An Evaluating Perusal of Punjab’s Role in the Paradigm of Pakistan Movement

Abstract

This study attempts to comprehend the role of the Punjab Province in the Pakistan Movement from the annexation of the Punjab 1849 to the partition of India 1947. The Colonial Punjab was the largest province of the subcontinent before the Indian partition. Being situated in the north-west of India, it has been a gateway to the subcontinent for foreign invaders. The Punjab suffered many invasions by the external powers in different times. In fact, the fertile lands of the Punjab always provided lucrative temptation to the assailants. Thus, the geographical position made Punjabis the sturdy and enterprising people. Being frequently exposed to the foreign attacks, the people of the Punjab developed martial traits merely for survival and defense. The British occupied the Punjab in 1849 as a result of which the province underwent numerous changes of far-reaching repercussions. The Punjabis considered the British as their saviors who relieved them from the Sikh rule. Apart from this, the British policy to control the Punjab proved very successful to materialize their vested interests. From the later period of the nineteenth century onwards, the Punjab experienced a rapid and enormous economic growth which came in the wake of development of canal irrigation system under the British rule. This development underscored the significance of the region and the Punjab became one of the major hubs of commercial agriculture in South Asia. As a result, the British Government primarily initiated to introduce a Muslim landed elite class in the province. Having carefully studied the cultural contours and social structures of the province, they exploited its tribal or biradari system while dividing it into various parts. Consequently, the nexuses between the British Government and the rural elite from the Unionist Party ruled the Punjab before the partition of India. This research article critically examines the role of the Punjab Province in the Pakistan Movement and explores the different facets of various communities striving for their political struggle against the foreign rule. The Punjab was a Muslim majority province, especially the central Punjab had a predominant Muslim population. The Muslims of the Punjab were less active during the second half of the 19^th and the early half of the 20^th century. However, the political awareness in the Punjab came a bit later than it had emerged in many other provinces of the subcontinent. The political struggle of the Muslims for their conferred interests started in Punjab province with the creation of the Muslim League in the province in the year 1907. Although, it took three decades after its creation to get support at the grass root level due to the stronghold of the Unionist Party in the political sphere of the Punjab. The provincial elections of 1936-37 resulted in establishing the supremacy of the Unionist Government in the province but later on the general elections of 1945-46 led to the political consciousness for a separate identity under the flag of Muslim League which galvanized the Muslims of the Punjab. Besides this, the eventual fall of the Unionists and the rising popularity of the Muslim League under the charismatic leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah concluded the creation of Pakistan. The present study endeavors to unveil that despite internal strife, the resistant groups of the Punjab resiliently suppressed the external powers and subsequently transformed this resistance into the Pakistan Movement. Simultaneously, this paper provides a conceptual analysis of the constitutional and political developments during the colonial period under the British rule in the Punjab.