This part has been divided into various segments to conform to the developments that gradually took place between 1857 to1947 – the last century foothold of the British in the British India.
“Jange-e-Azadi” (War of Independence)
Although the British Empire expanded, the native Indians never accepted their dominance. On May 10, 1857, Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army, drawn mostly from Muslim units from Bengal, rose against the British in the Meerut garrison some 80 km from Delhi and marched to Delhi. The rising was mainly to protest against the use of the newly issued rifle bullets, alleged to have a wax sealing made of the fats of pigs that was to be removed from the teeth before use. Since pigs are forbidden in the Islam, the Muslim soldiers resented its use and took up arms against their British masters. At Delhi, they captured the famous “Lal Qila” (Red Fort) and reinstated Bahadar Shah Zafar (the last Mughul monarch) to throne. Soldiers in other garrisons also followed the suit and soon much of north and central India was plunged into a year-long insurrection against the British. The British reacted and laid a siege of the Fort, which continued for a while but finally the British owing to their access to artillery and large number of forces stormed the Fort. Bahadur Shah Zafar fled to Humayun’s tomb. The British plundered Delhi and killed many Indian soldiers (and civilians) and artillery was set up in the main mosque in the city to bombard suspected localities, specially the homes of the Muslim nobility. The British forces also arrested Bahadur Shah and days after the arrest, a British officer William Hodson shot Shah’s sons Mirza Moghul, Mirza Khizr Sultan, and Mirza Abu Bakr and shamefully presented their heads to the Shah.
Ali Garh to Muslim League
As a consequence to 1857 events, the British government brought India under the direct control of Crown and a Viceroy was appointed to represent the Crown. They also increased the number of British soldiers in relation to native and allowed only British soldiers to handle artillery. In 1877 Queen Victoria took the title of Empress of India. Bahadur Shah was exiled to Rangoon, in Burma where he died in 1862, finally bringing the Mughal dynasty to an end. Although the “Jange-e-Azadi” (Liberation War) was brutally quelched, the spark for independence and throwing away the yoke of slavery at the hands of the British had been ignited.
While the War of Independence had many repercussions, the intolerance towards the Muslims by the British increased manifold and the Muslims felt deprived and left out in fields of education and representation in government service. Attacks by Hindu fundamentalists against religious conversion, cow killing, and the preservation of Urdu in Arabic script deepened their fears of minority status.
In order to keep the Muslims in the mainstream, rose Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and launched a movement for Muslim regeneration that culminated in the founding of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875 (later renamed Aligarh Muslim University in 1921). Its objective was to educate Muslims by emphasizing the compatibility of Islam with western knowledge.
On 30 December 1906 the All-India Muslim League was founded to safeguard the interests of the Muslims. A delegation also met with the viceroy, Gilbert John Elliot, seeking special considerations in government service and electorates. This had positive effect and in 1911 When King-Emperor George V visited India, he announced the reversal of the partition of Bengal and the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to present day New Delhi.
Jinnah and Pakistan Movement
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who had initially joined the Congress was grossly dissatisfied with the Congress attitude towards Muslims and thus joined the Muslim League in 1913. It was with his efforts that Congress recognized the separate position of the Muslims and the Muslims’ demand for a separate electorate as a part of the Lucknow Pact. However the Hindu prejudice against the Muslims could not be hidden for long and the publication of Nehru Report (1928) was a great setback to Lucknow Pact, since the Nehru Report negated all its clauses. It became evident that Congress and Hindus wanted to become the ruler of India on the basis of numerical strength and make Muslims their subjects. This was not acceptable to Muslims since they had ruled India for centuries and after British subjugation, they were again to fall under the Hindus as their subjects. Jinnah therefore refused to accept the report and presented his famous 14 Points to solve the political problems in India.
The Muslims wished that their separate identity should be recognized and provided constitutional safeguards to protect their rights. It was then that the first proponents of independent Muslim nation began to appear. Among the first of these was writer/philosopher Allama Iqbal, who felt that a separate nation for Muslims was essential in an otherwise Hindu-dominated subcontinent. The cause found a leader in Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who became known as Father of the Nation and eventually persuaded the British to partition the region into Muslim-majority Pakistan, and Hindu-majority India.
In the meantime Choudhary Rahmat Ali a Cambridge student coined the word
“PAKISTAN” for a would-be Muslim country, which was published on 28th January 1933 in the pamphlet “Now or Never.” He made the name an acronym of the different states/homelands/regions, which broke down into:
P(Punjab), A(Afghania – a reference to the North West Frontier Province), K( Kashmir), S(Sindh) and TAN(BalochisTAN), thus forming “’PAK – STAN’”.
An “i”’ was later added to the the name to ease pronunciation, producing “PAKISTAN.”
The Lahore Resolution
The British Government under the new constitution held the elections in 1937, in which Congress gained majority and formed government in six large provinces. In connivance with the government, Hindus started persecuting the Muslims and Hindi was introduced instead of Urdu. The introduction of “Bande Matram”, the Hindus’ national anthem did the rest. Therefore, the Muslim League decided to ask for a separate homeland for themselves as by now it was clear that both Hindus and Muslims could not co-exist under one flag. In the 27th annual session on 23 March 1940 at Lahore, the Muslim League under Jinnah demanded a separate homeland for the Muslims of Indian sub-continent. Thereafter, Muslims all over India were asked to join Muslims League to safe guard their identity. In the meantime the 2nd world War had already started and the British government wanted whole hearted Indian support, therefore the Viceroy promised that the constitution would be framed in consultation with representatives of the people after the war.
In 1942 Sir Stafford Cripps proposed dominion status to India under British Crown. While Congress rejected the proposal since it wanted full control over the affairs of the government, Muslim League rejected it since it didn’t promise a separate homeland for them. Thereafter between 1942-45 many attempts were made to break the deadlock, but the Congress refused to accept the separate identity for the Muslims. This further united the Muslims, which resulted into land slide victory for Muslims in 1945-46 elections. It clearly showed that Muslims were a separate entity and that their demand for a separate homeland was just.
The Final Days
The one year period between 1946 till partition of India was very confusing, disturbing and crucial for the future of the Muslims. The British now realized that Muslims were a powerful entity and could not be ignored. But at the same time they never wanted to annoy the Hindus who were in majority. Therefore in 1946, a delegation from England arrived with three suggestions: (1) The Constituent Assembly should prepare the constitution, (2) Adoption of federal form of government and (3) British India to be divided in three groups: (a) First Group – Muslim majority provinces of Bengal and Asam, (b) Second Group – Punjab, NWFP, Sind and Balochistan and (c) the Hindu majority Third Group. All groups should compulsorily remain in the Federation for TEN YEARS, after which they had the choice to get separated and become independent.
Congress obviously rejected the proposal since it saw creation of Pakistan after ten years while Muslims rejected it since they could not wait for ten years. Therefore Muslim League started a country wide campaign to expose the covert collaboration between the Congress and the government. After the failure of a provisional government in 1946, where Congress and League members could not sit together, on 20 February 1947 the British Prime Minister Lord Attlee declared that British government would transfer power to people of subcontinent by June 1947. However the new Viceroy Lord Mountbatten assessed that there was no hope for a political reconciliation and only solution was division of British India into two independent states; Bharat (India) for Hindus and Pakistan for Muslims. On June3, 1947, the partition of British India and establishment of Pakistan on 14th August 1947 was announced.
End of an Empire
With the creation of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, the British Indian Empire faded into the history. But left behind many scars that still haunt peace and stability in the region. Kashmir being the major dispute because of which not only peace in the region is unattainable but has brought India and Pakistan face to face on a number of occasions. The latest escalation in year 2002 almost brought the two nations at brink of war and at a nuclear flash point. So long the dispute remains unresolved, no worthwhile peace can be ensured in the region and people of both countries would continue to suffer.
http://www.pakistanpaedia.com/hist/hist3.html
The Birth of a Nation
Price of the Freedom
On 14 August 1947, just 10 minutes before midnight, All India Radio (AIR) broadcast its last programme and thereafter, a song composed by Khawaja Khurshid Anwar was aired by the Lahore radio station. Then a minute before midnight a broadcast (in English by Mr Zahoor Ahmed and in Urdu by Mustapha ali Hamadani) informed the awaiting listeners that exactly at midnight Pakistan will emerge as an independent state on the world map. Then at exactly at midnight 14-15 August 1947, a broadcast in English, followed by in Urdu reached the listeners “ This is Pakistan Broadcasting Service”. This broadcast was followed by recitation of Holy Quran (Surah Al Fatah 1-4) by Maulana Zahir al Qasmi. This was followed by a “na’at” by Muhammad Azam Chishti, a “qaseeda” by Hafeez Jalandhari (later the architect of Pakistan National Anthem), an orchestra composed by Khawaja Khurshid Anwar and a “qawwali” by Santoo Khan and others.14 August 1947, a day in the history when a new nation was carved out of the British India after a long and tiring struggle of Muslims of India. For years since 711 AD, when Muhammad Bin Qasim invaded the Indian sub-continent, Muslims had been the rulers till subjugated by the British in 1857. Therefore, the independence in 1947 from the British yoke was a God-given opportunity to live as per the aspirations of Islamic values. From 1947 till date, Pakistan’s history has seen many ups and downs, finally losing half of it in 1971. The history of Pakistan can easily be divided into roughly 10-years brackets, each having own peculiarities and repercussions on its future.
Why midnight of 15 August 1947 for Indian Independence?
Why was the midnight of 15th August 1947 chosen as the date & time for Indian Independence? We can divide the above question into 3 sub-questions:
Why 1947?
Why 15th Aug?
Why Midnight?
Let us pick each of the above and find out the answers
Why 1947?
The awakening of masses by Gandhi and the activities of Bose behind the scenes (of strengthening Indian National Army) which had intensified during 1940s were already a cause of concern for the British.
By the time the World War II had come to an end in 1945, the British were financially weak (sources indicate they were in the verge of bankruptcy) and were struggling to rule their own country, let alone their colonies. The victory of Labour party in the Britain elections of 1945 was received very well by our freedom fighters because the Labour party had promised to work on granting independence to English colonies including India.
Lord Wavell initiated talks with Indian leaders for Indian Independence and inspite of several disagreements and disruptions, it was gaining momentum and in Feb 1947, Lord Mountbatten was appointed as the last viceroy of India to oversee the transfer of power.
The plan initially was to transfer power from Britain to India by June 1948. Immediately after assuming power in Feb 1947, Lord Mountbatten had begun a series of talks with Indian leaders for a consensus. But things were not so simple especially due to conflicts between Jinnah & Nehru on the matter of partition. Jinnah’s demand for a separate nation had instigated large scale communal disturbances across India and upon passing of each day, situation was going out of control. This was certainly not something expected by Mountbatten and hence such circumstances forced him to prepone the date of independence by almost an year, from 1948 to 1947. It was decided in the meeting (related to independence & partition) on June 3, 1947 which was aptly titled “June 3 Mountbatten plan”.
Why 15th August?
It was Lord Mountbatten who had personally decided the date of Aug 15 because he had considered that date to be “very lucky” for his career. During the World War II, it was on Aug 15, 1945 (Japan timezone) that the Japanese Army had surrendered before him (Lord Mountbatten was the commander of the allied forces).
Why Midnight?
When the date of independence was decided in “June 3 plan” and announced to public, there was an outrage among astrologers across the country because 15-Aug-1947 was an “unfortunate & unholy” date according to astrological calculations. Alternative dates were suggested but Lord Mountbatten was adamant on Aug 15 (since it was his lucky date). As a work around, the astrologers suggested the midnight hour between Aug 14 and 15 due to the simple reason that the day according to English starts at 12 AM, but according to Hindu calendar, starts at sunrise. Detailed reasons can be found in this astrological analysis:
The astrologers had insisted that the speech of acknowledgement of transfer of power be done within the 48 minutes window (referred to as “Abhijeet Muhurta”) which lasted between 24 minutes before and after 12:15am i.e between 11:51pm & 12:39am. Nehru had to deliver a speech only within that timeframe and an additional constraint was that the speech had to end by 12 AM, so that the holy conch (Shanka) be blown to herald the birth of a new nation at the stroke of midnight hour, and the rest is history.
http://guruprasad.net/posts/why-midnight-
of-15-August-1947-for-indian-independence.
Happy 72nd Independence Day
With continuous support and encouragement from both within and outside of Canada,
The Miracle team feels proud to launch another special colourful edition on the occasion of 72nd Independence Day of Pakistan and India. I would take the opportunity to thank the supporters and well wishers of
‘The Miracle’ for providing continuous support through advertisements of their businesses, sharing their thoughts in writing with our readers, especially Mr. Shams Jilani, Mr. Aslam Hayat, Mr. Azhar Syed, Mr. Mian Tarik Javed, Mr. Mohammad Ali Wahla and Ms. Shamim Karim, Ms. Aalam Ara, Ms. Shabnam Khan, Ms. Asma Ayyaz, Dr. Huma Mir, Mrs. Nafisa Sidqui, and many others.
I am also grateful to Khadija, Misbah and Shahrukh and Sabeeh.
Keep up the good work not only for the
Miracle, but for all. We are proudly continuing our eleven year old tradition of Azadi
and Hajj & Eid ul Adha editions.
This Miracle special edition provides you special from the independence day aspect, a broad overview of Pakistan and Hajj & Eid ul Adha have been published for all our readers reminder the history , through articles as well as images.
We have also included information about sub continent as a display of peace and
harmony wished by both communities.
Pakistan as a nation has been going through some serious crises since past few years, ranging from unrest in Northern Areas, and now a days specially political serious changes in Pakistan through Election 2018.
Mainstream media and foreign governments have often been critical and unkind to the country. As Pakistani Canadians, we not only have to the responsibility of being faithful and loyal to Canada but also represent our distinct cultural identity in a positive manner. I am very proud that I am a Muslim and Pakistani Canadian, and it is my duty to promote not only the Canadian values but also our Pakistani businessmen community, that is serving Canadians day and night. I have high respect for these people who contribute to the economic prosperity of Canada and are also equipping their future generations with high education and skills to serve this country and making it stronger and more prosperous.
At the end, I once again request to all Pakistani Canadians that be proud of your Pakistani origin, and live here with peace and dignity as
Ambassadors.
Promote Pakistani businesses and their products and make your contribution in benefiting both Canadian and Pakistani economies.
Feel free to comment on this colourful issue as your concerns and suggestions are highly
Appreciated for improving our quality in future. United we stand, divided we fall.
Long Live Pakistan and Long Live Canada.
Jazakum Allah khair
Mohammad Naseer Pirzada
(Editor in-Chief Miracle Media)
