Introduction
- The two-nation theory is an ideology of religious nationalism which significantly influenced the Indian subcontinent following its independence from the British Empire.
- The plan to partition British India into two states was announced on 3rd June 1947. These two states would be India and Pakistan.
- According to this theory, Indian Muslims and Indian Hindusare two separate nations, with their own customs, religion, and traditions; therefore, from social and moral points of view, Muslims should be able to have their own separate homeland outside of Hindu-majority India.
- The ideology that religion is the determining factor in defining the nationality of Indian Muslims was undertaken by Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Critical events from 1909 to 1947 leading to Partition.
- The partition of Bengal in 1905 served as the first act of the British towards breaking Hindu Muslim unity.
- The later introduction of the Morley Minto reforms in 1909 proved to be a critical juncture in struggle against colonial domination in India.
- The reforms introduced a system under which separate electorates were formed, where in only Muslims could vote for Muslim candidates in constituencies reserved for them.
- By so doing the British wanted to promote the idea that the political, economic and cultural interests of the Muslims and Hindus were separate.
- Then, the Montagu Chelmsford reforms or the Government of India Act 1919 in addition to the reserved seats for Muslims.
- Later, Hindu-Muslim unity began to bond with the coming of Non-cooperation Movement in 1919, by rallying on the Khilafat issue.
- However, Following the Chauri Chaura incident(1922) where some British policemen were killed due to some action initiated by the participants of the Non-Cooperation movement, the movement itself was called off by Gandhiji.
- So, now the Muslim leaders felt betrayed since their cause of revolting against the removal of the Caliphate was left unfinished due to the calling off of the movement.
- From that time on, the differences between the Hindus and the Muslims only increased over a period of time and eventually became irreconcilable.
- In 1930, Muhammad Iqbal became the leader of the Muslim League in 1930 and for the first time articulated a demand for a separate Muslim state.
- He argued that Muslims and Hindus constituted two different nations in themselves and were incompatible.
- At this time, the congress rejected this theory and argued in favour of a united India, based on unity between different religious groups.
- Further, the policy of the British to divide and rule got exemplified in the Communal Award of 1932. This policy further strengthened the provisions for separate electorates.
- Conclusively, Jinnah in 1940 declared at the Muslim League conference held at Lahore, that “Hindus and the Muslims belong to two different religions, philosophies, social customs and literature. To yoke together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the government of such a state”
- The Cripps Mission in 1942 suggested that India be granted a Dominion status under the British Empire.
- The Mission did not accept the demand for Pakistan but allowed for a provision whereby provinces could secede from the Indian Union.
- But, the Congress and the Muslim League interpreted this in their own unique ways.
- Eventually, on the 16th August 1946 Jinnah declared Direct Action Day and the Muslim League raised the demand for an independent Pakistan.
- There were communal tensions amongst the Hindus and the Muslims in places including Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Bihar, Punjab
- In 1947, Mountbatten agreed with the Muslim League’s demand for an independent Pakistan but he also saw merit in the Congress’s demand for unity.
- He was asked by the British government to explore options of creating a united India or the option of partition
- However, the unity signs did not find place, and as a result India and Pakistan dominions were created in 1947
Analysis of Policies/Actions that led to the theory
- The Colonial State’s policies
- The British Colonial state chose to strengthen its power in India by adopting the strategy of dividing social groups and pitting them against each other
- The British said that in order to deal with the problem of Hindu-Muslim discord and in order to avert the threat of Hindu majoritarianism, it was critical to give special representation rights to the minorities.
- As a result, the colonial policies led to communal practices in following ways:
- Firstly, communities were separated and defined on grounds of religious affiliation. This meant that Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs etc. were treated as separate communities and were given representational rights accordingly.
- Further these communities were believed to be completely different and hostile to each other. Thus, it was argued that only the representatives of each community could represent the interests of that community.
- Thirdly, the British readily accepted the communal spokespersons as the sole representatives of their communities. Towards the end of the British rule, Jinnah was seen as the sole spokesperson of the Muslims in Colonial India, inspite of the fact that other Muslim leaders were present within the Muslim League and in the Congress who were opposed to the idea of Partition.
- Thus, it is evident that Communalism could not have flourished the way it did, without the support of the British Colonial state.
- Thus, the policy of Divide and Rule lead to communalism and further, extreme communalism led to Partition.
- The dilemmas and decisions of the Congress
- The Indian national movement succeeded in forming an alliance between some classes and communities and in acquiring independence from the British, but it failed to create unity which could have prevented Partition.
- So, what happened in 1947 was a result of the collapse of negotiations between the Congress and the Muslim League.
- Essentially the Congress did not vouch for Partition of India. Congress leaders wanted the British to transfer power to a united India.
- One of the reasons for accepting the demand for Pakistan was that the Congress leaders came to the conclusion that the demand was based on ‘popular will’
- Also, the Congress leadership agreed to Partition was also because they saw it as a sort of temporary measure
- It was thought by some that after passions subsided, people would see the futility of Partition and would want to re-unite.
- Further, the Congress accepted the proposal for Partition in the hope that it would finally help in ending the wide spread communal violence prevalent in Colonial India in 1946-47
- The Congress could have opted to oppose the demand for Partition through use of force but this was against its democratic ideals.
- So, When dialogue and negotiations with the Muslim League failed and the Interim government didn’t succeed, the Congress accepted the demand for Pakistan
- Still, the Congress tried to pressurize the British to transfer power to a united India but didn’t succeed in the endeavour primarily because of its inability to forge a united front with the Muslim League representatives
Eventually, inevitable circumstances led to partition of India into two dominions. However, it all didn’t end here. It was followed by a serious aftermath of communal tensions across the two regions, disturbing peace and stability soon after Independence from British in 1947.
