History tidbit: Congress' support for the formation of Pakistan, 1943

[Solomon2]

Discovering this in my weekend reading was a surprise. From the Diaries of Felix Frankfurter:

Tuesday, January 5 [1943, Washington, D.C.]

Sitting. [F.F. was a Supreme Court Justice.]
At Sir Girja Bajpai's (the Indian Agent General) suggestion, Kavalam Madhara Panikkar called. We talked for about an hour and a half on all the phases of the Indian situation (1).

Panikkar was once editor of the Hindustan Times - the leading organ of the Congress - and also a personal follower of Gandhi. He still is a profound respecter of Gandhi. He was Secretary of the Indian States Delegation at the Round Table Conference of 1930 and is now a constitutional advisor of the Princes. His view, in short, is that the central problem is the Hindu-Moslem conflict and that the conflict cannot be resolved either by the two communities themselves, or by the British. Nor can it be done by open intervention of the United States. His way out is private, non-official, exploration of the ground by some distinguished Canadian, for instance, and say the United States Minister at Delhi, who would formulate a solution which, in his judgment, neither side could reject. He surprised me by saying he was now against a United Federal India. He thinks that Pakistan is essential because otherwise there never will be a sufficient grant of central authority for dealing with the social problems in the Hindu provinces which the solution of those problems make indispensable. He thinks that Pakistan would not be opposed by the Congress which has, in fact, never declared itself formally against Pakistan. Of course, he would have an arrangement or treaty between Hindustan and Pakistan for those matters on which there must be a common control - matters of defense, currency, communications, etc. He is on his way to London to further his general ideas for which he thinks he can get British acceptance once the community problem is out of the way.

1 Churchill had specifically excluded India and Burma from the application of the Atlantic Charter. Gandhi in consequence had instructed his people to follow a policy of nonresistance to the Japanese and later ordered a campaign of civil disobedience to the British authorities. Gandhi, Nehru, and other Congress leaders were thrown into jail and Gandhi was on the eve of a hunger strike. The United States was greatly concerned. Although Roosevelt had found Churchill unbudgeable on this subject, he had just ordered William Phillips, a career diplomat and personal friend, to go to India to see whether some formula of accommodation could not be arranged.

 

[SQ8]

Perhaps there should have been the original idea..
matter of common control.. defense, currency etc.
Semi-autonomous region.

 

[Solomon2]

Perhaps there should have been the original idea..
matter of common control.. defense, currency etc.
Semi-autonomous region.

The British trained Indian Army of WWII was either fighting in Burma or deployed to distant theaters at that time as well as most of the British. Indians - Hindus and Muslims - mostly took care of themselves. See how sensible civilians can become when not dominated by military thinking?

 

[T-Faz]

Pakistan was settled long ago as the only solution by some sections of India's ruling elite, however Jinnah wanted to use this idea to secure rights for the Muslims of India and come to some sort of arrangement whereby the Muslim and Hindus remain in peace.

However there are some idiots here who think that Hindu's and Muslims used to live in Peace and Jinnah caused a rift between them in the 40's to gain power.

I believe it was that historically challenged individual called Ashdoc.

 

[pmukherjee]

Pakistan was settled long ago as the only solution by some sections of India's ruling elite, however Jinnah wanted to use this idea to secure rights for the Muslims of India and come to some sort of arrangement whereby the Muslim and Hindus remain in peace.

However there are some idiots here who think that Hindu's and Muslims used to live in Peace and Jinnah caused a rift between them in the 40's to gain power.

I believe it was that historically challenged individual called Ashdoc.

Jinnah was not solely responsible for the creation of Pakistan. The Congress elite, namely, Gandhi, Nehru, Patel etc supported creation of Pakistan and considered the option of federally administered states in undivided British India as being impractical..

 

[Solomon2]

Pakistan was settled long ago as the only solution by some sections of India's ruling elite, however Jinnah wanted to use this idea to secure rights for the Muslims of India and come to some sort of arrangement whereby the Muslim and Hindus remain in peace.

Now we see the basis of Jinnah's approach, for what Panikkar said reads very close to claiming that Muslims are an alien element which must be spit out into Pakistan for the good of Hindus - and I imagine Jinnah knew this. Perhaps rather than seeing himself as the "Father of Pakistan" he considered himself as something closer to a midwife to what became, in spite of his efforts perhaps, a very bloody delivery.

 

[fd24]

guys dont forget jinnah was a member of congress. Wasnt he president? I was under the impression that he came to the pakistan idea because of his experiences with the congress?

 

[indushek]

Whatever the past, lets just forget it. The important thing is that these two entities should strive to maintain atleast cordial relations with a hope for better relations in future.