Allama Iqbal:

• Allama Iqbal was a philosopher – poet who eventually became a politician.

• He was knighted in 1922 in recognition of his poetry and later he was elected as member of Punjab Legislative Assembly later in 1926.

• In the absence of Jinnah, Iqbal presided over the historic session of ML and in December 1930 at Allahabad.

• He elaborated the two nation theory by highlighting the distinctive cultural, civilizational and historic features of the Muslim community.

• He spoke against the imperialistic powers of the West and said it was unfair to occupy lands of the independent people.

  • He said, “European democracy cannot be applied to India without recognizing the fact of communal groups. I would like to see the Punjab, NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan amalgamated into a single state”.

  • This way, Iqbal predicted as well as expressed his desire of the possibility of creation of a Muslim homeland in the North Western Muslim majority provinces of India.

  • As a result communal division of India was seriously considered by many Muslims during the 1930’s.

• Iqbal is also important because of his inspiring poetry that gradually infused the spirit of Muslim nationalism among Muslims who began to see a clear goal ahead of them.

  • His poetry gave hope to the Muslims telling to them to be proud of their past and of their heritage.

  • He believed that the British and the Hindus were equally opposed to the Muslim cause.

• Ch Rehmat Ali scheme of Pakistan was greatly influenced by the views of Allama Iqbal.

  • His efforts were strengthened by both Ch. Rehmat Ali and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

  • It was Iqbal who had persuaded Jinnah to come back to India to lead the Muslim community.

  • Therefore, Jinnah on the passage of Lahore Resolution in March 1940 paid rich tribute to Iqbal and wished if Iqbal had been alive to see his dream come true.

• Iqbal is rightly called the “Architect of Pakistan” as well as the first leader from the ML to have dreamed of a separate Muslim homeland.

Chaudary Rahmat Ali:

• He presented the scheme of Pakistan.

  • As a young student, he attended the Round Table Conferences in London in the 1930s and was opposed to any kind of federation of India.

  • Instead, he believed in launching an active struggle for a totally independent and separate Muslim homeland comprising the north-western Muslim majority provinces of India.

  • He tried to persuade the Muslim leaders to accept his scheme but failed to impress them, though the idea of partition of India appealed many.

• He gave the name Pakistan to the independent Muslim state in his famous pamphlet ‘Now or Never’ that was published in 1933.

  • Literal meaning of the word Pakistan is ‘land of the pure (Muslims)’ and each letter of the word represented a Muslim majority area within and beyond India. They are: Punjab, Afghania (NWFP), Kashmir, Iran, Sindh, Tokharistan, Afghanistan and Balochistan.

  • Despite Jinnah’s refusal to meet him, the word Pakistan was adopted by the ML for the independent Muslim state.

  • For the same reason the Lahore Resolution is also called the Pakistan Resolution.

• His views were really ahead of his time and different from those of Iqbal who proposed a Muslim state within or outside India.

  • For this reason most Muslim leaders did not accept them but the idea of partition of India began to be considered by many in the 1930s.