LAHORE: (Thursday, October 8, 2026): Punjab University Pakistan Study Centre organized a seminar on ‘Rethinking Partition: Jinnah, Mountbatten and the Implementation of the 3rd June Plan’ as part of its academic activities commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. On this occasion, Distinguished historian former Dean Faculty of Arts & Humanities Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Chawla, Director Pakistan Study Centre Prof. Dr. Amjad Abbas Khan Magsi, faculty members and students were present. In his keynote address, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Chawla critically examined the 3rd June Plan, arguing that it was not a predetermined territorial blueprint for Pakistan but a constitutional and procedural framework through which Partition was to be implemented. He emphasized that the final shape of Pakistan emerged through subsequent provincial decisions, referendums, boundary proceedings, negotiations and administrative arrangements. He highlighted the political leadership of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He said that Jinnah's acceptance of the Plan represented acceptance of Partition as a constitutional mechanism, while questions concerning the territorial and administrative viability of Pakistan remained contested. He argued that Jinnah continued to engage with the implementation process, particularly concerning Punjab and Bengal, because the central question had shifted from whether Pakistan would exist to what Pakistan would be, what territories and resources it would possess, and where its boundaries would lie. He said that Pakistan did not emerge through a single constitutional act. Punjab and Bengal followed processes involving provincial assemblies and subsequent boundary commissions, while the North-West Frontier Province, Sindh, British Balochistan and Sylhet were subject to distinct constitutional mechanisms. The referendum in the NWFP and the separate procedures in other territories demonstrated the complex and multi-stage nature of Pakistan's territorial formation. Punjab received particular attention because of the complexity of its political and territorial division. He also explained that the June 1947 Assembly decision initiated partition but did not determine the province's final boundaries. The Punjab Boundary Commission subsequently confronted competing claims involving population, rivers, canals, railways, communications, economic interests, administration, minorities and strategic considerations, making the territorial settlement one of the most contentious aspects of Partition. He addressed Jinnah's political strategy, provincial decision-making, territorial boundaries and the constitutional processes involved in the creation of Pakistan. The speaker also explained the issues concerning the princely states and the subsequent issues of Kashmir, Hyderabad and Junagadh. Prof. Dr. Amjad Abbas Khan Magsi appreciated the scholarly contribution of the speaker and reaffirmed the Centre's commitment promoting critical and evidence-based scholarship on Pakistan's history and socio political development.