The significance of March 23

The history of subcontinent was changed with the passage of the Pakistan Resolution on March 23, 1940. On this day, the great Quaid, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, for the first time ever formally demanded a separate country, Pakistan, based on the concept of the Muslim nationhood in his address at the Minto Park. The Pakistan Resolution was moved by the-then Bengal Chief Minister AK Fazlul Haq and was seconded by Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman. It stated: “No constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principle, namely, that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted, … that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in majority, as in the northwestern and eastern zones of India, should be grouped to constitute independent states in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign…”

In his important address, the Quaid spurned the claims made by the Indian Congress that it was a representative of the whole of India’s population, including some 95 million Muslims. The reverberations of the historic address can be felt even today. It came as a major shock for the Nehru-Gandhi duo, which was not ready to accept the Muslim demands and claimed to be the sole representatives of the Indian population. Thus their claim that there were only two parties i.e. the British and Congress who could settle the question of independence of the Subcontinent was demolished once and for all. On this day, Muhammad Ali Jinnah donned the mantle of the Great Quaid and showed to the whole world that he was the sole representative of the Muslims of the Subcontinent.

The Quaid well understood that Muslims could not prosper and live their lives in accordance with their religion, culture and ethos in an independent India dominated by the Hindu majority. He thus demanded a separate homeland for the Muslims where they would be free from Hindu prejudices of caste, culture and religion. It was a crucial decision on a momentous occasion marked by full support of the Muslims of the Subcontinent. Earlier, the poet-philosopher, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, in his address to the Muslim League at Allahabad in 1930, had envisioned a separate homeland for the Muslims. Since then, the idea had touched millions of Muslims and became a part of their heartbeats.

It is important to realise that the Quaid’s Two Nation concept did not revolve around a theocratic state but a country in the Muslim dominated areas where the Muslim community could grow and prosper, free from all Hindu dominance and biases. As the time passes since the creation of Pakistan and in lieu of the condition of Muslims and other minorities in India today, one can only endorse the vision of the great leader and underscore his stature as a world class statesman.

On March 23, we should reflect upon the gift of Pakistan while many countries in the world face great turmoil, some of them even civil wars and disintegration. This day we should help raise awareness among the new generations about the struggle of the Muslims for their right to self-determination and how important it is to safeguard Pakistan’s integrity. The day calls upon us to cement the forces of cohesion and integration.

Today, we should reignite the spirit of the historic Lahore Resolution of 1940 by rejuvenating enthusiasm and spirit among our countrymen. There is no doubt that Pakistan with its great potential is here to stay and make enormous progress, overcoming all the challenges.