History Pakistan - PARTITION - 14 August 1947

~ PARTITION - 14 August 1947, over 10 million people were uprooted from their homeland and travelled on foot, bullock carts and trains to their new home, the newly-created country called Pakistan, the land of the pure. This was the largest mass migration known in world history. This Punjabi poem, by the wonderful Amrita Pritam, is mournful and spine-chilling; it speaks of the destruction of the beautiful Punjabi landscape in the horrific scenes of the Partition of India, particularly destructive to the Punjab state, which was cut to pieces, one half remained in India the other formed part of the new country Pakistan. In the Punjab to this day, the Partition is still referred to as batwaara, literally, torn apart. The poem references the classic love story composed by Waris Shah, Heer Ranjha.I really liked how they used it in the Indian film, Pinjar (it has become one of my favourite films), produced from a short story by Amrita Pritam, and would urge everyone to watch it!

~ train to Pakistan

~ Muslim refugees travelling towards their newly-created homeland of Pakistan; note the new flag of the fledgling country

Modern Pakistan

From Security to Intolerance
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the largest city, Karachi, had about 2,500 Jews engaged as tradesman, artisans and civil servants. Their mother tongue was Marachi, indicating their Bene Israel origin. In 1893, the Jews of Karachi built the Magain Shalome Synagogue, and, in 1936, one of the leaders of the Jewish community, Abraham Reuben, became the first Jewish councillor on the city corporation.
Under British jurisdiction, the Jews in the area became known as Pakistant, and were treated with tolerance. In the early twenthieth century, a variety of associations existed to serve the Jewish community: the Young Man's Jewish Association, founded in 1903, whose aim was to encourage sports as well as religious and social activities of the Bene Israel in Karachi; the Karachi Bene Israel Relief Fund, established to support poor Jews in Karachi; and the Karachi Jewish syndicate, formed in 1918, to provide homes to poor Jews at reasonable rents.
The Jews lived primarily in Karachi, but a small community served by two synagogues lived in Peshawar in the northwest frontier province.
The founding of an Islamic state immediately prior to the establishment of the State of Israel created a rising feeling of insecurity within the Pakistani Jewish community. After Israel declared independence in 1948, violent incidents occurred against Pakistan's small Jewish community, which numbered approximately 2,000 Bene Yisrael Jews. The synagogue in Karachi was set alight and Jews were attacked. The plight of Jews became more precarious following disturbances and demonstrations directed against the Jews during the Arab-Israel wars in 1948, 1956, and 1967. The persecution of Jews resulted in large-scale emigration, mostly to India, but also to Israel and the United Kingdom. The small community in Peshawar ceased to exist, and the synagogues were closed.
By 1968, the number of Jews in Pakistan had decreased to 250, almost all of whom were concentrated in Karachi, where there was one synagogue, a welfare organization, and a recreational organization.
Out of Muslim solidarity with the Arab states, Pakistan did not establish any ties with Israel and frequently joined in anti-Israel moves in the United Nations and boycotts initiated by the Arab states.
Anti-Semitism
Pakistan maintained a hostile stance toward Zionism and Israel. In his address as chair of the Second Islamic Summit in 1974, Prime Minister Z. A. Bhutto asserted: “To Jews as Jews we bear no malice; to Jews as Zionists, intoxicated with their militarism and reeking with technological arrogance, we refuse to be hospitable.”
Many influential political figures, including the military chief-of-staff, promoted the theory that the 1991 Gulf War was a “clear manifestation of the anti-Muslim forces at work at the behest of Israel and the Zionist lobby in the United States.” The leader of the main Islamist party, Jammat e-Islami, termed it the “war between the Jews, the worst enemy of Islam, and the Muslims.” The party has strong links with anti-government Islamist forces in Egypt and blames western lobbies, including Zionists, for attacks on religious parties and movements in all parts of the Muslim world.
In 1996 Pakistani officials continued to condemn the Middle East peace process and to declare that Pakistan would not establish relations with Israel until Israel fully implemented UN resolutions.
The media in Pakistan have provided extensive coverage of the political and personal career of the cricket star Imran Khan. Since Khan's marriage in 1996 to Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of a British industrialist and politician, Sir James Goldsmith, Khan was accused of acting as an agent of the "Jewish lobby." Jemima Khan publicly denied that her parents were Jewish. An Egyptian newpaper distributed in Pakistan accused Khan of receiving large sums of money for his election campaign from the "Jewish lobby." Following complaints from Khan, the deputy editor of the newspaper retracted the story and published an apology.
Since India established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992, the Pakistani media have repeatedly referred to the “Zionist threat on our borders,” and occasionally combine both anti-Zionist and antisemitic rhetoric. This is particularly common in the Islamist press, but also occurs in mainstream publications.
The tiny Jewish community in Karachi maintains a low profile. Despite the developments in the Middle East peace process, Pakistan's hostility toward Israel and Zionism has not waned. The increasing influence of extreme Islamists have further undermined the security of the Jewish community.
Modern Pakistan
Magen Shalome, built by Shalome Solomon Umerdekar and his son Gershone Solomon, Karachi’s last synagogue, was demolished in the 1980s to make way for a shopping plaza. Most of the Karachi Jews now live in Ramle, Israel, and built a synagogue they named Magen Shalome. Some Jewish families do remain, but they prefer to pass themselves off as Parsis due to the intolerance for Jews in Muslim Pakistan. Their number is estimated to be around 200 persons.
Since 1979, Jews escaping persecution in other Arab lands, such as Iran, used a secret passage from the country through Pakistan to reach India, where Jews enjoy relative peace. The fundamentalist Iranian government, however, discovered and closed the passageway in 2000, halting the exodus of Jews to India via this route.

A Very Brief Long History of Pakistan I

FATHER OF THE NATION

Father of the Nation Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's achievement as the founder of Pakistan, dominates everything else he did in his long and crowded public life spanning some 42 years. Yet, by any standard, his was an eventful life, his personality multidimensional and his achievements in other fields were many, if not equally great. Indeed, several were the roles he had played with distinction: at one time or another, he was one of the greatest legal luminaries India had produced during the first half of the century, an `ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, a great constitutionalist, a distinguished parliamentarian, a top-notch politician, an indefatigable freedom-fighter, a dynamic Muslim leader, a political strategist and, above all one of the great nation-builders of modern times. What, however, makes him so remarkable is the fact that while similar other leaders assumed the leadership of traditionally well-defined nations and espoused their cause, or led them to freedom, he created a nation out of an inchoate and down-trodeen minority and established a cultural and national home for it. And all that within a decase. For over three decades before the successful culmination in 1947, of the Muslim struggle for freedom in the South-Asian subcontinent, Jinnah had provided political leadership to the Indian Muslims: initially as one of the leaders, but later, since 1947, as the only prominent leader- the Quaid-i-Azam. For over thirty years, he had guided their affairs; he had given expression, coherence and direction to their ligitimate aspirations and cherished dreams; he had formulated these into concerete demands; and, above all, he had striven all the while to get them conceded by both the ruling British and the numerous Hindus the dominant segment of India's population. And for over thirty years he had fought, relentlessly and inexorably, for the inherent rights of the Muslims for an honourable existence in the subcontinent. Indeed, his life story constitutes, as it were, the story of the rebirth of the Muslims of the subcontinent and their spectacular rise to nationhood, phoenixlike.

Early Life

Born on December 25, 1876, in a prominent mercantile family in Karachi and educated at the Sindh Madrassat-ul-Islam and the Christian Mission School at his birth place,Jinnah joined the Lincoln's Inn in 1893 to become the youngest Indian to be called to the Bar, three years later. Starting out in the legal profession withknothing to fall back upon except his native ability and determination, young Jinnah rose to prominence and became Bombay's most successful lawyer, as few did, within a few years. Once he was firmly established in the legal profession, Jinnah formally entered politics in 1905 from the platform of the Indian National Congress. He went to England in that year alongwith Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915), as a member of a Congress delegation to plead the cause of Indian self-governemnt during the British elections. A year later, he served as Secretary to Dadabhai Noaroji (1825-1917), the then Indian National Congress President, which was considered a great honour for a budding politician. Here, at the Calcutta Congress session (December 1906), he also made his first political speech in support of the resolution on self-government.

Political Career

Three years later, in January 1910, Jinnah was elected to the newly-constituted Imperial Legislative Council. All through his parliamentary career, which spanned some four decades, he was probably the most powerful voice in the cause of Indian freedom and Indian rights. Jinnah, who was also the first Indian to pilot a private member's Bill through the Council, soon became a leader of a group inside the legislature. Mr. Montagu (1879-1924), Secretary of State for India, at the close of the First World War, considered Jinnah "perfect mannered, impressive-looking, armed to the teeth with dialecties..."Jinnah, he felt, "is a very clever man, and it is, of course, an outrage that such a man should have no chance of running the affairs of his own country."
For about three decades since his entry into politics in 1906, Jinnah passionately believed in and assiduously worked for Hindu-Muslim unity. Gokhale, the foremost Hindu leader before Gandhi, had once said of him, "He has the true stuff in him and that freedom from all sectarian prejudice which will make him the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity: And, to be sure, he did become the architect of Hindu-Muslim Unity: he was responsible for the Congress-League Pact of 1916, known popularly as Lucknow Pact- the only pact ever signed between the two political organisations, the Congress and the All-India Muslim League, representing, as they did, the two major communities in the subcontinent."
The Congress-League scheme embodied in this pact was to become the basis for the Montagu-Chemlsford Reforms, also known as the Act of 1919. In retrospect, the Lucknow Pact represented a milestone in the evolution of Indian politics. For one thing, it conceded Muslims the right to separate electorate, reservation of seats in the legislatures and weightage in representation both at the Centre and the minority provinces. Thus, their retention was ensured in the next phase of reforms. For another, it represented a tacit recognition of the All-India Muslim League as the representative organisation of the Muslims, thus strengthening the trend towards Muslim individuality in Indian politics. And to Jinnah goes the credit for all this. Thus, by 1917, Jinnah came to be recognised among both Hindus and Muslims as one of India's most outstanding political leaders. Not only was he prominent in the Congress and the Imperial Legislative Council, he was also the President of the All-India Muslim and that of lthe Bombay Branch of the Home Rule League. More important, because of his key-role in the Congress-League entente at Lucknow, he was hailed as the ambassador, as well as the embodiment, of Hindu-Muslim unity.

Constitutional Struggle

In subsequent years, however, he felt dismayed at the injection of violence into politics. Since Jinnah stood for "ordered progress", moderation, gradualism and constitutionalism, he felt that political terrorism was not the pathway to national liberation but, the dark alley to disaster and destruction. Hence, the constitutionalist Jinnah could not possibly, countenance Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's novel methods of Satyagrah (civil disobedience) and the triple boycott of government-aided schools and colleges, courts and councils and British textiles. Earlier, in October 1920, when Gandhi, having been elected President of the Home Rule League, sought to change its constitution as well as its nomenclature, Jinnah had resigned from the Home Rule League, saying: "Your extreme programme has for the moment struck the imagination mostly of the inexperienced youth and the ignorant and the illiterate. All this means disorganisation and choas". Jinnah did not believe that ends justified the means.
In the ever-growing frustration among the masses caused by colonial rule, there was ample cause for extremism. But, Gandhi's doctrine of non-cooperation, Jinnah felt, even as Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) did also feel, was at best one of negation and despair: it might lead to the building up of resentment, but nothing constructive. Hence, he opposed tooth and nail the tactics adopted by Gandhi to exploit the Khilafat and wrongful tactics in the Punjab in the early twenties. On the eve of its adoption of the Gandhian programme, Jinnah warned the Nagpur Congress Session (1920): "you are making a declaration (of Swaraj within a year) and committing the Indian National Congress to a programme, which you will not be able to carry out". He felt that there was no short-cut to independence and that Gandhi's extra-constitutional methods could only lead to political terrorism, lawlessness and chaos, without bringing India nearer to the threshold of freedom.
The future course of events was not only to confirm Jinnah's worst fears, but also to prove him right. Although Jinnah left the Congress soon thereafter, he continued his efforts towards bringing about a Hindu-Muslim entente, which he rightly considered "the most vital condition of Swaraj". However, because of the deep distrust between the two communities as evidenced by the country-wide communal riots, and because the Hindus failed to meet the genuine demands of the Muslims, his efforts came to naught. One such effort was the formulation of the Delhi Muslim Proposals in March, 1927. In order to bridge Hindu-Muslim differences on the constitutional plan, these proposals even waived the Muslim right to separate electorate, the most basic Muslim demand since 1906, which though recognised by the congress in the Lucknow Pact, had again become a source of friction between the two communities. surprisingly though, the Nehru Report (1928), which represented the Congress-sponsored proposals for the future constitution of India, negated the minimum Muslim demands embodied in the Delhi Muslim Proposals.
In vain did Jinnah argue at the National convention (1928): "What we want is that Hindus and Mussalmans should march together until our object is achieved...These two communities have got to be reconciled and united and made to feel that their interests are common". The Convention's blank refusal to accept Muslim demands represented the most devastating setback to Jinnah's life-long efforts to bring about Hindu-Muslim unity, it meant "the last straw" for the Muslims, and "the parting of the ways" for him, as he confessed to a Parsee friend at that time. Jinnah's disillusionment at the course of politics in the subcontinent prompted him to migrate and settle down in London in the early thirties. He was, however, to return to India in 1934, at the pleadings of his co-religionists, and assume their leadership. But, the Muslims presented a sad spectacle at that time. They were a mass of disgruntled and demoralised men and women, politically disorganised and destitute of a clear-cut political programme.

Muslim League Reorganized

Thus, the task that awaited Jinnah was anything but easy. The Muslim League was dormant: primary branches it had none; even its provincial organizations were, for the most part, ineffective and only nominally under the control of the central organization. Nor did the central body have any coherent policy of its own till the Bombay session (1936), which Jinnah organized. To make matters worse, the provincial scene presented a sort of a jigsaw puzzle: in the Punjab, Bengal, Sindh, the North West Frontier, Assam, Bihar and the United Provinces, various Muslim leaders had set up their own provincial parties to serve their personal ends. Extremely frustrating as the situation was, the only consultation Jinnah had at this juncture was in Allama Iqbal (1877-1938), the poet-philosopher, who stood steadfast by him and helped to charter the course of Indian politics from behind the scene.
Undismayed by this bleak situation, Jinnah devoted himself with singleness of purpose to organizing the Muslims on one platform. He embarked upon country-wide tours. He pleaded with provincial Muslim leaders to sink their differences and make common cause with the League. He exhorted the Muslim masses to organize themselves and join the League. He gave coherence and direction to Muslim sentiments on the Government of India Act, 1935. He advocated that the Federal Scheme should be scrapped as it was subversive of India's cherished goal of complete responsible Government, while the provincial scheme, which conceded provincial autonomy for the first time, should be worked for what it was worth, despite its certain objectionable features. He also formulated a viable League manifesto for the election scheduled for early 1937. He was, it seemed, struggling against time to make Muslim India a power to be reckoned with.
Despite all the manifold odds stacked against it, the Muslim League won some 108 (about 23 per cent) seats out of a total of 485 Muslim seats in the various legislature. Though not very impressive in itself, the League's partial success assumed added significance in view of the fact that the League won the largest number of Muslim seats and that it was the only all-India party of the Muslims in the country. Thus, the elections represented the first milestone on the long road to putting Muslim India on the map of the subcontinent. Congress in Power With the year 1937 opened the most mementoes decade in modern Indian history. In that year came into force the provincial part of the Government of India Act, 1935, granting autonomy to Indians for the first time, in the provinces.
The Congress, having become the dominant party in Indian politics, came to power in seven provinces exclusively, spurning the League's offer of cooperation, turning its back finally on the coalition idea and excluding Muslims as a political entity from the portals of power. In that year, also, the Muslim League, under Jinnah's dynamic leadership, was reorganized de novo, transformed into a mass organization, and made the spokesman of Indian Muslims as never before. Above all, in that momentous year were initiated certain trends in Indian politics, the crystallization of which in subsequent years made the partition of the subcontinent inevitable. The practical manifestation of the policy of the Congress which took office in July, 1937, in seven out of eleven provinces, convinced Muslims that, in the Congress scheme of things, they could live only on sufferance of Hindus and as "second class" citizens. The Congress provincial governments, it may be remembered, had embarked upon a policy and launched a PROGRAMME in which Muslims felt that their religion, language and culture were not safe. This blatantly aggressive Congress policy was seized upon by Jinnah to awaken the Muslims to a new consciousness, organize them on all-India platform, and make them a power to be reckoned with. He also gave coherence, direction and articulation to their innermost, yet vague, urges and aspirations. Above all, the filled them with his indomitable will, his own unflinching faith in their destiny.

Allama Mashraqi, Quaid-e-Azam & Dr.Akhter Hameed Khan

"Hidden Facts Behind British India’s Freedom: A Scholarly Look into Allama Mashraqi and Quaid-e-Azam’s Political Conflict"

Allama Mashraqi (Inayatullah Khan) and Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, two eminent 20th century personalities of the Indian sub-continent, fought for freedom — the former for an undivided and the latter for a divided British India. The political controversy between these two leaders over the partition of the Indian sub-continent is an extremely important topic from the independence movement’s perspective. This work discusses Allama Mashraqi’s rigorous efforts to prevent the Muslims and India from being divided, while Quaid-e-Azam remained focused on the partition of India.
Separation divided the country and the Muslims into three parts, and the majority of 100 million Muslims became second-class citizens in their own homeland. To nationalist leaders of the time (who were anti-partition), Quaid-e-Azam was playing in the hands of the British; and the gilded gentry of All-India Muslim League (AIML) had no history of serving the masses and partition was a short cut to their ambition. Did the British use the AIML, and was a truncated Pakistan a parting kick of the British to weaken the Muslims? And why did the British never imprison AIML leadership, if the AIML was truly fighting to end their rule?
Many other intriguing questions arise that have yet to satisfy a logical mind. For instance, why did the British deny recognition of all Muslim parties, exceptAIML, and never sought their points of view? Why did the AIML insist on division, when Pakistan could not safeguard 100 million Muslims? Why was it necessary to create Pakistan out of Muslim majority provinces where they were already in power? Were nationalists, who were anti-partition, lacking in vision or apathetic to the future of the Muslims? Why has the nationalist point of view of an undivided India been kept concealed (libraries are kept empty of their material), and why has the public only been reading the AIML’s perspective?
This book brings these questions to light and presents Mashraqi’s point of view. The author uncovers facts that are not easy to dispute and unearths the falsehood, the twisting and manipulation of facts and the propaganda surrounding the freedom movement. It reveals the hidden truths behind the creation of Pakistan and shatters misconceptions regarding the history of the Indian sub-continent.

Allama Mohammad Iqbal

Poems & Works


Most of Allama Iqbal's writings were devoted to a revival of Islam. In his presidential address to the Muslim League in 1930, he first suggested that the Muslims of northwestern India should demand a separate nation for themselves. Although many compilations of Iqbal's poetry also deliver his message very eloquently, his foremost book Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam was intended to secure a vision of the spirit of Islam as emancipated from its Magian overlayings. He encouraged Muslims to embrace ideals of brotherhood, justice, and service. His masterpiece is 'The Song of Eternity' (1932). Similar in theme to Dante's 'Divine Comedy', it relates the poet's ascent through all realms of thought and experience, guided by the 13th-century poet Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi. He also wrote poetry in the Persian language. He tried to free the Muslim mind from the prevailing colonial mentality and from Muslims' own narrow self-interests, which is reflected in his classical work "Toloo-e-Islam" (Rise of Islam).
Prose Works by Dr. Muhammad Iqbal

The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930)One of the great thinkers of this century, in this ground-breaking work, attempts to show a path back to the scientific and intellectual striving that Muslims once excelled in. Refuting the current methods of teaching as being from a generation of a cultural outlook different than that facing the modern mind, Iqbal calls for a reconstruction of thought, pointing to the fact that from the first to fourth century no less than nineteen schools of law appeared in Islam to meet the necessities of a growing civilization.
Religion vs. Philosophy-To Embrace or Exclude?What is the character and general structures of the universe in which we live? Is there a permanent element in the constitution of this universe? How are we related to it? What place do we occupy in it, and what is the kind of conduct that benefits the place we occupy? These questions are common to religion, philosophy, and higher poetry.
The Development of Metaphysics in Persia (1908)This was a thesis submitted to the University of Munich for his PhD. It was published in London in the same year. The book traces the development of metaphysics in Persia from the time of Zoroaster to Bahaullah.
Summary of Iqbal’s 1930 Presidential Address"... I lead no party; I follow no leader. I have given the best part of my life to careful study of Islam, its law and polity, its culture, its history and its literature. This constant contact with the spirit of Islam, as it unfolds itself in time, has, I think, given me a kind of insight into the significance as a world fact."
Essays of Mohammad Iqbal
Poetry
Baang-e-Dara (1924)First written in Persian, Bang-i Dara (Caravan Bell) was translated into Urdu by popular demand. It is an anthology of poems written over a period of 20 years and is divided into 3 parts.Baal-e-Jibraeel (1935)Baal-e-Jibaeel (Gabriel's Wing) continues from Bang-i Dara. Some of the verses had been written when Iqbal visited Britain, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, France, Spain and Afghanistan. Contains 15 ghazals addressed to God and 61 ghazals and 22 quatrains dealing with the ego, faith, love, knowledge, the intellect and freedom.
Zarb-e-Kaleem (1936)This, Iqbal's third collection of Urdu poems, has been described as his political manifesto. It was published with the subtitle "A Declaration of War Against the Present Times." Zarb-e-Kaleem (The Blow of Moses' Staff) was meant to rescue Muslims from the ills brought on by modern civilization, just as Moses had rescued the Israelites. English translationArmaghan-i Hijaz (1938)This work, published a few months after the poet's death, is a fairly small volume containing verses in both Persian and Urdu. The title means "Gift from the Hijaz." He had long wished to undertake the journey to the Arabian Peninsula to perform the Hajj and to visit the tomb of the Prophet, but was prevented from doing so by continuous illness during the last years of his life. English translation
The Ideal WomanThe Materialistic CultureThe shrine of your street is my refuge!The ultimate aim of EgoThe world of Body vs. World of SoulOur thought is the product of your teachingsProfit for one, but Death for manyCommunism and ImperialismThe Glory of a WomanThe Choice is yours
Articles by Others on Iqbal's Works & Thought
Iqbal on the Material and Spiritual Future of HumanityIqbal's world view is based on his deep concern with the future of humanity as well as of religion. On the future of humanity his thoughts are scattered in his poetic works and some of his prose writings. But on the future of religion he has elaborated his ideas in the last chapter of his book: The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, entitled "Is Religion Possible?"Religion and Philosophy according to IqbalFor Iqbal, religion is not something that is isolated from philosophy. He advocates an integration of the two, sometimes suggesting that the science of psychology has not reached an advanced enough level to be able to incorporate spiritual experience as part of a scientific theory of knowledge. Iqbal thinks, given adequate methods, the ultimate reality is within human grasp.
Iqbal, Quran and Muslim UnityA reflection on Allama Iqbal's beautiful classical poem, "Tolu-e-Islam" (Rise of Islam). Muslim misery and suffering is as common today as it was in the days of Iqbal. Every day that passes brings more death and destruction to Muslims, only at a much wider scale. Observing the present situation in which Muslims find themselves today, Iqbal’s soul must be feeling extremely restless!

Quaid-e-Azam's Car