By Qutubuddin Aziz
The Lahore session of the Muslim League (ML) on March 23, 1940, was historic and momentous. It was the biggest concourse of
Indian Muslims in their political history since the fall of the once-mighty Mughul Empire in 1857 and the advent of British colonial rule in the subcontinent. More than 100,000 Muslim activists from every nook and corner of the Subcontinent congregated on that day in the historic city of Lahore and proclaimed to the world their determination to make the Pakistan Resolution for Independence and Muslim Statehood the goal of their struggle under the leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Even then there were some Doubting Thomases but by and large, the Muslim masses throughout India welcomed the Pakistan Resolution which was hammered out by the nation's leaders in the mammoth gathering in the Minto Park (renamed the Iqbal Park) on the starry night of March 23, 1940. The Muslim nation now hugged the path of independence and statehood shown by Allama Iqbal in the 1930 session of the All India Muslim League in Allahabad. Ten years had passed since that historic event and the political will of the Muslim nation had now acquired the strength of steel. The engine of their political struggle, namely the All India Muslim League, was now strong enough to lead them on the pathway to Pakistan.
A year earlier, the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had given loud and clear hints to the nation and foreign powers that the die would be cast in the next Lahore session of the All India Muslim League (AIML), after which the battle for creating Pakistan will ensue and "Pakistan" will be the battle cry of the Muslim nation. The watch-words of "Faith Unity and Discipline" were the munitions which the Quaid-i-Azam gave to the nation for waging the battle for Pakistan. The most dependable powerhouse in the struggle for Pakistan was the Muslim nation's unity.
The international impact of the Muslim League's Lahore session was colossal. Teams of newsmen had come to Lahore from all parts of the world to report the proceedings of the session and the decisions taken. The BBC was giving copious coverage to the ML's Lahore session; the American Radio networks were not lagging behind. The Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah who was a brilliant communicator for the foreign media, himself took care of the arrangements for briefing newsmen. He had mobilised some of the most talented and articulate young men and women of pro-Muslim League families from Punjab to liaise with the foreign media representatives for the coverage of the ML's Lahore session.
In the forefront of the young lobbyists designated by the Quaid-i-Azam to liaise with the foreign media representatives was the dynamic Mumtaz Shahnawaz whose illustrious mother, Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz was a leading light in the Muslim League High Command and the glittering Reception Committee for the Lahore ML session. The Muslim Leaders had learnt some good lessons from the way the Congress organised its annual sessions. Tazi, as this highly-read Muslim female intellectual was known in League circles in Lahore, was a powerful spokeswoman for the ML and its Pakistan demand.
Many years later when I was serving as the Minister for Information at the Pakistan Embassy in London, I met some veteran British Journalists who had covered for their media organisations in the UK, the ML's Lahore session in March 1940. They spoke highly of the excellence of the media arrangements for this convention.
In Cairo, in 1960, I met an eminent Arab journalist who had covered the ML's Lahore session and interviewed the Quaid-i-Azam. "Lahore is a glorious city, with the most imposing evidence of the greatness of Moghul architecture", he said to me. Visitors to Lahore found the people of Lahore immensely hospitable and a sense of pride in their Islamic Faith imbued them with zeal and élan for Pakistan. In later years, I heard from some Muslims who attended the ML's Lahore session that the Muslim tonga-drivers (drivers of horse drawn carriages- then a popular mode of travel on Lahore's streets) refused to accept fares from the Muslims visiting Lahore for the ML's session. Owners of wayside food shops gave free food to the visitors for the ML's session. The spear-wielding Khaksars who were angered by the brutal police firing on March 19, were mesmerised into becoming followers of the Quaid-i-Azam and were performing security duties to protect the giant Muslim League pandal (canopy) in the Minto Park, the venue of the ML's session in Lahore. The Quaid-i-Azam had issued press statements condemning the Punjab police firing on the unarmed Khaksars and urged the coalition ministry of Sir Sikander Hayat Khan who was the then Chief Minister of Punjab, to pay compensation to the bereaved families and to punish the officers who ordered the police firing. The Quaid-i-Azam had urgently summoned Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung from Hyderabad Deccan to use his good offices for placating the chief of the Khaksars to help maintain peace in Lahore during the ML's session. The Quaid's visit to the Mayo Hospital to console the bereaved families of the Khaksars had a magical effect on Lahore's political atmosphere and groups of Khaksars trekked to the Minto Park and took oaths to safeguard the pandal and protect the Muslim Leaguers in Minto Park. It was an incredible change of political weather in Lahore. Thus a plank of the conspiracy by hostile forces to derail the ML session was smashed by the Quaid-i-Azam's foresight, tact and diplomacy.
The forces inimical to Muslims had learnt beforehand that the ML session would be called upon to pass a resolution for the partition of India to create two independent states, one for the Hindus and the other for the Muslims. Neither the Congress, nor the Unionists in the Punjab, favoured the partition of India. The British wanted their Indian Empire to stay a whole. British newsmen noted and duly reported the Quaid's two hour speech in which he expounded on the Muslim case for independent statehood under the banner of Pakistan. They noted in their reportage that although the Quaid spoke in the English language which was not mother tongue of the majority of the audience, they listened to him in rapt attention and their vociferous cheering and deafening shouts of "Quaid-i-Azam Zindabad" and "Muslim League Zindabad" demonstrated that their hearts beat in unison with that of their Quaid. A Muslim Pathan from the highlands of the Northwest Frontier commented, "I may not understand the English language but I am with Jinnah because he is true and honest and seeks our good".
The Lahore session of the Muslim League saw a glittering assemblage of the provincial and local ML leaders from all parts of the Subcontinent. It was a magnificent demonstration of Muslim unity and pleased and elated Jinnah beyond words. Maulvi Fazlul Haque popularly known as the Lion of Bengal who was one of the sponsors and proposers of the Pakistan Resolution in the ML's Lahore session, expounded on the merits and objectives of the Pakistan Resolution. He catalogued the many injustices done to the Muslims by the Congress rulers of the seven provinces wherein the Congress ruled for some two and a half years after the 1935 General Election in the subcontinent under the British-drafted Government of India Act. While supporting the Resolution vociferously, the Muslim League leader from the United Provinces, Choudhry Khaliquzzaman, thundered denunciation of the Congress Raj and the efforts of the Congress leaders to divide the Muslims in order to deprive them of their just rights. He said, "The Muslims of the United Provinces (U.P) would not get the benefits of Pakistan because their minority status would not place them in the Muslim-majority Pakistan scheme but the U.P. Muslims would be happy to see their brethren in the Muslim majority areas as a part of independent Pakistan". He expressed full confidence in the leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
Speaking on behalf of the Muslims of the Central Provinces (CP) Syed Abdur Rauf Shah declared that the Muslims of CP fully supported the Muslim League's demand for an independent Pakistan. He added "please do not be worried by the injustices that would befall the Muslims of Central provinces under an independent Hindu India. God is our protector; we have strong hearts and faith in God's protection. We want Pakistan to be a safe home for our Muslim brethren. Keep aloft the banner of Islam. We are under Allah's protection. We want Islam to thrive in Pakistan and Allah's blessings on Muslims in the Muslim majority areas that would form independent Pakistan".
From the Bombay province, I I Chundrigar said that the injustices heaped on Muslims under the Congress rule in seven Provinces, had compelled the Muslims to seek Pakistan, a free state of their own, instead of being doomed to minority status in a Hindu-dominated India. For them Pakistan was the best choice.
From the Bihar Muslim League, Nawab Mohammad Ismail supported the Pakistan Resolution and eulogised the brotherly attitude of the people of the Punjab towards the Muslims from the provinces where they were in a minority. Nawab Ismail said that the Muslims of Bihar would make every sacrifice to see their Muslim brethren in the Muslim-majority provinces united and free in a single independent Muslim State to be called Pakistan. He declared amid cheering, "Mr Jinnah is the voice and true spokesman of the Subcontinent's Muslims who are united in demanding independent Muslim Statehood under the banner of the Muslim League".
From Baluchistan, Qazi Mohammad Isa voiced thunderous support for the Pakistan Resolution. He said that the ill-treatment of Muslims in the seven provinces ruled by the Congress for two and a half years had forced the Muslims to demand Pakistan and the partition of India. The Muslims of Balochistan, like the Muslims of the NWFP would strive their utmost to safeguard the interests of the Muslims in the rest of India. "They are our brothers in Faith: and their defence is our moral and religious duty."
Similar sentiments of Islamic fraternity were projected in the speeches of Haji Abdullah Haroon and Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah from the Sindh province.
The province of Sindh had prospered and the Muslims felt safe in a separate Sindh province. The Sindh Provincial Assembly had earlier passed a resolution calling for the creation of an independent state, composed of the Muslim-majority areas of the Subcontinent. Projecting the views of the Muslims of Madras province in Support of the Pakistan Resolution, Abdul Hamid Khan said that for the past three decades the Muslim League had been fighting for the independence of the Subcontinent and the end of colonial rule and it had extended cooperation to the Congress in the freedom struggle but the Muslims were ill-treated under Congress rule in seven provinces of India and this had opened their eyes. They were now justified in demanding an independent state of their own in the subcontinent. He therefore fully supported the Pakistan Resolution in the Muslim League session.
I I Chundrigar declared that the Bombay Muslims supported the Pakistan Resolution in the ML session because they apprehended Hindu oppression on Muslims in a Hindu-majority India as was their bitter experience under Congress Raj in seven provinces in India for two and a half years. Pakistan was therefore the best solution of the vexing communal problem.
One of the most powerful speeches in favour of the Pakistan Resolution was delivered by the renowned freedom fighter and journalist, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, Editor of the Daily Zemindar. He said, "I today feel as if I am living in a Muslim environment of freedom and Islamic belief. For years I have championed the cause of freedom for this Subcontinent and worked for Hindu-Muslim cooperation in the struggle for freedom for the entire Subcontinent's teeming millions. But I have felt disillusioned by the Conduct of the Congress rulers. For them independence means the right to oppress and ill-treat the non-Hindu minorities. The Congress rulers have not undertaken any economic enterprise to benefit the Muslim masses in India. I am skeptical of any Constitution or political setup that would doom Muslims to the unenviable status of a powerless, downtrodden minority; subservient to the Congress rulers. I therefore support the Pakistan Resolution in the Muslim League's Lahore Session" From the Muslim ruled State of Hyderabad Deccan, Nawab Bahadur Yar Jang gave the fullest measure of support to the Pakistan Resolution and praised the dynamic leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam who had skippered the Muslim nation to the ramparts of independence and the goal of Pakistan was now within the easy grasp of the Muslims.
Hours after midnight, the Pakistan Resolution in its final form, as approved by the Subjects Committee, was read to the huge audience followed by its Urdu translation. An outburst of cheers from every section of the audience greeted the Resolution and thus it was passed by unanimous acclamation. The foundation of Pakistan was thus laid and battle lines for winning Pakistan were drawn. As dawn was about to be ushered in by the Heavens on earth, the Quaid-i-Azam, resplendent in his white Achkan and Choridar Pyjama rose to thank the participants in the Muslim League session and God Almighty for His benign mercy and guidance. He looked at the profile of the Mughul-built Badshahi Mosque in the distance and near it was the tomb of Allama Iqbal. In emotion-charged words Jinnah said "We are now taking the path Allama Iqbal had shown us in the Muslim League's Allahabad session in 1930. We will achieve for the Muslim nation the Muslim majority State he envisioned and independence and separate statehood are now our goals. The Muslim League will lead us to our goal-Pakistan".
On August 14, 1947, the Muslim majority independent State of Pakistan was established. Poet Iqbal's dream won a reality.
A powerful impact of the Muslim League's March 1940 Lahore session and the adoption of the Pakistan Resolution therein was a sense of self-confidence that gripped the Muslim nation from the hoary heights of the towering Karakoram peaks to Cape Comorin in South India. The success of the Lahore session of the Muslim League and the splendid unity and organisation it demonstrated, gave the Muslim League excellent international publicity and the concept of Pakistan, which was enshrined in the Lahore Resolution, gained worldwide currency.
The word Pakistan did not appear in the text of the Resolution but the name of Pakistan, coined by a group of Muslim students of the Cambridge University in the United Kingdom led by Choudhry Rehmat Ali as the nomenclature for the new Muslim State they proposed for the Subcontinent, caught the fancy and imagination of the Muslim masses in the Subcontinent. Thus "Pakistan" was embedded in the hearts and minds of the Muslims in the Subcontinent as the name of the sovereign and independent state promised to them by their Great Leader, the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on March 23, 1940, in Lahore. Pakistan symbolised for them the golden haven of their hopes and expectations that would make them the free citizens of a great Muslim country. The agony and pain the Muslim masses had experienced for two and a half years under the rule of the Hindu-dominated Congress had welded them into a single nation and they hugged the dream of Pakistan with their hearts and souls. Even the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah who at one time strove for Hindu-Muslim unity in seeking freedom and independence for the Subcontinent, was now a champion of Muslim separatism, demanding the Partition of India and the creation of two independent States, one for the Muslims and the other for the Hindus.
The March 23, 1940, Pakistan Resolution of the Muslim League in Lahore was the first salvo fired in the battle for Pakistan and in barely seven years of an epic political struggle, the Muslims made their dream state of Pakistan a massive reality. There is eminent truth in the verdict of the Quaid-i-Azam's American biographer, Stanley Wolpert, (Jinnah of Pakistan) "that few individuals significantly alter the course of history, fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation state. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all three. Jinnah virtually conjured that country into statehood... by the force of his indomitable will. His place of primacy in Pakistan's history looms like a lofty minaret over the achievements of all his contemporaries in the Muslim League ...."
The beacon of Muslim statehood lit by the Quaid-i-Azam in the Muslim League's Lahore session in 1940 ignited the fires of Muslim political renaissance in thousands of Muslim communities all over India and gave new faith and fire to the Muslims of the Subcontinent in the movement for their political emancipation under the banner of the All India Muslim League. I cannot forget the words of Lord Mountbatten which he uttered at the launching in London of his biography by Ziegler, "if there had not been Mr Jinnah there would have been no Pakistan". The Lahore session of the Muslim League in March 1940 set the seal of universal Muslim allegiance to the Quaid-i-Azam as the best spokesman of the Muslim nation in the Subcontinent.
The Quaid-i-Azam's sister, Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah told me in 1978 that the Quaid-i-Azam bore the strain of the ML's Lahore session with heroic courage and it seemed that the spectacle of Muslim unity in Lahore and the goal of Pakistan announced in Lahore had boosted his willpower anew. "I want to live longer to be able to see the birth of Pakistan," he said to his loving sister a few hours after the ML's Lahore session had ended as scheduled and the delegates were preparing to return to their respective hometowns and tell their Muslim countrymen more about what had been accomplished in Lahore in the national march on the high road to independence and Pakistan. My mother, Begum Syed Abdul Hafiz, who attended the ML's Lahore session as a woman member of the delegation from the United Provinces (UP) told me that many of the delegates, before leaving Lahore went to the shrine of Data Ganj Baksh and prayed for the well-being of the people of Lahore and sought God's support for the early success of the Pakistan Movement that would usher into being the Muslim State of Pakistan. The ML's Lahore convention had given the Muslims an unbreakable spirit of fraternal comradeship.
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