Lahore Resolution 1940

With the introduction of political reforms in India by the British, the Muslims realized that
they would become a permanent minority in a democratic system and it would never be
possible for them to protect their fundamental rights. They only constituted one-fourth of
the total Indian population and were much lesser in number than the majority Hindu
community. To protect their political, social, and religious rights they first demanded
separate electorates. However, due to the political developments that took place in the
country, they realized that even the right of separate electorates would not be enough and
they had to search for some other long-term solution.
Muhammad Iqbal, the poet-philosopher in his famous Allahabad address made it clear that
Islam has its own social and economic system, and to implement it a political entity was
required. When Jinnah came back to India to reorganize Muslim League and to make it a
political party of the Muslim masses, he got the opportunity to interact with Iqbal. Iqbal
through his letters tried to persuade Jinnah that the only solution available was a separate
state for the Indian Muslims where they could spend their lives according to the teachings of
the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW). Though Jinnah was convinced by the late
1930s, being a realist he was not ready to announce the new plan until he was confident that
the vast majority of the Muslims were behind him. The overwhelming support from the
Muslim masses for his call to celebrate Day of Deliverance on December 22, 1939, was a vote
of confidence given by the Muslim Community in the leadership of Jinnah, whom they by
then had started considering as their Quaid-i-Azam.
Organization
With the clarity of mind and backing of the Muslim community behind him, Quaid-i-Azam
called for the 27th annual session of the All India Muslim League to be held from March 22
to 24, 1940 at Lahore. Sir Shah Nawaz Khan of Mamdot was made the head of the reception
committee and Main Bashir Ahmad was nominated as secretary of the session. Prominent
leaders including Chaudhry Khaliquzzam, Nawab Muhammad Ismail Khan, Nawab Bahadur
Yar Jang, A.K. Fazlul Haq, Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, Abdullah Haroon, Qazi Muhammad Isa,
I.I. Chundrigar, Sardar Aurangzeb Khan, Khawaja Nazimuddin, Abdul Hashim and Malik
Barkat Ali, etc. attended the session.
Khaksar Tragedy
Due to the Khaksar Tragedy that took place on March 19, Sir Sikandar Hayat and others tried
to persuade Jinnah to postpone the session but the Quaid was not ready to delay it. To
participate in the session, he reached Lahore by train on March 21. He went straight to Mayo
Hospital to see the wounded Khaksars. By doing so he managed to handle well the issue of
Khaksar disturbances. On his arrival, Jinnah told the print media that the All India Muslim
League will make a historic decision in the upcoming session.
Quaid-i-Azam’s Address
The venue of the session was Minto Park near Badshahi Masjid and Lahore Fort. The
inaugural session was planned at around three in the afternoon on March 22. People started
coming in the morning and by the afternoon the park was jam-packed. According to a rough
estimate, around 100,000 attended the public meeting. At the beginning of the session, the
welcome address was presented by the Nawab of Mamdot. This was followed by the
historical speech of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
The Quaid in his two hours presidential address in English narrated the events that took
place in the past few months and concluded, “Hindus and the Muslims belong to two
different religious philosophies, social customs and literature. They neither inter-marry nor
inter-dine together, and, indeed, they belong to two different civilizations that are based
mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Their concepts on life and of life are different. It
is quite clear that Hindus and Muslims derive their inspiration from different sources of
history. They have different epics, different heroes and different episodes. Very often the
hero of one is a foe of the other, and likewise, their victories and defeats overlap. 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 final destruction of any fabric that may be
so built up for the government of such a state.” He further claimed, “Mussalmans are a
nation according to any definition of a nationhood. We wish our people to develop to the
fullest spiritual, cultural, economic, social and political life in a way that we think best and in
consonance with our own ideals and according to the genius of our people”.
During his speech, the Quaid quoted the letter written by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1924 to C.R. Das
in which he mentioned that the Hindus and the Muslims were two separate and distinct
nations that could never be merged into a single nation. When Malik Barkat Ali claimed that
Lala Lajpat Rai was a “Nationalist Hindu leader”, Quaid responded, “No Hindu can be a
nationalist. Every Hindu is a Hindu first and last.”
The Resolution
On March 23, A.K. Fazul Haq, the Chief Minister of Bengal, moved the historical Lahore
Resolution. The Resolution consisted of five paragraphs and each paragraph was only one
sentence long. Although clumsily worded, it delivered a clear message. The resolution
declared:
While approving and endorsing the action taken by the Council and the Working Committee
of the All-India Muslim League, as indicated in their resolutions dated the 27th of August,
17th and 18th of September and 22nd of October, 1939, and 3rd of February 1940, on the
constitutional issue, this session of the All-India Muslim League emphatically reiterates that
the scheme of Federation embodied in the Government of India Act, 1935 is totally unsuited
to, and unworkable in the peculiar conditions of this country and is altogether unacceptable
to Muslim India.
It further records its emphatic view that while the declaration dated the 18th of October,
1939, made by the Viceroy on behalf of His Majesty’s Government is reassuring in so far as it
declares that the policy and plan on which the Government of India Act, 1935 is based will be
reconsidered in consultation with the various parties, interests and communities in India,
Muslim India will not be satisfied unless the whole constitutional plan is reconsidered de
novo and that no revised plan would be acceptable to the Muslims unless it is framed with
their approval and consent.
Resolved that it is the considered view of this session of the All-India Muslim League that no
constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to Muslims unless it is
designed on the following basic principle, namely, that geographically contiguous units are
demarcated into regions which should be so constituted, with such territorial readjustments
as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority, as in
the North-Western and Eastern Zones of India, should be grouped to constitute
‘Independent States’ in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.
That adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided in the
constitution for minorities in these units and in these regions for the protection of their
religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in
consultation with them; and in other parts of India where Mussalmans are in a minority,
adequate, effective and mandatory safeguard shall be specially provided in the constitution
for them and other minorities for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic,
political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them.
This session further authorizes the Working Committee to frame a scheme of constitution in
accordance with these basic principles, providing for the assumption finally by the respective
regions of all powers such as defence, external affairs, communications, customs and such
other matters as may be necessary.
Besides many others, the Resolution was seconded by Chaudhary Khaliquzzam from UP,
Maulana Zafar Ali Khan from Punjab, Sardar Aurangzeb from the N. W. F. P, Sir Abdullah
Haroon from Sindh, and Qazi Muhammad Esa from Baluchistan. Those who seconded the
resolution, in their speeches declared the occasion as a historic one. The Resolution was
eventually passed on the last day of the moot, i.e. March 24.
Controversies
The name Pakistan was not used in the resolution and the official name of the resolution
was Lahore Resolution. It was the Hindu newspapers including Partap, Bande Matram,
Milap, Tribune, etc., who ironically coined the name Pakistan Resolution. However, the idea
was appreciated by the Muslim masses and the Resolution is more known as Pakistan
Resolution. Secondly, the Government and the people of Pakistan wrongly celebrate March
23 as a national day in Pakistan. The actual day when the resolution was passed was March
24. It was only presented on March 23. Lastly, the word “states” and not “state” was
mentioned in the Resolution. It means that the authors of the Resolution were foreseeing
two separate states in the north-western and eastern zones of India. But if one has a good
look at the developments that followed, he or she would conclude that either the word
“states” was included as a mistake or the League leadership soon had a second thought to
their idea. A Resolution passed at the 1941 Madras session of the League stated, “Everyone
should clearly understand that we are striving for one independent and sovereign Muslim
State.” In all the speeches that Quaid delivered, he also used the word “an independent
homeland” or “an independent Muslim state”.
Hindu Reaction
The Hindu reaction was, of course, quick, bitter, and malicious. They called the “Pakistan”
demand “anti-national.” They characterized it as “vivisection; above all, they denounced it as
imperialist – inspired to obstruct India’s march to freedom.” In denouncing the demand
outright, they, however, missed the central fact of the Indian political situation; the
astonishingly tremendous response of the Pakistan demand had elicited from the Muslim
masses. They also failed to take cognizance of the fact that a hundred million Muslims were
now supremely conscious of their distinct nationhood and were prepared to stake
everything to actualize their self-perceived destiny – the creation of an independent Muslim
state in the sub-continent.
British Reaction
The British were equally hostile to the Muslim demand for at least two important reasons.
First, they had long considered themselves as the architects of the unity of India and an
Indian nation. Second, they had long regarded the super-imposed unity under tax Britannica
as their greatest achievement and lasting contribution in history. And the Pakistan demand
threatened to undo these presumed achievements on which the British had long prided.
However, despite the Hindu denunciation and the British alarm, the course of Muslim,
indeed Indian, politics was from now on firmly set towards Pakistan.
Conclusion
The All India Muslim League Resolution of March 1940, commonly known as the Pakistan
Resolution, is undoubtedly the most important event that changed the course of Indian
history and left deep marks on world history. With the passage of this Resolution, the
Muslims of the sub-continent changed their demand from “Separate Electorates” to a
“Separate State.” This Resolution rejected the idea of a United India and the creation of an
independent Muslim state was set as their ultimate goal. It gave new energy and courage to
the Muslims of the region who gathered around Quaid-i-Azam from the platform of the
Muslim League to struggle for their freedom. The dynamic leadership of the Quaid and the
commitment and devotion of the followers made it possible for them to achieve an
independent state within seven years of their struggle, and that too when the odds were
against them.