By Wajahat Ali Khan:
Ever since the creation of Pakistan, a debate has started as to whether Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal had seen the dream of a separate country for the Muslims of India and then Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah brought this dream to fruition?
Pakistan’s textbooks, i.e., from school to university, stated that yes, this is true. In Pakistan, this thought of Allama Iqbal is officially proven by his Allahabad sermon on December 29, 1930, i.e., it is said that Allama Iqbal shed light in detail on the universality of Islam, the two-nation theory, a separate Muslim state, the role of the Islamic state, and the defensive fence of India in this historic speech. Iqbal said that Islam is a universal religion, it is for every nation, every sect, and for all times. He also analysed the European and Islamic ways of thinking about religion and gave a message to the Muslims of India to change their own destiny. Allama Iqbal was the first politician in India who presented the two-nation theory and Quaid-e-Azam brought it to fruition.
Allama Iqbal also said in his sermon that since many nationalities live in India and they are not ready to cooperate with each other; the Western style of government and democratic system cannot be introduced here. The Muslims of India have the right to live according to their traditions. After this, the poet of the East (Allama Iqbal) proposed a separate independent Islamic state comprising the Muslim majority areas of northwestern India and said, I want Punjab, the North-West Frontier Province, Sindh and Balochistan to be combined into one state. Independent government within or outside the British Empire seems to me the destiny of the Muslims of northwestern India. Allam Iqbal said to console the non-Muslims that Hindus should not be afraid of the establishment of a Muslim state because no specific religious government will be established in this state. Then, the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, also agreed with the philosophy of Allama Iqbal in his presidential address in Lahore on March 23, 1940, about ten years after the Allahabad speech and explained the ideology of Pakistan in these words: “It is very difficult to understand why our Hindu friends do not understand the true nature of Islam and Hinduism. In the spiritual sense, these are not religions, but in reality, they are different social systems, and this desire is just a dream that Hindus and Muslims will ever be able to create a common nationality. Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, religious traditions and literature. They neither marry each other nor eat together. In fact, they belong to two different civilisations which are based on contradictory concepts. Their concepts about life are different. Hindus and Muslims belong to different historical sources. Their epic poems, heroes and historical achievements are different from each other. Often the hero of one nation is the enemy of another nation. Similarly, the victory of one is the defeat of the other.”
So, this is the point of view that historians and various writers wrote after the creation of Pakistan, keeping in mind the government’s thinking and needs, and this is the thinking of a stu
dent who has graduated from a university in Pakistan, but if we try to understand the truth of this important issue from a research perspective, slightly different facts come to light.
After the Allahabad speech, when pressure increased on Allama Iqbal that he had spoken of dividing India, he clarified his statement by saying, “I did not make any such suggestion.” Therefore, in this regard, Allama Iqbal wrote a statement or letter to “The British newspaper “Daily Times” on October 12, 1931. The original copy of which is being published, that’s here for the convenience for the readers.
In addition, about twelve years ago I conducted a long Interview with Allama Iqbal’s son Dr Javed Iqbal at his residence in Lahore. He argued with me and in his numerous interviews with other media that, my father never gave any idea or dream of a separate country for Muslims from India. In fact, Javed Iqbal even said that Pakistan was not created by Allama Iqbal or Quaid-e-Azam, when I asked, then who do you think created Pakistan?” he replied bluntly, by Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel ! because Allama Iqbal’s idea was that a Muslim state could be created within India or British India, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah was also in agreement with the Cabinet Mission Plan. In the light of the Lahore Resolution of March 23, 1940, it was a unanimous demand of the Muslims of the subcontinent under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam that all those areas where Muslims are in the majority should be given full provincial autonomy while remaining within the constitutional boundaries of India. The British rulers had also accepted this demand.
Dear readers, we have presented a different point of view with historical references from before the formation of Pakistan. If any reader disagrees with this, they can email us with logic and evidence. “The London Post” will publish it without any hesitation.
Explanation by Allama Iqbal published in “The Times” London on October 12, 1931 that I did not demand a separate Country for the Muslims of India
