POLITICS OF ALL INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE 1924-1940

Abstract

Pakistan was created on 14th August 1947 for the purpose of establishment of Pakistan, All India Muslim League played a major role as an effective Muslim political organization under the dynamic leadership of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The Muslim League was established in 1906. It passed through various stages of crisis and effectiveness. The period 1924-1940 is full of crises, as this was during this period, that the Muslims faced a number of challenges, in the shape of Khilafat Movement, Non-Cooperation Movement, disunity within the party organization, Congress challenge to the separate electorates in the shape of Nehru Report of 1928, the Round Table Conferences, London, and the grant of separate electorates to the minorities in 1935 Act etc. All India Muslim League faced all these challenges both organizationally and politically. The division and the disunity within the Muslim League in the shape of Jinnah League, Shafi League, Hafiz Hidayatullah and other groups were successfully tackled by Jim1ah. By 1935, it became a viable political organization, but it was still not ready to launch movement for Pakistan, though the idea for attaimnent of Pakistan was floated at Allahabad Session of All India Muslim League in December 1930 by Dr. Muhammad Iq bal. Why the movement could not be started immediately after 19307 These and other questions have been focused in this study, as these have not been addressed in any publicly known work specifically on the AIML. The installation of Congress Ministries in 7 out of 11 provinces of British India in 1937 posed the greatest challenge to the existence of AIML. Through successful mobilization of the organization and the Muslim masses, Quaid-i-Azam forced the Congress Ministries to resign by December 1939. Thus by the dawn of 1940, the AIML was well-prepared to launch the movement for Pakistan as a mass political organization. How all these preparations were made and party was strengthened publicly, a successful political path was chalked out, are the matters to be discussed in the study. While the introduction of this study reviews the literature on AIML and the Pakistan movement, Chapter I is devoted to the historical background both on AIML prior to 1924 and politics of the British India. The revival of the Muslim League and the advancement of the Muslim political rights and other related issues during 1924-1927 are the subject matter of Chapter II. The nature of relationship between INC and AIML especially during 1924-1934 paving the way for separation have been discussed in Chapter III. The period 1935-1939 is, as a matter of fact, the period of reconstruction of AIML's emergence as a mass party which has been dealt with in Chapter IV. Chapter V covers the consolidation and the Demand for the creation of Pakistan. In the conclusion, the whole study has not been summed up along with the structure and functioning of the AIML. At the end are the five appendices covering the original texts of Jinnah's Fourteen Points( 1929), the Communal Award( 1932), The White Paper (1933), the Constitution and Rules of AIML (1937) and the All India Muslim League Parliamentary Board Manifesto (1936). Lastly the primary and secondary sources used in the dissertation are given in the Bibliography.