Why was Lahore gifted to Pakistan in 1947, while it was a Hindu majority?

India’s partition in 1947 is one of history’s most contentious and most bloodily wrought partings, with the destiny of Lahore proving one of the most contentious issues. Lahore was a city with a substantial Hindu and Sikh population before Partition and it was much to Pakistan's detriment that the overwhelming complications of the city's demography was ignored and ignored. The decision was bound together by political manoeuvrings, misdrawn border demarcations and historical and cultural narratives. When the Radcliffe Commission responsible for drawing the border had to choose between administrative cohesion and religious demographics, Lahore was included in Pakistan. Lahore also is located in West Punjab and has a long Islamic heritage, important factors in assigning it for allocation. This blog discusses the different reasons Lahore was transferred (to Pakistan), the role of British colonial policies, the impact of key political figures and the symbolic nature of the city as part of how we identify Pakistan’s national identity.

The Flawed Demarcation by the Radcliffe Commission

A British lawyer named Sir Cyril Radcliffe led the Radcliffe Commission that drew (in five weeks) the hasty India-Pakistan border. The data on which the commission drew were based on the 1941 census which did not account for population movements after Partition. Nearly three decades ago, Lahore had a Hindu and Sikh majority, but by 1947, migration patterns and urbanization had changed that. The British' criterion for grouping districts was, however, territorial contiguity rather than religious majorities which combined districts with rural Muslim majorities with others. Although Lahore's urban Hindu population was large, the land around it was largely Muslim in population in West Punjab. When the Muslim League applied political pressure and Radcliffe’s decision making lacked transparency, Lahore ended up in Pakistan. Historians have many arguments that the boundary award is arbitrary, not paying attention to local reality and compounds communal tensions.

Lahore was not even another city, it was the cultural and political epicenter of Muslim rule in South Asia. The infamous Mughal Empire had its former capital here and its iconic landmark was the Badshahi Mosque, Lahore Fort and Shalamar Gardens — the symbol of Islamic grandeur. Lahore's status as a historical part of Muslim identity was stressed by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League in their demand that Lahore 'forms an inseparable part of Pakistan's cultural heritage'. This city is of course symbolic as it was the birthplace of Pakistan and the 1940 Lahore Resolution which formally called for a separate Muslim state was passed in this city. A certain number of neighbourhoods were dominated by Hindus and Sikhs, but Lahore’s wider historical tapestry is one imbued with Muslim rule. Of this emotional and ideological connection one should not underrate its part in justifying its allocation to Pakistan had its demography at the time of Partition been mixable.

Political Pressure and Mountbatten’s Role

During the Partition negotiations the Congress and the Muslim League were exerting huge pressure on Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India. Mountbatten was forced to make policies as instructed by Jinnah, as Jinnah would not yield, including allowing northern Muslim majority regions such as Lahore, to be part of Pakistan. The British, eager to kill the whole thing off as quickly as possible, sought to minimize further conflict above all, eschewing any concern with demographic fairness. Mountbatten’s predilection for territorial continuity gave whole provinces to the side that possessed (on average) the wider religious majority, even when that brought%some districts in which the majority was of the other faith. West Punjab, with a Muslim majority, encompassed Lahore despite the presence there of large Hindu and Sikh populations. Furthermore the British were scared of another round of Balkanization — separate demands for an independent Sikh state — and so, in turn, made quick, sweeping decisions. Still reeling from Mountainbatten’s refusal to call the Muslim League’s bluff and challenge their demands, Lahore’s demographics were too complex to find a way to adjust to Pakistan’s favour.

Strategic and Economic Considerations

But beyond its culture and politics, Lahore had great strategic and economic value which Pakistan considered a prize. Lahore was a hub to connect key regions of West Punjab as a major trade and transportation hub. This nascent Pakistani state was dependent upon its infrastructure, i.e. railways and military cantonments. Moreover, the British took into account the monetary viability of both nations and made sure that Pakistan had access to the cities so that it could survive economically. As if all this wasn’t enough, Lahore is closely situated to the border with India and controlling the territory meant a good defensive position in the case of future hostilities. Lahore, however, was seen by the British and Muslim League leadership to be indefensible and instead Amritsar (a Sikh majoritarian city) might have made sense—nevertheless. There was an economic and military advantage over the concerns placed on having Hindu and Sikh populations in the region; they decided to keep the city on the Pakistani side.

The Exodus of Hindus and Sikhs Before Partition

Pre-Partition migration trends of Lahore were also very important. Communal tensions mounted in 1946-47 and hundreds of thousands of Hindus and Sikhs, anticipating that violence was on the cards, moved from Lahore. According to reports, Muslim population also increased in 1947 as refugees from East Punjab entered and Hindus and Sikhs ran towards India. It thus seems reasonable to think that this shifting demographic might have played a role in the decision, as the data was not really assessed in real time. Moreover, Punjab's politics was dominated by the Muslim League and local administrators therefore largely omitted Hindus and Sikhs from official records. When the boundary was finally drawn up Lahore’s Muslim population looked even more dominant than a couple of years before. Along with fluidity in the demographic, political motivations added to making Lahore a part of Pakistan in spite of the earlier majority being Hindu.

The Aftermath and Legacy of Lahore’s Partition

Historically, Lahore’s inclusion in Pakistan sparked one of the biggest migrations of humans in history; millions of Hindus and Sikhs fleeing to India and Muslims moving to Pakistan. Once so rife with multicultural breathing, the city’s temples and gurudwaras were left either abandoned or repurposed. Lahore, which became a largely Muslim city over time, served to fortify Pakistan’s Islamic identity. But the choice was too scary; many displaced families continue to regard Lahore as their ancestral home. Lahore's loss remains for the Sikh community a poignant symbol of Partition's injustices, as it was the home of many longtime Sikhs who, like Punjabi Muslims, have no other city they call home. Still debated amongst historians, whether Lahore should have been a part of India or not, some continue this debate, that a more nuanced boundary could have saved mass displacement. However such considerations were secondary to the realities of 1947: Partition.

Conclusion

Pakistan’s allocation of Lahore in 1947 was not the product of a single factor, but rather the result of flawed boundary making — political, historical and strategic. Torn out of context in a hurried and opaque demarcation process of the Radcliffe Commission, guided exclusively by British expediency and Muslim League demands, the city’s Hindu and Sikh majority had been nothing more than a footnote. Lahore's Islamic heritage was also an Islamic heritage and its role in the movement of Pakistan more than justified its inclusion in the new nation. Pre Partition migration trends and economic numerical strategy factors were also very much involved. The British and Pakistani leadership's decision which may have seemed logical, resulted in millions being uprooted and wiped out centuries of mutually owned heritage. Forty-five years ago, Partition was a defining moment for Lahore — a city that previously was a melting pot of cultures and languages and became the symbol of the struggle to create a religious nation state. Lahore did not "rightfully" belong to Pakistan or at least so the debate goes, but what isn't debatable is that the city's partition changed South Asia's history in ways which continue to be felt today.