Did Two Nation Theory Die in 1971 After Creation of Bangladesh?

[my2cents]

Not much erudition is needed to blow holes into this preposterous idea; perhaps one reason why nobody spends time on it may be because the people for whom it was visualised have done their best to blow holes in it themselves.

There were Muslims who promoted this idea, and our shallow learning on display assumes that it was a purely Muslim intellectual disaster, and continues from there. The trajectory the criticism follows is to show, perfectly fairly, that Muslims gained nothing by segregating themselves, but lost massively instead. Not a difficult argument, indeed, one which springs out of the pages of every contemporary newspaper published in Pakistan or in Bangladesh. But not the main argument, certainly not the sole argument.

There were also, it is amusing to note, obscurantist and fanatic Hindus who promoted this idea. those Hindus, like their Muslim counterparts, were proved wrong, for rather different reasons. Naturally, they too, will not shout out their defeat from the rooftops.

Why are those of liberal views and modernising dispositions silent? I have a clue, but that is all that is.

Lets look at Pakistani leaders view point. They were of the opinion that Indian secular make up will not last and we would break up into smaller provinces. What they failed to realize that people with different faiths will fall in line when they have equal stake in the process. So, if remain secular, united and prosperous then we would have failed their two nation theory once again.

 

[scorpionx]

After reading @Oscar 's enviably brilliant post about Md.Iqbal's view on Islam and his idea of the Union of India,I must admit that the entire course of debate over the foundation of Two nation Theory has not only turned into a different direction but opened up a new sphere of discussion. Md.Iqbal's view on the solution/approach to the communal problems of undivided India,it's conformity with the Cabinet Mission plan and the role of Muslim reactionary and Hindu obscurantists in the surroundings of Mr.Jinnah and Mr.Nehru respectively is a matter of intense study and logical analysis. Before the undue privileges to post in this section rightfully exclusive for the intellectually superiors goes beyond my hand, I must conclude by saying about the tragic consequences of the history of United India nothing hurts me anymore than when an academically brilliant poet from whose gifted golden pen the unforgettable lyrics like "Sare Jahan se accha Hindustan hamara" had came out was forced to change his mind,perspective and became a staunch supporter of dividing this land.

Best Regards.

 

[doppelganger]

Look man, the only thing common to all Indians is the fact that we are of this soil and we share the same history and civilization. We can be of different faiths, and are. We can speak different tongues, and do. We can eat differently, look different, wear different clothes, but all that is secondary. Primary is that we are Indian. And that is enough for us.

All of the above could have been true for Pakistan as well. Bangladesh just proved that without the common civilizational bond, there was no other bond that could or would hold our people together. Bangladesh and then later the Pakistan of today are what India would have been, could have been, had we looked for any other unifier.

 

[Spring Onion]

I always feel if Indians are so sure that Two nation theory has failed with 71 happening then why Indians are even bothered about this theory today ?

 

[doppelganger]

I always feel if Indians are so sure that Two nation theory has failed with 71 happening then why Indians are even bothered about this theory today ?

We (at our common man level) have just started speaking to you regularly thanks to Internet, that's why.

 

[Spring Onion]

We (at our common man level) have just started speaking to you regularly thanks to Internet, that's why.

))))) so you are not sure about failure of two-nation theory in the first place

 

[doppelganger]

))))) so you are not sure about failure of two-nation theory in the first place

We are sure. We just want you to know as well. Abhi tak aapko bolne ka chance nahin tha. Boli sirf golabaari se hoti thi. Fir sannata.

 

[Spring Onion]

We are sure. We just want you to know as well. Abhi tak aapko bolne ka chance nahin tha. Boli sirf golabaari se hoti thi. Fir sannata.

If you were sure you woudnt have sleepless nights over BD's Muslim status ))

And if you were sure you would NOT Have banned Cow slaughter.


Simple as that.

 

[INDIC]

If you were sure you woudnt have sleepless nights over BD's Muslim status ))

And if you were sure you would NOT Have banned Cow slaughter.

Tell us the cow slaughtering part, how is it even related to Two nation theory.

 

[doppelganger]

If you were sure you woudnt have sleepless nights over BD's Muslim status ))

And if you were sure you would NOT Have banned Cow slaughter.

Simple as that.

Madam ji, what is Bangladesh? Some 150 odd million Muslims? We have 30 million Muslims more. Why should that be an issue for us.

Point is that were it not for this inherently flawed and doomed to failure from conception theory of your quaid e azam, Pakistan Muslims and Bangladeshi Muslims like Indian Muslims would have been living in undivided India as Indians. And would have been as proud and patriotic about their motherland as our own Muslims.

Then you would not need to invent superheros from foreign invaders.

Then you would not need to manufacture absurd theories of being Arabs and Persians and Afghans and Turks and Mongols.

Simply being Indian would have been enough. And you could have proudly shared the rich culture and history and heritage and legacy of India as RIGHTFUL OWNERS, like our Muslims, as well as the rest of us.

Today sorry to say madam ji, you are dhobi ka doggy. Na ghar ka, na ghat ka. A people who deny their own history. Please don't mind, sach bol raha hun dil se.

 

[Anubis]

Madam ji, what is Bangladesh? Some 150 odd million Muslims? We have 30 million Muslims more. Why should that be an issue for us.

Point is that were it not for this inherently flawed and doomed to failure from conception theory of your quaid e azam, Pakistan Muslims and Bangladeshi Muslims like Indian Muslims would have been living in undivided India as Indians. And would have been as proud and patriotic about their motherland as our own Muslims.

Then you would not need to invent superheros from foreign invaders.

Then you would not need to manufacture absurd theories of being Arabs and Persians and Afghans and Turks and Mongols.

Simply being Indian would have been enough. And you could have proudly shared the rich culture and history and heritage and legacy of India as RIGHTFUL OWNERS, like our Muslims, as well as the rest of us.

Today sorry to say madam ji, you are dhobi ka doggy. Na ghar ka, na ghat ka. A people who deny their own history. Please don't mind, sach bol raha hun dil se.

The issue is not as black and white as you portray it to be.Jinnah did not suddenly come up with the idea of a separate country.It was a long process and a lot of things fueled it.A lot of people like Allama Iqbal were also patriotic Indians who later changed his mind and supported the creation of Pakistan.So it was not Jinnah's ambition but socio-economic and political factors that led to the creation of Pakistan.

 

[doppelganger]

The issue is not as black and white as you portray it to be.Jinnah did not suddenly come up with the idea of a separate country.It was a long process and a lot of things fueled it.A lot of people like Allama Iqbal were also patriotic Indians who later changed his mind and supported the creation of Pakistan.So it was not Jinnah's ambition but socio-economic and political factors that led to the creation of Pakistan.

I think our guys like Nehru and his coterie were equally to blame. But what about the people? How can so few sway so many? 400 million at the time of Partition from what I hear. The mind boggles. As it does when one considers that just about a million of them died.

 

[INDIC]

The issue is not as black and white as you portray it to be.Jinnah did not suddenly come up with the idea of a separate country.It was a long process and a lot of things fueled it.A lot of people like Allama Iqbal were also patriotic Indians who later changed his mind and supported the creation of Pakistan.

Allama Iqbal views was only for North-West excluding Bengal, not for the all Muslims of British India. He even clarified later on that he wanted North-West to stay within India.

So it was not Jinnah's ambition but socio-economic and political factors that led to the creation of Pakistan.

Socio-economic and political factors was very different in different Muslim majority regions. In Punjab or Sindh it was mainly driven by feudalistic factor like Punjab Unionist Party and Sindh Ittehad Party as they were highly skeptical of anti-feudalistic socialist policies of Congress. The case in NWFP was totally pro-Congress. In Bengal it was mainly driven by poverty.

 

[Anubis]

I think our guys like Nehru and his coterie were equally to blame. But what about the people? How can so few sway so many?

Isn't a few still in control of the entire sub continent?Indian for most of its history has been fragmented under different monarchies.The British came and took control of the entire subcontinent and kept us under one monarchy.And after some time introduced a controlled democracy here.A democracy where people pro-British people will always remain in power no matter who you vote for(why do you think Netaji got kicked out of congress?).Democracy in India has been diseased from the very point it was introduced here.The people were never in control of the country.But towards the end of the Raj the divide and rule policy had not only divided the leadership but the society as well.So the people also supported the idea of different states.

 

[INDIC]

I think our guys like Nehru and his coterie were equally to blame. But what about the people? How can so few sway so many? 400 million at the time of Partition from what I hear. The mind boggles. As it does when one considers that just about a million of them died.

Jinnah was in no mood for any relaxation to his demand for Pakistan, you can't blame it entirely on Nehru, the temporary measures weren't going to help in the long term. It it hadn't occurred in 1947, it would have been more bloody later on. Muslim League original Pakistan plan was to get whole of Bengal, whole of Punjab and whole of Assam apart from many Hindu majority princely states within India which they failed to get all of it.