Ethnicity, Islam and Nationalism

This study focuses on the politics of the North-West Frontier Province of undivided India between 1937 and 1947. It was the only Muslim majority province which supported the Indian National Congress in its struggle to represent an Indian nation against the British Raj, Rather than joining other Muslims in the All-India Muslim League. The Pashtun’s sense of separate ethnic identity, within the bounds and framework of Islam, was an acknowledged fact. There was no fear of Hindu domination, as was prevalent among Muslims in Hindu majority provinces. This was the principal reason for the initial failure of Muslim League to acquire support in the frontier. It also explores the rise of the Khudai Khidmatgars, arguing that their coming together with the Congress gave the former popularity and an ally in all-India politics, and the later a significant base of support in a Muslim majority province. The book concludes with a discussion of the Congress ‘desertion’ of the Frontier people on the eve of partition, the dismissal of the provincial Congress ministry by M.A. Jinnah, and the ambiguous position of the Khudai Khidmatgars in the context of the new nation of Pakistan.