Punjab played a major role in the Muslim struggle for a separate home land. The period under study is an attempt to bring to light the significance Punjab acquired in nineteen twenties with the implementation of the Montford reforms. It is a period when religion and politics interacted and necessitated constitutional change. Punjab and Bengal were the only two Muslim provinces with threefifths of the total Muslim population of India.
Punjab came to be considered the sword arm of British India during World War I. It's contribution in the war effort of men, money and material followed by serious excesses under the Rowlatt Act and tragedy of the J allianwala Bagh gave rise to' an explosive situation. The Khilafat and Non co-operation Movements united Muslims and Non Muslims as never before. But this was short lived.
The implementation of Montford Reforms in 1921 marked a new era, when the Muslims emerged as a political factor. In Punjab, politics revolved round control of resources rather than agitation against the British. Punjab was the first province where the party system evolved on provincial basis. The Arya Samaj militated against Hindu Muslim unity and attempts to bring about unity had little success. The Congress and the Muslim League were unable to establish themselves in the province.
The nineteen twenties was Fazl-i-Husain's era in the Punjab par excellence. He introduced significant administrative changes whereby increasing opportunities for backward Muslims in education, public service and local government.
The study examines the three elections held in Punjab under Dyarchy and their impact on Hindu Muslim relations. The Muslim League's proposals at it'sLahore session in 1924 demanded revision of the 1919 Act and advanced fresh proposals. These remained basis of talks with the Hindus until they were amalgamated with those of 1927 and formed the Jinnah's Fourteen Points.
The decade closed with the inability of the two communities to come to a settlement. It was in December 1929 that the All India Congress at its session in Lahore proclaimed complete independence for India as its goal. A year later Allama Iqbal responded to this by his historic pronouncement at the Allahbad session of the All India Muslim League for the division of the country.
Zarina Salamat was born at Lucknow, India, in 1935 and was educated at schools in Lucknow, Meerut, Jubbulpore, and Rawalpindi. She did her matriculation from Queen College Lahore, and graduation from Lahore College for Women, her Honours in History from London University, M.A. and Doctorate from Punjab University. Over ten years she taught in Lahore College for Women and Samnabad College for Girls, Lahore. From 1974 to 95 she served as Senior Research Fellow in National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research Islamabad. She was married to Late Dr. Afzal Iqbal, a noted diplomat, scholar and poet. She is the author of Pakistan 1947-58: an historical review and has published a number of research articles.
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