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A Challenge to Geographical,
Racial and Lingual Nationalism
The Pakistan Idea:
A Challenge to Geographical,
Racial and Lingual Nationalism
Shamim Anwar
Edition: 1994
ISBN 969-8164-02-2
Price:
Contents
Preface ....... IV
Introduction ....... VB
Preface
Introduction
Definition of some
1 Quranic concepts
3 Approach to History
18ee Chapter 1.
2Sce Chapter 1
45
concepts that have swept the pcopI..: ua ~HL'II- Wl:'~ 111 LllU
East often uncritically and blindly. lie sang songs of
geographical nationalism and worship of the native lund.
He sang:
Then again:
"As they made 'native land' the candle of
the assembly, qlC human race has been
divided into tribes and teams."
PART I
"TOLU-E-ISLAM".l
The 1940 Lahore Resolution of the All-India Muslim
League was like disturbing the hornets' nest. Matlubul
Hassan Sayyid describes the reaction of the Hindus as
follows:-
"The Lahore Resolution of thE! League was followed
by an in;unediate and intensified campaign of
misrepresentation of the League demand. Every scrap of
Hindu opinion rose in opposition and some of the Hindu
leaders even went to the length of '.lsing lmdignified
words. Judgments were iJassed the day after the
publication of the League Resolution. Facts and figures
were quoted in utter contradiction of truth. Contorted
narrations of incidents of history were made. Examples
with no bearing were cited. Dissimilar analogies were
employed. Frothy sentiments were surging up. Muslims
Were warned against their own decision and their own
leadership."2
Why the reaction should have been so fierce and so
intense and so hostile is an interesting field of study.
There is still a scholarly vacuum here, although Nirad
Chaudhry's "Continent of Circe" is an excellent and
perhaps the only one of its kind, in attempting an
lIqbal had the consolation 'of seeing this issue a few days before his
death, knowing that his me~sage was in safe hands.
2Almost all this material is now enshrined in a book titled "Tehl'ik-e-
Pakistan Aur Parwcz", published by the Tolu-e-Islam Trust in AUb'Ust
1989, when Alima Perwez was only conferred Tchrik-c-Pakistun Gold
Medal"_
80
AHIMSA4
•
Allover the world Mahatama Gandhi is remembered
as a messiah of ahimsa. However, Muslims in India had a
very different experience. One or two practical instances
"Would suffice. In august 1938 an army bill was presented
in the central assembly. The congress opposed it. The
reason was not that they were against violence. The
reason was that the army was recruited mostly from the
Punjab and that too mostly from "one particular group",
that is 70% of the Muslims. If the British recruited it,
equally from all provinces and equally from amongst the
Hindus they'had no objection. The government must
give up the partiality towards the "martial races" and
against the "non-martial" races. 5.
IThe writer of this paper had to study Hindi Wi such for two years in o.n
othorwise English medium School
2T6Iu-e-Islam October 1940 pages 78-83
3Tolu-e-lslam December 1940 - page 64
olNon-violence.
6Tolu-e-Islam December 1938 page 49 and 50.
91
lQuotcd by A.B. Ra.jput "Muslim League Yesterday & Today" page 35.
2Quoted by A.B. RSJput "Muslim League Yesterday & Today" page 37.
93
PART II
"AKllAND HINDUSTAN"
In the previous chapter an attempt was made to
present the story of how the "two-nution" theory was
attacked by "Indian natiunalism". In this chapter Lhe
story will be continued to prove, thruugh the direct
quotations of people concerned, that this wa::; an
ideological battle and nut merely a political tangle.
Whatever else the all-Indian National Cong}'e::;s may
claim, it was in essence an organisatiun that represented
a particular philosophy and a particular culture. The
truth cannot be hidden permanently and it sprung to the
lips of many who otherwise presented a different face.
"PAKISTAN"
The greatest spokesman of .the "Pakistan Idea" in
these years was Jinnah. There was absolutely no
ambiguity of any kind in his mind and he knew exactly
what he was struggling for. For ten years, 1937-47, he
repeatedly clarified his stand and the Muslim India
demand for the establishment of Pakistan.
The question that arises iSj why did the Ulema play
such a role? This is a very relevant question, and
demands clarification at this stage.
lRcent Spe{.'Che~ & WritillW' uf!IIr. Jinllah Vol tlllle I p"lg"e :LO:L.
2Recent Spct'Clll's & Writings uf tlTI'. Jilliwh Vulume r page ~Ol.
3ibid pU!-ic 20:i.
4Quted by I. H. QureHhi in the "Strug};k' fur PakiHtan" J!;(g~' 11;7.
IiRe(.:(.:nt Speechcs und Writings of Mr. Jinnuh - Vul. II'HgL' 4:W.
116
12 Conclusion
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(1) Ahmed, Jamiluddin ·Ed. "Some recent Speeches and
WritinbTS of Mr. Jilluah". Volume I.
Sh. Muhammad Ashraf Lahore -
HJGL
APPENDIX A
ISLAM
As described by the Qtiran, Noah, Had, Saleh,
Ibrahim, Musa, Isa and Muhammad (P.B.U.H) enjoined
upon Man to' say YES to the challenges of life and
conquer the universe by harnessing the laws of Nature.
The power acquired thereby ought to be used for the
benefit of the human Tace by harmonising with the
Permanent Values. This harmony with the Permanent
Values develops the SELF of Man which he possesses in
latent form, and is the ultimate objective of human
living.
PERMANENT VALUES
Say:
APPENDIX B
Comparison between Madhab and Deen
A comparative study of religion ormadhhab, ahd
deen, should help us understand the vital and
fundamental characteristics of each and the differences
between the two:
APPENDIX C
Circe's triumph
"They stood at the gate of the goddess with flowing
tresses, and heard her, Circe, sweetly singing before her
loom, as she walked to and fro weaving an imperishable
web, gorgeous Rlld dazzling, such as only goddesses can
make.
APPENDIX D
Iqbal as a statesman
Ms ShamimAnwar
In his book, 'Iqbal ke Aakhri do suaI', Ashiq Hussain
Batalvi concludes that it has to be admitted that Dr.
Iqbal was not statcsrnan ..... at least not in the sense as
Mr. Jinnah, Sir Fazle Hussain and Maulana Mohammad
Ali were ... He was essentially an idealist. A.H. Batalvi
goes on to say that 'His two experiences in practical
politics were his selection to the Punjab provincial
assembly in 1927 and his attenuance of the round Table
Conference in 1931. He found both these experiences
terribly uncomfortable, what with their conspiratorial,
deceitful, sychophantic and hypocritical atmosphere,
particularly of the Round Table conference which he
quit', H.T. Sorely has added another dimension to this
aspect ofIqbal's life. In his essay 'Iqbal' he says: "The life
of Mohammad Iqbal was completely uneventful...he lived
a placid, sheltered existence for 65 years ... He was a man
who sat in a study polishing words. He did not live
events .... He did not live dangerously ... " Apparently,
these quotes deny Iqbal the noise and deen of agitationa}
politics, or the spectatular glamour of a military victory
on the battlefield, but such was the statesmanship of
Iqbal that sitting in a corner of a dilapidated room on
McLeod Road or from a bouse on Mayo Ruad, he was able
to throw a challenge to the World political trends and
concepts in the teeth of Hindu, British and even Muslim
opposition, not only philosophically and theoretically,
but in actual fact, in practical concrete form that is
Pakistan today. The greatness and uniqueness of Iqbal's
146
APPENDIX E
Role of the Ulema in Pakistan
after Independence
Jamaat~i-Islami under Maulana Abulala Maududi
was one of the many religious organisations, others being
Jamiat-i-Ulema, Ahrar, Momins etc., who entered
Pakistan after independence. Their entry has been
tragic, and is continuing to be so, for the establishment
of Iqbal's and Jinnah's Pakistan. Having failed to destroy
the movement, they decided to destroy it from within or
control it theocratically. In the post-independence period
they made at "least two attempts to disrupt Pakistan.
First by trying to create disaffection in the army by
issuing a 'fatwa' on the Kashmir War of 1947-48. C.J.
Adams describes it merely as "careless l'emarks"ll
Secondly, by creating law and order situation in the anti-
Ahmadiyah riots in 1935. Keith Callal'd confirms that
"the agitation against the Ahmadis was led Ly religious
leaders, many of whom had previously engaged in
politics on the side ,of the opponents of Pakistan,"2
However, before the inquiry commission none of these
Ulemas could even define a "Muslim".i
As early as 1951, the ulema started their struggle to
preserve themselves as a class, almost 0]1 the style of a
Trade Union. Thirty-one Ulema met in Karachi and
announced their "Fundamental Principles of an Islamic
State". Article Nine reads as followers: "'fhe recognised
Muslim Schools of thought shall have within the limits
11956 Constitution.
2Charles J. Adams, "TheIdwiolO' of the Maulana Maududi", pugc :·HJ3.
155