CHAPTER 5 : THE MUSLIM LEAGUE
FACTORS LEADING TO THE FORMATION OF THE MUSLIM LEAGUE
1. Loss of Sovereignty by Mughal Rulers:
- Br. Established their supremacy in India after over throwing the
Mughals who were the followers of Islam
- The Muslims started ‘Wahabi Movement’ to end Br. Rule in India
and also participated in the revolt of 1857
- Br. Consciously discriminated against the Muslims, holding them
responsible for the revolt of 1857
- Later the Br. Followed a policy of appeasement towards the
Muslims to undermine the national movement and to encourage
communal tendencies
2. Br. Policy of Divide and Rule:
- For the safety and stability of Br. Empire in India, Br. Followed a
policy of divide and rule
- Eg: Lord Mayo’s Government made ‘Urdu’ the medium of
instruction for Muslims in primary and secondary schools and
increased government aid to educational institution run by the
Muslims
- Br. Portrayed Muslim rulers as plunderers and Hindu rulers as
cruel kings to their Muslim subjects
- By partition of Bengal they tried to convince the Muslims that it
was to create a Muslim majority province to protect Muslim
interest from the Hindus
- They tried to utilize the caste structure of India to divide the lower
caste against the upper caste
- They treated the Hindus, Muslims and the Sikhs as separate
communities and accepted their leaders as their authentic
representatives
- They used the press, posters, literature and public platform to
spread communal hatred
3. Backwardness of Muslim in education, trade and Industry:
- The upper class Muslims like the Zamindars and aristocrats were
conservative and hostile to modern education
- The Br. Consciously discriminated against the Muslims after 1858,
they were discriminated in the recruitment to civil and military
service
- The Muslim community in India were not involved in any organised
industry
- The Muslims were not ready to adopt to the western system of
education, they confined themselves to their own literature and
culture, whereas the Hindus accepted the western system and
became part of Government services
- This situation helped the Br. to incite the Muslims against the
Hindus.
4. Role of Sir Sayyad Ahmed Khan:
- Earlier he considered the Muslims and Hindus as on ‘Quam’
(nation)
- He founded the ‘Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College’ at Aligarh
with the help of both Hindus and Muslims
- But later he differed in his views and declared that the political
interest of both the Hindus and Muslims are different
- When the ‘INC’ was founded he opposed it and founded the ‘United
Indian Patriotic Association’ to challenge it
- He believed that in case if the British withdraw from India, the
Hindus being the majority might dominate the Muslims, hence we
was for the continuance of Br. rule in India for the progress of
Muslim community
- He encouraged the Muslims to take up Government jobs and
support the Br. to gain favours
5. Erroneous interpretation of History :
- The interpretation of Indian history by the Br. historians has
caused a lot of misunderstanding among the Indians such as:
a) History was divided into Hindu period and Muslim period, The rule
of Turks, Afghans, Mughals etc;
They portrayed Akbar, Aurangzeb as foreigners and on the other
hand Rana Pratap and Shivaji as national heroes
b) Some historians glorified the ancient period as the glorious period
of India i.e, the Hindu period and the Medieval as the declining
period i.e, the Muslim period
c) The Br. historians ignored the composite culture in India and tried
to create division among the two communities
d) The communal bias was propagated through poetry, drama, novels,
short stories and news papers
6. Rise of Assertive nationalism:
- The Assertive nationalists played an important role in the national
movement but some of their actions marked a step back in the
growth of national unity
- Eg: The propagation of Shivaji festival and Ganapati festival by
Tilak
- Aurobindo Ghosh’s concept of India as ‘mother’ and ‘nationalism’
as religion
- Starting of anti-partition agitation with a dip in the Ganga did not
appeal to some of the Muslims
7. Economic backwardness of the country :
- Due to colonial policies, India lacked modern industrial
development and there was acute unemployment among the
educated Indians
- There was fierce competition for the few available government jobs
- People started demanding reservation in jobs on the basis of caste,
creed or religion. This further led to communal divide in India
Events:
1. The Hindu- Urdu Controversy: United Provinces, Urdu was the court
language. The Govt. instructed all petitions to be submitted in Hindi
and the court summons and official announcements to be issued in
Hindi as well as Urdu. The Muslims resented this.
2. Foundation of the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College: to counter
the growing influence of the congress, the British encouraged the
formation of M.A.O Defence Association. The aim was to promote
loyalty to the British and prevent Muslims from participating in any
political movement.
3. Aligarh Politics: Nawab Mohsin ul Mulk criticized the Govt Order
granting equal status to Hindi and Urdu. The Br in turn demanded
the resignation of the Nawab
4. Partition of Bengal: British won the support of the muslims as East
Bengal was a muslim majority province
5. Muslim Deputation to the Viceroy, Lord Minto: Musims demanded
representation, separate electoral constituencies, preference in the
Viceroy’s Council, Reservation in State services, promotion of muslim
universities.
FORMATION OF THE MUSLIM LEAGUE
-The success of the Muslim deputation to the Viceroy encouraged the
Muslims to start a separate political organisation
-Nawab Salimullah of Dacca took the initiative
-The proposal to set up a political association was accepted on Dec. 30,
1906. Thus the “All India Muslim League” came into existence
-The meeting was held under the President ship of Nawab Salimullah
-Aga Khan was elected as the permanent president of the Muslim League
-‘Aligarh’ was chosen as its Head Quarter but its central office to be in
Lucknow
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE MUSLIM LEAGUE:
1. To support the Br. government and to remove any misunderstanding
regarding the intention of the government in relation to the Muslims
2. To protect the political rights and interests of the Muslims
3. To represent the Muslims need and aspirations to the government in
mild and moderate language
4. To remove the feelings of hostility between the Muslims of India and
other communities
LUCKNOW PACT AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE:
The joint scheme of political reforms put forward, adopted, agreed and
signed by both the Congress and the Muslim league in 1916 is known as
‘The Lucknow Pact’
Significance:
1. Hindu-Muslim unity: both the parties agreed to compromise and
work together for the common good. Congress compromised on its
secular character and accepted separate electorates for the Muslims.
Muslim League accepted the principles of election and the majority
rule
2. Unity within the Congress: Lucknow pact brought unity between the
Assertive nationalists and the Early nationalists and it strengthened
the Congress
3. Pressure on the Government: The unity between the Congress and
the League and unity within the Congress gave threat to the Br.
Government of India. The government now had no excuse for delaying
political or constitutional reforms in India
4. Necessity to pacify Indians: As the first world war was on, the
British wanted the support of Indians hence they decided to pacify
Indians by the Declaration of August Offer (1917), which promised a
policy of gradual development of self-government institutions in India.
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