Pak Studies

• Nehru Report


  The first attempt by the Hindus to frame a constitution for themselves, previously they were limited to trying to influence or modify British imposed constitutions
• Nehru Report


  • Appointed by the 1927 Madras Congress under Pandit Motilal Nehru to frame a constitution
  • Hindu members: Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, G.R. Pardhan, N.A. Joshi
  • Muslim members: Sir Ali Imam, Shoaib Qureshi
• Salient features of Nehru Report

  • Official language: Hindi should be made the official language
  • Status of N.W.F.P and Baluchistan: Full provincial status given
  • Separation of Sindh: Sindh should be separated from Bombay, if it were capable of bearing its expenditure
  • Control of Foreign Affairs, Army & Defense: Should be placed under the direct control of the Parliament and Viceroy
  • Separate Electorates: Should be replaced by joint electorates with reservation of seats for the minorities in proportion to their population (Muslim electorates should be abolished)
  • Full Responsible Government: Full responsible government on the model of the constitution of self-governing to be introduced in the Sub-Continent
• Quaid-e-Azam proposed amendments to Nehru Report


  • 1/3 Muslim representation in the central legislature
  • Muslim representation in Punjab and Bengal on the basis of population
  • Residuary powers should be given to the provinces instead of the central government
• Hindus rejected Quaid-e-Azam's amendments, and the Muslims rejected the Nehru Report
• Quaid-e-Azam issued his fourteen points in reply to the Nehru Report in 1929
• Round Table Conference


  • Viceroy Lord Irwin announced the plan, total of 89 members, 58 from various communities and rest from the Princely states and Political parties of England
  • Congress boycotted the 1st conference
  • Muslim Delegates were Sir Agha Khan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Moulana Muhammad Ali Jouhar, Sir Muhammad Shafi, Sir Zaffarullah Khan
• 1st Round Table Conference

  1. Conference held in three sessions and started on November 12, 1930, inaugurated by the King George V

  2. It was agreed upon the federal system will be introduced in India

  3. India would be given the status of Federation, under the British Govt

  4. The Federation will be comprises of British India and Indian Princely States

  5. Full representative government responsible to Provincial and Central Legislature would be established

  6. All the Ministries except Defense, Interior and Foreign Affairs will be given to local ministers
• The British decided to negotiate with Gandhi, so he was released from Jail and met to Viceroy Lord Irwin
• A pact was signed between Gandhi and Irwin on March 5, 1931 called Gandhi-Irwin Pact
• Civil dis-obedience movement was ended with communal riots in Kanpur, UP, where one thousand Muslims were killed
• 2nd Round Table Conference

  1. Second round table Conference held in September 1931 to January 1932 in London

  2. Congress attended this Conference

  3. Allama Iqbal, Jinnah, Sir Agha Khan were representatives of Muslims

  4. Gandhi was alone to represent the Congress & claimed to be a sole spokesman of Indians and was not ready to accommodate the other minorities of India

  5. Delegates did not reach on any agreement and conference ended
• British Government declared Communal Award in 1932 in which Separate electorates were ensured
• 3rd Round Table Conference

  1. Conference begun in November 1932 & ended in December 1932

  2. Ch. Rehmat Ali distributed "Now or Never" in which he called for a Federal State for Muslims named Pakistan

  3. Jinnah was not invited in third Conference

  4. Congress was absent

  5. No results of this Conference and ended on a good will gesture
• Congress Ministries (1937-39)


  • Congress formed their ministries in July 1937
  • Twenty-seven months of the Congress rule were like a nightmare for the Muslims of South Asia
  • Congress started a Muslim Mass Contact Movement, with the aim to convince Muslims that there were only two political parties in India, i.e. the British and the Congress
  • Congress declared Hindi as the national language and Deva Nagri as the official script
  • The Congress flag was given the status of national flag, slaughtering of cows was prohibited and it was made compulsory for the children to worship the picture of Gandhi at school
  • Band-i-Mataram, an anti-Muslim song was made the national anthem of the country
  • Religious intolerance was the order of the day, Muslims were not allowed to construct new mosques, Hindus play drums in front of mosques when Muslims were praying
  • The Congress government introduced a new educational policy in the provinces under their rule known as the Warda Taleemi Scheme, the main plan was to tell the Muslim children that all the people living in India were Indian and thus belonged to one nation
  • In Bihar and C. P. the Vidya Mandar Scheme was introduced according to which Mandar education was made compulsory at elementary level
  • The Congress ministries did their best to weaken the economy of Muslims, they closed the doors of government offices for them, which was one of the main sources of income for the Muslims in the region, they also harmed Muslim trade and agriculture
  • When Hindu-Muslim riots broke out due to these biased policies of the Congress ministries, the government pressured the judges; decisions were made in favor of Hindus and Muslims were sent behind bars
• At the outbreak of the World War II, the Viceroy proclaimed India's involvement without prior consultations with the main political parties
• Congress demanded an immediate transfer of power in return for cooperation of the war efforts, the British government refused
• As a result Congress resigned from power
• Quaid-i-Azam asked the Muslims to celebrate December 22, 1939 as a Day of Deliverance and thanksgiving in token of relief from the tyranny and oppression of the Congress rule
• Pakistan Resolution


  Turning point in the history of Pakistan, provided a way to the Muslims, leading to the destination of complete independence
• Hindus clearly stated that they would not tolerate any other community in India by saying "India belongs to the Hindus and if Muslims wish to live in India, they should accept Hinduism"
• Congress neglected the Muslims in every field and supported the Hindus. It did not even recognize Muslims as a considerable party in India.
• Nehru stated that "There are only two parties in the country, the Congress and the British"
• Muslim leaders who proposed the idea of Indian partition

  • Syed Ahmed Shaheed
  • Allama Iqbal
  • Syed Jamaluddin Afghani
  • Abdul Halim Sharar
• Allama Iqbal's proposal


  "India is a continent of human beings belonging to different languages, having different religion. Therefore, I demand the formation of separate Muslim State for the Muslims of India"
• Chaudhry Rehmat Ali's scheme

  "North of India is Muslim and we shall keep it Muslim. Not only that, we will make it a Muslim State". He coined the word 'Pakistan' which means "The Land of the Pure"
• The Pakistan Resolution


  1. Passed on 23rd March, 1940 at the annual session of Muslim League in Lahore

  2. Moved by Bengal Chief Minister Maulvi Fazlul Haq

  3. Seconded by Chaudhry Khaliq-uz-Zaman

  4. Stated that no constitutional plan would be workable unless geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions where Muslims are numerically in majority
• The Pakistan Resolution was unanimously accepted by the Muslims but Hindu leaders and newspapers raised a hue and cry, referring to the partition as "Vivisection of Motherland"
• Importance of Pakistan Resolution


  • Landmark in the history of Muslims of India, resulted in the creation of Pakistan, strengthened the Two-Nation Theory which was the basis of Muslim struggle for independence
• Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941 and had taken over Philippines, Malaysia and come to the borders of Assam. Japan could easily attack India.
• The Cripps Proposal


  1. Give India Dominion status after WWII

  2. Promise of the formation of a Constituent Assembly to finalize the Constitution

  3. Princely States to be free to join India or remain independent

  4. Provinces could decide to be separate from India and frame their own Constitution

  5. Till further notice the Defense would be handled by the British government
• The Cripps Proposal put up the point of division of India into a number of independent States which was against its unity
• The Cripps Proposal did not declare when the dominion status would be given, the declaration was vague
• Gandhi criticized Cripps Proposal as 'post dated Cheaque on a failing bank'
• The Muslim League rejected the Cripps Proposal as it did not clearly state the decision of partition & formation of a Muslim State
• Jinnah expressed disappointment that the Cripps proposals' main objective was the creation of a new Indian Union and Pakistan was treated only "as a remote possibility"
• Both the Congress and the Muslim League rejected the Cripps proposals by a Working Committee resolution dated 11 April 1942
• The Quit India Movement

  1. Launched by M.K. Gandhi for immediate independence of India from British

  2. Introduced at the Bombay session of All India Congress Committee on 8 August, 1942

  3. Before the movement was launched, Gandhi and other Indian leaders were arrested and Congress was banned and declared as illegal

  4. Many other leaders started an underground movement till 1944

  5. Upon his release in 1944 Gandhi continued his resistance and went on a 21-day fast
• Quaid-e-Azam considered Quit India Movement as anti-Muslim action of the Congress and declared it as political black-mailing
• The Muslim League, in reply to "Quit India" slogans by the Congress, demanded "First Divide and then Quit"