Pakistan National

Movement

The Pakistan National Movement was

founded in 1933 by Choudhry Rahmat Ali
who is also credited with creating the
name "Pakistan", for a separate Muslim
homeland in South Asia.[1][2] After
publishing the declaration Now or Never,
he felt the need of putting up a co-
operative effort to publicize and promote
his ideas. He started the movement by
publishing an eight-page pamphlet.[3]

What does the Pakistan

National Movement Stand
For?
In this pamphlet the author stated the
fundamentals of the political ideology" of
the movement by criticizing "Indianism." He
defined "Indianism" as the force which had
dominated all the countries of South Asia
and defeated the efforts of their peoples
to improve their lot.[4] This was a
destructive power victimizing men and
nations, crippling religions and states,
enslaving at least half of the continent of
Asia. With the coming of the British it had
manifested itself in the establishment of
the Indian National Congress. The motive
of this Congress was to establish an All
India Federation. The congress had
designated all British possessions in South
Asia as India denied to the non Indian
nations the right to their own nationhood,
and, by making pretentious claims,
stamped Indian nationality on the peoples
of this area.[5]

This was the central idea underlying the

proposal for an all India federal
constitution.[6] The PNM was formed to
fight against this federation[7]

Pakistan Declaration
The Pakistan Declaration (titled Now or
Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?)
was a pamphlet published on 28 January
1933 by Choudhary Rahmat Ali, in which
the word Pakistan was used for the first
time and was presented in the round table
conference in 1933. The pamphlet started
with this famous sentence:[8]

At this solemn hour in the

history of India, when British
and Indian statesmen are laying
the foundations of a Federal
Constitution for that land, we
address this appeal to you, in
the name of our common
heritage, on behalf of our thirty
million Muslim brethren who
live in PAKSTAN - by which we
mean the five Northern units of
India, Viz: Punjab, North-West
Frontier Province (Afghan
Province), Kashmir, Sind and
Baluchistan.
The pamphlet asked that "the five Northern
units of India" - Punjab, North-West
Frontier Province (Afghan Province),
Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan (or
Pakstan)[9] become a state independent of
the proposed Indian Federation.

Aimes and objectives

The following were the aims and objective
of the movement:

The movement stood for "the spiritual

liberation of the nations of South Asia
from the secular thraldom of Indianism.
The movement stood for "the cultural
liberation of the nations of South Asia
from the barbarian influence of
Indianism
The movement stood for "the social
liberation of nations of South Asia from
the clan tyranny of Indianism.
The movement stood for "the economic
liberation of the nations of South Asia
from the impoverishing capitalism of
Indianism.
The movement stood for "the national
liberation of the peoples of South Asia
from the destructive domination of
Indianism.
 The movement stood for "the inter
national consolidation of the nations of
South Asia against the de-nationalizing
dangers of Indianism.
The movement stood for "the creation of
a new order of Asianism to take the
place of the old order of Indianism in
South Asia.

The founder of this movement strongly

believed in the right of self-determination
of all Indian minorities, all oppressed and
disinherited peoples of India.[10]

In 1934, Choudhry Rahmat Ali began

recruitment campaign for this movement.
Membership forms were typed on quarto-
size paper, and they carried the aims and
objects of the movement. The membership
fee was one shilling per year.

Choudhry Rahmat Ali propagated the

Scheme of Pakistan with a missionary zeal
since its inception in 1933. This movement
led to the commencement of Pakistan
Movement, and consequently the creation
of Pakistan as an independent state in
1947. The moverment came to an end with
the death of its founder in 1951.

See also
Two-Nation Theory
 Allahabad Address

References
1. Choudhary Rahmat Ali (28 January 1933).
Now or Never. Are we to live or perish
forever?
2. The Idea of Pakistan, by Stephen Philip
Cohen Brookings Institution Press
(September 2004), p.26
3. Khursheed Kamal Aziz (1987). Rahmat Ali:
a biography, Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden.
4. What does the Pakistan National
Movement Stand For?
5. What does the Pakistan National
Movement Stand For?
6. Khursheed Kamal Aziz (1987). Rahmat Ali:
a biography. Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden
7. Khursheed Kamal Aziz (1987). Rahmat Ali:
a biography. Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden
8. "Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish
Forever?" (http://www.chaudhryrahmatali.c
om/now%20or%20never/index.htm)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201
10419012150/http://www.chaudhryrahmat
ali.com/now%20or%20never/index.htm)
2011-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
9. THE HISTORY MAN: Cambridge
remembers Rahmat Ali —Ihsan Aslam -
Daily Times (http://www.dailytimes.com.p
k/default.asp?page=story_11-2-2004_pg3_
6)
 10. Khursheed Kamal Aziz (1987). Rahmat Ali:
a biography.p.114

External links
chaudhryrahmatali.com (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20120206003105/http://w
ww.chaudhryrahmatali.com/)
Full text of the pamphlet "Now or Never,"
published by Choudhary Rahmat Ali as
"Founder of Pakistan National
Movement," (http://www.columbia.edu/it
c/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/txt_rah
matali_1933.html)

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Pakistan_National_Movement&oldid=111686
2143"

This page was last edited on 18 October 2022, at

18:37 (UTC). •
Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless
otherwise noted.