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Concept
Two-nation theory
Summary
The two-nation theory is an ideology of religious nationalism that advocates Muslim Indian nationhood, with separate homelands for Indian Muslims and Indian Hindus within a decolonised British India. Its various descriptions of religious differences were the main factor in Muslim separatist thought in India, asserting that Indian Muslims and Indian Hindus are two separate nations, each with their own customs, traditions, art, architecture, literature, interests, and ways of life.
Subsequently, it was used by the All India Muslim League to justify the claim that the Muslims of India should have a separate homeland with the withdrawal of British rule from the Indian subcontinent. The assumption of the Muslims of India of belonging to a separate identity and having a right to their own country, also rested on their pre-eminent claim to political power that flowed from the experience of Muslim dominance in India, while simultaneously it made identification with the former imperial Muslim power an essential part of being Muslim. Hindu Mahasabha under the leadership of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) also promoted the Two-nation theory. According to them, Hindus and Muslim cannot live together so they favour India to become a religious Hindu state.
The theory was adopted and promoted by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and became the basis of Pakistan Movement. The Two-Nation theory argued for a different state for the Muslims of the British Indian Empire as Muslims would not be able to succeed politically in a Hindu-majority India; this interpretation nevertheless promised a democratic state where Muslims and non-Muslims would be treated equally. The two nation theory sought to establish a separate state for Indian Muslims from the northwestern provinces and Bengal region of colonial India. Pakistan claims to be the inheritor of the traditions of Muslim India, and the heir of the two-nation theory.
Opposition to the two-nation theory came chiefly from Hindus, and some Muslims.
Official source
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