ABSTRACT
One of the strange turnabouts of history is that the movement for the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan was led by a person who in the beginning of his political life did not at all believe that Hindus and Muslims were separate nations. The political thinking of Amir Ali also held that, in this multi-national country, the Muslims were a separate nation whose interests and future must be safeguarded against the more resourceful Hindu majority. The Muslims felt that only the Hindus would gain from the demands of the Congress and this posed a threat to the interests and national identity of the Muslims. Daily observation by Muslims of their position of minority created a feeling of fear, consciously or subconsciously. The political parts of Sir Syed's movement were ancillary. Its principal goal was to arm the Muslims with the most needed weapon in their battle of survival, modern education.
