The Punjab in 1920’s
( A case study of Muslims )
by S. Salamat
Royal Book Company Karachi, 1997
pages:486, price: not mentioned.

The response of the British conquest by Sindh and the Punjab was quite different. In 1843, Sindh was conquered without much difficulty. The battle of Miani and Daba were not very significant and the British army easily defeated the Mirs of Sindh. However the case of the Punjab was different: the Sikhs fought the most bloodiest battle in the history of India and surrendered after  rendering great losses to the British. Therefore, the response of the colonial power in case of the Punjab was also different. Soon after the conquest they made a plan how to establish the imperial control and create groups of loyalists and collaborators to support their government. After the 1857 war of Independence, the Punjab became more important to the British because during this upheaval not onlythe Punjab supported them but remained peaceful. Thus, the British found the Punjab province suitable to make s grannary of their empire, to get soldiers for their army, and to breed and train horses for the requirement of the British forces. These reforms and their enactment completely changed the social, and economic structure of the Punjab.

The three communities, the Sikhs, the Hindus, and the Muslims, who living in  old social and economic framework, were disturbed and came into clash with each other when they  readjusted themselves in new circumstances.

The British , having their experience of North India, found that the most loyal collaborators were the feudals and not the traders and merchants. Therefore. they decided to support the feudal class in the Punjab. Beside preserving the remnant of the old feudals, the British created their own feudal class which later on rendered valuable services to their government. This, however, created a conflict between urban trading class and the rural agriculture community. The urban trading class was predominently Hindu while the rural landlords were  Muslim. This created a gulf between these two  communities on the basis of religion. Therefore, all those political movements which emerged during the first decade of the 20^th century  were motivated by religious passions.

 The book under review examines the politics of the Punjab during the period of 1920’s  which had very deep impact on the history of the Freedom movement. It is a good attempt to study intensively the political trends  within a period  in order to understand the responses of different communities. .In the early 20^th century, the Punjab became a hot ground for the missionaries activities and the conversion of the Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslim to Christianity made all three communities nervous .Especially, when the practice of census was introduced ,it made all three communities conscious of their numerical strength. In response all three communities organized themselves to protect their religious identity and their numerical strength. THIS GAVE BIRTH TO Arya Samaj, shudhi, and Sagathan movements on the side of the Hindus, while the Muslim organized Tabligh, and Tanzim to counter the Hindus and to protect their interest.

 Ms.Zarinna gives in detail the responses of the Punjabi Muslims to the Hijrat  and the Khilafat movements and how they aligned themselves with the other muslims of the Indian subcontinent. But in 1923, Fazl i Hussain formed the The Punjab Nationalist Unionist party with a specific motive to serve the interest of the rural  community, especially landlords. His approach to the politic was not communal but secular. He worked along with the Hindu colleagues and tried to make the Punjab politic non communal. This brought him into conflict with the urban Hindu trading class but he  maneuvered  and successfully tried to separate the interest of the Pubjab with the rest of India. However, the later political development persuaded the landed Muslim aristocracy to leave the Unionist party and join Muslim Leagues to preserve their  social status and economic privileges.

 Ms. Zarina’s  interpretation is traditional and suited to the Pakistsani historiography in which only the Hindus are blamed and the Muslim communalists are directly or indirectly admired and sometimes even eulogised. There is a need to interpret  history in which  it is exposed that how religion is politicised and used for the interest of the privileged classes and how common people were emotionally charged to sacrifice for a cause which did not sconcern their problems.