The morning on 23rd March, 1940, in Lahore was otherwise a typical mid-spring morning; the sky was blue and cloudless, the sun bright but not hot, the air crisply cool and refreshing. But that particular morning was destined to mark and epoch in the history of South Asia, and especially its Muslim population.
The All India Muslim League had decided to hold its annual convention at Minto Park in Lahore on this day. But the atmosphere was tense. The peace of the city had been disturbed by the clash between the police and the Khaksars a couple of days before.
The police had opened fire on their rally without any provocation and the march was peaceful. If the participants marched in formation it was part of their training; if they carried spades that was part of their kit and a symbol of social service.
They had resisted the police when it tried to stop their march. A number of Khaksars were killed or injure. The city was placed under curfew. No clear clue ever emerged as to who ordered the extreme step and why. One speculation that gained wide currency was that the Punjab chief minister Sikander Hayat Khan was behind it.
Though not openly in league with the Congress, yet, the Punjab chief minister was opposed to the Quaid-i-Azam's two-nation theory and the idea of separate Muslim and Hindu States. So when the All-India Muslim League decided to hold its convention right under his nose, he might have taken it as an affront.
In fact his political aides had already tried to prevail upon Jinnah to not visit Lahore on the occasion, even if the convention were held.
Yet another theory is that Sir Sikander got the jitters because the occasion might turn the hitherto lukewarm support for the Muslim League in Punjab into a groundswell. Therefore, the extreme action was resorted to and curfew was imposed to create a situation where normal political activity would be impracticable and the Muslim League would, therefore, be compelled to call the convention off.
But, Jinnah carried a granite will in a feeble frame, a feature to which Beverly Nichols pays special tribute in his book, 'Verdict on India.' That unwavering resolve, come hell or high water, exhibited itself in full measure on this occasion.
Travelling to Delhi from Bombay, en route Lahore he had suffered an attack of pleurisy. His doctors had strongly advised him rest and opposed undertaking physical exertion for a few days. As if to justify his sobriquet of Quaid-i-Azam, the "Great Leader," which he had not earned gratuitously, he disregarded the advice of his doctors; he rejected the apprehensions triggered by the uncertain law and order situation in the city to appear on the scene on the given day and time to inspire his followers with the zeal to achieve their coveted objective of freedom from the perpetual hegemony of Hindu majority.
Patrick French in 'Liberty or Death' graphically describes the scene of the convention in the following words: "Around sixty thousand people were present, sitting on the floor in a giant tent.
Jinnah sat on a throne clad in a chridar and a traditional Muslim achkan coat. ...the Quaid-i-Azam ...lit a Craven A ad addressed the rapt crowd for two hours in English." French quotes him as saying to the crowed, "Brother Gandhi has three votes and I have only one vote" and that "the Musalmans are not a minority; the Musalmans are a nation by any definition." These were such words that gave a message of hope to the Muslims, set their hearts and souls afire with the passion to achieve, to fill colour into the drawing that was on that presented before them. And the world saw the miracle happen in a matter of only seven years later.
The Resolution adopted at the convention was the first step to give substance to an idea, a concrete shape and contour to a dream. The dream is traced to Allama Iqbal who, in 1930, first proposed that India was fundamentally divided between Hindus and Muslims. It was reinforced by Choudhry Rehmat Ali who conjured the name of Pakistan.
But Patrick French even goes further backward in time tracing the "invention" of Pakistan to the "suggestion by a radical British MP John Bright in 1858 that the Indian empire might be broken up into several smaller states." (ibid) However, through the years, particularly after 1930, asort of awakening was taking place among the Muslims all over India. And the idea had been gaining increasing number of adherents, particularly, due to the intransigence of the Congress and the overweening arrogance of Jawaharlal Nehru.
The situation had become hotter after the Congress revealed its true saffron colour following the 1937 elections. It proved its intolerance towards the Muslim League, by refusing to recognise it as the sole voice of the Indian Muslims and accommodating its demand for power-sharing. Next it tried to use its power want only to provoke Muslim sensitivities by introducing such measures as the Wardha and Vidya Mandir schemes.
These schemes sought to suppress Urdu by propagating Hindustani in Devnagri (Hindi) script and provoke Muslim sensitivities by making the singing of Bande Mataram compulsory in schools. And finally, an impetuous Jawaharlal launched his fatuous Muslim Mass Contact Movement, fancifully hoping he would outwit Jinnah by weaning away Muslims from under the Muslim League's banner. It was the last straw.
Nehru had thrown the gauntlet. Jinnah, never the one to wilt, took it up with aplomb. Nehru's hopes were dashed as his plan boomeranged. His policy had the effect of galvanising the Muslims and rallying ever larger number of people under the Muslim League banner.
So, while a crestfallen Nehru was forced to wind up his Mass Contact Movement, Jinnah's following soared to greater heights.
The Lahore Convention as the point in time to tell the Congress as well as the British, that the Muslims of India had come of age. They had chosen their destiny as spelt out in the Resolution. So, when Jinnah spoke that day he was speaking from the pinnacle of his popularity.
Yet, as an ardent constitutionalist and a shrewd politician who knew that politics is the art of the possible, Quaid-e-Azam tried to keep the door for conciliation ajar. The Resolution was, therefore, given the innocuous name of Lahore Resolution. Ironically it was the Hindu elements that gave it the name of Pakistan Resolution.
As he pointed out at the April 1943 League session in Delhi, "...when we passed the Lahore Resolution we had not used the word 'Pakistan'. ... Pakistan is a word which is really foisted upon us by some sections of the Hindu Press and also by the British Press."
Historians and writers, -Ayesha Jalal and Frank Moraes included, are of the view that Jinnah, despite being short-changed and rebuffed variously by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru had always remained true to the title of the "apostle of Hindu-Muslim unity" given him by Sarojini Naidu, they hold that the Lahore Resolution did not imply crossing the Rubicon.
As a shrewd lawyer, Jinnah had wished to use it as a bargaining chip as evident from his support for the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946. But Fate had marked 23rd March 1940 as the date of Pakistan's destiny, which was fulfilled on August 14, 1947. No doubt the Pakistanis celebrate this day with thanksgiving and solemnity and a vow to strengthen this edifice by all that is within their means.