Jinnah Direct Action Resolution
The Muslim League under Mohammad Ali Jinnah withdrew its acceptance from the long-term plan of Cabinet Mission in response to Nehru’s statement and gave a call for “direct action” from August 16 to achieve Pakistan.
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Nehru during the Constitutional Assembly election stated, “We are not bound by a single thing except that we have decided to go into the Constituent Assembly (implying that the Constituent Assembly was sovereign and would decide the rules of procedure). The big probability is that there would be no grouping as NWFP and Assam would have objections to joining Muslim majority sections B and C.”
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Muhammad Ali Jinnah called for Muslims all over the country to ‘suspend all business’. This was to put pressure on the British government to relent to the Muslim League’s (headed by Jinnah) demand of dividing the country on the basis of religion, thereby allowing the creation of a Muslim dominated Pakistan.
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There were communal riots on an unprecedented scale. The members of one community rounded up members of another and murdered them in cold blood, using swords, knives, cleavers, guns and metal rods. The day came to be known as the Week of the Long Knives.
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The riots did eventually serve to increase a feeling of alienation among Muslims, therefore strengthening their desire for a separate nation.
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The violence made both communities realize the extent of harm they were capable of causing each other when being ‘forced’ to live together.
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The worst-hit areas were Calcutta, Bombay, Noakhali, Bihar and Garhmukteshwar (United Provinces). This day is known as The Great Calcutta Killings.