The Background To Indo-Pakistani Relations
| Published date | 01 April 1987 |
| Date | 01 April 1987 |
| Author | Taya Zinkin |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711788700900103 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
31
THE
BACKGROUND
TO
INDO-PAKISTANI
RELATIONS
TAYA
ZINKIN
UNLIKE
ATHENA,
countries
do
not
spring
fully
armed
from
Zeus’s
head;
like
hulls
encumbered
with
barnacles
they
are
weighted
by
their
past.
This
is
true
even
of
the
ex-colonial
newly
independent
countries.
And,
in the
case
of
India
and
Pakistan,
to
the
weight
of
history
has
to
be
added
the
haste
with
which
Britain
handed
over
power.
The
haste
was
inevitable,
as
we
shall
see.
But
in their
haste
to
hand
over
power
the
British
did
not
finish their
business
and
it
is
the
unfinished
business
which
is
largely
responsible
for
poisoning
further
an
already
poisoned
atmosphere
which
hangs
like
a
rotting
albatross
between
the
two
countries,
resulting
in
three
wars
and
endemic
distrust.
To
appreciate
the
tensions
which
exist-always
ready
to
flare
up-between
India
and
Pakistan
one
has
to
go
back
into
history.
, After
the
Mutiny
the
Indian
Muslims,
roughly
a
quarter
of the
population,
felt
frustrated.
Unable
to
forget
that
they
had
ruled
most
of
India
they
resented
the
way
Hindus
took
advantage
of
the
opportunities
offered
by
British
Rule.
In
1875
Sir
Sayed
Ahmed
Khan
laid
the
foundations
of
the
Muslim
University
at
Aligarh
because
he
foresaw,
long
before
anybody
else,
that
British
Rule
would
lead
to
a
self-governing
democratic
India.
He
therefore
warned
his
co-religionists
that
they
must
have
a
state
of
their
own
if
they
wanted
to
be
equal,
since
democracy
in
India
inevitably
meant
rule
by
the
Hindu
majority.
For
Muslims
to
be
ruled
by
Hindus
was
anathema.
Not
only
had
Muslims
been
the
rulers
but,
more
importantly,
they
looked
upon
Hindus
as
&dquo;idol-worshipping
drinkers
of
cow’s
urine&dquo;.
To
be
ruled
by
them
was
unacceptable,
as
a
senior
Bengali
Minister
once
said
to
me.
After
the
first
World
War,
it
was
clear
to
everybody
that
the
British
were
beginning
to
give
up
power,
however
slowly.
Mahatma
Gandhi,
in
his
fight
against
British
Rule,
used
terms
like
&dquo;Ram
Rajya&dquo;
which
Muslims
thought
were
specifically
Hindu;
and
the
anthem
the
Congress
Party
chose,
&dquo;Bande
Mataram&dquo;,
had
been
written
as
an
anti-Muslim
song.
Gandhi
was
in
no
way
anti-Muslim;
he
even
joined
in
the
Khilafat
agitation,
which
was
of
interest
only
to
Muslims,
since
it
was
against
the
Turkish
Sultan’s
position
as
Caliph.
But
the
damage
was
done.
Muslim
suspicions
increased
and
increased
again
when,
after
the
1937
elections
and
because
of
Nehru’s
obstinacy,
the
Congress
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