How Subcontinent was occupied by British Empire and how was divided : Altaf Hussain
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399th Study circle on TikTok
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Continuing the discussion of the master–slave concept, I would say that although every country recognizes the Charter of the United Nations in order to become its member, and under that charter is acknowledged as a free and sovereign state, Pakistan is also a formal member of the
. However, the bitter reality is that despite appearing to be an independent and sovereign country, #Pakistan is not truly free to formulate its foreign, domestic, and economic policies, but is instead under the influence of United States.
Global powers have enslaved countries and states on the basis of their power, and after occupying any country or territory, they divided the people living there. This has happened in every region. If we examine the history of the Indian subcontinent, we see that before the British occupation of India, #Muslims and #Hindus had lived together for centuries, coexisting with one another, tolerating each other’s presence, and continuing to respect one another despite religious differences. If we look only at the last thousand years of the subcontinent’s history, we find the history of saints, spiritual elders, and Sufi poets in #India.
The great Sufi poet Hazrat Amir Khusro was born in 1253 in Patiyali, in present-day Uttar Pradesh, while Kabir Das was born in 1398 in Varanasi. Among the spiritual saint, Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti was born in 1143 in Sistan, while Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya was born in 1238 in Delhi. The history of India shows that for nearly a thousand years, Hindus and Muslims lived on Indian soil in peace, harmony, and brotherhood. They participated in each other’s religious festivals and shared each other’s joys and sorrows. There was no hatred between them. This raises the question: how and by whom was religious division created between Hindus and Muslims? How did religious tolerance suddenly turn into hostility after the independence movement?
A study of history shows that British traders began arriving in India from Britain around 1600, and in 1609 they established the East India Company for trade purposes. The British, who came as traders, gradually became rulers of India and took complete control of the subcontinent. At that time, India was under the rule of Bahadur Shah Zafar. Against #British occupation, Muslims, Hindus, #Sikhs, and freedom fighters from other faiths fought the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which the British described as a mutiny or rebellion. Alarmed by the people’s struggle for freedom, the British adopted a “divide and rule” policy, creating such hatred and religious division among Indian Muslims and Hindus that communities who had respected and accepted one another for centuries became enemies.
The truth is that religion is one of the deepest and most emotional vulnerabilities of human beings, and the British used religion as the basis for dividing the people of India in order to maintain their control over the subcontinent.
Against British occupation, a political movement called the Indian National Congress was established in 1885. It included Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and other leaders from across India. To weaken the influence of this political movement, the British gathered Muslim nawabs and, through them, established the All-India Muslim League in #Dhaka in 1906. Its founding leaders included Nawab Salim-ul-Mulk, Nawab Waqar-ul-Mulk, Aga Khan III, Nawab Salimullah, Hakim Ajmal, and other nobles.
When the All-India Muslim League was formed, Muhammad Ali #Jinnah was still part of the Indian National Congress. However, he resigned from Congress in 1920 and joined the Muslim League, later becoming its leader.
Historians say that the British provided a fund of one hundred thousand rupees for the establishment of the Muslim League, which would amount to more than a billion rupees today.
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The British also rewarded the nawabs who joined the Muslim League with wealth, land grants, authority, and major privileges in return for loyalty. Under British strategy, Muslim leaders promoted religious division on one side, while on the other, the British bought off certain Hindu pandits and used them to spread Hindu nationalism and hatred against Muslims, so that the people of India would remain divided and the struggle for independence from British rule could be weakened.
Students in Pakistan are taught that during the Pakistan Movement, the slogan “What is the meaning of Pakistan? There is no god but Allah” (“Pakistan ka matlab kya, La ilaha illallah”) was commonly raised. However, according to this view, there was no mention of this slogan during the actual movement. Even today, some religious leaders and clerics continue to promote this narrative. Some of them also say that Pakistan was created by God and will remain until the Day of Judgment, but they forget that Pakistan was already divided in 1971, when its eastern wing, East Pakistan, broke away and became Bangladesh. Yet these religious leaders and clerics, according to the speaker, continue to mislead the nation.
If the historical facts are examined realistically, we see that the partition of the subcontinent caused the greatest loss to Muslims, whether they were in Pakistan or in India. The British divided India for their own interests, and, according to this statement, even today they continue to influence Pakistan for the sake of their own interests.
Altaf Hussain
Addressing the 399th study circle on TikTok
9 May 2026
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