Lucknow Pact:

1. What is Lucknow Pact?

Ans: Lucknow Pact refers to the agreement reached between the Indian National Congress
and the Muslim League at the joint session of both parties in Lucknow in the year 1916.
Muhammad Ali Jinnha, who was then the member of both the organizations, was the main
mastermind behind bringing the two ideologically divergent organizations together on one
platform. By this move he intended to pressurize the British Government to adopt a more
liberal approach towards India and give Indians more authority to run their country, besides
safeguarding basic Muslim demands.
2. What is the historical significance of Lucknow Pact?
Ans: The Lucknow Pact is famous for the following significant developments in the history of
Indias struggle for independence:
1. Hindu-Muslim Unity: The British philosophy of Divide and Rule, as manifested by
Lord Curzons unpopular decision of partitioning Bengal, got a severe blow first by
the annulling of the decision in 1911 and then by the coming together of two parties
at the same platform through Lucknow Pact. This pact demonstrated that the Hindus
and Muslims stood united in presenting a common demand of more authority to
Indians in running their country.
2. Reunion of Moderates and Extremists: The Congress had split during the Surat
Session in 1907 owing to the differences between the Moderate and Extremist
factions pertaining to the methodology adopted for pressing their demands against
the British Government. This consequently weakened the nationalist movement and
hence it was imperative for the two factions to reunite and combine their strengths to
fight the British. Lucknow pact was instrumental in bringing the two factions together.
3. Another signicance of the Lucknow Pact lies in the fact that it was the rst time that
the Congress reached an agreement with an organisation which was explicitly a
communal one while the League, founded to counter the Congress claims to
represent the whole of India, reached an agreement with same organisation.
4. the Congress for the rst time openly and explicitly conceded the principle of
communal representation by accepting separate electorates for Muslims, something
that it had grudgingly accepted as part of the Morley-Minto package of constitutional
reforms.
3. Critically analyze the objectives and achievements of the Lucknow Pact.
Objectives:
During the rst world war, in 1916, both organisations presented a joint scheme of
constitutional reforms to the colonial rulers with the expectation that this scheme
would be implemented once the war ended.
To join hands and present a united face of all the communities of India in order to
pressurize the British government for more constitutional reforms.
Achievements:
Despite being a controversial decision, the acceptance of the principles of separate
electorates represented a serious desire to allay the fears of majority domination.
There was a large amount of enthusiasm generated among the people by this
reunion.
Even the government decided to placate the nationalists by declaring its intentions to
grant self-government to Indians, as contained in Montagus August 1917
declarations.
Criticism:
According to B R Ambedkar, despite the concessions on the part of the Hindus, the
pact did not produce any rapprochement between the two communities.
Some of the historians believe that by agreeing to this pact the Congress
compromised its position as the representative organization of all Indians by
accepting the representative character of the League.
The Hindu nationalists (like Madan Mohan Malviya) described the pact to be a
complete surrender to Muslim communalism and separatism
The Congress President of Lucknow Session Ambica Charan Mazumdar was himself
opposed to the provision of communal electorate system agreed upon by the Pact.
A major landmark in the evolution of the two-nation theory by the Muslim League
which later led to the partition of the country.
Though the leaders came together, efforts to bring together the masses of the two
communities were not considered.
4. Highlight the features of the Lucknow Pact.
Ans:
1. There shall be self government in India.
2. The same method should be adopted for the Executive Councils of Governors.
3. The India Council must be abolished.
4. The salaries of the Secretary of State for Indian Affairs should be paid by the British
government and not from Indian funds.
5. Of the two Under Secretaries, one should be Indian.
6. The executive should be separated from the judiciary.
7. The number of Muslims in the provincial legislatures should be laid down province by
province.
8. Muslims should be given 1/3 representation in Central Govt.
9. There should be separate electorates for all communities until they ask for joint
electorate.
10. System of weight-age should be adopted.
11. Term of Legislative Council should be 5 years.
12. Half of the members of Imperial Legislative Council must be Indians.
13. Half the members of the viceroys executive council should be Indians.
5. Despite supporting the Pact during the Lucknow Session why did the Congress
leaders repudiate it later?
Ans:The Congress had agreed to the pact in the expectation that the long-awaited post-war constitutional
reforms would be an extension of the Morley-Minto reforms. This meant that there was no real chance of
gaining power. Thus with no substantial power to be shared, it was easy for the Congress
leaders to make concessions by accepting the demand for communal electorates and
guaranteed representation for the Muslims. The Muslims were merely required to present a
united front. Instead, the Montagu-Chelmsford Report came up with a completely different
reforms package. Some power was now within the grasp of those who could command
majorities in the new provincial legislatures. In the Hindu majority provinces, the Hindu
Congressmen could easily hope to secure a majority without the Muslims and thus there
was no longer any incentive to secure their cooperation. It is this realisation that power
could be had without the Muslims that made them oppose the Lucknow Pact and the
communal electorates for the Muslims that it entailed. The Nehru Report of the 1920s is
regarded as the turning point when the Congress nally turned away from communal
electorates.
6. Despite being hostile to the ideologies of the Congress why did the Muslim League
join hands with the Congress and agreed upon the Lucknow Pact?
Ans: The reasons for the shift in the stand of the League were as follows:
1. Britains refusal to help Turkey (ruled by the Khalifa who claimed religio-political
leadership of all Muslims) in its wars in the Balkans (1912-13) and with Italy (during
1911) had infuriated the Muslims.
2. Annulment of partition of Bengal (1911)had annoyed those sections of Muslims who
had supported the partition.
3. The refusal of the British Government in India to set up a university at Aligarh with
powers to affiliate colleges all over India also alienated some Muslims.
4. The younger League members were turning to bolder nationalist politics and were
trying to outgrow the limited political outlook of the Aligarh School. The Calcutta
session of the Muslim League (1912) had committed the League to working with
other groups for a system of self-government suited to India, provided it did not come
in conflict with its basic objective of protection of interests of the Indian Muslims.
5. Younger Muslims were infuriated by the government repression during the War.
Maulana Azads Al Hilal and Mohammad Alis Comrade faced suppression while the
Ali brothers, Azad and Hasrat Mohani faced internment. This generated anti-
imperialist sentiments among the Young Party
7. Sarojini Naidu gave Jinnah, the title of "the Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity.
Did History prove her statement right? Critically comment.
8. The seeds of partition were sowed long back during the Lucknow Session of
Congress in 1916. Examine the statement in the light of the famous Lucknow Pact
between INC and the Muslim League during the same session.
Sources:
http://www.academia.edu/3848239/The_Lucknow_Pact_of_1916_A_Second_Look_at_the_Congre
ss-Muslim_League_Agreement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucknow_Pact
Indias Struggle for Independence: Bipin Chandra, Mridula Mukherjee, Aditya Mukherjee, Sucheta
Mahajan, K.N.Pannikar: Penguin Books
A brief History of Modern India: Spectrums Publication