India Divided by Rajendra Prasad

Author:Rajendra Prasad
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789386651686
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Published: 2017-07-31T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

1 The Pakistan Issue, pp. 79–80.

2 The Pakistan Issue, pp. 87–88.

3 The Pakistan Issue, pp. 98–99.

TWENTY-THREE

THE BIRTH OF THE IDEA OF PARTITION

All these schemes have been worked out and published since 1939—some before the lahore session of the Muslim League, others thereafter. It is generally said that it was the late Sir Muhammad Iqbal who first put forward the demand for a separate and independent Muslim State in his presidential address at the Allahabad session of the All-India Muslim League in December 1930. It is therefore desirable to quote some passages from it: ‘the religious ideal of Islam, therefore, is organically related to the social order which it has created. The rejection of the one will eventually involve the rejection of the other. Therefore the construction of a polity on national lines, if it means a displacement of the Islamic principle of solidarity, is simply unthinkable to a Muslim… The unity of an Indian Nation, therefore, must be sought, not in the negation, but in the mutual harmony and cooperation of the many… And it is on the discovery of unity in this direction that the fate of India as well as Asia really depends…

‘It is, however, painful to observe that our attempts to discover such a principle of internal harmony have so far failed. Why have they failed? Perhaps, we suspect each other’s intentions and inwardly aim at dominating each other. Perhaps, in the higher interests of mutual cooperation we cannot afford to part with the monopolies which circumstances have placed in our hands, and conceal our egoism under the cloak of nationAlism, outwardly immolating a large-hearted patriotism, but inwardly as narrow-minded as a caste or tribe. Perhaps, we are unwilling to recognize each group has a right to free development according to its own cultural traditions. But whatever may be the cause of our failure, I still feel hopeful. Events seem to be tending in the direction of some sort of internal harmony. And as far as I have been able to read the Muslim mind, I have no hesitation in declaring that, if the principle that the Indian Muslim is entitled to full and free development on the lines of his own culture and tradition in his own homelands is recognized as the basis of a permanent communal settlement, he will be ready to stake his all for the freedom of India. The principle that each group is entitled to free development on its own lines is not inspired by any feeling of narrow communAlism… I entertain the highest respect for the customs, laws, religious and social institutions of other communities. Nay, it is my duty, according to the teaching of the Quran, even to defend their places of worship if need be…

‘The units of Indian society are not territorial as in European countries… The principle of European democracy cannot be applied to India without recognizing the fact of communal groups. The Muslim demand for the creation of a Muslim India within India is, therefore,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.