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     The demand for a separate nation was the culmination of a long drawn event, seeds of which lay in the backwardness of Muslim community in the 19th century India. Discuss. 
(10 marks, 150 words) Answer:
In the 19th century, the socio-economic and education status of the Muslim population was considerably low. This was due to various factors like:
•        Their decline in status as the ruling class
•        Economic decline following Permanent Settlement
•        Replacement of Persian by English as the official language
•        Religious aversion of some orthodox sections to un-Islamic education
•        British policy of their seclusion after revolt of 1857
This was at a time when English educated Hindus were taking up majority of jobs and propagating social reforms. This generated a fear of insecurity and mistrust among the minority community of losing out to Majority Hindus. Therefore, educated Muslims like Syed Ahmed Khan, Abdul Latif etc. advocated loyalty to British rule and promoted English education. These leaders demanded special provisions for Muslims and stated that their demands were different from the majority community.  But this insecurity and fear among the minority community was further aggravated because of factors like:
•        Failure of Congress to take up social reforms in early days. Congress objectives were largely political in nature and socio- educationally weak Muslim population felt isolated
•        Hindu Revivalism: Use of Ganesh Festival and religious symbols alienated the Muslims from main stream National movement. This is evident from declining Muslim participation in Congress Conferences after 1895.
•        Policy of Divide and Rule by British: Special favours to Muslims and dividing them on religious line through grant of Separate Electorate, partition of Bengal etc. made Muslims a completely separate political entity in India.
•        Role of Muslims League and Muhammad Ali Jinnah: After having failed to make a mark in Indian politics after the election of 1937, Muslim League converted a political issue to a religious demand of separate nation Pakistan.
•        Communal Politics: Hindu communal organisations also lost badly in the 1937 elections and resorted to the  use of religion to polarize population. This further aggravated the demand for a separate nation for the minority Muslims.
Conclusion:
Therefore, the seeds of a separatist movement lay down in the socio-economic backwardness of the minority populations who had the insecurity that they will be reduced to second class citizens in a majority dominated politics. This insecurity was capitalized by vested interests to further divide the nation on religious lines. This gives a vital learning that the majority should pay heed to the insecurities arising among the minority communities and should seek to allay them.