ABSTRACT
A serious complication was the fact that apart from religion, East and West Pakistan shared few common traits. In the former category they placed the Pathans and Punjabis--the people of what later became West Pakistan--and recruited them in large numbers for the army. In many cases secession and civil war have occurred in countries with longer histories and more compelling forces for national integrity than existed in Pakistan. The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 with the support of a number of Englishmen such as Allan Octavian Hume. The Congress attempted to maintain the fiction of representing both religious communities, but soon after the turn of the century it had become primarily a Hindu organization. During World War I, the Congress and the League cooperated in an effort to win concessions from the British. The Congress then pursued the idea of a federation whereby the Muslims would have a degree of autonomy but would remain within an Indian union.
