Pakistan Studies Lecture 1 & 2 PDF

PAKISTAN STUDIES Lecture 1 and 2  THE MUSLIMS POLITICAL STRUGGLE The fall of the Mughal Empire started after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. The defeat of Siraj-ud-Daula at the battle of Plassey in 1757 completely weakened the Muslim politi...

PAKISTAN STUDIES Lecture 1 and 2  THE MUSLIMS POLITICAL STRUGGLE The fall of the Mughal Empire started after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. The defeat of Siraj-ud-Daula at the battle of Plassey in 1757 completely weakened the Muslim political power. The last concerted effort was made in the First war of Independence which took place in 1857. Its failure resulted in the emergence of the British as the ruling power in this country.  THE MUSLIMS POLITICLAL STRUGGLE After the First War of Independence in 1857, direct British rule was imposed over India changing the whole structure of India. The Muslims were the worst sufferers because they were the rulers and were not willing to accept the supremacy of the British. The British with the help of the Hindu took actions to crush the Muslims completely- their economic condition was denied , their lands were confiscated they lost their jobs, they lost advantage of their language, literature and culture.  THE MUSLIMS POLITCAL STRUGGLE The Muslims were looking for ways and opportunities to the old position in their society. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan pulled the Muslims out of this despair. With their vigorous support Sir Syed started the Aligarh Movement. He launched the Aligarh movement which guided the Muslims to get stability back in their social, economic, educational and political aspects of life.  Ideology of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and the Aligarh Movement The Aligarh Movement marks a watershed in the history of modern India. It was this movement which under the leadership of Sir Syed that brought about significant changes in social, economic and political lives of the Muslims in India that left tremendous impact on the overall society and polity of India. The Aligarh movement guided the Muslims to recapture their lost glory in the British Indian rule.  SIR SYED AHMED KHAN AND THE ALIGARH MOVEMENT Sir Syed's first and foremost objective was to create friendly atmosphere for the two communities. He thus started the Aligarh Movement. The purpose of his movement were: To minimize all grounds of animosity which the Muslims were likely to harbour against the British To remove all doubts from the British mind that Muslims were not loyal  SIR SYED AHMED KHAN AND THE ALIGARH MOVEMENT Sir Syeds major strategy was urging the Muslims to acquire education with emphasis on learning English language and science. Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh was established in 1875. Sir Syeds Aligarh movement played as significant role to bring about an intellectual revolution among Indian Muslims.  LEGISLATIVE ACT, 1861 Sir Syed Ahmed Khan pointed out weakness in the government. The first ever constitutional structure was formulated in 1861- the Legislative Councils Act. According to this Act, Indian people were included In the Governors General Council for the first time but were not allowed to criticise or question the running affairs of the council. Sir Syed was nominated as the member of the Legislative Act of 1861.  INDIAN COUNCILS ACT, 1892 Indian National Congress was formed in 1885. It was formed to safeguard the interest of the Indian people but with time it turned into a pure Hindu body working to safeguard the interests of Hindus and eliminating the Muslims form the society. Sir Syed criticised the demands of the Congress. In 1892 the government introduced the Indian Councils Act.  INDIAN COUNCILS ACT, 1892 The salient provision of the Act were as follows: 1) the number of the non-official members in the Council were increased 2) The members of the Legislative Councils were given the right to put up questions and discuss the budget 3) the local bodies were given right to send their elected members to the Legislative Councils The Act of 1892 could not fully safeguard the interests of the Muslims and the Muslim leaders now rightly felt for a separate electorate to protect the Muslims interests.  HINDU- URDU CONTROVERSY Urdu was nearly 300 years old , introduced in the subcontinent in 1825 as an official language of the Muslims. Urdu was a symbol of unity and culture of the Muslims. The Hindu-Urdu controversy began in 1867 when Hindus demanded the replacement of Urdu by Hindu as an official language in public offices and courts.  HINDU- URDU CONTROVERSY Sir Syed was disappointed to see the Hindus behaving in such a manner and was now convinced that the Hindus would never be friendly with the Muslims. On this occasion he said: ”I am convinced that Hindus and Muslims could never become one nation as their religion and way of life is quite distinct from each other.” He decide to adopt measure to protect Urdu- he established Central Association in Allahabad for the protection of Urdu. In 1871 George Cambell, Lt Governor of Bengal ordered that Urdu be completely eliminated from syllabus books. In 1900 Governor Anthony MacDonald also ordered that Hindi should be used in courts, public offices and educational institutions as an official language.  HINDU- URDU CONTROVERSY Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk criticised the governments demands. The students of Aligarh college also protested against the elimination of Urdu from their syllabus books. However, Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk did not stop his endeavours for the protection of Urdu- he wrote several books on Urdu literature.  HINDU- URDU CONTROVERSY The elimination of Urdu as an official language had he impacts on the political scene of the subcontinent as it meant the total extermination of Muslims as a nation. This created awareness amongst the Muslims who realized the hatred of the Hindus and British towards the Muslims and their culture. The anti-Urdu stance strengthened the belief in the Two-Nation concept by the Muslims which later on came to be the main factor for the struggle of a separate homeland.  “Acquisition of knowledge of science and technology is the only solution for the problems of Muslims.” Sir Syed Ahmed Khan