The League supported the partition of Bengal, demanded separate electorates for Muslims, and pressed for safeguards for Muslims in Government Service.

Separate electorates are usually demanded by minorities who feel it would otherwise be difficult for them to get fair representation in government. For example, separate electorate for Muslims means that Muslims will choose their separate leader by separate elections for Muslims.

Sir Syed intensified his work to promote co-operation with British authorities, promoting loyalty to the Empire amongst Indian Muslims. Committed to working for the upliftment of Muslims, Sir Syed founded a modern madrassa in Muradabad in 1859; this was one of the first religious schools to impart scientific education.

Communalism:
1) Organising a religious group on the basis of its hostility towards the followers of other religions to fight even material issues.
2) Communalism as an ideology or movement has been defined in various ways by various scholars.
3) According to Nehru, communalism is one of the obvious examples of backward-looking people trying to hold on to something that is wholly out of place in the modem world and is essentially opposed to the concept of nationalism.
4) According to another scholar, communalism denotes organised attempt of a group to bring about change in the face of resistance from other groups or the government through collective mobilisation based on a narrow ideology.

1) Minto-Morely Reforms, 1909 provided for eight seats to Muslims in the Imperial Legislative Council, out of the 27 non-officials to be elected.
2) In the Legislative Council of the provinces seats reserved for the Muslim candidates were: Madras 4; Bombay 4; Bengal 5.

Centrally organized political parties exclusively for Muslims, had the following objectives:
1) To promote among the Muslims of India feelings of loyalty to the British Government, and remove any misconception that may arise as to the instruction of Government with regard to any of its measures.
2) To protect and advance the political rights and interests of Muslims of India, and to respectfully represent their needs and aspirations to the Government.
3) To prevent the rise among the Muslims of India of any feeling of hostility towards other communities without prejudice to the aforementioned objects of the League.

Hindu nationalism:
1) In the Punjab communalism as a powerful movement had set in completely. In 1924 Lala Lajpat Rai openly advocated the partition of the Punjab into Hindu and Muslim Provinces.
2) The Hindu Mahasabha, represented the forces of Hindu revivalism in the political domain, raised the slogan of' Akhand Hindustan' against the Muslim League's demand of separate electorates for Muslims.
3)  Ever since its inception, the Mahasabha's role in the freedom struggle has been rather controversial. While not supportive of British rule, the Mahasabha did not offer its full support to the nationalist movement either.
4) Since the Indian National Congress had to mobilize the support of all classes and communities against foreign domination, the leaders of different communities could not press for principle of secularism firmly for the fear of losing the support of religious minded groups.
5) The Congress under the leadership of Gandhi held a number of unity conferences during this period, but to no avail.
Muslim nationalism
1) One great outcome of the efforts at unity, however, was an offer by the Conference of Muslims, which met at Delhi on March 20, 1927 to give up separate electorates if four proposals were accepted.
1. the separation of Sind from Bombay
2. Reforms for the Frontier and Baluchistan
3. Representation by population in the Punjab and Bengal and
4. Thirty-three per cent seats for the Muslims in the Central Legislature.
Indian nationalism
1) The nationalism of the Indian National Congress was personified by Mahatma Gandhi, who rejected the narrow nationalism exemplified by the Arya Samaj and the Aligargh movement and strove to evolve a political identity that transcended the different religions.
2) Notwithstanding the state-supported communalism of different hues, the Indian National Congress remained a dominant political force in India.
3) In the 1937 elections, Congress won in seven of the eleven provinces and fonned the largest party in three others. The Muslim League's performance was dismal. It succeeded in winning only 4.8 per cent of the Muslim votes.
4) The Congress had emerged as a mass secular party. Yet the Government branded it a Hindu organisation and projected the Muslim League as the real representative of the Muslims and treated it on a par with the Congress.
5) Hindu nationalism, Muslim nationalism and secular nationalism competed with each other to politicise the people in their fight against British colonialism.

(a) Hindu Revivalism
1) Some of the early nationalists believed that nationalism could be built only on a Hindu foundation.
2) As pointed out by Sarvepalli Gopal, Hindu, revivalism found its voice in politics through the Arya Samaj, founded ill 1875, with its assertion of superior qualities of Hinduism.
3) The organization of cow protection leagues in large parts of North India in the late nineteenth century gave a fillip to Hindu communalism.
4) The effort of organizations such as Arya Samaj was strengthened by the Theosophical movement led by. Annie Besant from 1891. Besant identified herself with Hindu nationalists and expressed her ideas as follows: The Indian work is first of all the revival, strengthening and uplifting of ancient religions. This has brought with it a new self-respect, a pride in the past, a belief in the future and as an inevitable result, a great wave of patriotic life, the beginning of the rebuilding of a nation.
(b) Rise of Muslims Consciousness
1) Islam on the other hand, to quote Sarvepalli Gopal again, was securing its articulation through the Aligarh movement.
2) The British, by building the Aligarh college and backing Syed Ahmed Khan, had assisted the birth of a Muslim national party and Muslim political ideology.
3) The Wahabi movement had also created cleavage in Hindu-Muslim relations. The Wahabis wanted to take Islam to its pristine purity and to end the superstition which according to them had sapped its vitality. From the Wahabis to the Khilafatists, grassroots activism played a significant role in the politicization of Muslims.
(c) Divide and Rule Policy of British
1) The object of the British was to check the development of a composite Indian identity, and to forestall attempts at consolidation and unification of Indians.
2) The last decades of the nineteenth century was marked by a number of Hindu-Muslim riots. Even in south India, there was a major riot in Salem in July-August 1882.
(d) Cow Slaughter and Communal Riots
1) Gaurakshini Sabhas (cow protection leagues) were becoming more militant and there were reports of forcible interference with the sale or slaughter of cows.
2) The riots over cow-slaughter became frequent after 1893 and 15 major riots of this type broke out in the Punjab alone between 1883 and 1891.
3) Cow protectionists in the Punjab, the activities of Gaurakshini Sabhas in the Central Provinces, the campaigners for the recognition of Devanagiri as official language in courts and government offices in the United Provinces were also involved in the Congress organization.
(e) Failure of Congress and Government to combat Communalism
1) The Indian National Congress, despite its secular and nationalist claims was unable to prevent the involvement of its members in the activities of Hindu communal organisations.
2) This was a major factor in the Muslim distrust of the Congress. Congressmen's participation in shuddhi and sangathan campaigns of the Arya Samaj further estranged Hindus and Muslims.