Two Nation Theory

Every kid growing up in Pakistan is aware of the Two Nation Theory as the basis of the creation of Pakistan. In simpler words.. the Theory states that Hindus and Muslims are two diverse nations.. each with distinct religions, culture, history etc and therefore .. even after living together for centuries (under the Mughal and British rule) they remained remarkably distinct.. maintaining their cultural differences etc. Pakistan emerged as the only ideological Islamic state that was created in the name of Islam.. not as a result of some territorial conflict etc.

Taking a closer look at the theory.. it clearly holds the idea that all muslims are ONE nation by every definition. At the time of creation of Pakistan.. Muslims were already divided into several countries. The creation of Pakistan on this basis meant further division of the Muslim Nation (Ummah) .. adding Pakistan among the countries Muslims are divided into.

The only nationalism that Islam supports is the nationalism according to religion.. not some geographical or ethnic division. Allah SWT says in the Quran, 'This nation of yours is one nation, and I am your God, so worship Me'. (Quran 21:92). Unlike the situation today.. where a Muslim is Pakistani first then a Muslim .. v refer to our brothers as Iraqi Muslims or Indian Muslim .. whereas .. the are all muslims .. living in different parts of the world.

This nationalism is most strongly rooted in the Muslim world. And was not there from the beginning,, Muslim unity is one of the fundamentals of Islamic political system. These divisions within the Ummah according tp countries and geographical boundaries were feed into the Muslim masses by their colonial/imperial rulers (British in case of Indo-Sub Continent, iraq etc and French like in Syria etc). During the world wars.. the global super powers became quite weak.. and due to United States' late entry into the World War, when all others were exhausted towards the end of it, only United States stood as the least exhausted and victorious nation in the world. Thus becoming the current super power (only to be challenged during the cold war with Russia, which ended with the dismantling of USSR).

After the World Wars, these colonial powers were getting weak and were left with no choice of granting independence to their colonies. At this time in history.. the world say the division of Muslim lands into different countries.. just like you cut a cake at the end of a celebration and hand pieces of it to other people. All the modern day lines (international boundaries) between the Muslim Lands today are the product of those divisions. All the first heads of states of these newly formed countries (nations) were people groomed in the west (e.g. Jinnah from Lincoln's Inn in London, Faisal of Iraq groomed while studying at Harrow in UK, Abdullah of Jordan etc). The newly born countries were handed to them so that they could save guard the interests of powers that have planted them. All these were proclaimed national heroes, founders of the newly formed 'nations'. In the sub-continent .. millions died. Even if there was no violent political struggle.. the british wud hav left the Sub-Continent anyway. They had already sucked the resources from this land and there was nothing left for them here. They wud hav left as easily as they left the Arabian peninsula and the Transjordan .. vid simple negotiations. There were no bloody revolts .. just dialogues with the 'wud-be' leader (rulers) for the new land. If British didnt want to move, they would hav stayed here like they stayed in Hong Kong following a treaty. I know this might sound controversial.. cos it hurts to read that million died for nothing.. but hey.. thts my point of view.. we should respect each others opinions.. ur comments are welcomed.

The slogan "Pakistan ka matlab kia .. La Illaha Illal-lah" was a fake one .. to get the Muslim under one banner. Pakistan, as claimed to be one, was never meant to be a homeland for Muslims to freely observe Islam. Mohammad Ali Jinnah made his commitment to secularism in Pakistan clear in his inaugural address when he said, "You will find that in the course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State." I totally agree with the statement that Muslim are one nations and they should be living in a land according the islamic rules (sharia), my point is that this statement was adapted as the reason of creation of Pakistan and the politicians never meant it. No wonder Alcohol was only banned after 25-30 years in the land created on the name of Islam. The people tht died in 1947 were tricked into sacrificing for what they believed was right but in reality .. they were just used. They were victim of the politics of people that wanted power and those who wanted to plant their agents into these lands. to look after their interest here, even after they left.

The statement from Indra Gandhi on the fall of Dhaka is a slap on the ideology of Pakistan .. "We hav sunk the two nation theory in the gulf of Bengal". My answer to that is that "if" Two Nation Theory had been the true ideology behind .. such a disaster wud hav never occurred. We never thought of Bengalis as our Muslim brothers.. equal to us. Even to this day we make a mockery out of them.. of the way they talk or dress. We stripped them of their right to form the government. This is a different debate all together. I would be writing on it soon.

To conclude the post.. i think The two nation theory at its core is the most strong idealogy to unite the Muslim today. As it nullifies all other Nationalities except Islam. All muslims are ONE nation. Its time for us to revive this Two Nation Theory at a global level.. as its the only thing that can unite the Muslim Ummah as one once again.