent Assembly or the new one.

24. In the North-West Frontier Province a referendum was to be held in which the electors of the provincial legislative assembly were to choose which Constituent Assembly they would like to join. • In the district of Sylhet in Assam the same procedure as in the NWFP was to be followed.

25. A boundary commission was to be set up to demarcate the Muslim majority areas in Bengal, Punjab and Sylhet if they decided to opt for the new Constituent Assembly. • Agreements regarding tribal areas were to be negotiated later with the successor authority. • It was to be the right of the Constituent Assemblies either to remain in the British Commonwealth or to opt for complete independence

26. INDIAN INDEPENDENCE ACT18 July 1947 • The British Government was to have no control over the affairs of the Dominions, provinces or any part of the Dominions after 15 August 1947. • The Act provided for the termination of the supremacy of the Crown over the Indian States. All treaties, agreements and functions exercisable by His Majesty with regard to these States and their rulers were to lapse from 15 August 1947

27. PAKISTAN ZINDABAD