‘Elite capture’ is a much-touted phrase nowadays. Or it should be said that it has remained so since the inception of electoral polity in this region. The irony is that not much has changed over the past 73 years. The Unionist Party represented one such interesting set of elites, at a rather tumultuous phase of Indian politics that ultimately culminated in the independence of India and Pakistan.
The Unionist Party had an interesting journey full of glorified ups and tragic lows. Today, they are mostly discarded and overlooked as those standing in opposition to the very idea of Pakistan. The fact remains that the idea was only realised in Punjab after many of them crossed over to the League – a type of political practice that is still very much popular.
The story of this indigenous Punjabi party helps us understand the nexus of land and power that shaped and still shapes the political history of our country.
The Colonial Laboratory
Punjab fell into the British hands after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The British, taking advantage of the Punjab’s land fertility and river system, came up with new canal colonies spread over many districts. These colonies – connected by an extensive canal and rail system – saw massive migration and the emergence of a new class of landowners. Punjab also became the chief recruitment ground for the Raj armies. The British were successful in creating a loyal class to serve their interests — political and economic — in the region. Those who had helped the British during 1857 and afterwards were the prime beneficiaries, who were also people occupying the highest political posts.
Politically speaking, Punjab, along with other parts of the colonial Raj, saw the experimentation of self-governance in the form of Legislative Councils. These Councils acted on nominations as well as elections that were held on separate electorates – a Muslim would vote for a Muslim and a Hindu for a Hindu, and so forth. The political understanding between the Raj and the landed elites led to the inception of the Unionist Party in 1923.
Unionists succeeded where the Muslim League and Congress failed, with the right mix for winning elections: combining the support of the landed aristocracy and religious elements with the loyalty of the Raj and, crucially, the Punjabi peasant
It was founded by Sir Fazl-i-Hussain and Sir Chhotu Ram, both members of the Punjab Legislative Council and influential in their own right. The party was non-communal, and its umbrella covered much of Punjab. It derived its strength from the Muslim landowning elite from western Punjab, the Sikh gentry of central Punjab and the Hindu Jats of the Eastern part. In the present day, it would constitute the province of Punjab in Pakistan, the Province of Punjab, India, and the state of Haryana, in this order. Its aims included protecting the rights of the landed gentry of the Punjab and those of the middle-tier landowner, along with an unwavering loyalty to the Raj.
The party’s founders were men of high political acumen who understood the pulse of the Punjabi farmers. The Fazal-i-Hussain case was an interesting one. He did not hail from a conventional landowning family but came to lead the landed aristocracy as well as peasantry. His father was a judicial officer, serving as a magistrate in Peshawar. He went to Cambridge for his studies and started a successful law practice in Sialkot. Hitherto, Fazal headed both the presidencies of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League in Punjab.
Sir Chhotu Ram came from a traditional and influential Jat landowning family of eastern Punjab. He was to shape Jat politics as well as the agrarian policy of Punjab in the coming decades. Both of these men represented Rural and Urban parallels of the party. Apart from these, other members included prominent landowners, Sajjada Nashins, and men of landed interests.
Political High Noon of the Unionists
Unionist members were made ministers as members of the Councils. Fazal, for his part as a minister in 1921, ensured that seats in Lahore Government college and medical colleges would be increased for Muslims proportional to their numerical strength. The Muslim share by that time was hovering around just 15% or worse. In 1923, Fazal also secured an increase in Muslim representation in the Municipalities. Fazal believed that under the Unionist banner, Muslim interests could be served best. He was venerated by opposition members, including Iqbal, for his efforts.
The Unionists were able to win impressive majorities in the 1923, 1926 and 1930 Punjab Legislative elections at the cost of the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress. Their members consistently held ministerial posts and were also part of the central Viceroy council. Apart from the vote banks that landlords carried, the Unionist government initiated a large-scale reform process for rural peasants as well. The land revenue and canal rates were lowered under the Unionists. They also saw themselves as the protectors of the Land Alienation Act of 1900, under which the land could only be owned by land-owning families and not by other classes, such as the moneylenders. Successive governments closed significant loopholes in this act. Sir Chhotu Ram garnered unusual popularity for his stand against the moneylenders and made the Unionists acceptable at every level of the Punjabi society.
What the Unionists did understand better than other political entities was the complex nature of the Punjabi polity. Being Punjabi in character, the party possessed the right mix for winning elections-- the support of the landed aristocracy, religious elements, the Raj, and lastly, the Punjabi peasant; which came through their agrarian policies and the recruitment drive during World Wars. The Muslim League and Congress could not make any significant headway in Punjab while the Unionists ruled supreme.
Echoes of Independence
The Unionists were to navigate tough challenges ahead as the calls for independence gathered support. Congress called for complete independence at its annual session held in Lahore in 1929, followed by the Muslim League's demand for an independent Muslim union in 1930. Jinnah had become a leading voice of the Muslims in the subcontinent by this time, and to increase chances in Punjab, had sought Fazal’s help, inviting him to chair the Muslim League session of 1936 and lead ‘the Muslims of Punjab’. Fazal declined, sensing this would crack the fragile unity of his party. Fazal died the same year. Sikandar Hayat Khan was chosen to replace him. Sikandar followed the lead of his predecessor in keeping the Muslim League at bay.
Under the Government of India Act 1935, Provinces were given autonomy, and the post of Premier was created. Separate electorates were kept under which elections were to be held in 1936-37. Congress and the league decided to contest it with full force in the Punjab. Jinnah went for independent support in Punjab, without the Unionists, but that was not going to end well for his party.
Unionists won an impressive majority of 95 out of the Province’s 175 seats. League won only two – one of the members, Raja Ghazanfar, crossed over to the Unionists, making the league’s tally one. Backed by Khalsa Nationalists and Hindu Sabhaites, Unionists formed the government under Sikandar. Sir Chhotu Ram and Khizer Hayat Tiwana were inducted as ministers. The formalization of the ‘Panchayat’ system was a hallmark policy of this government.
The Thaw
The 1937 session of the Muslim League turned things around for that party’s prospects in the Punjab. League members in Punjab were successful in getting Sikandar to reach an understanding with their party. Sikandar attended the session in Lucknow as a non-League member, which ultimately gave way to the Sikandar-Jinnah pact. Under this pact, Sikander was given political autonomy in Punjab, but had to accept the League’s authority to represent Muslims at the centre. Muslim Unionist members also became nominal members of the Muslim League.
Sikandar considered it a masterstroke. He controlled the League on his turf and could navigate any pressure from the central Muslim League and its growing popularity. But it sowed the seeds of discontent among Hindu and Sikh members of his party who thoroughly criticised it.
The next stroke came in 1940 when, at its annual session, the Muslim League demanded a separate Muslim state that included Punjab. Sikandar, rather dismayed, too was in attendance. His coalition partners rejected Pakistan's demand and vowed to part ways with the government.
For Sikandar, it was a hard balancing act. The idea of Pakistan was taking root in the Muslim sections of the Punjab. He spoke for the Pakistan call as well as was against it. Under pressure, he rejected Pakistan as a separate state. Stating in 1941 that ‘If Pakistan means a Muslim Raj here and a Hindu Raj elsewhere, He would have no part in it’ only to say otherwise at a rally in Lyallpur.
Unionists remained divided on the approach towards the creation of a Muslim majority state. Its creation would mean the destruction of their political understanding with the Raj. The league, meanwhile, was successful in acquiring leaders like Nawab Mamdot from the Unionists. Amidst the uncertainty, Sikandar died in 1942. Khizer Hayat Tiwana was chosen as his successor.
Khizer, who was not an experienced politician but rather more interested in managing his vast estates at Shahpur (now Sargodha), owed the favour largely to the influence of his father, Lieutenant General Umar Hayat Khan. Khizer, from the start, was averse to the idea of a separate Muslim state. He was also a staunch loyalist who believed that the sun would indeed never set on the empire. The fact was that it was setting already.
A Shattered Dream
Khizer found himself bound to the League under the pact that his predecessor had made. When Unionist Muslim members were asked by the League leadership to explicitly identify themselves as only Muslim Leaguers, Khizer rejected the demand. He was expelled from the League, and his party was in tatters. He was criticised by his own ministers, including Sikandar’s son Shaukat and Mumtaz Daultana. Muslim members began leaving the Unionist ranks and joining the Muslim League.
By the end of 1945, a third of all Unionist MLAs had crossed over to the League, including Khizer’s own distant cousin and, later the prime minister of Pakistan, Malik Feroze Khan Noon. He missed the writing on the wall and a chance that would have led to an illustrious political career post-independence.
The 1945 Simla Conference had made this reality stark for everyone that the Raj was departing, and so were departing the aspirations of any loyalty that was left. In the winter of 1945-46, new provincial elections were held. It was the biggest challenge to the Unionists. The crossover of influential landowners and Sajjada Nashins to the Muslim League had made it into a vast rural movement from an urban party. Slogans were raised for the establishment of Pakistan and against Khizer. Khizer was termed an enemy of the Muslim cause and a heretic. The League, whose leaders were hopeless at the last elections, won an impressive 75 of the 86 Muslim seats out of a total of 175. The Unionists had to suffice at just 21.
Khizer was still able to put together a Raj-blessed coalition of the Unionists, Congress, and Akalis. He again became the Premier of Punjab, but not for long. A fierce campaign against Khizer and his government soared throughout the province. His dreams of a lasting empire were shattered when Clement Attlee declared in 1947 that India was to be given independence. As the Cabinet Mission planned on devising new borders, Khizer's last plea was to keep Punjab united under a federal union – a near impossible task.
Under fierce pressure, Khizer resigned on 3rd March, 1947, and was succeeded by Governor’s Rule in Punjab. Punjab saw spells of violent massacres, which is the subject of much scholarly work. The Unionist Party was to have a tragic and unremarkable death along with its premier.
But that was not to be the case for the majority of its members.
Many of those Unionists went to serve in the formative years at the highest posts, including the prime ministership. Their descendants are still an integral part of the political scene. The nexus of land and politics that the British created never vanished from the region.
Reforms remain a distant dream, bringing us back to the thought of ‘elite capture.’