Pakistan Movement

The Pakistan Movement (Urdu: تحریکِ پاکستان, romanized: Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān; Bengali: পাকিস্তান আন্দোলন, romanized: Pakistan āndōlon) was a nationalist and political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the perceived need for self-determination for Muslims under British rule at the time. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a barrister and politician led this movement after the Lahore Resolution was passed by All-India Muslim League on the 23 March 1940 and Ashraf Ali Thanwi as a religious scholar supported it.

The Aligarh Movement, under the leadership of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, was instrumental in establishing a base for the Pakistan Movement, and later providing the newly formed country with its ruling elite. Soon thereafter, the All-India Muslim League was formed, which perhaps marked the beginning of the Pakistan Movement. Many of the top leadership of the movement were educated in Great Britain with many of them educated at the Aligarh Muslim University. Many graduates of the University of Dhaka soon also joined. The driving force behind the Pakistan Movement was the Muslim community of the Muslim minority provinces, such as the United Provinces, rather than that of the Muslim majority provinces.

The Pakistan Movement was a part of the Indian independence movement, but eventually it also sought to establish a new nation-state that protected the political interests of Muslims of British India. Urdu poets such as Iqbal and Faiz used literature, poetry and speech as a powerful tool for political awareness. Iqbal is called the spiritual father of this movement. The Deobandis, who were organized as the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind led by Hussain Ahmed Madani, were convinced by composite nationalism and called for a united India. Ashraf Ali Thanwi and his followers dissented from the Deobandi ulema; Thanwi's disciples Shabbir Ahmad Usmani and Zafar Ahmad Usmani were key players in religious support for the creation of Pakistan. The dissenting group of Ulama, led by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, left the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind to form the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, which gave their support to the movement for an independent Pakistan. Acknowledging the services of these ulema, Usmani was honoured to raise the flag of Pakistan in Karachi and Zafar Ahmad Usmani, in Dhaka.

Despite political obstacles and social difficulties, the movement was successful in culminating Pakistan on 14 August 1947, which also resulted in partition of India and the creation of two separate states. Land boundaries and population demographics of West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan), East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and India are among the primary achievements of the Pakistan Movement. Not all Muslims of colonial India supported the Pakistan Movement and there was widespread opposition to the partition of India.