Course: Ideological Foundations of Pakistan (537)
Level: M.Sc Semester: Autumn, 2022
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
Q.1 What do you know about Lucknow Pact 1916? Highlight its significance for the Muslims of India. Discuss.
The Lucknow Pact was an agreement reached between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League (AIML) at a joint session of both the parties held in Lucknow in December 1916. Through the pact, the two parties agreed to allow representation to religious minorities in the provincial legislatures. The Muslim League leaders agreed to join the Congress movement demanding Indian autonomy. Scholars cite this as an example of a consociational practice in Indian politics. Bal Gangadhar Tilak represented the Congress while framing the deal, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah participated in this event.
Background
The British had announced under immense pressure from Indian masses, in order to satisfy the Indians, that they will be considering a series of proposal that would lead to at least half of the members of the Executive Council being elected and the Legislative Council having a majority of elected members needed. Both the Congress and the Muslim League supported these. Both had realized that for further concessions to be gained, greater cooperation was required.
Q.2 Discuss the causes which led to the failure of Khilafat Movement in Indian subcontinent. Also state the result it brought to the Muslims of India.
During the war the Indian Muslims were in a very awkward position, because they had a deep-rooted devotion to the caliphate. They had profound respect for this holy institution. Therefore, their support to the British Government was subject to the safeguard and protection of the holy places of Turkey and on the condition that Turkey will not to be deprived of its territories. But the British Government could not fulfill both of these promises. The Treaty of Savers 1920 was imposed on Turkey and its territories like Samarna, Thrace and Anatolia were wrested from it and distributed among European countries. A wave of anger swept across the Muslin World and the Indian Muslims rose against the British Government. Muslim leaders like Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Moulana Muhammad Ali Johar, Moulana Shoukat Ali and others reacted against the British Government policy and were put behind the bars.
Thus, Muslims organized a mass movement, which came to be known as Khilafat Movement. The aims of this movement were
(a) To protect the Holy place of Turkey
(b) To restore the Territories of Turkey
(c) To restore the Ottoman Empire.
In December 1919 both the Khilafat Committee and Congress held their meetings simultaneously at Amritsar and a delegation was prepared which was sent to England under the leadership of Maulana Mohammad Ali Johar to see the British Prime Minister, Cabinet Member and Members of Parliament and to explain the Indian point of view regarding the Khilafat.
Q.3 Describe Moutage- Chelmsford reforms 1919. How did the people of India react to these reforms? Discuss in detail.
The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more briefly known as the Mont–Ford Reforms, were introduced by the colonial government to introduce self-governing institutions gradually in British India. The reforms take their name from Edwin Montagu, the Secretary of State for India from 1917 to 1922, and Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy of India between 1916 and 1921. The reforms were outlined in the Montagu-Chelmsford Report, prepared in 1918, and formed the basis of the Government of India Act 1919. These are related to constitutional reforms. Indian nationalists considered that the reforms did not go far enough, while British conservatives were critical of them. The important features of this act were that:
1. The Imperial Legislative Council was now to consist of two houses: the Central Legislative Assembly and the Council of State.
2. The provinces were to follow the Dual Government System or dyarchy.
Background
Edwin Montagu became Secretary of State for India in June 1917 after Austen Chamberlain resigned following the capture of Kut by the Turks in 1916 and the capture of an Indian army staged there. He put before the British Cabinet a proposed statement regarding his intention to work towards the gradual development of free institutions in India with a view to ultimate self-government. Lord Curzon thought that this gave Montagu too much emphasis on working towards self-government and suggested that he work towards increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire. The Cabinet approved the statement with Curzon’s amendment incorporated in place of Montagu’s original statement.
Q.4 What were the circumstances which led to the introduction of Martial Law in Punjab in 1919? Elaborate in detail.
Punjab had served as the British army’s main recruiting grounds in India during WWI. The enormous flow of men and monies from the province was made possible by and led to a distinct culture of governance, enshrined in the outlook and approach of what came to be regarded as the “Punjab School” of administration. The adherents of this governmentality, frequently of military background, romanticised the Punjabi rural, crafted the image of the rustic ploughman-soldier and appointed themselves his guardian. Ostensibly for this purpose, the colonial state in Punjab penetrated deep into the rural heartlands, spawning a host of institutions meant to closely monitor the pulse of the military districts. These structures of governance, built in response to extraordinary wartime pressures, were to become permanent over time, with far-reaching consequences. They represent simultaneously the means and the price of the region’s militarization, markers of its development into a garrison state.
Q.5 Write a detailed note on the Hindu Communal Movements that followed the Khilafat Movement.
The Lucknow pact showed that it was possible for middle-class, English-educated Muslims and Hindus to arrive at an amicable settlement on Hindu-Muslim constitutional and political problems. This unity reached its climax during the Khilafat and the Non-Cooperation Movements.
After World War I, the Ottoman Empire faced dismemberment. Under the leadership of the Ali Brothers, Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali, the Muslims of South Asia launched the historic Khilafat Movement to try and save it. Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi linked the issue of Swaraj with the Khilafat issue to associate Hindus with the movement. The ensuing movement was the first countrywide popular movement.