PAKISTAN
OR
THE PARTITION OF INDIA
BY
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
“More brain, O Lord, more brain! or we shall mar,
Utterly this fair garden we might win.”
(Quotation from the title page of Thoughts on Pakistan, 1st ed.)
~~~~~~~
INSCRIBED TO THE MEMORY
OF
RAMU
As a token of my appreciation of her goodness of heart, her nobility of
mind and her purity of character
and also for the cool fortitude and readiness to suffer along with me
which she showed
in those friendless days of want and worries which fell to our lot.
~~~~~~~
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I – MUSLIM CASE FOR PAKISTAN
CHAPTER I – What does the League Demand?
Part I [The Muslim League’s Resolution of March 1940]
Part II [Unifying the North-West provinces is an age-old project]
Part III [The Congress itself has proposed to create Linguistic Provinces]
CHAPTER II – A Nation Calling for a Home
[What is the definition of a “nation,” and what “nations” can be found in India?]
CHAPTER III – Escape from Degradation
[What grievances do Muslims have against their treatment by the Congress?]
PART II – HINDU CASE AGAINST PAKISTAN
CHAPTER IV – Break-up of Unity
[How substantial, in truth, is the unity between Hindus and Muslims?]
CHAPTER V – Weakening of the Defences
Part I – Question of Frontiers
Part II – Question of Resources
Part III – Question of Armed Forces
CHAPTER VI – Pakistan and Communal Peace
Part I [The Communal Question in its “lesser intent”]
Part II [The Communal Question in its “greater intent”]
Part III [The real question is one of demarcation of boundaries]
Part IV [Will Punjabis and Bengalis agree to redraw their boundaries?]
PART III – WHAT IF NOT PAKISTAN?
CHAPTER VII – Hindu Alternative to Pakistan
Part I [Lala Hardayal’s scheme for conversion in the North-West]
Part II [The stand of Mr. V. D. Savarkar and the Hindu Maha Sabha]
Part III [Mr. Gandhi’s tenacious quest for Hindu-Muslim unity]
Part IV [The riot-torn history of Hindu-Muslim relations, 1920-1940]
Part V [Such barbaric mutual violence shows an utter lack of unity]
CHAPTER VIII – Muslim Alternative to Pakistan
Part I [The proposed Hyderabad scheme of legislative reform is not promising]
Part II [The “Azad Muslim Conference” thinks along similar lines]
CHAPTER IX – Lessons from Abroad
Part I [The case of Turkey shows a steady dismemberment and loss of territory]
Part II [The case of Czechoslovakia, a country which lasted only two decades]
Part III [Both were brought down by the growth of the spirit of nationalism]
Part IV [The force of nationalism, once unleashed, almost cannot be stopped]
Part V [Hindustan and Pakistan would be stronger, more homogeneous units]
PART IV – PAKISTAN AND THE MALAISE
Part I [Muslim Society is even more full of social evils than Hindu Society is]
Part II [Why there is no organized movement of social reform among the Muslims]
Part III [The Hindus emphasize nationalist politics and ignore the need for social reform]
Part IV [In a “communal malaise,” both groups ignore the urgent claims of social justice]
CHAPTER XI – Communal Aggression
[British sympathy encourages ever-increasing, politically calculated Muslim demands]
CHAPTER XII – National Frustration
Part I [Can Hindus count on Muslims to show national rather than religious loyalty?]
Part II [Hindus really want Dominion status; Muslims really want independence]
Part III [The necessary national political loyalty is not present among Muslims]
Part IV [Muslim leaders’ views, once nationalistic, have grown much less so over time]
Part V [The vision of Pakistan is powerful, and has been implicitly present for decades]
Part VI [Mutual antipathies have created a virus of dualism in the body politic]
PART V
CHAPTER XIII – Must There be Pakistan?
Part I [The burden of proof on the advocates of Pakistan is a heavy one]
Part II [Is it really necessary to divide what has long been a single whole?]
Part III [Other nations have survived for long periods despite communal antagonisms]
Part IV [Cannot legitimate past grievances be redressed in some less drastic way?]
Part V [Cannot the many things shared between the two groups be emphasized?]
Part VI [‘Hindu Raj’ must be prevented at all costs, but is Pakistan the best means?]
Part VII [If Muslims truly and deeply desire Pakistan, their choice ought to be accepted]
CHAPTER XIV – The Problems of Pakistan
Part I [Problems of border delineation and population transfer must be addressed]
Part II [What might we assume to be the borders of West and East Pakistan?]
Part III [Both Muslims and Hindus ignore the need for genuine self-determination]
Part IV [Punjab and Bengal would thus necessarily be subject to division]
Part V [A demand for regional self-determination must always be a two-edged sword]
Part VI [The problems of population transfer are solvable and need not detain us]
Part I [Partition is a very possible contingency for which it’s best to be prepared]
Part II [I offer this draft of a ‘Government of India (Preliminary Provisions) Act’]
Part III [My plan is community-based, and thus more realistic than the Cripps plan]
Part IV [My solution is borne out by the examination of similar cases elsewhere]
Epilogue – [We need better statesmanship than Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Jinnah have shown]
TABLES
– 003a – Revenues raised by Provincial and Central
Governments
– 101a – The Congress’s Proposed Linguistic
Provinces
– 205a – Resources of Pakistan
– 205b – Resources of Hindustan
– 205c – Areas of Indian Army Recruitment
– 205d – Areas of Recruitment During World War I
– 205e – Changes in the Composition of the Indian
Infantry
– 205f – Changes in the Communal Composition of
the Indian Army
– 205g – Communal Composition of the Indian Army
in 1930
– 205h – Communal Percentages in Infantry and
Cavalry, 1930
– 205i – Provincial Composition of the Indian
Army, 1943
– 205j – Communal Composition of the Indian
Army, 1943
– 205k – Contributions to the Central Exchequer
from the Pakistan Area
– 205l – Contributions to the Central
Exchequer from the Hindustan Area
– 206a – Muslim Population in Pakistan and
Hindustan
– 206b – Distribution of Seats in the Central
Legislature (Numbers)
– 206c – Distribution of Seats in the
Central Legislature (Percentages)
– 307a – Casualties of the Riots in Sukkur, Sind,
November 1939
– 308a – Proposed Hyderabad Scheme of Communal
Reforms
– 410a – Married Females Aged 0-15 per 1000
Females of That Age
– 411a – Legislative Councils (Act of 1909):
Communal Proportion between Hindus and Muslims
– 411b – Communal Composition of the Legislatures,
1919
– 411c – Representation of Muslims According to
the Lucknow Pact, 1916
– 411d – Actual Weightage of Muslims According to
the Lucknow Pact
APPENDICES
– 01 – Appendix I : Population of India by
Communities
– 02 – Appendix II : Communal distribution of
population by Minorities in the Provinces of British India
– 03 – Appendix III : Communal distribution
of population by Minorities in the States
– 04 – Appendix IV : Communal distribution of
population in the Punjab by Districts
– 05 – Appendix V : Communal distribution of
population in Bengal by Districts
– 06 – Appendix VI : Communal distribution of
population in Assam by Districts
– 07 – Appendix VII : Proportion of Muslim
population in N.-W. F. Province by Districts
– 08 – Appendix VIII : Proportion of Muslim
population in N.-W. F. Province by Towns
– 09 – Appendix IX : Proportion of Muslim
population in Sind by Districts
– 10 – Appendix X : Proportion of Muslim
population in Sind by Towns
– 11 – Appendix XI : Languages spoken by the
Muslims of India
– 12– Appendix XII : Address by Muslims to
Lord Minto, 1906, and Reply thereto
– 13 – Appendix XIII : Allocation of Seats
under the Government of India Act, 1935, for the Lower House in each
Provincial Legislature
– 14 – Appendix XIV : Allocation of Seats
under the Government of India Act, 1935, for the Upper House in each
Provincial Legislature
– 15 – Appendix XV : Allocation of Seats
under the Government of India Act, 1935, for the Lower House of the
Federal Legislature for British India by Province and by Community
– 16 – Appendix XVI : Allocation of Seats
under the Government of India Act, 1935, for the Upper Chamber of the
Federal Legislature for British India by Province and by Community
– 17 – Appendix XVI : Allocation of Seats
under the Government of India Act, 1935, for the Upper Chamber of the
Federal Legislature for British India by Province and by Community
– 18 – Appendix XVIII : Communal Award
– 19 – Appendix XIX : Supplementary Communal
Award
– 20 – Appendix XX : The Poona Pact
– 21 – Appendix XXI : Comparative Statement
of Minority Representation under the Government of India Act, 1935, in
the Provincial Legislature
– 22 – Appendix XXII : Comparative Statement
of Minority Representation under the Government of India Act, 1935, in
the Central Legislature
– 23 – Appendix XXIII : Government of India
Resolution of 1934 on Communal Representation of Minorities in the
Services
– 24 – Appendix XXIV : Government of India
Resolution of 1943 on Representation of the Scheduled Castes in the
Services
– 25– Appendix XXV : The Cripps Proposals
ERRATA – [corrections have now been incorporated into the text]
MAPS
– Punjab – Bengal &
Assam – India –
