As Odisha prepares to celebrate the 90th anniversary of its birth as India’s first linguistic province, and the Muslim League’s formation approaches its 120th year, a fascinating and often overlooked historical intersection emerges. While the “Odia Movement” and the “Pakistan Movement” might appear to be parallel tracks of history, they were deeply intertwined in a complex struggle over identity, language, and territorial belonging. The journey from 1905 to 1947 in Odisha was not just a quest for a linguistic homeland, but also a crucible where a distinct Muslim communal consciousness evolved, transitioning from elite administrative petitions to the radical separatist fervour that defined the 1946 elections in the state.
At the turn of the 20th century, the political landscape of the Odisha region, then a division of the vast Bengal Presidency, was shaped by a growing linguistic nationalism among the Odia-speaking Hindu population. However, for the Muslim minority, which constitute d approximately 2 per cent of the population, the “Odia Movement” for a separate province was viewed with profound scepticism. The elite Muslim leadership of the time, consolidated under the Orissa Mohammedan Association (OMA), perceived the drive for a linguistically unified Odisha as a move toward “Hindu Raj.” This early communal consciousness was not initially separatist in a territorial sense but was deeply protective of cultural markers.
Central to this was the linguistic divide; while the Hindu leadership sought to establish Odia as the sole official and educational medium, the OMA and its prominent members, such as the Zamindars of Cuttack, adamantly vouched for Urdu. They argued that Urdu was the indispensable carrier of Islamic heritage, and any imposition of Odia was an attempt at cultural assimilation. This divergence became glaringly evident during the 1905 Partition of Bengal. While the Odia Hindu intelligentsia largely opposed the partition, fearing it would dilute the Odia-speaking tracts within a larger Bengali-dominated Eastern province, Odia Muslims were notably sympathetic to the partition. They viewe d the creation of a Muslim-majority province in Eastern Bengal as a vital safeguard for their interests. This sentiment was further institutionalised in 1906, when the Muslim Zamindars and aristocrats of Odisha were among the first and most enthusiastic supporters of the foundation of the All-India Muslim League in Dhaka.
By participating in the Dhaka session, the Muslim leadership in Odisha signalled that their political destiny was anchored to the pan-Indian Muslim identity rather than a regional Odia one. For these leaders, the Odia identity was increasingly perceived as a Hindu identity, one from which they sought a distinct constitutional distance. The administrative reorganisation of 1912, which saw the creation of the province of Bihar and Orissa, placed the Muslims of Odisha in a “double minority” status. They were a minority within the Odisha division and a further minority within the larger Bihar-dominated province. During this period, the OMA intensified its efforts to secure educational and employment safeguards. The politics of this era remained largely petitionary but was marked by a steady hardening of communal lines.
Muslim leaders consistently opposed the creation of a separate Odisha province. Their opposition was rooted in the fear that in a smaller, linguistically homogeneous province, the Hindu majority would hold absolute power. This period saw the OMA leaders perfecting the narrative that Muslims were a “historically significant” community that deserved representation far exceeding their numerical strength, a concept known as “weightage.” The linguistic conflict over Urdu versus Odia remained the primary flashpoint. The OMA successfully lobbied for special grants for Maktabs and Madrasas, insisting that the “secular” curriculum of the British-Odia schools was culturally alien to Muslim children. By the late 1920s, when the Simon Commission visited India , the OMA presente d a memorandum that was a precursor to the Two-Nation Theory.
They demanded separate electorates and guaranteed quotas, asserting that the Muslim community’s interests could never be safely entrusted to a “joint electorate” dominated by the Hindu majority. The leaders who drafted these petitions were the same individuals who would later facilitate the community’s transition toward the Muslim League. With the eventual creation of the separate province of Odisha in 1936, the fears of the Muslim leadership were realised. The 1937 provincial elections, which brought the Indian National Congress to power, acted as a catalyst for a radical shift in Muslim politics. The perceived marginalisation of Muslim interests by the Congress ministry led to the formal establishment of the Muslim League branch in Cuttack in 1938.
The transition was seamless as the prominent leaders of the OMA, including legal luminaries such as Muhammad Abdus Sobhan Khan (grandfather of the famous Odia actress Aparajita Mohanty), formally joined the League. A major psychological turning point occurred when A.K. Fazlul Huq, the Premier of Bengal, visited Cuttack and delivered a fiery address to the local Muslim community. He urged them to abandon the “nationalist” rhetoric of the Congress and recognise the Muslim League as their sole protector.
This local organisation was eventually affiliated with the All-India Muslim League in February 1940, just weeks before the historic Lahore Resolution was passed. The affiliation transformed the local grievances of Odisha’s Muslims into a quest for a separate sovereign homeland. The League’s influence grew rapidly in the urban centres of Cuttack, Balasore, and Bhadrak. The argument was no longer just about Urdu or job quotas; it was about the survival of a “distinct nation.” The League argued that the “composite nationalism” of the Congress was merely a facade for the establishment of a Brahmin-Karan-dominated social and political order in Odisha. The resignation of the Congress ministry in 1939, following the outbreak of World War II, provided an unexpected opportunity for Muslim League leaders to gain executive experience.
Between 1939 and 1944, a series of Coalition Ministries were formed, primarily involving the United Party and the Muslim League, to fill the political vacuum. Muhammed Abdus Sobhan Khan and Maulvi Latifur Rahman emerged as key figures during this period. Latifur Rahman served as a Minister in the 1941 coalition cabinet led by the Maharaja of Parlakhemundi. During their tenure in these ministries, these leaders focused heavily on provincialising Muslim grievances. They used their ministerial influence to advocate for increased Urdu educational facilities and greater Muslim representation in the police and revenue departments.
However, their participation in these “interim” or “wartime” cabinets was often viewed as a strategic manoeuvre to prevent Congress from regaining total control. Abdus Sobhan Khan, through his legislative presence, consistently argued that the Congress’s claim to represent all Indians was fraudulent, citing the League’s role in the coalition as proof that Muslims required their own political machinery to achieve justice. This period of governance allowed the League to build a patronage network that would prove vital in the 1946 elections.
(The writer is a public policy consultant with an interest in politics, history and international relations.)