Day 24: Resolved
March 23, 1940 was the middle day of a three day general session of the All-India Muslim League, a political party formed to advance Muslim interests in British India. It was on this day that the session penned what came to be known as the Lahore Resolution, which argued for a unified, indepdendent Muslim state separate from an independent India.
Prior to the resolution, it was generally thought that Muslim areas of India would remain part of India, but have some sort of special status that would grant those areas greater autonomy. However, concerns about how a Hindu majority would actually rule over Muslim-majority areas led the party leaders to pen this resolution, which called for the Muslim areas of northwest and eastern India to be grouped into separate, independent nations.
Which is kind of what happened when India became independent in 1947. India and Pakistan were created as separate independent dominions, with Pakistan having territory on both sides of India. The partition was chaotic - some provinces where split based on religious lines, and the migration of people between the two dominions led to over 14 million people being displaced.
In time, Pakistan declared itself an Islamic republic - the first country in the world to do so - and did so also on a March 23, this time in 1956. The country had two administrative regions - East and West Pakistan - until 1971, when Bangladesh declared its independence after a nine month civil war.
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