All-India Muslim League
The All-India Muslim League was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when some well-known Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests in British India.
The party arose out of the need for the political representation of Muslims in British India, especially during the Indian National Congress-sponsored massive Hindu opposition to the 1905 partition of Bengal. During the 1906 annual meeting of the All-India Muslim Education Conference held in Ahsan Manzil Palace in Dacca, the Nawab of Dacca, Khwaja Salimullah, forwarded a proposal to create a political party which would protect the interests of Muslims in British India. He suggested the political party be named the 'All-India Muslim League'. The motion was unanimously passed by the conference, leading to the official formation of the All-India Muslim League in Dacca. It remained an elitist organisation until 1937, when the leadership, under the command of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, began mobilising the Muslim masses, which turned the League into a popular organisation.
The Muslim League played a decisive role in the 1940s, becoming a driving force behind the division of India along religious lines and the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state in 1947.
After the Partition of India and the establishment of Pakistan, the All-India Muslim League was formally disbanded in India. The League was officially succeeded by the Pakistan Muslim League, which eventually split into several political parties. Other groups diminished to a minor party, that too, only in the Indian state of Kerala. In Bangladesh, the Muslim League was revived in 1976, but it was reduced in size, rendering it insignificant in the political arena. In India, a separate independent entity called the Indian Union Muslim League was formed, which continues to have a presence in the Indian parliament to this day.
History
Foundation
With the sincere efforts by the pioneers of the Congress to attract Muslims to their sessions, the majority of the Islamic leadership, except for a few scholars, rejected the notion that India has two distinct communities to be represented separately in Congress sessions.Syed Ahmad Khan, in 1888, at Meerut, said, "After this long preface, I wish to explain what method my nation — nay, rather the whole people of this country — ought to pursue in political matters. I will treat in regular sequence of the political questions of India, in order that you may have a full opportunity of giving your attention to them. The first of all is this — In whose hands shall the administration and the Empire of India rest? Now, suppose that all English, and the whole English army, were to leave India, taking with them all their cannon and their splendid weapons and everything, then who would be the rulers of India? Is it possible that under these circumstances two nations — the Mahomedans and the Hindus — could sit on the same throne and remain equal in power? Most certainly not. It is necessary that one of them should conquer the other and thrust it down. To hope that both could remain equal is to desire the impossible and the inconceivable."
In 1886, Sir Syed founded the All-India Muhammadan Educational Conference, but a self-imposed ban prevented it from discussing politics. Its original goal was to advocate for British education, especially science and literature, among India's Muslims. The conference, in addition to generating funds for Sir Syed's Aligarh Muslim University, motivated the Muslim upper class to propose an expansion of educational uplift elsewhere, known as the Aligarh Movement. In turn, this new awareness of Muslim needs helped stimulate a political consciousness among Muslim elites. For a few of them, many years after the death of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the All-India Muslim League was formed in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The formation of a Muslim political party on the national level was seen as essential by 1901. The first stage of its formation was the meeting held at Lucknow in September 1906, with representatives from all over India in attendance. The decision to reconsider the formation of the all-Indian Muslim political party was taken, and further proceedings were adjourned until the next meeting of the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference. The Simla Deputation reconsidered the issue in October 1906 and decided to frame the party's objectives on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Educational Conference, which was scheduled to be held in Dhaka. Meanwhile, Nawab Salimullah Khan published a detailed scheme suggesting that the party be named the All-India Muslim Confederacy.
Pursuant to the decisions that had been taken earlier at the Lucknow meeting and later in Simla, the annual meeting of the All-India Muhammadan Educational Conference was held in Dhaka from 27 December until 30 December 1906. Three thousand delegates attended, headed by both Waqar-ul-Mulk and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, in which they explained its objectives and stressed the unity of Muslims under the banner of an association. It was formally proposed by Khwaja Salimullah and supported by Hakim Ajmal Khan, Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Zafar Ali Khan, Syed Nabiullah, a barrister from Lucknow, Ibraheem Fazili, and Syed Zahur Ahmad, an eminent lawyer, as well as several others.
Separate electorates
The Muslim League's insistence on separate electorates and reserved seats in the Imperial Council was granted in the Indian Councils Act after the League held protests in India and lobbied London.The draft proposals for the reforms communicated on 1 October 1908 provided Muslims with reserved seats in all councils, with nominations only being maintained in Punjab. The communication was a clear indicator of how much the Government had accommodated Muslim demands and reflected an increase in Muslim representation in the Imperial and provincial legislatures. But the Muslim League's demands were only fully met in UP and Madras. However, the Government did accept the idea of separate electorates. The idea had not been accepted by the Secretary of State, who proposed mixed electoral colleges, causing the Muslim League to agitate and the Muslim press to protest what they perceived to be a betrayal of the Viceroy's assurance to the Simla deputation.
On 23 February, Morley told the House of Lords that Muslims demanded separate representation and accepted them. This was the League's first victory. But the Indian Councils Bill did not fully satisfy the demands of the Muslim League. It was based on the October 1908 communique in which Muslims were only given a few reserved seats. The Muslim League's London branch opposed the bill and, in a debate, obtained the support of several parliamentarians. In 1909, the members of the Muslim League organised a Muslim protest. The Reforms Committee of Minto's council believed that Muslims had a point and advised Minto to discuss with some Muslim leaders. The Government offered a few more seats to Muslims in compromise, but would not agree to all of the League's demands.
Minto believed that the Muslims had been given enough, while Morley was still not certain because of the pressure Muslims could apply on the government. On 12 September 1909, the Muslim League's central committee once again demanded separate electorates and more representation. While Minto was opposed, Morley feared that the Bill would not pass parliament without the League's support, and he once again discussed Muslim representation with the League leadership. This was successful. The Aga Khan compromised so that Muslims would have two more reserved seats in the Imperial Council. The Muslim League hesitantly accepted the compromise.
Early years
was appointed the first honorary president of the Muslim League, though he did not attend the Dhaka inaugural session. There were also six vice-presidents, a secretary, and two joint secretaries, initially appointed for a three-year term, proportionate to the representation from different provinces. The League's constitution was framed in 1907, espoused in the "Green Book," written by Mohammad Ali Jauhar.Aga Khan III shared Ahmad Khan's belief that Muslims should first build up their social capital through advanced education before engaging in politics, but would later boldly tell the British Raj that Muslims must be considered a separate nation within India. Even after he resigned as president of the AIML in 1912, he continued to exerted a significant influence on its policies and agendas. In 1913, Muhammad Ali Jinnah joined the Muslim league.
Intellectual support and a cadre of young activists emerged from Aligarh Muslim University. Historian Mushirul Hasan writes that in the early 20th century, this Muslim institution, designed to prepare students for service to the British Raj, exploded into political activity. Until 1939, the faculty and students supported an all-India nationalist movement. After 1939, however, sentiment shifted dramatically toward a Muslim separatist movement, as students and faculty mobilised behind Jinnah and the Muslim League.
Growth of Communalism
Politically, there was a degree of unity between Muslim and Hindu leaders after World War I, as typified by the Khilafat Movement. Relationships cooled sharply after that campaign ended in 1922. Communalism grew rapidly, forcing the two groups apart. Major riots broke out in numerous cities, including 91 between 1923 and 1927 in Uttar Pradesh alone. At the leadership level, the proportion of Muslims among delegates to the Congress party fell sharply, from 11% in 1921 to under 4% in 1923.The two-state solution was rejected by the Congress leaders, who favoured a united India based on a composite national identity. Congress at all times rejected "communalism" — that is, basing politics on religious identity. Iqbal's policy of uniting the North-West Frontier Province, Balochistan, Punjab, and Sindh into a new Muslim majority state became part of the League's political platform.
The League rejected the Committee report, arguing that it gave too little representation to Muslims, established Devanagari as the official writing system of the colony, and demanded that India turn into a de facto unitary state, with residuary powers resting at the centre – the League had demanded at least one-third representation in the legislature and sizeable autonomy for the Muslim provinces. Jinnah reported a "parting of the ways" after his requests for minor amendments to the proposal were denied outright, and relations between the Congress and the League began to sour.