Deconstructing "One Nation Theory" & importance of digit 14 regarding National freedom in first half of 20th century
Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points 8 January 1918
M A Jinnah's 14 Points 1929
Atlantic Charter by US 14 August 1941
Formation of Pakistan 14 August 1947
Since 1920s many forces challenge One Nation theory including Iqbal & Jinnah but after infamous & ambiguous Objective Resolution we as State opted same One Nation Theory that proved fatal in many ways. It is time to revisit it.
One Nation Theory was a product of pro-centralist British mindset which ruined our culture & history. Subcontinent or South Asia was a loose federation from centuries. From Ashok ( i will not write Ashoka ) to Gandhara and from Hindu Shahya till Mughals there were strong federating units/ city states under King-ships either in Bengal, Nepal, Sheri Lanka, Burma or in Kabul, Gandhar, Sindh, Baluchistan, Kashmir, Chitral and the Punjab. There were different power circles and Delhi had no absolute power at all. Centralism was introduced by colonial masters which started from Permanent Settlement and then supported by new legal & administrative system. 1849 was a bench mark when after 50 years of consistent conspiracies, diplomacy, proxy wars and hot wars they completed annexation. In 1850 by using latest technology of Railways Britishers started to vision India as a One Nation. Either it were Macaulay's Minute (1835) , decision to replace Persian with English (1837) or Wood's Education dispatch (1854) one can easily identify emergence of One Nation Theory in them.
Here we will introduce u with John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889). He was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobdenin the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy. He sat in the House of Commons from 1843 to 1889.
In 1857, Bright's unpopular opposition to the Crimean War led to his losing his seat as member for Manchester. Within a few months, he was elected unopposed as one of the two MPs for Birmingham in 1858. He would hold this position for over thirty years though he would later leave the Liberal Party on the issue of Irish Home Rule in 1886.
It was J.B who criticized British policy makers in parliament at 1858 and Warren them not to use One Nation Theory. It was reproduced in the book Verdict on India Published in 1944 by Jonathan cape London written by Beverly Nicholas, writer, journalist, Play write. It was my friend Zafar Iqbal Mirza (Zim, Lhori) an unprecedented editor and columnist who introduced this book to me. even boletho remembered this book in his biography of Jinnah. The book is available on internet and from page 188 to 196, you can read Jinnah's conversation with author. am reproducing a piece from John Bright book, which Jinnah shared with the author during interview. it is
"He handed me the book. It was a faded old volume, The Speeches of John Bright, and the date of the page at which it was opened was June 4th, 1858. This is what the greatest orator in the House .of Commons said on that occasion:
*How long does England propose to govern India? Nobody can answer
that question. But be it 50 or 100 or 500 years, does any man with the
smallest glimmering of common sense believe that so great a country, with
its 20 different nationalities and its 20 different languages, can ever be
bound up and consolidated into one compact and enduring empire confine?
I believe such a thing to be utterly impossible."
unfortunately, it was congress who the concept of One Nation Theory from colonial masters yet they failed to challenge the inbuilt centralism within it. In fact, One Nation Theory suited to new desi elite especially bureaucrats and industrialists living in early British settlements like Calcutta, Surat, Bombay etc. Politics of One Nation Theory gave birth to Two Nation Theory and when Two Nation Theory got support from two major & powerful federating Units (Bengal & the Punjab , both Muslim majority provinces) it became powerful. Just rethink, from 1849 till 1947 it was a fight between centralist forces and loose center. One could resolve it by following american experience yet anti colonial politicians too adopted centralism. In his allahbad adress, It was Iqbal who fiercely criticized One Nation theory and supported an idea of loose federation which would ensure linguistic cultural & religious rights. just read some sentences from allahbad address
[[2c]] The unity of an Indian nation, therefore, must be sought not in the negation, but in the mutual harmony and cooperation, of the many. True statesmanship cannot ignore facts, however unpleasant they may be. The only practical course is not to assume the existence of a state of things which does not exist, but to recognise facts as they are, and to exploit them to our greatest advantage. And it is on the discovery of Indian unity in this direction that the fate of India as well as of Asia really depends. India is Asia in miniature. Part of her people have cultural affinities with nations of the east, and part with nations in the middle and west of Asia. If an effective principle of cooperation is discovered in India, it will bring peace and mutual goodwill to this ancient land which has suffered so long, more because of her situation in historic space than because of any inherent incapacity of her people. And it will at the same time solve the entire political problem of Asia.
[[2d]] It is, however, painful to observe that our attempts to discover such a principle of internal harmony have so far failed. Why have they failed? Perhaps we suspect each other’s intentions and inwardly aim at dominating each other. Perhaps, in the higher interests of mutual cooperation, we cannot afford to part with the monopolies which circumstances have placed in our hands, and [thus we] conceal our egoism under the cloak of nationalism, outwardly simulating a large-hearted patriotism, but inwardly as narrow-minded as a caste or tribe. Perhaps we are unwilling to recognize that each group has a right to free development according to its own cultural traditions. But whatever may be the causes of our failure, I still feel hopeful. Events seem to be tending in the direction of some sort of internal harmony. And as far as I have been able to read the Muslim mind, I have no hesitation in declaring that if the principle that the Indian Muslim is entitled to full and free development on the lines of his own culture and tradition in his own Indian home-lands is recognized as the basis of a permanent communal settlement, he will be ready to stake his all for the freedom of India. (see complete text at Columbia University website , taken from Writings and statements of Iqbal re-published by Iqbal academy Lhore)
Iqbal pinpointed problems and struggle of Muslim majority provinces in this regard with a clear vision and in mid 1940s Iqbal proved right when both Punjab & Bengal supported ML. In this address Iqbal also criticized Lucknow Pact 1916 and called it a pitfall rightly. When Iqbal raised his voice, Jinnah was reluctant yet after 1937 elections he had to follow Iqbal. hakim ajmal khan, Mian Shafi, C R das and Iqbal were pioneer in raising their voices against One Nation theory while Mollana sindhi and jinnah followed them. now u can read the article in urdu Published in Express 14 August 2013. thanks
for easy reading click here
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