Pakistan Movement

The Pakistan Movement (also called Tehrik-e-Pakistan, ) was a political movement which was active during the first half of the 20th century. At that time, British India belonged to the British Empire. In British India, most people were Hindu, or Muslim. The people in the Pakistan Movement feared that they would lose their liberty when the British left and so wanted to create a separate state.

The struggle was organised by the All India Muslim League and resulted in the Partition of British India. The movement was led by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Other important leaders were Nawab   Muhammad Ismail Khan, Raja Amir Ahmed Khan of Mahmudabad, Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, Fatimah Jinnah, Amjadi Bano Begum, Sir Abdullah Haroon, Khawaja Nazimuddin, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Sardar Shaukat Hayat Khan, Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman, A.K. Fazlul Huq, Aurangzeb Khan, Qazi Muhammad Isa and Abdur Rab Nishtar.

Lesser known members of the Pakistan Movement were Hassanally Abdul Rahman, father of Pakistani politician Sherry Rahman.

 History of the movement 
250px|thumb|right|Muslim League Working Committee at the Lahore session

The first person with the idea of a separate state was not Allama Iqbal, as is generally thought. He publicized the theory only in his speech in 1930.Shafique Ali Khan (1987), Iqbal's Concept of Separate North-west Muslim State: A Critique of His Allahabad Address of 1930, Markaz-e-Shaoor-o-Adab, Karachi, OCLC 18970794 It was a prevailing idea that has its origins in the United Provinces of Indian. People like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and others had thought about a separate state there much earlier.

In 1901 onwards, many other Muslim scholars had also been proposing the idea of a separate Muslim state within the subcontinent. Choudhary Rahmat Ali later proposed  the name Pakistan in his Pakistan Declaration in 1933.Choudhary Rahmat Ali, (1933), Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?, pamphlet, published 28 January

People like Muhammad Ali Jinnah maintained their belief in religious unity.Ian Talbot (1999), Pakistan: a modern history, St. Martin's Press,  Religious hostilities between Hindus and Muslims gave the movement a stronger backing.Reginald Coupland (1943), Indian Politics (1936–1942), Oxford university press, London

In 1940 during its meeting in Lahore, the Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution, also known as Pakistan Resolution, which asked for an independent state of Pakistan. Soon after World War II, the United Kingdom became convinced that it could not keep its colonies in South Asia, as the British Empire had suffered very badly from the war. By 1947, British India was divided into two countries, a Muslim-majority Pakistan and a Hindu-majority India. Bangladesh split from Pakistan in 1971.

Timeline

1906 Founding of the All-India Muslim League
1909 Minto – Morley Reforms
1911 Annulment of the Partition of Bengal
1914–18 World War I
1916 Lucknow Pact
1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
1919 Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
1919–23 Khilafat Movement
1922–29 Hindu – Muslim Riots
1927 Delhi Muslim Proposals
1928 Nehru Report
1929 Fourteen Points of Jinnah
1930 Simon Commission Report
1930 Allama Iqbal Address

1930–32 Round Table Conferences
1932 Communal Award (1932)
1933 Now or Never Pamphlet
1935 Government of India Act
1937 Elections
1937–39 Congress Rule in the Provinces
1937 The famous Jinnah-Sikandar Pact signed in October in LucknowWolpert, Stanley, 'Jinnah of Pakistan' OUP, 1993, pp. 150–151
1938 Pirpur Report
1939–45 World War II
1940 22–23rd March, the landmark Pakistan Resolution
1942 Cripps' mission
1944 Gandhi – Jinnah Talks
1945 The Simla Conference
1946 The Cabinet Mission
1946 Direct Action Day
1946 Interim Government Installed in Office
1946 June 3 Partition Plan
1947 , midnight between 14–15 August Creation of Pakistan/Partition of India

Related pages
History of Pakistan

References


Category:Political movements
Category:Political history of Pakistan