Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, played a crucial role in shaping its history. His choice of the name 'Pakistan' reflects his vision for a separate Muslim-majority state, distinct from 'India.' In this video, we explore the historical context of Jinnah's name preference for the new nation, and he wanted it to be different from India or Bharat.
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#MuhammadAliJinnah #BharatVsIndia #Pakistan #PakistanFoundingFather #IndianMuslimLeague #SeparateNation #IndianSubcontinent #Nomenclature
~PR.152~PR.100~HT.99~GR.122~
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00:00 Pakistan's founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah's aspiration to establish Pakistan
00:07 as a distinct entity was evident from the outset.
00:12 He envisaged a nation free from the shadow of India, despite its geographical proximity
00:17 and shared history.
00:20 Historian John Kaye notes that Jinnah was firm in his preference for the Islamic-sounding
00:24 acronym Pakistan over any name containing India.
00:28 His preference stemmed from Jinnah's desire to emphasize the separateness and purity of
00:34 the new nation, as well as his concerns over the use of the term India.
00:39 The term Pakistan itself was coined by Chaudhry Rehmat Ali in 1933.
00:45 Initially it was an acronym representing the five northern provinces of India, Punjab,
00:50 Northwest Frontier Province or Afghan Province, Kashmir, Sindh and Balochistan.
00:57 As the movement for a separate Islamic state gained momentum in the 1940s, Pakistan became
01:03 a ubiquitous name in Muslim League discourse and correspondence.
01:09 Jinnah's reservations about using India for the newly independent nation were twofold.
01:14 Firstly he believed that neither India nor Pakistan would retain the British title of
01:19 India.
01:20 However, this assumption proved incorrect and Lord Mountbatten, the last British Viceroy,
01:26 granted Nehru's demand that his state retain the name India.
01:30 Jinnah upon discovering this was reportedly furious.
01:35 In a letter to India's first Governor General Lord Mountbatten, Jinnah expressed his concerns
01:40 that the name India was misleading and intended to create confusion.
01:44 He believed that the term carried historical baggage, suggesting an object of conquest
01:50 which could dissuade Nehru from using it.
01:52 Moreover, the genesis of the term India referred to lands that primarily lay on Pakistan's
01:58 side of the border post partition.
02:01 For a nascent nation-state that had not existed just 15 years earlier, laying claim to this
02:07 historical heritage was paramount.
02:11 Jinnah also wanted India to adopt the name Hindustan to emphasize the religious basis
02:16 for the partition and the new nation-states.
02:18 However, the legal provisions of the Indian Independence Act did not officially designate
02:23 Pakistan as an Islamic state, nor did they establish India as a Hindu state.
02:30 Jinnah's objections to the use of India were not limited to rhetoric.
02:34 In 1947, he even rejected an invitation from Lord Mountbatten to be the honorary president
02:39 of an exhibition of Indian art in London because it used the name India.
02:45 Jinnah proposed that the description should read "Exhibition of Pakistan and Hindustan
02:49 Art" to avoid confusion.
02:53 In September 1949, during the deliberations of India's draft constitution, the name Hindustan
03:00 was briefly considered but ultimately rejected in favor of India and Bharat.
03:06 Article 1 of the constitution uses these terms interchangeably, reflecting the enduring complexity
03:13 surrounding the name of the subcontinent's nations.
03:16 (dramatic music)