The Idea of a Separate Muslim State is Born

In March 1929, Jinnah published his Fourteen Points, and these precepts became the standard with Muslim aspirations for at least the next decade. The Muslim League also made acceptance of the demands expressed in the Fourteen Points a prerequisite to their agreement to any constitution.


A final attempt at the reconciliation of the Hindu and Muslim views over the Nehru pact by Jinnah at the All Parties Convention in 1929 failed. In 1930, the Indian National Congress demanded dominion status, such as Canada and Australia enjoyed, and the British refusal of this policy sparked another noncooperation movement.
With the rift between Hindus, Muslims, and British deepening, in 1930, at a meeting of the All Muslim League the president of the league, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, a famous poet and philosopher, raised the idea of a separate Muslim nation, suggesting that the only way peace between Hindus and Muslims could be achieved was through a separate Muslim state.


In 1929, the British Labour Party, who was more open to the idea of the subcontinent’s political aspirations, came to power in Britain. In 1930, the Hindus and Muslims met, and in January of 1931 left having agreed to a Hindu-favored federal government system that would keep minority rights in mind.


Though previously the British had stoked regional rivalries in an attempt to prevent a unified opposition, in 1931, Mohandas Gandhi met with then-viceroy Lord Irwin, and they signed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, which restarted the constitution-drafting process. Congress agreed to discontinue the noncooperation movement and to attend a second Round Table Conference to address the issue of the subcontinent’s self-governance. The British agreed to withdraw all laws issued to curb Congress as well as releasing all prisoners sentenced for their crimes committed in the noncooperation movement.


Unfortunately, the Second Round Table Conference held in London, September of 1931, ended without results, and Gandhi restarted the civil disobedience movement when he returned.