Why Was There No Tranfer Of Population?

[G.Subramaniam]

PAKISTAN OR THE PARTITION OF INDIA
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Contents
PART V :
Chapter XIII : Must there be Pakistan
Chapter XIV : The problems of Pakistan
Chapter XV : Who can decide ?
EPILOGUE
PART V
Different people have thought differently of what has been said in the foregoing pages on the
question of 'Pakistan. One set of people have alleged that I have only stated the two sides of the
issue and the problems arising out of it but have not expressed my personal views on either of them.
This is not correct. Anyone who has read the preceding parts will have to admit that I have
expressed my views in quite positive terms, if not on all, certainly on many questions. In particular
I may refer to two of the most important ones in the controversy, namely, Are the Muslims a Nation,
and Have they a case for Pakistan. There are others whose line of criticism is of a different sort.
They do not complain that I have failed to express my personal views. What they complain is that in
coming to my conclusions I have relied on propositions as though they were absolute in their
application and have admitted no exception. I am told, " Have you not stated your conclusions in
too general terms ? Is not a general proposition subject to conditions and limitations ? Have you
not disposed of certain complicated problems in a brief and cavalier fashion ? Have you shown
how Pakistan can be brought into existence in a just and peaceful manner ?" Even this criticism is
not altogether correct. It is not right to say that I have omitted to deal with these points. It may be
that my treatment of them is brief, and scattered. However, I am prepared to admit that there is
much force in this criticism and I am in duty bound to make good the default. This part is therefore
intended and is devoted to the consideration of the following subjects :—
1. What ate the limiting considerations which affect the Muslim case for Pakistan ?
2. What are the problems of Pakistan ? and what is their solution ?
3. Who has the authority to decide the issue of Pakistan ?
CHAPTER XIII
MUST THERE BE PAKISTAN ?
I
With all that has gone before, the sceptic, the nationalist, the conservative and the old-world Indian
will not fail to ask " Must there be Pakistan ?" No one can make light of such an attitude. For the
problem of Pakistan is indeed very grave and it must be admitted that the question is not only a
relevant and fair one to be put to the Muslims and to their protagonists but it is also important. Its
importance lies in the fact that the limitations on the case for Pakistan are so considerable in their
force that they can never be easily brushed aside. A mere statement of these limitations should be
enough to make one feel the force they have. It is writ large on the very face of them. That being
so, the burden of proof on the Muslims for establishing an imperative need in favour of Pakistan is
very heavy. Indeed the issue of Pakistan or to put it plainly of partitioning India, is of such a grave
character that the Muslims will not only have to discharge this burden of proof but they will have to
adduce evidence of such a character as to satisfy the conscience of an international tribunal before
they can win their case. Let us see how the case for Pakistan stands in the light of these limitations.
II
Must there be Pakistan because a good part of the Muslim population of India happens to be
concentrated in certain defined areas which can be easily severed from the rest of India ? Muslim
population is admittedly concentrated in certain well defined areas and it may be that these areas
are severable. But what of that ? In considering this question one must never lose sight of the
fundamental fact that nature has made India one single geographical unit. Indians are of course
quarrelling and no one can prophesy when they will stop quarrelling. But granting the fact, what
does it establish ? Only that Indians are a quarrelsome people. It does not destroy the fact that India
is a single geographical unit. Her unity is as ancient as Nature. Within this geographic unit and
covering the whole of it there has been a cultural unity from time immemorial. This cultural unity
has defied political and racial divisions. And at any rate for the last hundred and fifty years all
institutions—cultural, political, economic, legal and administrative—have been working on a
single, uniform spring of action. In any discussion of Pakistan the fact cannot be lost sight of,
namely, that the starting point, if not the governing factor, is the fundamental unity of India. For it
is necessary to grasp the fact that there are really two cases of partition which must be clearly
distinguished. There is a case in which the starting point is a pre existing state of separation so that
partition is. only a dissolution of parts which were once separate and which were subsequently
joined together. This case is quite different from another in which the starting point at all times is a
state of unity. Consequently partition in such a case is the severance of a territory which has been
one single whole into separate parts. Where the starting point is not unity of territory, i.e., where
there was disunity before there was unity, partition—which is only a return to the original—may
not give a mental shock. But in India the starting point is unity. Why destroy its unity now, simply
because some Muslims are dissatisfied ? Why tear it when the unit is one single whole from
historical times ?