Role of Minorities in The Pakistan Movement: Christians Stand Before The Boundary Commission

Role of Minorities in the Pakistan Movement
The All India Christian Association was established by Dewan Bahadur S.P. Singha in 1942. This
association contributed a lot towards the effort and deliberation of the freedom movement. On the 18th
November 1942 at the annual convention of the All India Muslim League Punjab convened in
Faisalabad (then Lyall Pur) which was attended by Mr. Jinnah and Miss Fatima, All India Christian
Association presented a spasnama assuring its unconditional and full co-operation to Quaid-i-Azam in
connection with his efforts for the freedom of India.
At the time of the partition of India the Christians opposed the partition of the Punjab and demanded
that whole of Punjab be included in Pakistan. Joshua Fazal-ul-Din in a news statement warned the
Congress that the division of the province would make it suffer and that the partition of the Punjab
since the time of Raja Poris had produced nothing but crisis. The historical meeting held on 23rdjune
1947 to decide the fate of the united Punjab was chaired by Dewan Bahadur S.P Singha, a renowned
Christian and the last speaker of the United Punjab Legislative Assembly and the first speaker of the
West Punjab Legislative Assembly after 1947. The Christians had decided to vote for the inclusion of
the whole Punjab in Pakistan in a pre-party meeting held on 21st of June at the residence of S.P.
Singha when the resolution was voted upon on the 23rd June 1947 all the Christian members voted for
Pakistan while S.P. Singha also used his casting vote as the speaker of the legislative assembly.
Christians stand Before the Boundary Commission

When the proceedings of the Boundary commission took place, Christian leaders Dewan Bahadur S.P.
Singha, C.E Gibbon and Fazal Elahi, in their recorded statement, demanded that for the demarcation of
the Boundaries Christian population be included and termed as Muslim population. Chaudhary
Chandu Lal served as a lawyer for the Christian community.
Minority leaders attended the Annual meeting of the All India Muslim League on 23rd March 1940
when the Pakistan Resolution was passed. Among the attendees were Diwan Bahadar, Sittia Parkash
Singha, a renowned lawyer Chaudhry Chandu Lal, CE Gibbon, F.E. Chaudary, Raj Kumari Amrit,
Fazal Ilahi, Alfried Purshad and S.S. Albert.
Several Christian leaders appearing before Punjab Boundary Commission asked that the Christian
population of Punjab be counted as a part of Pakistan.
In Sindh, the Parsi community played an important role. A Parsee leader named Jamshed Nusser
Wangee Mehta became the first mayor of Karachi after the creation of Pakistan. He was instrumental
in welcoming the Muhajirs from India and helped them settle in Karachi.
Pakistan has had several top judges, bureaucrats and military officers who have the served the nation
with distinction. Most prominent of them are Supreme Court Chief Justice A.R. Cornelius, Justice
Bhagwan Das, Justice Dorab Patel, Major General Julian Peter, Maj Gen Israel Khokhar, Major
General Kaizad Maneck Sopariwala, Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry and Air Commodore Władysław
Turowicz.
Freedom Movement and Role of the Christian Educational Institutions

The Christian Educational Institutions played a very significant role regarding the training of the
Hindu, Muslim, Parsi, schedule caste, Buddhist and Christian youth in connection with the freedom
movement in India. The record shows that many leaders of the Movement belonging to these
communities were educated by the Christian Educational institutions.
The Christian Educational Institutions which provided education, training and awareness to the several
leaders of the freedom movement included C.M.S school Karachi, Bandera Convent School Bombay,
St. Stephens College Delhi, Murray College Sialkot, Gorden College Rawalpindi, F.C College Lahore,
Kinnard College for women Lahore and Edwards College Peshawar. An over whelming majority of
the leaders of the Pakistan Movement were educated by the said Educational Institutions. Philosopher
poet Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal, the founder of Pakistan Mr. Jinnah, Ch Rehmat Ali who coined the
word “Pakistan” and Sir Muhammad Zafarullah were product of these institutions.

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Role of Minorities in the Pakistan Movement

Christians stand Before the Boundary Commission

Freedom Movement and Role of the Christian Educational Institutions

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