Muslim majority opposed Jinnah’s 2 nation theory, most in Bihar: AMU teacher

In a 1940 edition of Urdu weekly called Naquib, Maulana Abdul Mohsin Mohammed Sajjad questioned the logic behind Jinnah’s “hue and cry” over alleged torture of Muslims in Hindu dominated areas and his desire to create Pakistan, where Hindus could live in Muslim-dominated areas

With the renewal of a public debate over the two-nation theory-- given by Mohammad Ali Jinnah-- an Aligarh Muslim University teacher said that the majority of Muslims in India, especially in Bihar, used to oppose the divisive theory which was a major factor in the united India’s partition.

AMU teacher Sajjad said demonstrations and protest meetings against Jinnah’s 2 nation theory were held widely in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal, however, the resistance was strongest in Bihar. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO/File/Representative use)

“Things need to be cleared now as many people, even the intellectuals, seem to believe that the two-Nation theory was the aspiration of general Muslim population in our country at that time. On the contrary, the majority of Muslims were not in favour of division of the country,” Dr Mohammed Sajjad from the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) said in Patna on Friday.

Speaking at an online session of the Bihar State Archive, Sajjad said demonstrations and protest meetings were held widely in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal, however, “the resistance to the theory was strongest in Bihar.”

The AMU teacher further said that various Muslim groups played a major role in protests against the divisive policies of Muslim League. “Public meetings were held and strong protests were also expressed in the journals and books published at that time,” he said.

He cited a book, Talash-e Manzil, written by prominent Muslim leader from pre-Independence days, Shah Mohammed, which stated that the majority of Muslims were against Jinnah’s two nation theory. “And to condemn this theory before the Lahore conference, many of the nationalist Muslim groups held a conference in Delhi in April 1940. Mohammed also wrote that before the Lahore Conference, Muslim League had made heavy propaganda in support of the two nation theory using religious spots and groups,” Sajjad said.

He also said that an Urdu weekly called Naquib, published by Imarat-e- Sharia, was strongly opposed to the theory. “In its edition on April 14, 1940, Maulana Abdul Mohsin Mohammed Sajjad raised a difficult question before Jinnah. Maulana questioned the rationale behind Jinnah’s hue and cry over alleged torture of Muslims in Hindu dominated areas and his desire to create Pakistan, where Hindus could live in Muslim-dominated areas,” the AMU teacher said.

He added that the Momin Conference-- which started in Bihar’s Rohtas in 1925-- was also dead against the two nation theory.

“It never approved Muslim League’s catch line, ‘Islam Khatarei Mein Hai’. And in April 1940, it held the Bihar State Momin Conference to oppose Jinnah’s two nation theory and declared the slogan, ‘Islam Khatarei Mei Hai’ as Kufra,” he said.

Dr Imteyaz Ahmed, former Patna University history teacher, said that the two nation theory should not be considered as the wish of the majority of Muslims in the country. “In Bihar, it was opposed even at the village level. People used to hold meetings to oppose it,” he said.