Abstract :
In many ways, the advent of twentieth century was much significant for the Muslims of South Asia as a number of epoch-making events took place during this period that not only changed the Muslim political culture but also the whole political scenario of the sub-continent. This century was marked by a political awakening of the Muslims to the real or perceived idea that the British policies in the subcontinent were hostile towards their interests. Therefore, even those stalwarts of Aligarh who had been preaching their co-religionists to keep aloof from politics, now turned to advise the students of Aligarh College (in March 1903) to participate in politics. This change took place because of a host of issues such as the attack on Urdu (1900), the partition of Bengal (1905) and the Hindu reaction to that, the victory of the pro-Hindu Labour Party in the U.K., an end of Curzon era and start of Minto’s viceroyalty attempting to win over the lost confidence of the Indian public opinion which had emboldened the Indian National Congress (hereafter Congress) and multiplied the Muslim sufferings. The crux of the Muslim collective response to the situation was the formation of the Reform Scheme of Government, the formation of the Muslim Deputation and finally the founding of the All-India Muslim League (hereafter AIML). With these developments began the struggle of Muslims in bracing the above-mentioned challenges. This voyage started from Dacca in 1906 and culminated in 1909 at Amritsar.
