Pakistan or the Partition of India

Title: Pakistan or the Partition of India

Author: B R Ambedkar

Publisher: Education Department, Government of Maharashtra, 1990 (First published 1940)

ISBN: 9780404548018 (indicative)

Pages: 480

Dr. B R Ambedkar was the chairman of the drafting committee of the Indian Constitution. In spite of hard toil as a member of a Dalit community, he rose to prominence as a lawyer and constitutional expert. Ambedkar’s opinion carried great weight in the last decade of India's bondage under Britain because the Muslim League was pulling out all stops in their frantic quest to drive a wedge between the Depressed Classes and the other Hindus so as to bring down the numerical superiority of the latter. In this book, Ambedkar presents the cases of Hindus and Muslims as their counsel for and against the idea of creating a Muslim state called Pakistan which had gained prominence after the League’s Lahore Declaration raised the demand in 1940. This is in fact a report prepared by a committee of the Indian Labour Party in 1940 immediately after League’s declaration. Ambedkar was the chairman of the committee and authored the report. This is a fine specimen of the wide knowledge and erudition of Ambedkar.

The author lucidly explains the definition of nationalism, nationhood and community, as understood by eminent statesmen. A community has only the right of insurrection. They can only ask for a change in the mode and form of government without secession. A nation has the right of disruption that is capable of breaking the bond and become a separate state. He concludes that what stands between the Hindus and Muslims is not merely a matter of difference and this antagonism is not to be attributed to material causes alone. It is formed by causes which take their origin in historical, religious, cultural and social antipathy. Political antipathy was also added to this heady mix after the First World War when the idea of the freedom of India began to crystallize into the realm of possibility than a wild dream. These factors form one river of deep discontent, which is regularly fed by acts of hatred.

Having established the basics, Ambedkar ventures to examine whether the two communities can be designated as nations. The Hindus had not yet become a nation and are in the process of becoming one. To bring the contrast to focus, Ambedkar examines the historical precedents and comes to the conclusion that there are no historical antecedents which the Hindus and Muslims can be said to share together as matter of pride or as matter of sorrow. They have been just two armed battalions warring against each other. One community’s heroes are the other’s villains. Moreover, the Muslim heroes have a track record of wreaking devastation and death across India. Their past is a past of mutual destruction. The perceived uniformity in some matters of custom and manners is partly due to incomplete conversion, caused by some who retain their old ways. This forms the basis of the separate nationhood of the Muslims. From this point, it requires only a short walk to concede a separate state for them. Furthermore, the right of nationalism to freedom from an aggressive foreign imperialism and the right of a minority to freedom from an aggressive majority nationalism are not two different things. Another point to note is that the demand by a nationality for a national state does not require to be supported by any list of grievances. The will of the people is enough to justify it.

The author quite literally scoffs at the attempt of the Hindus to stall the idea of Pakistan by its appeals to preserve the territorial integrity of the motherland. The raw deal they had had at the hands of the Muslim Invaders stands incomparable in its brutality, barbarity and ruthlessness. Ambedkar lists out the unbearable harshness of Muslim conquests during the 762 years from the advent of Muhammad of Ghazni to the return of Ahmed Shah Abdali in a long series of quotes from the historians of the period (p.54-63). The invasions were accompanied with destruction of temples and forced conversion, with spoliation of property, slaughter, enslavement and gross abasement of men, women and children. Hence, the memory of these invasions remained green as a source of pride to Muslims and as a source of shame to Hindus (p.64). The author concludes that if the Muslims are to be against the Hindus, it is better that they should be without and against, rather than within and against. The arguments on inviolability of the land also does not hold water as he compares North India to Alsace-Lorraine in Europe which had changed hands many times in the past. This book also lists out the gruesome episodes of communal violence occurred at various parts of the country in the period 1920-40 (p.163-184). What is disturbing is the casual nature of the events that sparked the outbreak of riots. No part of India, whether in the north, south, west or the east was free from this malice that took on the proportions of a civil war. Besides, the author warns that the Congress may concede League’s extravagant demands for getting an undivided India to rule over. This might well include 50 per cent reservation for Muslims in the legislature and executive and even declaring Urdu as the national language of India.

Ambedkar notes the increasing rapport between the British and Indian Muslims after 1919 with a tinge of concern. After that year, it was fairly evident to the British government that the Congress, which largely represented the Hindus under Gandhi, was going to be charting a collision course with the administration of the country. As a manifestation of the principle of Divide et Impera, they extended an olive branch to the Muslims. After 1919, the numerical strength of Muslims in the Indian army was boosted. Indian army used to divulge its community-wise constitution in those days and Muslims are reported to be filling up 36 per cent of the army in the 1930s while they comprised only a quarter of the population. The author doubts the loyalty of these soldiers in case free India was attacked by a Muslim invader such as Afghanistan. This was especially apposite for the period as the Muslim League and Khilafat Committee had taken the stand that Muslim soldiers in the army shall not be used against Muslim powers (p.98).

Ambedkar’s shining intellect illuminates the argument landscape of the book so that the readers never go astray. He had such a fine grasp of constitutional matters that he has included the draft of a bill he proposes for preliminary provisions for the Indian constitution and the duties of a transition government. Ambedkar presciently points out that mutual exchange of populations is necessary for Partition to take effect fully. The draft includes sufficient enabling clauses to handle such issues. Shifting and exchange of populations may be required to preserve homogeneity of newly formed states. Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria exchanged twenty million people after the First World War because they felt that considerations of communal peace must outweigh every other consideration. If Nehru’s clueless administration had adopted Ambedkar’s visionary suggestions, the bloodbath that accompanied partition in the form of forced migration across newly formed borders could have been averted entirely. Unfortunately, Nehru never rose to such lofty heights of intellectual preparedness. He shunned any form of transitional authority and was straining at the leash to handle the reins of power the moment clock struck midnight on August 15. However, Ambedkar could not foresee the relations between the two countries souring so soon after the Partition. He argues that settling the finer points related to defence is not a very urgent issue ‘as there is no reason to suppose that Pakistan will be at war with India immediately after it is brought into being’ (p.67).

The book is a rare example of fine scholarship and deep research from a social leader. Ambedkar was the spokesman of the Dalits, but he maintains an impartial and well-balanced perspective in his arguments involving Hindus and Muslims. This is a trait many contemporary Dalit leaders sorely lack. The book contains a lot of appendices and tables showing population figures and community-wise allotment of seats in the various provincial legislatures. It is not only a narrative of Pakistan but also an analysis of Indian history, politics and future constitutional provisions as evaluated in their communal aspects.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 4 Star