REFERENCE your series ‘The Dawn of Pakistan 1906-1948’. On June 18 you highlighted the all-important ‘Lahore Resolution’ of March 23, 1940. As we all know that this resolution proved to be the founding stone of the future state of Pakistan. That is why it came to be called the ‘Pakistan resolution’ and the day (March 23) is celebrated as the most sacred day of Pakistan’s calendar.
Owing to its profound position and unmatched importance the Lahore Resolution needs to be publicised as much as possible, particularly for the benefit of the new generation. This need becomes manifold given the current confusing situation regarding the search for an ‘alternative narrative’.
Seen in this perspective, your effort is commendable. But for reasons unknown to the reader an incomplete resolution is published. In fact, even the sentence is unfinished which leaves out the quintessence of the resolution, and falls short of the intended message.
The complete narration is given hereby: “Resolved that it is the considered view of the session of the All-India Muslim League that no constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to the Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principles, that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North-Western and Eastern zones of India should be grouped to constitute ‘Independent states’ in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign”.
Abdul Khalique Junejo
Karachi
Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2017
