RAWALPINDI AND THE ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE

My book, which focuses on the Rawalpindi Muslim League, explores the district's strategic location even before the arrival of the British, which led to its establishment as a garrison district. It covers the cultural, political and communal relations of the two major communities, namely the Muslims and non-Muslims, primarily the Hindus and Sikhs. The All-India Muslim League established a juvenile branch at Rawalpindi in 1907, whose members participated in the historic session of the All-India Muslim League at Lahore in 1940. M.A. Jinnah visited Rawalpindi twice, which boosted the morale of Muslim Leaguers and resulted in their securing 100 percent victory in the 1945-46 elections. However, the pangs of partition were visible in the district, as the minority non-Muslim community faced the wrath of the frenzied mob seeking revenge for the carnage their Muslim brethren faced in East Punjab, India. Once-influential non-Muslim communities had to abandon their ancestral homes in search of a promised land. Amidst this chaos, India was divided and witnessed an unprecedented exodus of fourteen million people across the newly created international borders."