“Partition of India” speech by Allama Mashriqi's Grandson, Nasim Yousaf (Scholar & Historian)

  • 9 years ago
Ladies and Gentlemen:

As a grandson of Allama Mashriqi, I have been asked many times to record my views on the history of the Indian sub-continent. I am using this opportunity to briefly address the people of the sub-continent and to take a few minutes to express my thoughts on this topic. I hope you will listen carefully to what I am going say. It is entirely up to you to seek lessons from the mistakes of the past.

Remember, history is unforgiving to nations that mutilate their past. I urge you to wake-up and realize why India was divided. Pakistan and India’s history is written under the influence of the All-India Muslim League and the Indian National Congress respectively; it is nothing but a pack of utter lies. The All-India Muslim League’s slogans of Hindu domination and Islam in danger in a united India were not based in reality. The Two-Nation Theory was publicized to spread communalism and to seek political agendas. Many people might be surprised to hear that the Muslim League’s victory in the 1946 elections was on the crutches of the powerful Government bureaucracy.

Those of you who have not read history should know that partition brought miseries that are rarely seen in history. Millions of innocent Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs were brutally slaughtered. My heart bleeds when I think of the suffering of helpless individuals and the females who, at the time of the partition of India, were ruthlessly raped. They became victims of the confrontational and selfish politics of the All-India Muslim League and Indian National Congress. It is unfortunate that a holocaust of this magnitude continues to be dismissed for political reasons.

As you must know, division has not resolved the political differences between Pakistan and India; in fact it has aggravated the situation and has established two hostile neighbors now armed with deadly nuclear weapons. Partition has created more and serious issues than the ones that existed prior to 1947. It has left behind a legacy of hostility that probably will never end, unless people on both sides change their attitudes and seek unity. Furthermore, writers, speakers and the media must stop justifying partition on the ground that Muslims and Hindus cannot get along. The Muslim-Hindu conflicts that existed during the pre-partition era were blown out of proportion for political reasons and using them as justification for partition does nothing other than generate greater hostility.

We must learn from the lessons taught by Allama Mashriqi, a true visionary; he clearly saw what would happen if India was divided. He provided solutions including “The Constitution of Free India” to resolve issues. He also sent a telegram to the last Viceroy of India “foreshadowing murder and ruin of at least ten million Indians…" The respected Mashriqi knew why India was being divided into three pieces. Therefore, in 1947, he made a final effort to stop the break-up of India and called 300,000 Khaksars... (continues)

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