A PAKISTAN THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN
That Bose met Hitler and sought his help is common knowledge. What isn’t as much, is that 4 years before him a Punjabi Muslim did the same to curry support for his vision of an independent Muslim homeland. This was the year of Kristallnacht.
That Bose met Hitler and sought his help is common knowledge. What isn’t as much, is that 4 years before him a Punjabi Muslim did the same to curry support for his vision of an independent Muslim homeland. This was the year of Kristallnacht.
Chaudhry Rehmat Ali wanted to be known as and openly called himself the “founder of the Pakistan National Movement.” In 1933, he published “Now or Never,” a leaflet announcing his call for a separate Muslim nation. This was 2 years before Lahore Resolution.
“Now or Never” is where the name Pakistan was first coined and the entity it envisioned included all of Kashmir and all of Punjab.
In 1947, he published another leaflet titled “The Greatest Betrayal: How to Redeem the Millat?”
In 1947, he published another leaflet titled “The Greatest Betrayal: How to Redeem the Millat?”
In this leaflet, he laid out a slightly modified map of his version of the Indian subcontinent where he renamed the subcontinent to Dinia (a corruption of India) and imagined a number of sovereign Muslim entities besides Pakistan that included even Sri Lanka and Bhutan!
In this scheme, Pakistan included all of Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, and HP leaving only a tiny enclave within Pakistan as sovereign Sikh territory. Kerala was to be Maplistan and almost the entire NE, Bangistan.
Even the seas were given Muslim names.
Even the seas were given Muslim names.
Even before he met Hitler, his ideas had reached Germany, and the December 12, 1937 edition of Völkischer Beobachter, a Nazi mouthpiece, carried a whole article on the Pakistan National Movement, Ali’s brainchild.
That, however, is where his relationship with Germany stops.
That, however, is where his relationship with Germany stops.
There’s no evidence of Hitler doing anything to support Ali’s position besides this newspaper article.
Ali’s ideals of Pakistan, thankfully, never came to fruition and the country went independent without Kashmir, HP, or Haryana, and India didn’t become Dinia.
Ali’s ideals of Pakistan, thankfully, never came to fruition and the country went independent without Kashmir, HP, or Haryana, and India didn’t become Dinia.
This, however, didn’t go down well with Ali who had envisioned a much larger Pakistan. Consequently, while fellow countrymen celebrated independence, Ali spent his days bitterly resenting Jinnah for settling for a smaller nation.
Pakistan’s Qaid-e-Azam became Ali’s Quisling-e-Azam. Interestingly, Ali also called Pakistan his “Fatherland,” in line with Hitler’s appellation for Germany. The derogation of Jinnah doesn’t seem to have gone down too well with the government as he was exiled the very next year.
Ali would spend the rest of his life in England, finally dying in Cambridge 4 years later. Upon exile, all his communications with relatives back home were subjected to severe censorship and only one letter to his brother seems to have survived to this day.
Ironically, the man who coined Pakistan’s very name, died dreaming of a Pakistani passport. He applied, but never received a response. His possessions in Pakistan were all confiscated and life in England was basically a start from the absolute scratch.
A contemporary named Mian Abdul Haq noted the strong influence of Hitler’s ideology on Ali’s own. Apparently, the latter had memorized several Nazi writings by heart. Which sits well with his meeting with Hitler back in 1938.
Ultimately the man who dreamed of an Islamic subcontinent with barely anything for non-Muslims, sought Hitler’s help realizing it, and resented his own men for settling for too little died in penury, without even an address.
Uncelebrated.
Unattended.
Happy Birthday, Pakistan.
Uncelebrated.
Unattended.
Happy Birthday, Pakistan.
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