Reimagining the Role of Punjab in the Pakistan Movement: Punjab Perspectives

Abstract

The role of Muslim majority provinces in general and that province of the Punjab in particular has often furnished an occasion for academic contestation in the historiography of South Asia. In the wider context, Punjab’s role has been subjected to an uncritical acceptance of the existing scholarship that tends to deny any significant contribution from the Punjab in the struggle for decolonization. The scholarly grand narrative in this context is that the Punjab offered no resistance and chose to remain apolitical in the wake of foreign invasions and colonization. But historical documents furnish evidence to the contrary. Likewise, it is alleged that the Punjab turned pro-British during the colonial period, a claim, which needs critical inquiry. The same myth exists in some writings about Punjab which suggests that the province neither offered resistance to foreigners nor experienced anti-colonial feeling. It is further alleged that it took little or no part in any movement including the Pakistan movement until the 1945-1946 elections. But both the primary and secondary sources challenge the academic grand narrative of the Punjab being essentially detached from the discourse of resistance. This paper attempts to challenge the viewpoint particularly about the role of Muslims of the Punjab in the Pakistan movement, and will try to locate Punjab’s due position in history in terms of its political awareness, resistance to foreigners and as springboard for freedom movements and therefore, colonial administration gradually decolonized its rule in India. Moreover, to disparage the Punjabi leaders and the role of Punjab in the Pakistan movement it has been suggested that leaders had predominantly political backgrounds joined the Muslim League either on the persuasion of the British just before the general elections of 1945-1946 or they turned opportunists before the creation of Pakistan. They had a premonition that the partition of India was in the offing and the creation of Pakistan had become inevitable where Punjab would be a key province. Therefore, this paper will try to understand the role of Punjab in the Pakistan movement. It was due to Punjab’s strategic role during the Pakistan movement that Muslim League won in the general elections of 1945-46, which forced the British government to agree to the establishment of Pakistan, indirectly through the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946) and, subsequently, directly in the 3rd June Plan (1947). This paper is divided into four parts: Struggle of Punjab before the Lahore Resolution; ii, Lahore Resolution and its impact on Punjab; iii, General elections of 1945-1946; iv, 3rd June Plan and its implementation.