THE MYTH OF ALLAHABAD

Since the creation of Pakistan the foundations of the idea of Pakistan have been a matter of academic and political debate. There is a difference between the two spheres. The academic debate allows a room to discuss popular and unpopular ideas and respect the contrary views. However the political debate and debaters who seldom have any reading on the back of their ideas post a challenge for academia to discuss and debate freely. The ideology of Pakistan, the governmental setup of Pakistan, the constitution of Pakistan has always been discussed and debated haughtily and now has divided the Pakistani society into two halves. The purpose of this research is to undertake one such issue which has been associated with Allama I bal, that Allama demanded Pakistan in his famous Allahabad Address in !"#$. There are different terminologies used by writers which make it more and more difficult for common man to understand. %or e&ample, i, Allama demanded Pakistan, ii, he demanded an independent country out of India, iii, he demanded a state in India, iv, state within 'body politic( of India, v, he presented the idea of a separate independent country which was finally reali)ed as Pakistan seventeen years later. All of these different accounts or presentations of the Allahabad Address of !"#$ by Allama have created many ambiguities amongst the minds of readers and common people of Pakistan. *ven our course books in schools and colleges fail to clarify the minds of our students. Allama I bal is one of those personalities whose ideals shape the world. He is one of the most respected poet and philosopher of his time. He was a man of many traits. He was not an intrinsic politician but certainly he had charisma and charm to influence the mid twentieth century politics of Sub+,ontinent. Here I would like all of you to recall the name of the person who presented the idea of Pakistan in !"#$s. I am sure that the name of Allama I bal must have come up in your minds. -ell this is right according to many history books especially our te&tbooks. In this paper I would try to demystify the myth regarding the most famous political speech delivered by Allama, 'The presidential address of !"#$(. The ./ th annual

session of 0uslim 1eague was held in Allahabad on ." th, 2ecember !"#$, while other politicians, across the country were discussing the future constitution of India over a round table in *ngland. Allama delivered a very well worked out speech, which clothed every possible aspect of 0uslim concerns in the Sub+,ontinent. He stressed upon three themes. %irstly he e&plained the idea of nationalism in Islam. Then he highlighted the status and problems 0uslims were facing in the Sub+,ontinent. He also described the importance of 0uslims to India. 1astly he proposed a solution to the problem of Indian integration. The part, which has been misunderstood, misinterpreted, mis uoted and propagated without responsibility was the one in which Allama proposed an autonomous 3orthwest province for 0uslims. The idea that Allama asked for an independent country in the Allahabad Address is nothing short of a myth. There are many evidences to enforce and substantiate the idea that Allama never mentioned and wanted a 'separate independent country for 0uslims(, of the Sub+,ontinent at least as early as !"#$. All he suggested was an autonomous province of 0uslims in 3orthwest. The writers who have associated the idea of Pakistan with Allama have not done 4ustice to history or to his true ideology and belief. The famous words of Allama, which reify the myth, are, I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single State(. These words alone do not and cannot portray the real picture. This sentence even does not signal towards an independent country. The term 'state( has been misunderstood and hence sole creator of the myth. The term 'state( has various meanings. 5es it does mean an independent state but it also means, 'PA6T 7% ,783T65 an organi)ed political community forming part of a country9 like the states o !ictoria and Western "ustralia the southern states o the #S$!, as described in 7&ford 2ictionary. The 0erriam -ebster dictionary e&plains the same term as, 'one of the constituent units of a nation having a federal government :the fifty states;9 The 8nited States of America(. A thorough study of the te&t of Allama<s Allahabad address shows that he used the word state in place of province. Province is a more commonly used word to describe constituting parts of a federal state and everyone can understand that it does not mean an

independent country. In act his %oetr& rein orces his idea o great uni ied India' (e writes in his )aran-e-(indi in *+,-, Sare jehan sa& acha (indostan hamara (um bulbulain is ki &eh gulsitan hamara$' In their book 'The =ritish 6a4 in India(, S.0. =urke and Salim Al+2in >ureshi have also tried to clarify the issue in these words, ?I uote@ ' read as a whole, the te.t makes it /uite clear that what I/bal was %ro%osing at that stage was the grou%ing o the 0uslim-majorit& %rovinces o north-west India into a single %rovince within an India in which 1the 2entral Federal State3 would e.ercise 1onl& those %owers which 1the e.%ressl& vested in it b& the ree consent o the ederal states3(?un uote@ .. *dward Thompson called Allama a protagonist of the scheme called Pakistan. Allama took notice of this incident and protested in a letter to him dated A th, 0arch *+4-' "llama urther clari ied that all he %ro%osed in "llahabad address was a 0uslim Province within Indian Federation, where 0uslims would have ull autonom&' Further e.amination o the te.t o "llahabad address shows us that "llama asked or an autonomous %rovince or 0uslims' 5I /uote6 )hus, %ossessing ull o%%ortunit& o develo%ment within the bod& %olitic o India, the North-West Indian 0uslims will %rove the best de enders o India against a oreign invasion, be that invasion one o ideas or o ba&onets$' Here Allama has highlighted the importance of 0uslim province not only for 0uslims of that region but to the security of India from any foreign invasion. History is an eyewitness to the fact that every foreign invasion has come from 3orth+-est of India. Then he further propagates the importance of the 0uslim population of this region to India, )he Punjab with 78 %ercent 0uslim %o%ulation su%%lies 7- %ercent o the total combatant troo%s in the Indian "rm&, and i the *+,,,, 9urkhas recruited rom the inde%endent State o Ne%al are e.cluded, the Punjab contingent amounts to 8: %ercent o the whole Indian "rm&' )his %ercentage does not take into account nearl& 8,,,, combatants su%%lied to the Indian "rm& b& the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan' From this &ou can easil& calculate the %ossibilities o North-West Indian 0uslims in regard to the de ense o India against oreign aggression$' Allama I bal in his address, also tried to eliminate the fears of Hindus regarding the creation of 0uslim

province in these words, )he ;ight (on<ble 0r' Srinivasa Sastri thinks that the 0uslim demand or the creation o autonomous 0uslim states along the north-west border is actuated b& a desire =to ac/uire means o e.erting %ressure in emergencies on the 9overnment o India'= I ma& rankl& tell him that the 0uslim demand is not actuated b& the kind o motive he im%utes to us> it is actuated b& a genuine desire or ree develo%ment which is %racticall& im%ossible under the t&%e o unitar& government contem%lated b& the nationalist (indu %oliticians with a view to secure %ermanent communal dominance in the whole o India$#. In another paragraph he further enforces the same idea, ' )hus it is clear that in view o India<s in inite variet& in climates, races, languages, creeds and social s&stems, the creation o autonomous States, based on the unit& o language, race, histor&, religion and identit& o economic interests, is the onl& %ossible wa& to secure a stable constitutional structure in India' )he conce%tion o ederation underl&ing the Simon ;e%ort necessitates the abolition o the 2entral ?egislative "ssembl& as a %o%ular assembl&, and makes it an assembl& o the re%resentatives o ederal States' It urther demands a redistribution o territor& on the lines which I have indicated' "nd the ;e%ort does recommend both' I give m& wholehearted su%%ort to this view o the matter, and venture to suggest that the redistribution recommended in the Simon ;e%ort must ul ill two conditions' It must %recede the introduction o the new constitution, and must be so devised as to inall& solve the communal %roblem' Pro%er redistribution will make the /uestion o joint and se%arate electorates automaticall& disa%%ear rom the constitutional controvers& o India' It is the %resent structure o the %rovinces that is largel& res%onsible or this controvers&$ A. A renounced scholar B.B.A)i) has also pointed out that Allama I bal never meant a separate country for 0uslims, in his book '0urder of History(. The purpose of this paper was not to defame Allama I bal or to take any credit away from him, but to do 4ustice to his words. 8nfortunately teaching the facts of history by the state run intelligentsia to serve their own %ur%oses, engineered on the e.%ense o intellectual who are no more there to take a stand against this wrong doing has become a common %ractice'

!. @. ord, online dictionar&' .. )he British ;aj in India$, S'0' Burke and Salim "l-Ain Bureshi, %'4:4 #. Allahabad address, Allama I bal, !"#$. A. Ibid

M. Moiz Khan 1ecturer 2epartment of Ceneral History 8niversity of Barachi

)he 0&th o "llahabad )he creation o Pakistan is a result o %olitical movement and maneuvering b& %rominent socio-%olitical igures like Cinnah, I/bal, ?ia/uat "li Dhan etc' Po%ularl& the stud& o the back ground o creation o Pakistan is known as Freedom 0ovement'