Fakhruddin Kaify Poet and writer

14 August, commemorates the day when Pakistan achieved independence and was declared a sovereign state following the end of the British Rule in 1947.

Pakistan came into existence as a result of the Pakistan Movement, which aimed for the creation of an independent Muslim state in the north-western regions of British India via partition. The movement was led by the All-India Muslim League under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The event was brought forth by the Indian Independence Act 1947 under which the British Rule gave independence to the Dominion of Pakistan which comprised West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan) and East
Pakistan (now Bangladesh). In the Islamic calendar, the day of independence coincided with Ramadan 27, the eve of which, being Laylat al-Qadr, is regarded as sacred by Muslims.

The area constituting Pakistan was historically a part of the British Indian Empire throughout much of the nineteenth century. The East India Company began their trade in colonial India in the
17th century, and the company rule started from 1757 when they won the Battle of Plassey. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown
assuming direct control over much of the Indian subcontinent.

All-India Muslim League was founded by the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference at Dhaka, in 1906, in the context of the circumstances that were generated over the division of Bengal in 1905 and the party aimed at creation of a separate Muslim state. The period after World War I was marked by British reforms such as the Montagu-ford Reforms, but it also witnessed the enactment of the repressive Rowlatt Act and strident calls for self-rule by Indian activists. The widespread discontent of this period crystallised into nationwide non-violent movements of
non-cooperation and civil disobedience.

The idea for a separate Muslim state in the Northwest regions of South Asia was introduced by Allama Iqbal in his speech as the President of the Muslim League in December 1930. In the 1940s, as the Indian independence movement intensified, an upsurge of Muslim nationalism helmed by the All-India Muslim League (true representative of Muslims) took place, of which Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the most prominent leader. For a long time, feelings between Hindus and Muslims were intensifying.

Being a political party to secure the interests of the Muslim diaspora in British India, the Muslim League played a decisive role during the 1940s in the Indian independence movement and developed into the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state in South Asia In British India’s division as Pakistan and Bharat the main players were Muslim League and the Indian National Congress, though being a secular party apparently, was actually a biased Hindu party. To appear as secular party it had some Muslim show boys, Congress demanded for a single state.

The All India Muslim League, who disagreed with the idea of single state, stressed the idea of a separate Pakistan as an alternative. The Indian congress party tried to trap Mr Jinnah by offering him to be the first Prime Minister of the Single State. But Jinnah did not agree and demanded a separate homeland for Muslims. The 1946 Cabinet Mission to India was sent to try to reach
a compromise between Congress and the Muslim League, proposing a decentralized state with much power given to local governments, but it was rejected by both of the parties and resulted in a number of riots in South Asia.

Eventually, in February 1947, Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced that the British government would grant full self governance to British India by June 1948 at the latest. On 3 June 1947, the British government announced that the principle of division of British India into two independent states was accepted.] The successor governments would be given dominion status and would have an implicit right to secede from the British Commonwealth.

Viceroy Mountbatten chose 15 August, the second anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II, as the date of power transfer. He chose 14th. August was the date of the ceremony of power transfer to Pakistan because he wanted to attend the ceremonies in both India and Pakistan. Mountbatten was interested to be the Governor General of both the newly born states; though Bharat agreed to this proposal Mr Jinnah refused to accept him as Governor General because it was illegal to have ONE head of Two Different states.

The Indian Independence Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo 6 c. 30) passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom divided British India into the two new independent dominions; the Dominion of India
(later to become the Republic of India) and the Dominion of Pakistan (later to become the Islamic Republic of Pakistan). It is noteworthy that Muslims ruled over this subcontinent known
as HINDUSTAN for more than 1000 years and all with different faiths lived peacefully. Later after British invasion Hindustan became India and witnessed Hindu Muslim riots very often. It is
strange that after India’s division Indian Congress preferred to be called INDIA instead of Bharat.

On 14 August 1947, the new Dominion of Pakistan became independent and Muhammad Ali Jinnah was sworn in as its first governor general in Karachi. Independence was marked with
widespread celebration, but the atmosphere remained heated given the communal riots prevalent during independence in 1947.