BIHAR MUSLIMS' RESPONSE TO TWO NATION THEORY 1940-47 ABSTRACT THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF Bortor of IN HISTORY BY MOHAMMAD SAJJAD UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF PROF. RAJ KUNAR TRIVEDI CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY DEPARTMENT OF HISTOFflC AUGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2003 ABSTRACT Bihar Muslims' Response to Two Nation Theory 1940-47: The Lahore session (1940) of the Muslim League adopted a resolution in which Muslim majority areas were sought to be grouped as "autonomous and sovereign" , 'independent states". This vaguely worded resolution came to be known as Pakistan resolution. The Muslim League, from its days of foundation (in 1906) to the provincial elections of 1937, underwent many changes. However, after the elections of 1937 its desperation had increased manifold. During the period of the Congress ministry (1937-39), the League succeeded in winning over a sizeable section of the Muslims, more particularly the landed elites and educated middle class Muslims of Muslim minority provinces like U.P. and Bihar. From 1937 onwards, the divide between the two communities went on widening. Through a massive propaganda and tactful mobilizations, the League expanded its base, adopted a divisive resolution at Lahore (1940) and then on kept pushing its agenda which culminated into the partition of India. Nevertheless, the role of imperialism, the role of Hindu majoritarian organizations like the Hindu Mahasabha and tactical failure on the part of the Congress combined with communalization of the lower units of the Congress (notwithstanding the unifying ideals of the Congress working Committee) can not be denied in the partition of the country. Such analysis on the 'making of Pakistan' has either concentrated on the negotiative politics at the level of top leadership, known as 'High Politics' of partition or else the works on partition remain confined to the provinces of the Punjab, the Bengal and the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh). The present study therefore concentrates on Bihar. As suggested by the title itself, this study has not gone into the 'High Politics' of Partition. Nor does this study go into the theoretical debates on the concept of the Two-Nation theory. (Anil Chandra Banerji in his Two Nations: The Philosophy of Muslim Nationalism and Shafique Ali Khan in his Two Nation Theory as a Concept Strategy and Ideology have dealt with this aspect in detail). This study only concentrates on the response of the organizations and individuals of the Muslims of Bihar towards the separatist politics of the League. This work consists of six chapters including the Prelude and the Conclusion. The first chapter, i.e. the Prelude, gives a survey of the works on the political behaviour of the Muslims of Bihar. For a broader and comparative perspective, it also makes use of some of the works on other provinces. Moreover, to understand the reasons of the alienation of other marginalized linguistic and social groups of the colonial Indian society, it also refers to the non Brahmin Tamils, and their relationship with the Congress led Indian National Movement. The second chapter, Community Consensus: Muslims in Bihar Politics - An Overview uptill 1940 traces the history of the cordial relationship between Hindus and Muslims in colonial Bihar. This chapter also comes out with the finding that Bihar being the nerve centre of the fiercely and colonial 'Wahabi' movement negates the common perception that in the late 19^'' century the Muslims became loyal to the British. In Bihar, both traditionally educated Ulema and the modern educated Muslims maintained a cordial relationship with the Hindus, jointly opened up educational institutions and political associations and fought against imperialism shoulder to shoulder. Having taken a lead in modern education, the Bengalis had dominated the public employment in Bihar. Therefore resenting against this, both Hindus and Muslims gave a priority to make Bihar a province - separate from Bengal. The political mobilization along these lines, probably united both the Hindus and Muslims. In fact the voice of separate provincial status for Bihar was first raised by the Muslims in a Monghyr based Urdu newspaper Murgh /- Sulaiman (1877). From the different annual sessions of the Congress to the Non Co operation and Khilafat movements and the Civil Disobedience movements, the participation of Muslims remained very high. The Bihar Provincial Muslim League (BPML) collaborated with the Congress and the former organization was dominated by the staunch nationalists like Hasan Imam and Mazharul Haq. Pertinently, the League and the Congress in Bihar did not have an adversarial relationship for considerable period of time. In fact in the wake of the Khilafat movement the League almost lost its organizational existence. The third chapter. The Polarizing Texture of Bihar Politics: A Survery uptill 1940 gives an account of the rift between the two communities. The organizations like Gauraksini Sabhas (1880s onwards), and Shudhi and Sangathan programmes, tableegh and tanzeem movements estranged the relationship between the two communities. Frequent riots took place. The elections of 1920s and the perceived and real grievances of the Muslims against the Congress ministry (1937-39) contributed to the alienation of the Muslims against the Congress. The League played upon it very shrewdly. Thus, the League carved out a space for itself. From 1938 onwards, it established several district units. Denying premiership to Syed Mahmud, also contributed to Congress-Muslim rift. However, it was 1946 riots that substantially increased the distrust between the two communities. The involvement of the functionaries of the Congress in the riots was a major blow to the Muslim-Congress relation. And regardless of their attitude towards the League, the Muslims, to their surprise, came to perceive that the Congress also believed in dividing the country along Hindu and Muslim lines. The colonial police displayed its inefficiency in handling the communal riots and the S. K. Sinha led ministry failed to win the trust of the Muslims on this issue. Despite Gandhiji's insistence, Syed Mahmud was not given enough roles to play in such a situation. All such things have been dealt with in the fourth chapter, Bihar Muslims : From Alienation to Exodus 1940-47. The fifth chapter, Muslims' Resistance to the Two-Nation Theory: Bihar 1940-47, provides the details of the Muslim organizations and the individuals who confronted the League's separatist politics very strongly and effectively. These organizations were Imarat-e-Shariah, Momim Conference, Shia Conference and, of course, a huge mass of the Muslim leadership associated with the Congress. Besides them, a large number of Muslims in Bihar were associated with the Socialist organizations. All of them not only confronted the League's communal separatism but also ensured a large participation of Muslims in the Quit India Movement. This chapter also makes a detailed analysis of the reasons why and how did the Muslim League succeed in winning the most of the Muslim seats of Bihar in the 1946 elections. This exploration reveals that the League's separatism could not strike deeper roots among the Muslims of Bihar, and the organizational presence and penetration of the League was always weaker . But the communal violence in retaliation of the pogroms in Noakhali (Bengal) was very fatal as the Bihar Congress resembled with the Bengal League. Neverthless, the present study in its Conclusion does underline that 'Despite the communalization of the lower rungs of the Congress, it was largely due to the ideals set by the Congress led national movement that the all-inclusive ideals like religious pluralism and secular democracy remains the guiding principle of independent India' and that 'India could be partitioned only in the presence of British'. BIHAR MUSLIMS' RESPONSE TO TWO NATION THEORY 1940-47 THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF Sottor of IN HISTORY BY MOHAMIVTAD SAJJAD UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF PROP. RAJ KUMAR TRIVEDI CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2003 Dedicated to my Qmnd £ate (ZBdui (SxtiyAim CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY < Ulernal : (,0571)400146 lolcThoncs I . nEPARTMl.M OR HISTORY ALIC.AKII MliSI.I.M DNUI-RSIIY ALIGARII-:O?OO? (UP), INDIA CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the thesis entitled "Bihar Muslims' Response to Two Nation Theory, 1940-47'\ is the original work of Mr. Mohammad Sajjad under my supervision and is suitable for submission for the award of Ph.D. degree in History. -v (Raj Kumar Trivedi) Professor of History Supervisor ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the course of this study I have drawn enormously from a number of individuals and institutions. I owe, as I may call it 'germ of the idea' of this theme, to the discussions with my friend Najmul Hoda who was assigned to write a tutorial on Partition with the help of Urdu sources. His initial explorations in the field revealed that the studies on partition are heavily skewed in favour of three provinces (viz. Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal) and in the studies that have been conducted; it appears that Urdu sources have not been adequately drawn upon. This inattention to other provinces provoked in me the desire to situate my study on a region, which is by and large unexplored. Bihar being my home province, thus, suggested itself as a natural choice. My discussions with my supervisor. Prof. R. K. Trivedi, further confirmed to me the suitability of this theme. First and foremost, I must thank my supervisor Prof R. K. Trivedi for his abiding support in terms of sparing time, sharing knowledge and expertise on the subject and for patiently bearing all along with my insincerities and distractions. I have also benefited a lot from conversations and correspondences with Prof Papiya Ghosh whose pioneering publications in my area of study have been really illuminating. Prof Ayesha Jalal and Late Arvind N.