The Direct Action Day

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League, named August 16th, 1946, “Direct
Action Day” and asked Muslims nationwide to “halt all commerce.”

This was done to exert pressure on the British government to accede to the League’s demand
that the nation is divided along religious lines, so facilitating the establishment of a Pakistan
dominated by Muslims.

‘Direct Action Day’ led to the start of multiple violent incidents that took place over the course of
a few days, becoming known as the Week of the Long Knives.

What led to this situation?

When British Prime Minister Clement Attlee dispatched a three-person Cabinet Mission to India
in 1946, the struggle for Indian independence from the British Raj had reached a critical point.

The Mission discussed initial proposals for the structure of the future Dominion of India and its
government with leaders of the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League.

Under pressure from Jinnah’s Muslim League, the Mission proposed an alternative plan to
divide India into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Jinnah, a former Congressman and Indian Nationalist who is now the leader of the Muslim
League, accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan of June 6. Later on June 24th, Congress also
accepted the mission’s proposals.

In a news conference on July 10, Jawaharlal Nehru stated that Congress had only committed to
taking part in the Constituent Assembly and that it saw itself as free to alter or modify the
Cabinet Mission Plan as it saw fit.

Jinnah decided to boycott the Constituent Assembly in order to apply pressure on Congress and
the British through “Direct Action” because he feared Hindu dominance in the assembly.

At a press conference in July 1946, Jinnah announced his intention to form Pakistan. He
threatened to take “direct action” if the Muslims were denied Pakistan.

Jinnah declared August 16, 1946, to be “Direct Action Day” in order to establish a separate
Muslim state

Where did the Direct action lead to?

Most spectators had believed, up until the riots, that the tensions between the Congress Party
and the Muslim League would be settled in some way and that freedom would bring a united
India.

In the end, the riots did heighten Muslims’ feelings of alienation, which fueled their yearning for
their own country.

Both communities became aware of the degree of the devastation they could inflict on one
another if “forced” to coexist through the bloodshed.

Days of conflict underlined Jinnah’s claims, emphasized the divisions, and led to partition.
Ironically, Jinnah never intended for this bloodshed to occur.

Conclusion

16 August 1946 will always be remembered as the day when the most primal human instinct of
violence first surfaced as members of one group collected up members of another and
slaughtered them in cold blood using swords, knives, cleavers, rifles, and metal rods.

With many thousand fatalities in their wake, these sectarian riots rank among the most savage
acts of violence in India’s history.