Venom oozing MQM spits out ages old vendetta.
“ALLAMA” SIR M. IQBAL – ENEMY OF JINNAH
March 17, 2014 · by MQM History · in Uncategorized. ·
There is no greater lie in Pakistan history than the supposed role of the Punjabi poet, Sir Muhammad “Allama” Iqbal in the creation of Pakistan. Today, Iqbal is officially venerated as Muffakir-e-Pakistan (مفکر پاکستان, “The Thinker of Pakistan”) and Hakeem-ul-Ummat(حکیم الامت, “The Sage of the Ummah”). His birthday (Iqbal Day) is a National Holiday in Pakistan, and Lahore airport is named Allama Iqbal International Airport. Many people in Pakistan (particularly Punjabis) seem to believe that Iqbal somehow created the ideology of Pakistan, and then Jinnah merely implemented it. Iqbal’s tomb was built in 1951 (4 years after Pakistan independence and 13 years after his death) within the grounds of the magnificent Mughal-built Badshahi Mosque complex in Lahore. Today, Pakistan’s Punjabi leaders bring foreign dignitaries to lay wreaths at Iqbal’s tomb.
The irony in all these lies is that Iqbal was a mortal political enemy of Jinnah. As the no.2 of Sir Mohammed Shafi, Iqbal engineered a split in AIML in 1927 which tried to remove Jinnah as leader and effectively expel him from the party. It took 3 years for the Shafi (Punjab) and Jinnah (non-Punjab) AIML factions to reunite, and Jinnah went in exile in London. He returned to India in 1934, after Shafi died and with Iqbal out of the picture.
The true reason why Iqbal has been venerated post-independence is simple: there was no other Punjabi who played any significant role in creating Pakistan. Punjabis originally opposed Jinnah, and the idea of Pakistan. In the 1937 all-India Constituent Assembly elections, Jinnah’s AIML emerged as the 2nd largest all-India party after Congress, yet won only 2/175 seats in Punjab. It later became apparent that the Pakistan Movement was gaining momentum. At this stage, the Punjabi landlords switched their support to Jinnah/AIML, in order to seize Hindu/Sikh lands and businesses, which is indeed what happened in 1947. After independence, Iqbal’s role was somehow aggrandised into somehow being alongside Jinnah in rank.
Muhajir Ideology of Pakistan
The Muslims of present-day India were articulating their concerns at the prospect of Hindu-majority local government in British India in the late nineteenth century. As thisextraordinary letter from H.M Ismail of Datavli (a small hamlet near Aligarh) shows, the desire of Indian Muslims to retain control of their own destiny had nothing whatsoever to do with Iqbal. It was a consequence of the fall of the Mughal Empire, a secular desire for freedom, and a fear of being totally swamped by the better-educated Hindus. In 1906, as a consequence of the sentiments of millions of present-day Indian Muslims, the community leaders secured from the Viceroy (Lord Minto) an agreement of separate Hindu/Muslim electorates. With this single act, the creation of Pakistan on a democratic basis became a reality.
At this time, Iqbal was a young man, often frequenting the halls of Qadian, and writing charming Hindustan nationalist poems. The ideology of Pakistan came solely from Muhajirs (of all classes), expressing feelings such as those of H.M. Ismail.
Iqbal played no role in shaping the Muhajir consciousness, he also had minimal electoral impact in his own home province of Punjab. Iqbal died in 1938, so it seems the people of Punjab were not moved in the slightest to support Jinnah and AIML in the 1937 elections. Of the 2/175 Punjab seats won by Jinnah, at least 1 was won by an Ahmadi (Zafrullah). When and where was the ideology provided by Iqbal visible?
Iqbal – Enemy Of Jinnah
In 1927, a Punjabi politician called Sir Mohammad Shafi engineered a split in the AIML, over the issue of the Simon Report. From 1927 to 1930, the AIML was bitterly split, with 2 factions – Shafi Faction and Jinnah Faction – each claiming primacy. Iqbal was Secretary (no.2) of the Shafi faction, and was therefore a leading enemy of Jinnah.
By way of background, the British-led Simon Commission (with no Indians on it) was tasked in 1927 to produce a report with recommendations for the future of India’s government. The resulting Simon Report was bitterly opposed by Jinnah, Nehru, and Gandhi, who all insisted on increased provincial autonomy, whilst the Simon report recommended continued British control in India’s local government.