Why did Sir Syed Ahmad Khan develop his 'Two Nation Theory'? ( 7 Marks )

 

PAK STUDIES

 CHAPTER 4

7 Mark Questions 

Q2. Why did Sir Syed Ahmad Khan develop his 'Two Nation Theory'?

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan developed his 'Two Nation Theory' due to a couple of reasons. One of them was the Indian National Congress which had been formed in 1885. The party claimed to be speaking on the behalf of all the communities of India; however, it soon became apparent that it was in fact a Hindu-dominated body that was working to establish Hindu supremacy over the Muslims. Furthermore, Congress called for a democratic system of political representation, similar to the one being practiced in Britain. Though, this sounded fair; however, Sir Syed countered this demand by saying that Hindus, being a majority, were bound to win every election. Hence, it would lead to the Muslims having no representation at all.

Another demand of the Congress that further convinced Sir Syed to practice his 'Two Nation Theory; was the call for the more competitive examination for the civil service in India. Since the Muslims were not receiving education at a standard similar to that of Hindus, this would greatly disadvantage them and lead to little chance for Muslims to get any seat in the civil service. Therefore, he argued that this could only work if both the communities had equal educational opportunities. The last and final push was the 'Hindi Urdu Controversy'. Hindus demanded that Hindi should be made the official language in the place of Urdu; however, Urdu had great importance in the hearts of the Muslims as most of the finest writings were in it. This then ultimately coupled with the previous reasons led to Sir Syed developing his 'Two Nation Theory'.