The Lahore Resolution: Context & Significance

Introduction

The Lahore Resolution was a formal political statement adopted by the All-India Muslim League in its 27th session held in Minto Park, Lahore on 22–24 March 1940. The resolution called for the creation of “independent states” comprising geographically contiguous units where Muslims were in majority. It was the crystallisation and synthesising of more than 100 similar proposals of the division of the Subcontinent on a religious basis put forth by individuals in print or at different forums

Context

To fully understand the significance of the timing of this momentous event we must keep the following historical context in view

1. Start of WW2: The start of World War 2 made the British desperate to get the support of the Indians for war efforts. Muslim League thought it an appropriate time to take advantage of this desperation of the British Government
2. WWI Experience: The experience of WW1 had taught the Indian Muslims a lesson; how the British capitulated in the face of organized agitation of Congress to annul the partition of Bengal
3. Dissatisfaction of Indian Muslim Elite: Dissatisfaction of Indian Muslim elite with the way Congress treated them while forming governments in the provinces after the 1937 elections. None of the prominent Muslims was inducted as ministers in these governments
4. Agitational Politics: Aligarh Movement had by then created a critical mass of not only educated leaders but also workers in the form of students. Both, Muslim leaders and students, had got the experience of agitational politics during the Khilafat Movement. Muslim league had been reorganized after the return of Quaid from the UK and was getting a strong foothold even in the villages
5. Division of Subcontinent Proposals: After Allama Iqbal’s 1930 Allahabad address proposing the disunion of the Subcontinent on a religious basis, Ch Rehmat Ali’s proposal of Pakistan was in the field. Both these proposals had gained widespread acceptance among the Indian Muslims-elite, street, and intellectuals. Therefore, by 1938–39, the idea of separation was strongly gaining ground. The Sindh Provincial Muslim League Conference held its first session in Karachi in October 1938 and adopted a resolution that recommended devising a scheme of the constitution under which Muslims may attain full independence. AK Fazal ul Haque from Bengal who was not in the Muslim League was quite convinced in favour of separation. The idea was more vividly expressed by Quaid himself in his various articles and speeches.
6. Congress Rule: Congress rule from 1937–39 was a blessing in disguise as the Muslim masses in general and the Muslim League, in particular, had a taste of things to come if Congress got powers after the British left India. They realized what lay ahead for the Muslim majority provinces once it came to dominate the centre; the heightened activity of Hindu Mahasabha, the hoisting of Congress tricolour, the singing of Bande Mataram, the Vidya Mandir scheme in the Central Provinces, and the Wardha scheme of education, all were clear proof of Congress’s bent of mind.

Course

The session was held on 22–24 March 1940, at Minto(Iqbal) Park, Lahore. The welcome address was made by Sir Shah Nawaz Khan of Mamdot, the chairman of the local reception committee. The various draft texts for the final resolution/draft were deliberated over by the Special Working Committee of the All-India Muslim League

The resolution text, unanimously approved by the Subject Committee, accepted the concept of a united homeland for Muslims and recommended the creation of an independent Muslim state.

The resolution was moved in the general session by AK Fazal ul Haque, the chief minister of undivided Bengal, and was seconded by Chaudry Khaliq uz Zaman from the United Provinces, Its operative part was as follows

“No constitutional plan would be workable or acceptable to the Muslims unless geographical contiguous units are demarcated into regions that should be so constituted with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary”

Full Text of the Lahore Resolution

Resolved at the Lahore Session of All-India Muslim League held on 22nd-24th March 1940.

(1) While approving and endorsing the action taken by the Council and the Working Committee of the All Indian Muslim League as indicated in their resolutions dated the 10th of August, 17th and 18th of September and 22nd of October, 1939, and 3rd February 1940 on the constitutional issues, this Session of the All-Indian Muslim League emphatically reiterates that the scheme of federation embodied in the Government of India Act 1935, is totally unsuited to, and unworkable in the peculiar conditions of this country and is altogether unacceptable to Muslim India.

(2) Resolved that it is the considered view of this Session of the All India Muslim League that no constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principle, namely that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North-Western and Eastern Zones of India, should be grouped to constitute “Independent States” in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.

(3) That adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided in the constitution for minorities in these units and in these regions for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them; and in other parts of India where the Mussalmans are in a minority, adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards shall be specially provided in the constitution for them and other minorities for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them.

(4) This Session further authorizes the Working Committee to frame a scheme of constitution in accordance with these basic principles, providing for the assumption finally by the respective regions of all powers such as defense, external affairs, communications, customs and such other matters as may be necessary.”

Controversy: One State or Two States?

There remains a debate on whether the resolution envisioned two sovereign states in the eastern and western parts of British India. It was later exploited by Sh Mujib ur Rehman when he presented his Six Point Agenda for the future of Pakistan in 1966. Abdul Hashim of the Bengal Muslim League interpreted the text as a demand for two separate countries. In 1946, Prime Minister H. S. Suhrawardy of Bengal, a member of the All India Muslim League, proposed the United Bengal plan with support from both Muslim and Hindu leaders, as well as the Governor of Bengal.

Despite ongoing disagreements over the resolution’s interpretation, it was widely accepted that it called for a separate Muslim state. Opposing opinions argue that the phrase “independent states” suggests that Muslim-majority provinces like Punjab and Sindh would be independent of each other, disregarding the phrase “geographically contiguous units.” These opponents often reference Bengali nationalists who disagreed with the idea of one unified Muslim state, accusing their adversaries of misinterpreting the “spirit” of the resolution.

The majority of the Muslim League leadership maintained that the resolution called not only for the separation of India but for the creation of two states: one Muslim-majority and one Hindu-majority. Therefore, it indeed called for independence and the establishment of a single Muslim state. Eventually, the name “Pakistan” was adopted for this envisioned state.

Significance

The passing of the Lahore Resolution is one of the most important events after the formation of the Muslim League in the long struggle of Indian Muslims from a separate identity to a separate status with specific safeguards to a separate state with a specific territory

1. Name Pakistan goes Viral: The name Pakistan was not used in the resolution and the official name of the resolution was Lahore Resolution. It was the Hindu newspapers including Partap, Bande Matram, Milap, Tribune, etc., who ironically coined the name Pakistan Resolution. However, the idea was appreciated by the Muslim masses and the Resolution is more known as Pakistan Resolution.
2. Legitimacy of Demand: It was the first formal demand of the Indian Muslims, politically articulated by a representative party and presented in a formal platform-of-two nation theory. It was now an official demand of the Indian Muslims presented by their representative organisation to counter the demand of the Indian National Congress of a united India after the British left India. Muslim League was thus able to win the 1945 elections based onthis Resolution
3. Leadership Transformation: Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s address to the Lahore conference was, according to Stanley Wolpert, the moment when Jinnah, a former proponent of Hindu-Muslim unity, irrevocably transformed himself into the leader of the fight for an independent Pakistan. He becomes from Mohammed Ali Jinnah to Quaid-e- Azam
4. Vision and Roadmap: Lahore Resolution not only gave a vision to the Indian Muslims but also provided them with a roadmap for achieving this vision. It gave new energy and courage to the Muslims of the region who gathered around Quaid-i-Azam from the platform of the Muslim League to struggle for their freedom. The dynamic leadership of the Quaid and the commitment and devotion of the followers made it possible for them to achieve an independent state within seven years of their struggle, and that too when the odds were against them.

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