Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Modern India: Understanding Partition

Question:

Which leader formalised a plea in 1941 for a loose confederation with autonomy for confederated units?

Options:

Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan

Rajinder Singh Bedi

Sant Singh Sikhon

Sikandar Hayat Khan

Correct Answer:

Sikandar Hayat Khan

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (4) → Sikandar Hayat Khan

The Pakistan demand was formalised gradually. On 23 March 1940, the League moved a resolution demanding a measure of autonomy for the Muslimmajority areas of the subcontinent. This ambiguous resolution never mentioned partition or Pakistan. In fact Sikandar Hayat Khan, Punjab Premier and leader of the Unionist Party, who had drafted the resolution, declared in a Punjab assembly speech on 1 March 1941 that he was opposed to a Pakistan that would mean “Muslim Raj here and Hindu Raj elsewhere ... If Pakistan means unalloyed Muslim Raj in the Punjab then I will have nothing to do with it.” He reiterated his plea for a loose (united), confederation with considerable autonomy for the confederating units.