Pakistan Movement

The Pakistan Movement was a Muslim nationalist political and social movement, emerging in the early 20th century, that advocated the formation of Pakistan as a separate Muslim homeland in the Muslim-majority parts of what was then the British Indian Empire. It was rooted in the two-nation theory, which asserted that Muslims were fundamentally and irreconcilably distinct from Hindus (who formed the demographic majority) and would therefore require separate self-determination upon decolonisation. The idea was largely realised when the All-India Muslim League ratified the Lahore Resolution on 23 March 1940, calling for the Muslim-majority regions of the South Asia to be "grouped to constitute independent states" that would be "autonomous and sovereign" with the aim of securing Muslim socio-political interests vis-à-vis the Hindu majority. It was in the aftermath of the Lahore Resolution under the aegis of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, that the cause of "Pakistan" (though the name was not used in the text itself) became widely popular among the Muslims of South Asia. Instrumental in establishing a base for the Pakistan Movement was the Aligarh Movement, which consisted of several reforms by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan that ultimately promoted a system of Western-style scientific education among Indian Muslims, seeking to enrich and vitalise their society, culture, and religious thought as well as protect it. Khan's efforts fostered Indian Muslim nationalism and went on to provide both the Pakistan Movement and later the country that it would yield with its leadership. Several prominent Urdu poets, such as Muhammad Iqbal, used speech, literature, and poetry as a powerful tool for Muslim political awareness; Iqbal is often called the spiritual father of Muslim nationalist thought in his era. The role of British India's ulama, however, was divided into two groups: the first group, denoted by the ideals of Hussain Ahmad Madani, was convinced...