The One Nation Theory vs. The Two Nation Theory in the subcontinent is similar to the discussion in the Middle East. Ironically Pakistan (a Muslim country) was struggling for nationhood in the same manner Israel (a Jewish state), both wanting a two state solution after the departure of the British.

This is the division of the Subcontinent that the Muslims wanted. 

The irony continue. In the South Asian Subcontinent the Muslims had ruled for a thousand years and the British had ruled the hundreds of states for about a 100 years (plus one hundred ruled by the East India company). In the Middle East, the Turks and Arabs had ruled the area for a thousand years, and the British departure created a land for the Jews.

The Subcontinent with its more than 570 states

The hundreds of states in the Subcontinent on the eve of independenc. The One state vs two state solution was discussed in the South Asian Subcontinent in the 40s. There are extensive articles posted on this site on that discussion.

“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or
religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence.
Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do.”
- Samuel P. Huntington (author The Clash Of Civilisations)

Wishing for the one state solution on both sides of the Palestine-Israeli equation has been called blasphemy on both sides of the conflict. Hamas pushes to have a “democratic” state in all of Israel, West bank and Gaza. A “one person one vote” would destroy the Jewish character of the state. The Ertz Israel solution which includes Sumeria and Judea is a demographic bomb which would also destroy the Jewish character of Israel. For these reasons, the “one state solution” is not acceptable to the right wing Israelis. 

The two state solution is not materializing despite Mr. Bush’s wish that this happen this year and consecrate his legacy for having brought peace to the Middle East.

The suffering of the Palestinians is horrible. We have written about this many times over. The short term solution to the plight of the Palestinians is to declare the independent Palestinian state in West Bank and Gaza, and then confederate itself with Egypt in Gaza and with Jordan in the West Bank.

The Gaza-Egypt solution would solve the electricity and water problems for the Gazans and enable the Gazans to escape from their current incarceration.

The Israelis if they ever sign a peace deal will be happy to turn over Gaza to Egypt and the West Bank to Jordan.

The final solution of the borders and Jerusalem has already been decided upon at Taba and also at other places. That has to be inked and signed, sealed and delivered.

ORIGINS OF THE TNT IN THE SUBCONTINENT

Contrary to the common belief that Jinnah originated the two-nation theory, actually it was Savarkar who propounded the theory years before the Muslim League embraced the idea. Savarkar had commanded all the Muslims to leave ‘Bharat’ to pave the way for the establishment of Hindu Rashtra. When Jinnah introduced his two-nation theory, Savarkar announced, “I have no quarrel with Mr. Jinnah’s two-nation theory… It is a historical fact that Hindus and Muslims are two nations.”

“His (Savarkar’s) doctrine was Hindutva, the doctrine of Hindu racial supremacy, and his dream was of rebuilding a great Hindu empire from the sources of the Indus to those of the Brahmaputra. He hated Muslims. There was no place for them in the Hindu society he envisioned.” (Freedom at Midnight, by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins).

So the hate campaign against Muslims was well in place even before the partition of erstwhile British India. This and many other significant factors forced Jinnah to demand a separate nation for Muslims as he believed that Muslims would not be safe in India — a prophetic declaration indeed! There is no denying the fact that Jinnah was secular to the marrow and would never have wished to cut ties with India, but circumstances compelled him to do so. However, he had not harbored grudges against India or its leaders. He had kept his house on Malabar Hill, thinking he could weekend there, while running his country from Karachi on weekdays, but destiny had something else in store for the estranged neighbors of the Asia Partition.

When Nathuram Godse pumped three bullets into Gandhi, a section of the Hindu community compared him with Judas. The writing was on the wall. The divide was evident. In some areas people mourned the death of Gandhi, and in other areas they distributed sweets, held celebrations, and demanded the release of Godse. Gandhi’s crime was that he had demanded security for Muslims.

The seeds of partition were actually sown by the stalwarts of Hindu Mahasabha, primarily the quartet of Savarkar, Gawarikar, Apte, and Nathuram Godse. Independent India’s history is testimony to the fact that in a conflict between the forces of secular nationalism and religious communalism, the latter has always ruled the roost. Secular forces have more often than not ended up playing into the hands of communal forces. Such has been the history of independent India, and it is again on display in Jammu. Syed Alvi Teheran Times

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