Pakistan National Day to be celebrated in Delhi: What was the Lahore Resolution, which it marks

Pakistan National Day is observed on March 23, the day the Lahore Resolution was adopted in 1940 by the Muslim League. What was the Lahore Resolution, and why is its anniversary Pakistan’s National Day? How is it observed in New Delhi? We explain.

What was the Lahore Resolution of 1940?

The Lahore Resolution, adopted by the All-India Muslim League during its general session in Lahore from March 22 to March 24, 1940, formally called for an independent state for India’s Muslims.

While the resolution does not include the word ‘Pakistan’ anywhere, and some have even debated if its text calls for one separate nation or two, Pakistan celebrates it as its National Day.

The Minar-e-Pakistan is built at the site where the Lahore Resolution was adopted. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

In 1956, on the same day, the country officially adopted its first Constitution, which transformed the Dominion of Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Between 1960 and 1968, the Minar-e-Pakistan was built at the site where the resolution was adopted. The text of the resolution is inscribed at the base of the tower.

What did the Lahore Resolution say?

The resolution declared that “it is the considered view of this Session of the All India Muslim League that no constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principle, namely 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.”

It is this wording — “North-Western and Eastern Zones of India” and “Independent States” — that led many, specially Bengali leaders, to debate if the resolution actually called for two different states, to the east and west of India. However, after its adoption, the Muslim League and its tallest leader, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, staunchly maintained that the Lahore Resolution was about two countries, one for Hindus and one for Muslims.

The resolution also demanded that “in other parts of India where the Mussalmans are in a minority, adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards shall be specially 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.”

What was the lead-up to the Lahore Resolution?

Till the early 1930s, many Muslims had been agitating for better representation and safeguarding of their rights within the Indian Union, and the separate electorate granted to them in the Government of India Act, 1935, was a step towards that. However, as the decade progressed, the voices that demanded a total break from India got stronger. The Lahore Resolution was a culmination of years of this churn, bringing the Muslim League to a point from which it never turned back.

The Muslim League session was held days after the Khaksar tragedy, when members of a Muslim group called the Khaksars, fighting for India’s independence, were shot at by the British on March 19 in Lahore, killing many.

The Lahore session also witnessed a landmark address by Jinnah, cementing his position as the eventual Quaid-E-azam of Pakistan. American historian Stanley Wolpert, in his 1984 book Jinnah of Pakistan, wrote, “Jinnah’s Lahore address lowered the final curtain on any prospects for a single united independent India… The rest of the world would take at least seven years to appreciate that he literally meant every word he had uttered… The ambassador of Hindu Muslim unity had totally transformed himself into Pakistan’s great leader. All that remained was for his party first, then his inchoate nation, and then his British allies to agree to the formula he had resolved upon…”

Addressing a massive crowd and speaking in English for the benefit of the foreign press present, Jinnah had elaborated on the reasons he believed a separate state for Muslims was necessary. Mocking Mahatma Gandhi, he said, as quoted by Wolpert, “And this now is what Mr. Gandhi said on the 20th of March, 1940. He says: ‘To me, Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Harijans are all alike. I cannot be frivolous’ —but I think he is frivolous—’I cannot be frivolous when I talk of Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah. He is my brother.’ The only difference is this, that brother Gandhi has three votes and I have only one vote.”

The Lahore Resolution was criticised by many Indian Muslims, like Abul Kalam Azad and the Deoband ulema led by Husain Ahmad Madani, who advocated for a united India.

How is the Pakistan National Day observed in New Delhi?

Pakistan National Day is celebrated on or around March 23 at the Pakistan’s embassy complex in New Delhi. It is attended by the foreign diplomats and Indians. Usually, a Minister or an MOS is invited to attend the event as the chief guest.

National anthems are played of both countries at the occasion, followed by speeches by the Pakistan high commissioner and the chief guest. This year, The Indian Express has learnt that plans are being drawn to celebrate it on March 28.

with inputs from Shubhajit Roy