Lahore:Punjab University Pakistan Study Centre organized a seminar titled ‘Rethinking Partition: Jinnah, Mountbatten and the Implementation of the 3rd June Plan’ as part of its academic activities commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (RA).
Historian and former Dean Faculty of Arts and Humanities Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Chawla delivered the keynote address, while Director Pakistan Study Centre Prof. Dr. Amjad Abbas Khan Magsi, faculty members and students attended the seminar.
Prof. Dr. Iqbal Chawla critically examined the 3rd June Plan, explaining that it was not a predetermined territorial blueprint for Pakistan but a constitutional and procedural framework for implementing Partition. He said the final shape of Pakistan emerged through provincial decisions, referendums, boundary proceedings, negotiations and administrative arrangements.
He highlighted Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s R.A political leadership and said Jinnah’s acceptance of the Plan represented acceptance of Partition as a constitutional mechanism, while territorial and administrative questions remained contested. He explained the complex processes involving Punjab, Bengal, NWFP, Sindh, British Balochistan and Sylhet, besides discussing the princely states and subsequent issues relating to Kashmir, Hyderabad and Junagadh.
Focusing on Punjab, Prof. Dr. Chawla said the June 1947 Assembly decision initiated Partition but did not determine the province’s final boundaries. The Punjab Boundary Commission later dealt with competing claims involving population, rivers, canals, railways, communications, economic interests, administration, minorities and strategic considerations.
Prof. Dr. Amjad Abbas Khan Magsi appreciated the scholarly contribution of the speaker and reaffirmed the Centre’s commitment to promoting critical and evidence-based scholarship on Pakistan’s history and socio-political development.