I have considered from every possible point
of view the scheme of Pakistan as formulated by the Muslim League. As an
Indian I have examined its implications for the future of India as a
whole. As a Muslim I have examined its likely effects upon the fortunes
of Muslims of India.
Considering the scheme in all its aspects I
have come to the conclusion that it is harmful not only for India as a
whole but for Muslims in particular. And in fact it creates more
problems than it solves.
I must confess that the very term Pakistan
goes against my grain. It suggests that some portions of the world are
pure while others are impure. Such a division of territories into pure
and impure is un-Islamic and is more in keeping with orthodox Brahmanism
which divides men and countries into holy and unholy - a division which
is a repudiation of the very spirit of Islam. Islam recognises no such
division and the prophet says, 'God has made the whole world a mosque
for me.'
Further, it seems that the scheme of Pakistan
is a symbol of defeatism and has been built up on the analogy of the
Jewish demand for a national home. It is a confession that Indian
Muslims cannot hold their own in India as a whole and would be content
to withdraw to a corner specially reserved for them.
One can sympathise with the aspiration of the
Jews for such a national home, as they are scattered all over the world
and cannot in any region have any effective voice in the
administration. The conditions of Indian Muslims is quite otherwise.
Over 90 million in number, they are in quantity and quality a
sufficiently important element in Indian life to Influence decisively
all questions of administration and policy. Nature has further helped
them by concentrating them in certain areas.
In such a context, the demand for Pakistan
loses all force. As a Muslim, I for one am not prepared for a moment to
give up my right to treat the whole of India as my domain and to share
in the shaping of its political and
economic life. To me it seems a sure sign of cowardice to give up what
is my patrimony and content myself with a mere fragment of it.
As is well known, Mr Jinnah's Pakistan scheme
is based on his two nation theory. His thesis is that India contains
many nationalities based on religious differences. Of them the two major
nations, the Hindus and Muslims, must as separate nations have
separate states. When Dr Edward Thompson
once pointed out to Mr Jinnah that Hindus and Muslims live side by side
in thousands of Indian towns, villages and hamlets, Mr Jinnah replied
that this in no way affected their separate nationality. Two nations
according to Mr Jinnah confront one
another in every hamlet, village and town, and he, therefore, desires
that they should be separated into two states.
I am prepared to overlook all other aspects
of the problem and judge it from the point of view of Muslim interests
alone. I shall go still further and say that if it can be shown that the
scheme of Pakistan can in any way benefit Muslims I would be prepared to
accept it myself and also to work for its acceptance by others. But the
truth is that even If I examine the scheme from the point of view of the
communal interests of the Muslims themselves, I am forced to the
conclusion that it can in no way benefit them or allay their legitimate
fears.
Let us consider dispassionately the
consequences which will follow if we give effect to the Pakistan scheme.
India will be divided into two States, one with a majority of Muslims
and the other of Hindus. In the Hindustan State there will remain three
and a half crores of Muslims scattered in
small minorities all over the land. With 17 per cent in U.P, 12 per cent
in Bihar and 9 per cent in Madras, they will be weaker than they are
today in the Hindu majority provinces. They have had their homelands in
these regions for almost a thousand years and built up well known
centres of Muslim culture and
civilisation there.
They will awaken overnight and discover that
they have become alien and foreigners. Backward industrially,
educationally and economically, they will be left to the mercies to what
would become an unadulterated Hindu raj.
On the other hand, their position within the
Pakistan State will be vulnerable and weak. Nowhere in Pakistan will
their majority be comparable to the Hindu majority in the Hindustan
States.
In fact, their majority will be so slight
that it will be offset by the economical, educational and political lead
enjoyed by non-Muslims in these areas. Even if this were not so and
Pakistan were overwhelmingly Muslim in population, it still could hardly
solve the problem of Muslims in Hindustan.
Two states confronting one another, offer no
solution of the problem of one another's minorities, but only lead to
retribution and reprisals by introducing a system of mutual hostages.
The scheme of Pakistan therefore solves no problem for the Muslims. It
cannot safeguard their rights where they are in a minority nor as
citizens of Pakistan secure them a position in Indian or world affairs
which they would enjoy as citizens of a major State like the Indian
Union.
It may be argued that if Pakistan is so much
against the interests of the Muslims themselves, why should such a large
section of Muslims be swept away by its lure? The answer is to be found
in the attitude of certain communal extremists among the Hindus. When
the Muslim League began to speak of
Pakistan, they read into the scheme a sinister pan-Islamic conspiracy
and began to oppose it out of fear that it foreshadowed a combination of
Indian Muslim with trans-Indian Muslims States.
The opposition acted as an incentive to the
adherents of the League. With simple though untenable logic they
argued that if Hindus were so opposed to Pakistan, surely it must be of
benefit to Muslims. An atmosphere of emotional frenzy was created which
made reasonable appraisement impossible and swept away, especially the younger and more impressionable among
the Muslims. I have, however, no doubt that when the present frenzy has
died down and the question can be considered dispassionately, those who
now support Pakistan will themselves repudiate it as harmful for Muslim
Interests.
The formula which I have succeeded in making
the Congress accept secures whatever merit the Pakistan scheme contains
while all its defects and drawbacks are avoided. The basis of Pakistan
is the fear of interference by the Centre in Muslim majority areas as
the Hindus will be in a majority in the Centre. The Congress meets this
fear by granting full autonomy to the provincial units and vesting all
residuary power in the provinces. It also has provided for two lists of
Central subjects, one compulsory and one optional, so that if any
provincial unit so wants, it can administer all subjects itself except a
minimum delegated to the Centre. The Congress scheme therefore ensures
that Muslim majority provinces are internally free to develop as they
will, but can at the same time influence the Centre on all issues which
affect India as a whole.
The situation in India is such that all
attempts to establish a centralised and
unitary government are bound to fail. Equally doomed to failure is the
attempt to divide India into two States. After considering all aspects
of the question, I have come to the conclusion that the only solution
can be on the lines embodied in the Congress formula which allows room
for development both to the provinces and to India as a whole. The
Congress formula meets the fear of the Muslim majority areas to allay
which the scheme of Pakistan was formed. On the other hand, it avoids
the defects of the Pakistan scheme which would bring the Muslims where
they are in a minority under a purely Hindu government.
I am one of those who considers the present
chapter of communal bitterness and differences as a transient phase in
Indian life. I firmly hold that they will disappear when India assumes
the responsibility of her own destiny. I am reminded of a saying of Mr
Gladstone that the best cure for a man's fear of the water was to throw
him into it. Similarly India must assume responsibilities and administer
her own affairs before fears and suspicions can be fully
allayed.
When India attains her destiny, she will
forget the chapter of communal suspicion and conflict and face the
problems of modern life from a modern point of view. Differences will no
doubt persist, but they will be economic, not communal. Opposition among
political parties will continue, but it
will be based, not on religion but on economic and political issues.
Class and not community will be the basis
of future alignments, and policies will be shaped accordingly.
If It be argued that this is only a faith
which events may not justify would say that in any case the nine crores
of Muslims constitute a factor which nobody can ignore and whatever
the circumstances they are strong enough to safeguard their own
destiny.
[India Wins Freedom, Orient Longman, 1997,
pp. 150-152]
