India-Pakistan relations: A Historical Lense

 Delegates, 

As many of you know, the geopolitics of India-Pakistan stem from a long and contentious history dating to the founding of both nations in the mid-20th century. Even though our committee is set in 2001, knowing and understanding this context is imperative. In this post, I will be going over some of the key historical events and documents that can help you enter committee with a strong background on why the Agra summit is taking place nearly 50 years post-partition. 

The Khilafat Movement (1919): 

The movement for an independent Islamic state in South Asia goes back to the early 20th century, with the international Khilafat movement. The Khalifat movement was a pan-Islamic movement to unite all Muslims in the world under the Turkish Sultan as the Khalifa, post-1918 World War I fall of the Ottoman Empire (Krishna, Gopal. “The Khilafat Movement in India: The First Phase (September 1919-August 1920).” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 1/2 (1968): 37–53).  The movement gained both political and scholarly traction, with influential figures such as Mahatma Gandhi supporting it ( Gandhi, Mahatma. “The Khilafat Question.” 1920, 487-489.). Indian Muslims looked at the idea of islamic statehood under the Khilafat as particularly appealing, due to their minority status under British Raj in India. It was an important aspect  of the Indian Independence movement in general, inspiring discourse over Indian independence and freedom from the British. 

For further reading, I recommend: Dhar, Sandhya. “KHILAFAT AND NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT - ITS EFFECT IN JAMMU REGION.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 64 (2003): 960–962.

The Indian Provincial Elections of 1939:

One historical event which helps contextualize the animosity between the modern day states of Pakistan and India, is the Indian Provincial Elections of 1939. The election of 1939, while years before partition, lays the seeds of dissent between the majority Hindu population and the minority Muslim population.  This election was key in establishing and confirming the widespread belief that Muslims needed their own state and representation. It is important to view this dissent as valid and nuanced; many modern Indian sources aim to sow dissent among Indian peoples by painting this pre-partition movement for Pakistan as tyrannical/illogical. In the elections of 1939, the two parties of the time (the All India Muslim League, and Indian Congress) competed for provincial positions. The outcome, was a sweeping Congress victory throughout the nation, with the AIML winning only 4.6% of the total Muslim votes in the  subcontinent.  Out of 11 provinces, eight provinces had an entirely Congress administration as a result. Even in Muslim majority provinces, such as the North West Frontier with 92% Muslim population and Sind with  72%, the AIML had little to no success. These election results were the outcome of a Congress initiative to push Muslim voters towards the Hindu politicians through the INS. Post-election, tensions ran high, with Congress administrations in regions such as Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, refusing to share power with AIML figures ( Datta, V.N. “THE PAKISTAN RESOLUTION (1940).” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 61 (2000): 761–69.). 

This election was a key turning point in the Muslim population’s political organization and mobilization. Muhammad Ali-Jinnah, who later become the first President of Pakistan, was a key figure who flipped his political views on an independent Pakistan over this event. Jinnah, formerly a close ally of Gandhi and the President of the All India Muslim League, came to the realization that under one state Muslims would never receive equal or adequate representation. Thus, the two-state solution became a prominent part of the All India Muslim League in 1940, passing  the Pakistan Resolution spearheaded by Jinnah. Jinnah was famously a secular man, who for decades had been in  favor of a united India; this was a monumental shift in the Islamic coalition’s agenda. 

For further reading, I would highly recommend skimming Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Presidential Address to the Muslim League, Lahore, 1940. 

For a survey source on the background of the topic in large, I would recommend: TELLIS, ASHLEY J. “A TANGLED TAPESTRY: THE INTERLOCKING ANTAGONISMS BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN.” ARE INDIA-PAKISTAN PEACE TALKS WORTH A DAMN? Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2017. 

Good luck! 

Let me know if you have any questions, 

Nishitha