The paradox of the “two nations theory”: most of the Muslims rejected it

The paradox of the “two nations theory”: most of the Muslims rejected it • Those of the Muslim majority provinces (particularly Punjab and Bengal) reject it because they have no interest in getting a separate state • The Ulama reject it because they do not believe in a “Muslim state” proposed (and ruled) by a westernized elite

Therefore Jinnah’s position in 1940 is very weak • He desperately needs to gain recognition at the centre – by both the British and the Congress – as the sole spokesman of the Muslims of India • The idea of the two nations is aimed to create a situation of “parity at the centre” between Congress and Muslim League • Jinnah therefore tries to overcome the logic of numbers – of majority and minority – and tries to impose a sort of parity of principle between Hindus and Muslims

However difficult, this strategy was for Jinnah the only viable way to get any sort of bargaining power and the only way to protect their constituency (the Muslim minority of the United Provinces) • It is important to remember that Jinnah was a lawyer specialized in constitutional law, and that he was a very able negotiator

The beginning of the second world war is a great fortune for Jinnah, because it creates the conditions for the recognition he needed from the British • First because the British needed the Indian cooperation to the war; with the fall of France in 1940, the Japanese conquest of Singapore and Burma in 1942, the war comes very close to the Indian eastern borders

However the Congress, unlike the first world war, now does not want to grant an unconditional collaboration • In fact the decision of the Congress is a difficult one and there are different positions in the top leadership, between Nehru and Gandhi in particular • Nehru’s socialist ideas make him close to participate to the war, while Gandhi’s non violence leads him to refuse strongly any cooperation with the British

There was even a section of the Congress, led by the Bengali nationalist Subas Chandra Bose, which participated to the war in alliance with the Japanese against Britain • However in the end the Working Committee of the Congress decides to refuse to collaborate to the war unless the British gives her complete independence

The British react in April 1942 sending a mission to India, led by the Labour politician and close friend of Nehru Sir Stafford Cripps to meet the Indian parties • Cripps proposes the grant of independence to India, through the formation of a constituent assembly; however this only after the war. For the time being Cripps offered the enlargement of the seats in the Viceroy Executive Council in order to give more voice to the Indians

However, the Cripps offer contained already a concession to Jinnah’s two nations theory; according to a clause, after the war every province would have the right to decide whether to join or not the new Indian state

The Cripps offer does not satisfy the Congress nor the League. The Congress because it postponed every relevant change to the post war period, and also because it granted the provinces the right not to join the Indian state, which seemed to be the acceptance of the Muslim League plan • Gandhi defined it “a post-dated cheque drawn on a crashing bank”

The offer does not satisfy even the League, although it appreciated the clause on the provinces, because the plan does not grant officially the Muslim state • In any case it is clear that British authorities in India strengthened Jinnah’ position in order to undermine the Congress, despite the fact that the Congress was at the time much more representative than the League • Already in October 1939 the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow wrote to London that no future plan should have been finalised without an agreement with the Muslim League

Therefore in 1942 Jinnah is very close to get the recognition he needed from the British • However it was much more difficult to obtain the same result from the Congress • The Congress refuses to recognise Jinnah as the spokesman of the India Muslims • The Congress as a national party believes to be entitled to represent all the communities of India

On the other side Jinnah claims that the Congress is only a “Hindu party” which represents the “Hindu nation” • The Muslim members of the Congress, according to him, are only “Muslim show boys” • The attitude of the League is particularly hard towards AbulKalam Azad who was at the time the President of the Congress

The Congress reacts to the Cripps proposal by launching in the summer of 1942 a new mass disobedience campaign, the “Quit India” movement • This was the most radical protest ever launched by the Congress, because for the first time it demanded the British to leave India and to cut all links with India. The resolution was also supported by Gandhi

The government reacts with a strong repression, thanks to the presence in India of a large deployment of military, and arrests and imprisons all the leaders of the Congress, including Gandhi, Nehru and Azad

Towards the end of the war, between 1945 and 1946 the British government tried again to find an agreement between the two parties with the Simla conference (June 1945) and the Cabinet Mission (March 1946) • The latter proposal was to form an Indian federation composed of three groups of provinces, two unites made of the Muslim majority areas claimed by the League, and one unit with the other provinces • Each group would have its own parliament and constitution, and would be free to decide its destiny

However doubtful, Jinnah decides to accept the proposal • Nehu, speaking for the Congress, initially accepts the proposal, then in a press conference declares that the units would not be free to decide their position, but should have been obliged to be part of the federation • At this point Jinnah denounces the “double voice” of the Congress and declares the end of any constitutional negotiation

At this point Jinnah had acquired the popular status that he needed • At the end of the provincial elections of 1945-46 the League, by using the Islamic symbols, had become the most popular Muslim party of India • At this point the British government decide to part ways with the political situation in India

In February 1947 they send Lord Mountbatten with an impossible task, that of solving the political impasse and at the same time maintaining the unity of India • In a few weeks Mountbatten decides that there is no other course possible than partition; he prepares a plan of division of the country, which will take place on 15 August 1947, with the birth of two Dominions India and Pakistan

The paradox of the “two nations theory”: most of the Muslims rejected it