Economic Factors in the Making of Pakistan (1921-1947)

While giants in the fields of ideology and religion lock horns over whether Pakistan was created as a motherland for subcontinental Muslims or as a model Islamic state, while students of politics dwell over the exigencies of power which necessitated the partition, the quiet voice of Naureen Talha proposes an even more compelling though mundane reason for the split. According to her doctoral thesis, the Muslims had realized that after the collapse of their own centuries old rule in India, the economic factors in the country were going against them, and would continue to do so unless they could avoid the oppressive domination of the Hindus. It was this perception that prompted the educated and more affluent Indian Muslims to support the Muslim League’s ideological demand for a separate Muslim homeland. The emphasis on economics as the prime mover, in this point of view, is refreshing not only because it is unique but also because it is a premise which can sustain rational discussion and debate, far-removed from the charged arenas of religious or ideological interpretations. Ms. Talha bases her conclusions on her own, adequate research.