Understanding Pakistan Project

Bahadur-Ali June 4th, 2007

By: Baha’adur Ali 

The discussion, not unexpectedly, seems to have evolved into the merits and de-merits of the Two Nation Theory (TNT). Simply speaking, the Two Nation Theory is the idea that Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations based on religious (and probably cultural) identity and are so different that they cannot live together. This, in short, became the central argument of the Pakistan Movement and Jinnah in the decade of the 1940s. It is, therefore, only logical to discuss this important piece of Pakistan’s History.

Also, several commentrators on the blog have taken conflicting positions on this issue. The anchor piece–while exploring the ideological prism of the Pakistan Movement–doesn’t explictly address the validity (or lack of it) of TNT. In fact, it takes the point that whether or not TNT is valid or not is irrelevant.  Sabahat Ashraf, in the commentary on the anchor piece, seems to take the opposite view. Of the several commentors, Asad Umar seems to suggest that TNT is alive and well–despite the creation of Bangladesh which is often credited with nullifying TNT–while Faisal–following Gandhi’s logic–doesn’t seem to support TNT at all in the first place.

To facilitate and add to this conversation , I browsed the internet for for a while to look for what is available on the subject. Here is what I found:

The first web-reference in this respect is the Wikipedia description on the Two Nation Theory. It quotes Allama Iqbal’s statement on the subject at the 1933 Round Table Conference:

In conclusion I must put a straight question to pundit Jawhar Lal, how is India’s problem to be solved if the majority community will neither concede the minimum safeguards necessary for the protection of a minority of 80 million people, nor accept the award of a third party; but continue to talk of a kind of nationalism which works out only to its own benefit? This position can admit of only two alternatives. Either the Indian majority community will have to accept for itself the permanent position of an agent of British imperialism in the East, or the country will have to be redistributed on a basis of religious, historical and cultural affinities so as to do away with the question of electorates and the communal problem in its present form. 

On Ulema and TNT: 

One area of great interest is Ulema’s contribution in Pakistan Movement and the creation of the broader two nation theory itself . This particular reference talks about the role of Syed Abul Ala Maududi–one of the best known and perhaps most influential Muslim scholars to have migrated to Pakistan after independence. It credits the Maulana for his contributions to the TNT. Quoting Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, a noted proponent of TNT as stating: 

“Mawlana Abul Ala Mawdudi?s careful analysis of the policies of the Indian National Congress opened many eyes. It did not win him too many adherents and followers, but it did serve the purpose of turning sincere and intelligent Muslims away from the Congress who mostly swelled the ranks of the Muslim League as followers of Quaid-i-Azam.”

To be precise, Ulemas were of two types, those that supported Congress and were against the Muslim League (referred to, in the above article, as Congressite Ulema) and those that came out in the favor of Muslim League. It is commonly believed that most Muslim Ulema, at first, favored a United India for the fear of dividing Muslims. However, once Pakistan became inevitable, they quickly joined the bandwagon and declared their intension to create an Islamic homeland. To that effect, it would be worthwhile to further explore Maulana’s views vis-a-vis Pakistan prior to the formation of Pakistan itself. Two books come to mind: 1) Masla-i-Quwmiyat (The problem of nationalism), and 2) Musalman awr Mawjudah Siyasi Kashmakash (Muslims and the present political crisis). The above post credits these books for providing the intellectual ammunition to Muslim League’s movement but an independent reading and assessment will be an interesting undertaking.

 Current Pakistani Government’s Turn-About on TNT:

During Musharraf’s tenure, there has been a major turnaround on the issue of TNT. Specifically, the government has decided underplay the religious differences between Hindus and Muslims as the precursor to partition and emphasize more the political and socio-economic factors prevalent at that time.  Here is a piece by Irfan Hussain–a noted Columnist for Dawn–that summarizes one of the views on the subject. This piece by Kamal Azfar–a one time Governor of Sindh–published in the Daily Dawn provides one of the contemporary views on issues of ideology, nationalism, and TNT that calls for the need for national reconciliation. Here is another piece that seems to argue in the favor of two nation theory.

Hindu-Congress Perspective on TNT:

The Congress and the Hindu-press has always been an opponent of the Two Nation Theory. In the Indian Psyche, the partition was the vivisection of the motherland and hence a historical abberation and must be reversed at the earliest opportunity. Looking at recent softening of Pakistan’s stance, here is a piece that engages in speculating if this is the beginning of the end of partition itself.  Here is another piece published in the Hindu that features an interview by Mir Jafarullah Khan Jamali — the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and asks the question if TNT is still relevant today?

Other References:

1. Shafiq Ali Khan, PhD Thesis (full text available), Evolution of Two Nation Theory with Reference to India and Pakistan, Sindh University Jamshoro [click here]

2. Syed Vali Reza Nasr, The Vanguard of Islamic Revolution: Jama’at e Islami of Pakistan, University of California Press, full-text available, [click here]

3. Khwaja Maruf, The Past in the Present: India, Pakistan and History, Open Democracy.Net [click here]

[Note to Readers: This post, ideally, is designed to be of encyclopedic nature. It is, therefore, a work in progress. We will update this with new reference on the subject even the debate itself has moved on to a new period in Pakistan’s History. Please visit again, if you’re interested. Also, if you want to identify a relevant reference that you want added, please post it in the comments section and we will incorporate it in future posts.  - Baha’adur Ali]

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