Jinnah's Demand for a Seperate Homeland for Muslims

March 22, 1940

As far as our internal position is concerned, we have also been examining it and, you know, there are several schemes which have been sent by various well-informed constitutionalists and others who take. interest in the problems of India's future Constitution and we have also appointed a sub-committee to examine the details of the schemes that have come in so far. But one thing is quite clear. It has always been taken for granted mistakenly that the Mussulmans are a Minority and of course we have got used to it for such long time that these setlled notions sometimes are very difficult to remove. The Mussulmans are not a Minority. The Mussulmans are a nation by any definition. The British and particular.y the Congress proceed on the basis, well, you are a Minority after all what do you want ? What elso do the minorities want ? Just as Babu Rajendra Prasad said. But surely the Mussulmans are not a Minority. We find that even according to the British map of India we occupy large parts of this country, where We Mussalmans are in a majority such as Bengal, the Punjab, Northwest Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan.

The problem in India is not of an inter-communal character but manifestly of an international one, and it must be treated as such. So long as this basic and fundamental truth is not realized, any Constitution that may be built will result in disaster and will prove destructive and harmful not only to the Mussulmans but to the British and Hindus also. If the British Government are really in earnest and sincere peace and happiness of the people of this sub-continent, the only course open to us all is to allow the major nations separate homelands by dividing India into "autonomous national states." There is no reason why these states should be ante gonistic to secure to each other. On the other hand the rivalry and the natural desire and efforts on the part of one to dominate the social order and establish political superamacy over the other in the of the country will disappear. It will lead more towards natural good will by international pacts between them, and they can live in complete harmony with their neighbours This will lead further to a friendly settlement all the more easily with regard to Minorities by reciprocal arrangements and adj vestments between Muslim India and Hindu India, which will far more adequately and affectively safeguard tile rights and interests of Muslims and various ether Minorities.

It is extremely difficult to appreciate why our Hindu friends fad! to understand the real nature of Islam and Hinduism. They are not religions in the strict sense of the word, but are. in fact, different and distinct social orders, and it is a dream that the Hindu and Muslims can ever evolve a common nationality and this misconception of one Indian nation lies gone far beyond the limits and is the cause of most of your troubles and will lead India to destruction if we fail to revise our notions in time. The Hindus and Muslims belong to too different religious philosophies, social customs, literatures. They neither inter-marry nor inter-dine together and, indeed, they belong to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Their concepts on life and of life are deferent.. It is quite clear that Hindus and Mussulmans derive their inspiration from different sources of history. They have different epics, different heroes, and different episodes. Very often the hero of one is a foe of the other and, likewise, their victory and defeats overlap. To yoke together two such nations under a single State, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the government of such a state.

Muslims of India cannot accept any Constitution which must necessarily result in a Hindu Majority Government. Hindus and Muslims brought together under a democratic System forced upon the Minorities can only mean Hindu Raj. Democracy of the kind with which tile Congress High Command is enamoured would mean the complete destruction of what is most precious in Islam. We have had ample experiences of the working of the Provincial Constitutions during the last two and a half years and any repetition of such a Government must lead to civil war and raising of private armies as recommended by Mr. Gandhi to Hindus of Sukhur when he said that they must defend themselves violently or non-violently, blow for blow, and if they could not, they must emigrate.

Mussulmans are not a Minority as it is commonly known and understood. One has only got to look round. Even today, according to the British map of India, 4 out of It Provinces, where the Muslims dominate more or less are functioning notwithstanding the decision of the Hindu Congress High Command to non-cooperate and prepare for civil disobedience. Mussulmans are a nation according to any definition of a nation, and they must have their homelands, their territory and their State. We wish to live in peace and harmony with our neighbours as a free and independent people. We wish our people to develop to the fullest our spiritiual, cultural, economic, social and political life in a way that we think best and in consonance with our own ideals and according to the genius of our people. Honesty demands and the vital interests of millions of our people impose a sacred duty upon us to find an honourable and peaceful solution, which would be just and fair to all. But at the same time we cannot be moved or diverted from our purpose and objective by threats or intimidations. We must be prepared to face all difficulties and consequences, make all the sacrifices that may be required of us to achieve the goal we have set in front of us.