JALANDHAR: Pakistan-origin academic Ishtiaq Ahmed, professor emeritus of political science at Stockholm University, said that the Rawalpindi riots against Sikhs and Hindus in March 1947 weighed heavily on Sikh leaders’ minds as Muslim League leaders did not say anything against these riots, in which Sikhs suffered the most. The Sikhs did not trust Muhammad Ali Jinnah even as he tried to win them over with big assurances.
Seventy-five years after the Partition, there appears great quest among Punjabis to understand the circumstances that led to the drawing of the Radcliffe Line. Ahmed, who is based in Sweden, has been giving talks on Partition for the last few days at different places in Punjab. He said on Saturday that he was not only receiving great warmth but people were also very keen to know about the issue and its complexity.
In his talk at Punjab Press Club here, Ahmed dwelt on different aspects of the Partition, the role of Jinnah and different politicians and parties. His latest work on Jinnah has already created ripples in Pakistani academic circles. Responding to a query, he said that the British never ever offered a Sikh state to Sikhs, even as prominent leaders of the community had demanded it in case of Partition after the Muslim League passed the Pakistan resolution in 1940. “Just after the resolution was passed, Sir Sunder Singh Majithia said that they would not allow Pakistan and in case it would be carved out then a Sikh State should also be formed,” he said.
“Sikh leaders argued on these lines later also but, the British never conceded their demand, leave aside offering a Sikh State themselves,” Prof Ahmed said, adding that “the biggest reason was that Sikhs were not in the majority in any area of the Punjab at that time.” For him, while the Muslim League pushed the demand, the British wanted India partitioned for their own strategic interests, as their apprehensions and dislike for Russia had turned pathological.
His mother had narrated the tales of Partition to him and pushed him to study the subject in depth and write about it. He recorded old people apart from researching.
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