Two-Nation Theory
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The Two-Nation theory was the basis for the creation of Pakistan in 1947. It stated that Muslims and Hindus were two separate nations by every definition, and therefore Muslims should have a separate homeland in the Muslim majority areas of British India, to enable them to live according to the teachings of Islam.
History
The ideology of Pakistan took shape through an evolutionary process, based on historical experience. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan began (1817-1898) the period of Muslim self-awakening; Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), (the poet of East), provided the philosophical explanation; Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) translated it into a political reality; and the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan passed the Objectives Resolution in March 1949 to give it legal sanction. The All-India Muslim League, in attempting to represent Indian Muslims, felt that the Muslims of the subcontinent were a distinct and separate nation from the Hindus. At first they demanded separate electorates, but when they came to the conclusion that Muslims would not be safe in a Hindu-dominated India, they began to demand a separate state. The basis for the separate state was neither territorial, racial, linguistic nor ethnic; but based on adherence to Islam. The League demanded self-determination for Muslim-majority areas in the form of a sovereign state. However, after partition, a significant number of Muslims remained in the officially secular Hindu-dominated India.The evidence cited for the differences dates to the beginning of the eleventh century, when the scholar Al-Biruni (973-1048) observed that Hindus and Muslims differed in all matters and habits. Centuries later, Jinnah made a speech in Lahore on March 22, 1940 which was very similar to Al-Biruni's thesis in theme and tone. Jinnah stated that Hindus and Muslims belonged to two different religious philosophies, with different social customs and literature, with no intermarriage and based on conflicting ideas and concepts. Their outlook on life and of life was different and despite 1,000 years of history, the relations between the Hindus and Muslims could not attain the level of cordiality. The only difference between the writing of Al-Biruni and the speech of Jinnah was that Al-Biruni made calculated predictions, while Jinnah had history behind him to support his argument.
The theory was severely questioned after the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 after a bitter war with West Pakistan. With many critics stating that the overarching Muslim identity was not sufficient to bind the ethnically distinct Bengali's to the Pakistani dominated government.
Statements and sayings
In his Presidential Address delivered at Lahore, on March 22-23, 1940, he explained:
Allama Iqbal's statement explaining the attitude of Muslim delegates to the Round-Table Conference issued in December, 1933 was a rejoinder to Jawahar Lal Nehru's statement. Nehru had said that the attitude of the Muslim delegation was based on "reactionarism." Iqbal concluded his rejoinder with:References
External links
- redirect[[Template:Portal]]
Creation of Pakistan History: General History - British East India Company - 1857 War of Independence - Aligarh Movement - Partition of Bengal - Lucknow Pact - Khilafat Movement - Nehru Report - Fourteen Points of Jinnah - Allahabad Address - Now or Never pamphlet - Two-Nation Theory - British East India Company - Indian Round Table Conferences - Pakistan Resolution - Indian Muslim Nationalism - Cabinet Mission - Indian Independence Act - Radcliffe Line - Pakistan - Objectives Resolution - Yaum e Azadi Organisation: Muslim League Leaders: Sir Syed - Iqbal - Quaid-i-Azam - Liaquat Ali Khan - Bahadur Yar Jung - Abdur Rab Nishtar - Fatima Jinnah - Choudhary Rahmat Ali - Muhammad Ali Jouhar - Shaukat Ali - Zafar Ali Khan - Khawaja Nazimuddin - Abdul Qayyum Khan - Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy - Ghulam Ahmed Pervez - Shaukat Hayat Khan - Begum Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan - Activists: ZA Suleri - Hameed Nizami - Altaf Husain - Yusuf Khattak -
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