Habiba Dawood

History
Note on The Lahore
Resolution of 1940
In the open and spacious grounds of Minto Park with the majestic Lahore Fort and the grand Badshahi Mosque
of the Mughals in the background, 100,000 Muslims gathered in Lahore to listen to Mr Jinnah explain:

"The Hindus and the Muslims belong to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting
ideas.... To yoke* together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority and the other
as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and the final destruction... of such a state."

This idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims had already been defined by Allama Iqbal in his presidential
address to the Muslim League at Allahabad in 1930. Before him, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in 1870 had described
the Hindus and Muslims as two nations. In 1933, Chaudhry Rehmat Ali had demarcated ten Muslim regions in
India to be grouped under the name of Pakistan: Punjab, Afghania (North-West Frontier Province), Kashmir
and TAN for Balochistan. On 23 March 1940, the idea had shaped itself into a clear course of action to be
taken by Mr Jinnah. He became for the Muslims of India their Quaid-e-Azam or 'Great Leader'.

A.K. Fazl-ul-Haq, the Chief Minister of Bengal moved the resolution that adopted the goal of a separate state
for the Muslims in India to be called Pakistan. The motion was seconded by Chaudhry Khaliq-uz-Zaman and all
other prominent members of the All-India Muslim League. The gist of the resolution was the demand for a
Muslim state comprising geographically close regions where Muslims were in a majority.
Mr Gandhi reacted and said that the idea of partition meant the 'vivisection'* of Mother India and Mr Nehru
termed it a 'mad scheme.
But the course was set for the Muslim League and it was only a matter of time before a solution
to the communal problem was solved through a partition plan. The event that would speed it up
happened soon after. The world once again was engulfed in a war which would bring destruction
to Europe, put an end o colonization and imperialism, and bring in a new world order.

Thank you