Muslim League

The All India Muslim League was a political party in British India and was the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state from British India on the Indian subcontinent. After the independence of India and Pakistan, the League continued as a minor party in India, especially in Kerala, where it is often in government within a coalition with others. In Pakistan, the League formed the country's first government, but disintegrated during the 1950s following an army coup. A party using the name Muslim League, but with no organisational connection with the original League, is currently in government in Pakistan.

The search for a solution

Jinnah became disillusioned with politics after the failure of his attempt to for a Hindu-Muslim alliance, and he spent most of the 1920s in Britain. The leadership of the League was taken over by Sir Muhammad Iqbal, who in 1930 first put forward the demand for a separate Muslim state in India, to be known as Pakistan (the "land of the pure"). The "two-nation theory," the belief that Hindus and Muslims were two different nations who could not live in one country, gained popularity among Muslims, particularly as Hindu nationalism became more strident. The two-state solution was rejected by the Congress leaders, who favoured a united, secular democratic India. Iqbal's policy of uniting the North-West Frontier Province, Baluchistan, and Sindh into a new state of Pakistan, united the many factions of the League.

Related Topics:
Sir Muhammad Iqbal - 1930

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In 1927 the British proposed a constitution for India as recommended by the Simon Commission, but they failed to reconcile all parties. The British then turned the matter over to the League and the Congress, and in 1928, an All-Parties Congress was convened in Delhi. The attempt failed, but two more conferences were held. At the Bombay conference in May, it was agreed that a small committee should work on the constitution. The respected Congress leader Motilal Nehru (father of Jawaharlal) headed the committee, which included two Muslims, Syed Ali Imam and Shoaib Quereshi.

Related Topics:
1927 - Simon Commission - 1928 - Delhi - Bombay - Motilal Nehru - Syed Ali Imam - Shoaib Quereshi

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The League, however, rejected the proposal that the committee returned, called the "Nehru Report," arguing that it gave too little representation (one quarter) to Muslims - the League had demanded at least one-third representation in the legislature. Jinnah reported a "parting of the ways" after reading the report, and relations between the Congress and the League began to sour.

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The election of Ramsay MacDonald's Labour government in 1929 fuelled new hopes for progress towards self-government in India. Gandhi traveled to London, claiming to represent all Indians, and criticising the League as sectarian and divisive. Round-table talks were held, but these achieved little, since Gandhi and the League were unable reach a compromise. The fall of the Labour government in 1931 ended this period of optimism.

Related Topics:
Ramsay MacDonald - Labour - 1929 - 1931

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In the 1935 Government of India Act, the British for the first time proposed to hand over substantial power to elected Indian provincial legislatures, with elections to be held in 1937. Jinnah returned to India and resumed leadership of the League, which now saw the real threat of Hindu majority rule over the Muslim minority. After the elections the League took office in Bengal and Punjab, but the Congress won office in most of the other Indian states, and refused to share power with the League in states with large Muslim minorities. In 1940 the League formally adopted the creation of Pakistan as its objective.

Related Topics:
1935 - Government of India Act - 1937 - 1940

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