pakistan

INITIAL PROBLEMS OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBIC OF PAKISTAN & Cyril Radcliffe Boundary Line Partition FOR GRADE 11 & 12

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INITIAL PROBLEMS OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN

 

BACKGROUND:

Under the 3rd June Plan (1947) provincial assemblies were given an option to join either of the two states (Pakistan or India). Over whelming majority of the members in the Punjab and Bengal assemblies decided to join Pakistan. Since members of the non-Muslim majority districts in these provinces voted for partition of their respective provinces, separate commissions were set for the demarcation of boundaries in the two provinces with Cyrill Radcliffe a British lawyer, as the joint chairman of both commissions.

Partition was conducted in a way which manifested naked bias and injustice towards the Muslims. The Quaid-e-Azam had proposed that the task of demarcation should be entrusted either to an impartial commission appointed by the United Nations or to the members of the British ‘Privy Council’ (the highest British court.) The proposal was turned down by the British government. Viceroy Lord Mountbatten had very close friendly relations with the Congress leadership and was a great sympathizer of the Congress point conditions prevailing in the sub-continent; Cyril Radcliffe had never set foot on the Indian the most suitable person he could easily influence.

The Muslim League did not favour the partition of the provinces, but if at all it was inevitable it would have been carried out in the light of the principles stipulated by Mountbatten himself. At one time he had said that Gurdaspur and Firozpur, and Tehsils of Zira and Fazilka will form part of Pakistan.

Radcliffe Award and Its Injustices

Radcliffe amounced his Award, on the demarcation of boundaries, on August 17, 1947 following provisions of the Award were unjust from Pakistan’s point of view;

Flouting the pronounced partition principles in the Punjab; district Gurdaspure and Ferozpur Zira and Fazilka Tehsils were given to India. In the eastern part, the city of Clacutta (now Kolkata), district of Murshidabad and the Nadia areas were annexed with India without any justification. On all these areas Pakistan had a claim as its natural parts under the partition norms.

Radcliffe had finalized his task up till August 8, 1947. A member of the Boundary Commissions Justice Muhammad Munir, later disclosed that in his original plan, Radcliffe had agreed to include Ferozpur, Zera, a prat of Tehsil Fazilka and the Ferozpur Headwork’s in Pakistan, but Surprisingly when the Award was announced on 17th of August, all these areas went to the Indian share, Observers believe that this was done on Mountbatten’s insistence.

Apart from these areas ‘The Pakistan Times’ indicated injustices done in certain areas, for example Tehsil Batala was a 55 percent Muslim majority area, the city of Batala had a nice industrial base, mainly dominated by the Muslim industrialists. Similarly, Tehsil Ajnala and the Amritsar district had sixty percent Muslim majority, all these areas were given to India.

Results of the Injustices done in the Partition

The Kashmir Issue:

First seeds of the Kashmir problems were sown by the Radcliffe Award. Inclusion of Gurdaspur gave India an access to Kashmir, the only land routes that connected India with Kashmir passed through Pathan Kot, a Tehsil of district Gurdaspur. If Gurdaspur were not made part of India there would be no land access for India to reach Kashmir.

The Fate of Calcutta:

Calcutta (now Kolkata) was the largest industrial city in India Population of the city contained 25 percent Muslims and 60 percent outcast Hindus (Achhoots). Achhoots wanted their city to be included in Pakistan; Radcliffe gave the city to India against the will of the citizens of Calcutta.

Problems Created by the Migration:

Decision of partitioning the Punjab was sudden and unexpected. Large numbers of the Muslims had to be evacuated from the East Punjab for which no arrangements had been made. On their way to Pakistan hundreds of thousands of refugees were attacked, maltreated and assassinated by the Sikh militants. This blood drenched migration brought untold misery and sorrow and created innumerable economic and cultural problems.

Ideology, Two Nation Theory & Genesis of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan for Class 11 and 12 Students

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GENESIS OF THE ISLAMIC REBUBLIC OF PAKISTAN

IDEOLOGY:

Ideology is a set of ideas or norms on which the collective ideals of a community, nation or ‘millat’ are based. It also includes the sum total of principles set forth for the achievement of these common ideals. The Muslims follow the Islamic ideology, which simply means the way of life based on the tenets of Islam.

ISLAMIC CONCEPT OF NATIONHOOD:

The Muslims believe that by virtue of their faith, they have an identity, separate and distinct from other nations of the world. This feeling of oneness among themselves combined with the consciousness of being separate from other is called “Two Nation Theory’. Islam is a democratic way of life, and the Muslims strongly believe in the right of self-determination for all human beings. This principle implies that in all parts of the world, where the Muslims from a sizeable majority, they should be given a right to form an independent democratic state of their own, and living under this state they should avail the opportunity to order their individual and collective lives in accordance with their faith and belief.

The Two Nation Theory : Defined and Explained

Islam was introduced in South East Asia shortly after its advent. Muslims in india grew into a sizeable community within a short span of time. The Muslim community of South East Asia guarded its identity very keenly and cautiously.

Definition: The term ‘Pakistan Ideology’ refers to that set of beliefs and objectives which formed the basis of the Muslim freedom struggle in South-East Asia. This struggle was, of course, motivated by the Islamic faith and guided y the objective of establishing a Muslim state in the sub-continent, based on the principle that the Muslims and the non-Muslims in India were separate and distinct nations and the Muslims had a desire to order their individual and collective lives according to the tenets of Islam, living as free citizens of an independent democratic state.

The area, which now forms the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, had a non-Muslim population of about 3 to 5 percent. Non-Muslim living in this area knew that their rights will be better protected as citizens of a Muslim state, because in a Muslim state Non-Muslim citizens’ civil and political rights are equal to the rights of the Muslim citizens. Due to this reason, the Christians, the Hindus and the other religious communities played an active role in the Pakistan movement. Sacrifices rendered by the non-Muslims during the days of the Pakistan Movement and the patriotic spirit with which they served Pakistan after its creation, stand as a bright example in our history and the history of nations.

COMPONENTS OF THE PAKISTAN IDEOLOGY

ISLAM:

The religious belief of the Muslims liing in the North-Western and North-Eastern regions of the Indian sub-continent was the first and the foremost motivating force behind their demand for Pakistan. In 1948 the Quaid-Azam said that the demand for Pakistan was not merely a question of acquiring a piece of land; Pakistan was meant to be a laboratory for proving the validity and truth of the Islamic principles. Elaborating the guiding principles that formed the basis an Islamic state the Quaid-e-Azam said:

“Fundamentally in an Islamic state, authority rests with

Almighty Allah. The working of an Islamic government is

Conducted according to the Quranic principles and

Injunctions. In an Islamic state, neither its head, nor any

Parliament or an institutin or an individual can act

Absolutely in any matter. Only the Quranic injunctions

Control our behavior in the society and in politics.”

Democracy:

System of an Islamic state is based on democratic principles, explaining this, the Quaid-e-Azam in a radio message addressed to the people of the United States of America, said:

“the Constitution of Pakistan is yet to be framed by the

Pakistan Constituent Assembly. I do not know what the

Ultimate shape of this constitution is going to be, but I am

Sure that it will be of a democratic type, embodying the

essential principles of Islam. Today, they are as applicable

In actual life as they were 1400 years ago. Islam

And its idealism has taught us democracy.” (Feb. 1948)