There are many different reasons why the partition of India occurred. When Britain oppressed India, they had a divide-and-conquer policy that exacerbated the religious and cultural rifts that already existed in the society. The Muslim League, which believed in the ideology of “Pakistan”, actively campaigned to gain more support for the Muslims in India, especially under the guidance of dynamic leaders like Jinnah. Pakistani leader and founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah believed that this partition was inevitable since “‘[a] united India would never have worked’” (Komireddi 2009). He and others thought that a unified state would only lead to the relegation of Muslims to the fringe of society and, ultimately, to violence and civil war. The Indian …show more content…
The east and west sides of Pakistan were not divided over religion (they were mostly all Muslim), rather the division was on the basis of culture and language. West Pakistan was Punjabi while East Pakistan was Bengali. In 1971, there was a major war between India and Pakistan and the east side of Pakistan split off into what is today called Bangladesh. For the purposes of this essay, we will be focusing on just Pakistan and India.
The people in both countries have very common and even interlocked backgrounds, so how is it that these countries have very divergent political atmospheres since partition? India, adapting from the legacy of British rule and the Government of India Act 1935 for its constitution, kept the idea of federalism and was also successful in operating its political system within the formal democracy. Except for 18 months between 1975 and 1977 India maintained its democratic institutions. In the five decades since partition, there have been twelve legislative elections and many more state assembly elections. There have been seven peaceful transfers of power between rival political parties at the central (federal) level (Varshney 1998). Since 1967, the party that ruled in New Delhi has not ruled in nearly half of the states (Varshney 1998). A fleeting sample of the morning newspapers will show that the press in India has remained diverse, dynamic, free, and altogether unafraid to
Before 1971, Bangladesh was divided into two regions; both with opposing political power. Although East Pakistan (Bangladesh) withheld the larger population between the two provinces, it acquired much less political dominance than West Pakistan. Through the power and representation of leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, East Pakistan rebelled. Rahman, leader of political party ‘The Awami League’ demanded more powers both politically and economically. This struggle finally cumulated into the war of independence for East Pakistan.
In the case of politics in Africa and India, both were completely different because of how they were ruled by the European nations. In Africa the natives thought they had political power, but the reality was that all politics, and decisions were made by the European’s. The natives thought that the leaders, and chiefs were making the decisions, but the indirect governing style the Europeans were using on their territories was to do exactly this. They tricked the public to keep the peace and avoided any revolts or rebellion from taking place in the country. The same cannot be said about India though. In India the direct governing style was in place. This meaning that all the previous leaders, and officials were replaced by the European officials,
Modern day Pakistan’s land has traditionally been Muslim for many years. In the early nineteenth century it was ruled by Britain and considered part of the British Indian Empire. In 1947, a partition was granted from the British, and Pakistan and India were created as their own countries. As the previous British Empire divided,
The ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan has been the subject of speculation and study by political scientists and historians for a number of years. The ethnic conflict seems to have been sparked at the very beginning in 1947, when the British used Muslim and Hindu mercenaries against each other before the area finally split into today’s countries of India and Pakistan (Spiegel et al. 2015, 185). The timeline since then has been full of conflicts, both major and minor. Brutal tactics used by security forces and a high rate of unemployment have added to the issue (BBC News 2016).
Although it could be argued that Britain unified India 500 million diverse Indians, and built a strong Indian army, they had an extremely strict cruel government that eliminated Indians freedom and used their own army against them as punishment. According to Dr. Lalvani imperialism in India resulted in “the bringing together of several different states into one unified India” However before the British came to India Hindus and Muslims lived together in peace for centuries. And while Britain was present and after they left the two religious groups were extremely divided and violently fought. Including wars that resulted in “5,000 people dead and 12,000 people hurt” (Gandhi). Britain encouraged separation and division of Muslims and HIndus because of the attack strategy, “divide and conquer” upon the idea that it would be easier to take over and govern a country that was fighting among
India during this time also included Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh but that would change during their fight for independence. Religion in India is majority Hindu at 82%, and 12% Islamic, Pakistan is 97% Islamic, Bangladesh is 87% Islamic, and this is the cause for their separation from India and the sub-continent. Kashmir is another region that is highly
Britain ruled over India and religion was a constitute for nationality in a way they had an ideal of living in harmony with Muslims and Hinduism. As both are separate in their belief and worship, they opposed each other in a form of political background and who should run the country. As religion began to be a big part of the conflict, the creation of the nation was started with wanting independence. As a result, Muslims feared Hinduism would dominate and flee them into another land.
The results of the partition of India are still felt today; relations between the neighbouring countries remain tense. It
the nation had split up into 2 separate countries- Muslim majority Pakistan and Hindu majority
The East Pakistan thought that they didn’t have enough help and they felt that they weren’t being treated equally by West Pakistan so as the tension built up, people in East Pakistan decided to fight for their independence. In this war there are three different types of conflicts, these were Civil War, Religious War and War fought for independence. During the partition between these two countries there were a large number of refugees as there’s a huge rush of people moving from one country to another. There was also a lot of individual fighting among themselves due to different opinions.
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is considered to be a rising star within the international community. According to the Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, “The separation in 1947 of British India into the Muslim state of Pakistan (with West and East sections) and largely Hindu India was never satisfactorily resolved.” The emergence of this persisting rivalry began with the partition of British India, which mostly divided Pakistan and India along ethnic and religious lines. The relationship between India and Pakistan further devolved with three conflicts, starting in
In conclusion, the Shameful Flight recounts how the ill-informed partition of India and Pakistan prompted widespread violence that displaced tens of millions of people from their homes and left another one million dead. From the evidence provided by Wolpert, it is clear that this partition was ill-planned and unnecessary. The argument of Wolpert is straightforward and backed by traceable evidence. The author ensures that he writes an easy to read book to pass a fortune of historical information and whet the appetite of readers for further reading regarding the India/Pakistan situation. This book has enlightened my
Even today, India’s Prime Minister is the leader of the major party in alliance. Due to the multiple numbers of political parties, not one single party has been able to secure a permanent seat in the parliament. India consists of a diverse majority of cultures, ethnicities, and religions due to its large population. Multiple parties allow people to choose a party that best fits an individual’s views and beliefs. The government has policies that lean towards the more neutral and moderate side, rather than a more liberal and conservative environment similar to what we see more often in the United States.
Tensions between India and Pakistan can be traced to the partition of British India to form independent India and Pakistan in 1947. The princely states were forced to decide whether to accede to either Pakistan or India. This British policy opened the region up to conflict over the princely state of Kashmir and two others. The territorial dispute over Kashmir led to the First Kashmir War in 1947. This paper attempts to explain this conflict using different levels of analysis. This paper first explains the historical context of the war to show the causes of the war. Then this paper goes on to explain the war using different levels to analysis to determine that dyadic levels and individual decision making levels all explain the First Kashmir War occurred. The steps to war theory, rational choice, and psychological models all help to explain why Pakistan and India decided went to war over the Kashmir Region.
In May 2014, Indian politics took a historic step into a new direction. Since the beginning of Indian independence from Great Britain, there have been two dominant political parties that controlled progression of the nation. The Indian National Congress (INC), one of those parties, was led by the Gandhi family predominantly. The Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, contrasted the INC in almost every possible way. Nationalist leaders emerged from the working class and opposed INC actions. These two parties rotate in and out of power. The election in May 2014 resulted in a huge win for the BJP. Manmohan Singh, the previous Prime Minister and member of the INC, relinquished control of the Parliament. The ten year INC control of Parliament was officially ended in 2014. The relationship between the INC and BJP has been very similar to the relationship between Democrats and Republicans in the United States. Unfortunately, the rift has caused a lot of differences in platform focus. The INC promotes a globalized nation with international ties to strong and dominant countries. For example, Manmohan Singh, worked very closely with the United States to increase India’s nuclear power. The BJP has different priorities. They are “wedded to India’s unity and integrity, its intrinsic identity and the social strength, individual character and cultural uniqueness that have been the hallmark of this great country and its people for millennia” (BJP, 2014). The BJP focuses on the cultural