BC, Good Ridence, Why the need 2 Justify Your own Existence
One common allegation against Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League, is that he, in league with the British, effectively blocked alternative solutions to the Hindu-Muslim problem other than a partition of the subcontinent. Is the allegation valid?
The communal problem in the British India centred on Muslims’ apprehension that in the absence of adequate constitutional safeguards, they would be overwhelmed by the majority Hindus politically and economically. The Congress most of the time would deny either that the communal problem existed, or that it was serious enough to warrant even special safeguards for Muslims, to say nothing of a separate Muslim state.In the first place, when the plan was presented to the Congress, it tried to get the Mission’s assurance that in the event the Congress accepted the plan while the League rejected it, power would be transferred to the Congress. The Mission gave the assurance. As the plan fell short of Muslim demand for a separate state, the Congress was certain the League would turn it down, thus prompting the British to hand over power to the Congress; the 1937-39 Congress provincial governments had already given Muslims a taste of Hindu rule. Jinnah did not want that and thus decided that the League should accept the constitutional scheme.
In the second place, the Congress had unleashed the propaganda that the partition of India was a British scheme and that Jinnah and the League were merely a tool to execute the scheme. The Congress would also accuse Jinnah of obstructing the independence of India by pressing for the partition. Jinnah wanted to refute these allegations and tell his critics that he was as keen for independence from British imperialism and a settlement of the Hindu-Muslim problem as Gandhi, Nehru and Azad were.
The third reason for Jinnah to accept the plan was that he saw in it seeds of Pakistan. The proposed units, two of which were to comprise Muslim majority provinces, were to be given full autonomy. Moreover, each region after 10 year could opt out of the federation and proclaim independence. And the units were to be created on the basis of religion – the same basis on which the demand for Pakistan rested.
that interest was a cutlet item? That too usurious rate of 18%.
