Name: Muhammad Haris Khan

Department: Political science

Semester: Fifth

Reg. No. : 136-FSS/BSPS/F16

Subject: Political Development In Pakistan

Article Topic: Muslim League Campaign For

Elections 1945-1946: Focus On Religious Lines
 Muslim League Campaign For Elections
1945-1946: Focus on Religious Lines

This article intends, as clear from the topic, to encompass the campaign of
All India Muslim League for elections 1945-46 in British India. In the elections
campaign, this article focuses on the religious and communal sentiments used by
All India Muslim League in elections 1945-46.
Before discussing the elections of 1945-46, let us have a brief background
of the elections of 1936-37 in British India.
All India Muslim League, a political party formed in 1906 by Muslim land
lords and feudals, contested the elections of 1936-37. The manifestoes presented
by AIML for Elections 1936-37 were:
1- The present constitution (1935 Act), with all its limitations, should be
replaced by a system of self government.
2- AIML would support greater provincial autonomy and safeguard the
interests of minorities.
3- The repeal of repressive laws.
4- The nationalization of the army.
5- Increased social fund for the rural poor.
These manifestoes of AIML did not garner support of the people which
resulted in a worse defeat of AIML in Elections 1936-37. AIML won 106 seats out
of 1585, while its rival, Indian National Congress, won 707 seats out of 1585. Thus,
AIML did not formed government in any of the province.
AIML learned a great deal about how to contest elections. Thus, in elections
of 1946-47, AIML gave a unique idea of a separate state to the Muslims of
Subcontinent and used religious and communal sentiments vigorously and
effectively in election campaign. The AIML presented the two points manifestoes
for elections 1946-47:
1- The Muslims of India are one nation.
 2- The only solution of the complicated constitutional problem of India the
creation of Pakistan.
The AIML strongly raised the slogan of “Islam and Muslims are in danger”i, in
order to catch the support of Muslims. They mobilize the Muslims along the
religious and communal lines. The Islamic appeals and symbolism are the major
thrust of League propagandaii. Mosques, because of their importance as centers
of Muslims life, were used effectively to spread League’s propagandaiii. Thus,
about 5000 mosques in Pakistan areas were used as League’s missionary sub
centersiv. The Quran was frequently paraded during the elections as the League’s
symbol, pledges to vote for it being made on itv.
The religious and communal propaganda by League worked effectively in its
favor. The leaders, politicians, ulemas, pirs, sajjada nashins and Muslim students,
associated with Muslim League, used religious sentiments in election campaign. In
August, 1945, Sir feroz Khan Noon, a well-known leader of Punjab and Viceroy’s
Executive Council, gave his resignation and joined Muslim League and requested
the people of Punjab to vote in favor of Muslim Leaguevi. He further said, “To vote
a non-Muslim League member will be against Islam and the Muslims”vii. Similarly,
Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, while joining Muslim League, said, “To oppose Jinnah
is to oppose Islam”viii.
As the Muslim’s religious thoughts were ruled were ruled by ulema, pirs and
sajjada nashins, therefore League effectively gained their support and pursued
them to issue fatwas in favor of Muslim League. Ulemas, associated with League,
not only issued fatwas but also became involved in active politicsix. The ulema
toured all the provinces, particularly Sindh, Punjab and NWFP, to garner support
for Leaguex. They declared, “Any man, who gives his vote to the opponents of the
League, must think of the ultimate consequencesof his action in terms of the
interests of his nation and the answer he would be called upon to produce on the
Day of Judgement”xi. In NWFP, led by Pir of Manki Sharif, Maulana Shabir Ahmad
Usmani, Pir Jama’at Ali Shah and Maulana Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi told their
Pathan gatherings that, “A Pathan is a Muslim first and a Muslim last, and thus he
must vote for Pakistan”xii.
In Punjab, the religious circles were dominated by pirs and sajjada nashins.
League garnered the support of leading pirs and sajjada nashins. Leading pirs
families, such as those of the pirs of Jalalpur, Jahanian Shah, Rajoa and Shah
Jiwana, once loyal to Unionist Party (a strong rival for league in Punjab) gave full
support to Muslim Leaguexiii. Syed Fazal Ahmad Shah, sajjada nashin of the shrine
of Hazrat Shah Nur Jamal, appealed to his murids, “I command all those people
who are in my Silsilah to do everything possible to help the Muslim League and
give their votes to it. All those people who do not act according to this
announcement should consider themselves no longer members of my Silsilah.
Signed Fazal Ahmad Shah, sajjada nashin Hazrat Shah Nur Jamal”xiv.
Apart from them, Muslim students, associated with League, were trained
to appeal to electorate along religious lines. They were advised to follow the
Prophet’s (SAW) example in all things the whole of the time they were in the
village. They were to join in the prayers at the mosques or lead them like “Holy
Worriors”xv. Their speeches were to be filled with emotional appeal and always to
commence with a text from the Quran, invoking God’s protection and praising His
Wisdomxvi.

Conclusion:
All India Muslim League succeeded in the elections of 1945-46. This was
possible because it had captured the support of the landlords, ulema, Muslim
students, pirs and sajjada nashins. Pirs played an important role in League’s
successxvii, and achieved its greater electoral success in such districts as Multan,
Jhang, Jehlum and Karnal, where it had obtained the support of the leading pirs
and sajjada nashinsxviii. The League’s demand for Pakistan was certainly
legitimized in the minds of the Muslim voters by its religious appeal, especially as
this was delivered by the ulema, pirs and sajjada nashins, the religious elite in the
countryxix.
Succeeding in elections, Muslim League won almost all the reserved seats
of Muslims and emerged as the sole representative party of Indian Muslims. The
League won all Muslim seats in the Central Assembly and 446 out of 495 Muslim
seats in provincial assembliesxx.
i
Barbara Metcolf, Hussain Ahmad Madani: The Jihad For Islam And India’s Freedom. One World Publications, p.108

ii
Talbout, I.A. “The 1946 Punjab Elections”, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 14, No. 1 (1980), Cambridge University
Press, p. 77

iii
Ibid

iv
Ibid

v
Ibid

vi
Fazlur Rahman, “The significance of 1945-46 Elections in the Creation of Pakistan”, Pakistan Journal of History
and Culture, vol. 29, no. 2, 2008, p.169

vii
Dawn, Delhi, 29 August 1945.

viii
Dawn, Delhi, 23 August 1945.

ix
Fazlur Rahman, “The Significance of 1945-46 Elections”, Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, vol. 29, no, 1,
2008, p.172

x
Fazlur Rahman, “The Significance of 1945-46 Elections”, Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, vol. 29, no, 1,
2008, p. 173

xi
Khalid, B. Sayeed, Pakistan: The Formative Phase 1857-1948 (London: Oxford University Press, 1968), p.204

xii
Fazlur Rahman, “The Significance of 1945-46 Elections”, Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, vol. 29, no, 1,
2008, p. 173

xiii
Talbout, I.A. “The 1946 Punjab Elections”, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 14, No. 1 (1980), Cambridge University
Press, p. 68-69

xiv
Nawa-e-Waqt (Lahore), 19 January 1946

xv
Talbout, I.A. “The 1946 Punjab Elections”, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 14, No. 1 (1980), Cambridge University
Press, p. 78

xvi
Muslim University Union Aligarh and Muslim University Muslim League, vol. 237, p. 71, FMA.

xvii
See The Eastern Times (Lahore), 15 March 1946, for an assessment of their role in the Muslim League’s success.

xviii
Talbout, I.A. “The 1946 Punjab Elections”, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 14, No. 1 (1980), Cambridge University
Press, p. 69.

xix
Talbout, I.A. “The 1946 Punjab Elections”, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 14, No. 1 (1980), Cambridge University
Press, p. 90.

xx
Hamid khan, Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan, Oxford University Press, Third Edition, 2017, p. 37.