Republic Top 10 Headlines: Punjab Power Row; Gupkar Alliance’s U-turn; COVID Update & More
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Lalu Prasad Yadav Addresses Cadres On RJD’s Silver Jubilee; Says “RJD’s Future Is Bright”
In his first public appearance since being released on bail from jail, RJD Supremo Lalu Yadav on Monday, addressed RJD party cadres on the party’s twenty-fifth anniversary. Assuring cadres that he will soon be well enough to travel to Patna from Delhi, Yadav extolled the RJD’s power to uplift the poor. Asserting that RJD has a bright future, he said that the fight will continue.
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Chandigarh: BJYM Launches Violent Protest Against Punjab CM Over Drug Issue In State
The Punjab Government which is already under political turmoil and infighting amongst the Congress party is out and clear, the state Government was faced with fresh challenge after the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) launched protests on Monday. The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) held an outcry in Chandigarh against Punjab Government over the drugs issue in the state.
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Mayawati Unimpressed With Mohan Bhagwat’s Remarks: ‘Huge Gap Between RSS’ Words & Deeds’
Addressing a press conference on Monday, BSP supremo Mayawati opined that nobody will believe RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments on Hindu-Muslim unity. She stressed that the Muslim community will find it very difficult to believe the RSS unless BJP and its governments undergo a change in their mindset and style of functioning.
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Punjab Power Row: Sidhu Says ’new Legislation’ Only Solution; Fumes At Badal-signed PPAs
After demanding to scrap Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) pacts and 300 units of free power, Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu, on Monday demanded “new Legislation in Punjab Vidhan Sabha”. Sidhu claimed his latest appeal to be the only solution and ‘only way forward’. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday (July 3) had announced that the PPAs signed during the SAD-BJP regime will be reviewed.
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As COVID Cases Decline In J&K, Govt Starts Rafting Activities To Revive Adventure Tourism
Jammu and Kashmir government kick started rafting activities on Monday as COVID-19 cases are decreasing in the state. The action will bring back adventure tourism and adventure sports in J&K. After resuming rafting in Jammu & Kashmir, Dr. G.N. Itoo, Director of Tourism said that rafting is one of the adventurous activities in Kashmir which plays a crucial role in attracting tourists across the world.
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Bihar Unlock: Govt Issues Fresh Guidelines, Allows Schools, Unis To Open With 50% Capacity
Bihar has officially entered phase 4 of the unlocking process. This will be effective from July 7. Taking to Twitter, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar informed that all educational institutions above class 11 in Bihar are allowed to open with 50% attendance. Apart from that, all government offices have been given clearance to operate normally.
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Village Cooking Channel Hits 10 Million Subscribers; YouTube Has Special Reward For Them
Millions of views and subscribers on actors, singers and influencers’ videos and channels often become a talking point. While resources worth lakhs or crores of rupees, popularity, social media presence and hundreds of people are employed to achieve these milestones, a channel based out of a village in Tamil Nadu too is managing a similar feat, but on their own.
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German Envoy To India Overjoyed At Seeing Delhi Petrol Pump Run Solely By Women
German Ambassador to India, Walter J Lindner took to micro-blogging site Twitter and shared a post about a Delhi petrol pump that is managed by women. A Twitter user wrote, “Mr Ambassador, you truly are one of a kind in your profession. Germany and India are quite lucky to have you serve. Best wishes to you!”
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Rift In Haryana Congress? MLAs Meet At Deepender Hooda’s Place Before Meeting KC Venugopal
After Rajasthan and Punjab, the Congress party in Haryana is all set to face similar political challenges within the party as it seems to be divided into two factions. On Monday (July 5), Haryana Congress leader Deepender Hooda met party MLAs ahead of the meeting with Congress General Secretary K. C. Venugopal.
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Gupkar Alliance Takes U-turn On PM’s Meeting With J&K Netas: ‘Disappointed, No Substance’
Taking a U-turn on PM Modi’s Kashmir meeting in Delhi, the Gupkar Alliance issued a statement on Monday, that it was disappointed with the outcome of the Delhi meeting as it had no substantial measures. The alliance said that neither had political prisoners been released nor was the siege which has been in Kashmir since 2019 ended.
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A landmark moment in the history of India
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T he Muslim League and its accredited leader, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who was once called the Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity, had preferred to remain within the framework of a United India till the mid-thirties. With the introduction of political reforms in India by the British, the Muslims realised that they would become a permanent minority in a democratic system and it would never be possible for them to protect their fundamental rights. They only constituted one fourth of the total Indian population and were much smaller in number than the majority Hindu community. In order to protect their political, social and religious rights and interests, they first demanded separate electorates.
The Muslamans received some safeguards through a system of separate electorates but as a result of elections, and the victory of Congress and its subsequent formation of a government in seven out of eleven provinces and their oppressive rule shocked Muslims to rethink the issue of a United India. The Congress Ministries remained in power from July 1937 to November 1939. During their short stay in office, they humiliated Muslims, their history, culture, rites and rituals and religion. They encouraged the activities of the Mahasabha, hoisted and adopted the tricolor flag as a national flag, sang Vande Matram, made it a national anthem and compelled Muslims to sing the same, introduced the Vidya Mandir Scheme in the Central Provinces and the Wardha Scheme of education. Moreover, during rule by the Congress party, communal riots increased to an unprecedented number in those provinces where it was in an absolute majority. Urdu was attacked and opposed. Sanskrit was encouraged among the masses as well as in educational institutions.
The Muslims realised that under the prevailing democratic form of government, they would remain a permanent minority and would be treated as Shudars (Untouchables) in a United India. They felt that even the right of separate electorates would not be enough and they had to search for some other long term solution. These were all interpreted as proof of Congress atrocities. So the Congress was clearly incapable of representing Muslim interests.
Thinking that they could not maintain their rights and could not protect their interests in the presence of a Hindu majority, the Provincial Muslim League of UP passed a resolution demanding a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. All these resolutions were dispatched to the Central Office of the AIML, which started the pre-partition era, beginning with putting forward the demand for a separate homeland for the Muslims of the sub-continent in its next annual session at Lahore in 1940.
By 1938-9, the idea of separation was strongly gaining ground. The Sindh Provincial Muslim League Conference in its session held at Karachi on 7 to 9 October 1938 adopted a resolution which recommended to the AIML to devise a constitutional scheme under which Muslims may attain full independence. The All India Muslim League set up a committee to examine the partition proposals and submit a detailed report highlighting the possibilities of a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. The Committee included the Quaid-i-Azam as Chairman, Liaquat Ali Khan (Convener), Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, Nawab Muhammad Ismail Khan and Syed Abdul Aziz.
Addressing a meeting of the Council of the AIML held on Sunday, the 25th of February 1940, the Quaid declared, “The people ask me what is our goal. If you do not understand that even now, then I say you will never understand what our goal is. The whole question is very simple. Great Britain wants to rule India. Gandhi and the Congress want to rule India and the Musalmans. We say that we will not let either the British or Gandhi to rule the Musalmans. We want to be free”. He asked the Musalmans to organise themselves and wished the members present to convey the message of the League and what it stood for.
The idea of separation was more vividly expressed by M.A. Jinnah. In an article published in the London based weekly Time & Tide on 9 March 1940, Jinnah wrote, “Democratic systems based on the concept of a homogeneous nation such as England are very definitely not applicable to heterogeneous countries such as India, and this simple fact is the root cause of all of India’s constitutional ills… If, therefore, it is accepted that there is in India a major and a minor nation, it follows that a parliamentary system based on the majority principles must inevitably mean the rule of majority nation. Experience has proved that, whatever the economic and political programme of any political party, the Hindu, as a general rule, will vote for his caste fellow, the Muslim for his coreligionist”.
Furthermore, he added, “Is it the desire (of British people) that India should become a totalitarian Hindu State… and I feel certain that Muslim India will never submit to such a position and will be forced to resist it with every means in their power”. In his concluding remarks, Jinnah wrote, “While Muslim League irrevocably opposed to any federal objective which must necessarily result in a majority community rule under the guise of democracy and Parliamentary System of Government…
To conclude, a constitution must be evolved that recognises that there are in India two nations who both must share the governance of their common motherland”.
The Quaid who preferred to remain within the framework of a Federation of India, now vehemently and categorically stated that India is not a one nation. Jinnah publicly declared that the Muslims can expect neither justice nor fair play under a Congress Government. The majority of Muslims all over India now shared this sentiment.
From the above statements of the Quaid, it is quite clear that the League Resolution was not abruptly adopted on the suggestion of the British Viceroy as some people think, but in fact was the outcome of circumstances which compelled the Muslims under the dynamic leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam to demand a separate homeland for the Muslims of the sub-continent.
A programme to hold the AIML Session at Lahore was circulated amongst League leaders. Following this, the Quaid-i-Azam left for Lahore via a special train decorated with the Muslim League’s green flags and its emblem, engine garlanded and flags mounted. The Quaid was accompanied by his sister and Liaquat All Khan.
The Working Committee of AIML met in the League Pandal at Minto Park on Friday March 22-24, 1940. The various draft texts for the final resolution were deliberated over by the Special Working Committee of the AIML.
On March 23-24, 1940, the famous Resolution which came to be known as the Pakistan Resolution was moved and unanimously passed.
The Resolution demanded a separate homeland for the Muslims. The statement of the Resolution reads, “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, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North-Western and Eastern Zones of India, should be grouped to constitute “Independent States” in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.”
The Hindu press such as Partab, Milap Tribune etc and Hindu leaders described the resolution as the demand for the creation of Pakistan. They characterised it as the vivisection of India and called the Pakistan demand anti-national. Some people began to call it the Pakistan Resolution soon after the Lahore Session of AIML. The word Pakistan’ was not used in the Resolution. It was the Hindu press that intentionally or unintentionally and out of jealousy and mockery used the name “Pakistan” and damned the resolution. In fact, the Congress dominated press fathered that word.
In 1943, the Lahore Resolution paved the way for the Sindh Legislative Assembly to demand the creation of Pakistan. G. M. Sayed moved a resolution which was passed by the Sindh Assembly. In 1946, it formed the basis for the decision of the Muslim League to struggle for one state for the Muslims.
The Pakistan Resolution is, undoubtedly the landmark event that most changed the course of Indian history and left deep and permanent marks on world history. With the passage of this Resolution, Muslims changed their demand from separate electorate to a separate homeland and set Pakistan as their ultimate goal. It gave a new energy and courage to the Muslims of the region who gathered around the Muslim League under the capable leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam to fight for their freedom. The dynamic leadership of the Quaid and his commitment and devotion made it possible to achieve an independent state within seven years of the struggle.
– The writer is Director, Quaid-i-Azam Academy, Karachi
The Mountbatten plan
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June 3, 1947 holds importance for the success of the Pakistan Movement, led by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah to achieve a separate and sovereign state of Pakistan.
Exactly 74 years ago, the last viceroy lord of British India, Mountbatten, delivered his address on the All India Radio on June 3, 1947 to formally announce the partition plan to divide British India into two independent states, Pakistan and India.
Also known as the June 3 Plan or Mountbatten Plan, it formally accepted the demand of the All India Muslim League for the establishment of Pakistan. On the occasion, the speech of Muhammad Ali Jinnah was also broadcast on the radio, which was concluded by the slogan ‘Long live Pakistan.’ His slogan was a clear indication that the destination of freedom was now not far away.
History reveals that the traditional society of the Subcontinent was based on tolerance, solidarity and interfaith tolerance before the arrival of the East India Company. During the British rule, Mahatma Gandhi fully supported the Caliphate Movement, which was run by Indian Muslims to show solidarity with the Turkish Ottomans. Similarly, Quaid-e-Azam was known as the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. The two great leaders always maintained a relationship of friendship and respect. Both Hindu and Muslim communities also have a common history of great struggle against British imperialism.
The British prime minister, Lord Attlee, announced in February 1947 withdrawal from the Indian subcontinent, and set a deadline of June 1948 for the transfer of power to the local representatives. In this regard, Lord Mountbatten was sent as the 29th and last viceroy of British India; upon his arrival, he immediately started meetings with local political figures.
The Congress was demanding the British leave India by handing over power to the majority whereas the Muslim League, under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was determined to establish a separate homeland of Pakistan. The viceroy himself was interested in keeping India united. He also desired to become the common governor general of both new countries, something that was rejected by Quaid-e-Azam. He assured the viceroy that the only solution to save India from further chaos was Partition.
After understanding the views of the two major political parties, Lord Mountbatten started working on the partition of India, which required the creation of two independent states. He left for London in May 1947 seeking final approval of his plan. The British Cabinet reviewed every aspect of the plan for ten days. By the end of May, the British government had approved Lord Mountbatten’s plan. The viceroy arrived in India immediately and then on June 3, 1947, the Partition of India was formally announced. Lord Mountbatten’s plan was approved by both the Muslim League and the Congress.
Although the British government had set a deadline of June 30, 1948 for the partition of India, Lord Mountbatten relinquished his responsibilities a year before, resulting in the worst kind of chaos and anarchy throughout the Subcontinent. In his August 11 speech, Quaid-e-Azam appealed to the non-Muslim Hindu minority living in Pakistan not to migrate from Pakistani territories. In response, thousands of Hindu families declared Pakistan, which came into being on the 14th of August 1947, their motherland (Dharti Mata).
It is quite unfortunate that the June 3 plan was hastily implemented. The viceroy completely neglected the division of the population on religious grounds in his plan. A tragic series of riots started in which approximately two million people were massacred in Punjab alone, while more than 20 million people were displaced from their homelands.
In my view, it was a wise decision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to accept the Mountbatten plan. Otherwise, if Britain had gone back without dividing the Subcontinent, the situation here would have been similar to that of Palestine where Israel was established at the behest of world powers but the promise of establishing sovereign Palestinian state is not fulfilled yet.
The writer is a member of the NationalAssembly and patron-in-chief of thePakistan Hindu Council.
Twitter: @RVankwani