The Delhi Resolution 1946

Adopted by the majority of the elected representatives of the Muslims of the subcontinent at the All-India Muslim League Legislators’ Convention, Delhi, April 9, 1946


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Whereas in this vast subcontinent of India a hundred millions are the adherents of a faith which regulates every department of their life (educational, social, economic and political), whose code is not confined merely to spiritual doctrines and tenets or rituals and ceremonies and which stand in sharp contrast to the exclusive nature of Hindu Dharma and philosophy and which has fostered and maintained for thousands of years a rigid caste system resulting in the degradation of 60 million human beings to the position of untouchables, creation of unnatural barriers between man and man and superimposition of social and economic inequalities on a large body of the people of this country, and which threatens to reduce Muslims, Christians and other minorities to the status of irredeemable helots, socially, and economically;

Whereas the Hindu caste system is a direct negation of nationalism, equality, democracy and all noble ideals that Islam stands for;

Whereas the different historical backgrounds, traditions, cultures and social and economic order of the Hindus and Muslims have made impossible the evolution of a single Indian nation inspired by common aspirations and ideals and whereas after centuries they still remain two distinct major nations;

Whereas soon after the introduction by the British of the policy of setting up political institutions in India on the lines of western democracies based on majority rule which meant that the majority of one nation or society could impose its will on the majority of the other nation or society in spite of their opposition as was amply demonstrated during the two and a half years regime of Congress government in the Hindu majority provinces under the Government of India Act 1935 when the Muslims were subjected to untold harassment and oppression as a result of which they were convinced of the futility and ineffectiveness of the so-called safeguards provided in the constitution and in the Instrument of Instructions to the Governors and were driven to the irresistible conclusion that in a united Indian federation, if established, the Muslims even in majority provinces would meet with no better fate and their rights and interests could never be adequately protected against the perpetual Hindu majority at the centre;

Whereas the Muslims are convinced that with a view to save Muslim India from the domination of the Hindus and in order to afford them full scope to develop themselves according to their genius, it is necessary to constitute a sovereign independent state comprising Bengal and Assam in the north-east zone and the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sindh and Baluchistan in the north-west zone;

This Convention of the Muslim League Legislatures of India, central and provincial, after careful consideration, hereby declares that the Muslim nation will never submit to any constitution for a united India and will never participate in any single constitution-making machinery set up for the purpose, and that any formula devised by the British government for transferring power from the British to the peoples of India which does not conform to the following just and equitable principles calculated to maintain internal peace and tranquillity in the country will not contribute to the solution of the Indian problem:

That the zones comprising Bengal and Assam in the north-east and the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sindh and Baluchistan in the north-west of India, namely Pakistan zones, where the Muslims are in a dominant majority, be constituted into a sovereign independent state and that an unequivocal undertaking be given to implement the establishment of Pakistan without delay;

that two separate constitution-making bodies be set up by the people of Pakistan and Hindustan for the purpose of framing their respective constitutions; that the minorities in Pakistan and Hindustan be provided with safeguards on

the lines of the All India Muslim League Resolution passed on 23 March 1940 at Lahore;

that the acceptance of the Muslim League demand of Pakistan and its implementation without delay are the sine qua non for the Muslim League cooperation and participation in the formation of an interim government at the centre.

This Convention further emphatically declares that any attempt to impose a constitution on a united India basis or to force any interim arrangement at the centre contrary to the Muslim League demand will leave the Muslims no alternative but to resist such imposition by all possible means for their survival and national existence.


Safeguards for the minorities in the earlier Lahore Resolution: ‘That adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided in the constitution for minorities in these units and in the regions for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them and in other parts of India where the Musalmans are in a minority adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards shall be specifically provided in the constitution for them and other minorities for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them.’


The Pledge

In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the Merciful. Say: ‘My prayer and my sacrifice, and my living and dying are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds.’ (Quran)

I, a member of the Muslim League Party of the Legislative Assembly / Council, do hereby solemnly declare my firm conviction that the safety and security, and the salvation and destiny of the Muslim Nation, inhabiting the Subcontinent of India lies only in the achievement of Pakistan, which is the one equitable, honourable and just solution of the constitutional problem, and which will bring peace, freedom and prosperity to the various nationalities and communities of this great Subcontinent.

I most solemnly affirm that I shall willingly and unflinchingly carry out all the directions and instructions which may be issued by the All-India Muslim League in pursuance of any movement launched by it for the attainment of the cherished national goal of Pakistan, and, believing as I do in the rightness and the justice of my cause, I pledge myself to undergo any danger, trial or sacrifice which may be demanded of me.

Our Lord bestow on us endurance and keep our steps firm and help us against the disbelieving people. Amen.

2 thoughts on “The Delhi Resolution 1946”

  1. Assalam o Alaikum

    “I most solemnly affirm that I shall willingly and unflinchingly carry out all the directions and instructions which may be issued by the All-India Muslim League in pursuance of any movement launched by it for the attainment of the cherished national goal of Pakistan, and, believing as I do in the rightness and the justice of my cause, I pledge myself to undergo any danger, trial or sacrifice which may be demanded of me.”
    🙂

    Thanks

  2. Pingback: The South Asian Declaration Of Independence – Voice of East

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