Pakistan Declaration - Now or Never; Are We To Live or Perish Forever?

Now or Never; Are We To Live or Perish Forever?

The pamphlet started with this famous sentence:

"At this solemn hour in the history of India, when British and Indian statesmen are laying the foundations of a Federal Constitution for that land, we address this appeal to you, in the name of our common heritage, on behalf of our thirty million Muslim brethren who live in PAKISTAN - by which we mean the five Northern units of India, Viz: Punjab, North-West Frontier Province (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan."

The pamphlet asked that "the five Northern units of India" - Punjab, North-West Frontier Province (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan (or Pakistan) become a state independent of the proposed Indian Federation.

Professor K.K.Aziz writes that "Rahmat Ali alone drafted this declaration. The word Pakistan was used for the first time in this pamphlet. To make it "representative", he looked for people who would sign it along with him. This difficult search among the firm grip of 'Indianism' on the young intellectual at English universities took him more than a month to find three young men in London who offered to support and sign it."

After the publication of the pamphlet, the Hindu Press vehemently criticized it, and the word 'Pakistan' used in it. Thus this word became a heated topic of debate and the name of Pakistan grew in popularity and led to the commencement of Pakistan Movement, and consequently the creation of Pakistan as an independent state in 1947.