The Partition Of India By Ian Talbot And Gurharpal Singh

“India has never been a symbol of unity of Hindu-Muslim civilization. It is not possible for the British Government to create homogeneity between Hindu and Muslim culture and civilization as the two systems are distinctively opposed to each other. There is no way other than the partition of India”

It became evident that the British could maintain the empire only at enormous cost. At the end of the Second World War, they saw the writing on the wall, and initiated a number of constitutional moves to effect the transfer of power to the sovereign State of India. For the first and perhaps the only time in history, the power of a mighty global empire 'on which the sun never set', had been challenged and overcome by the moral might of a people armed only with ideals and courage.

In 1757, Great Britain extended its empire into India. This occupation would not fully end until 1947. In the time between, there were many movements by the Indian people to gain independence from the British. The movement that finally succeeded in winning India’s independence was led by one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi’s methods for fighting against the occupation of the British were very different from those of any of the freedom movements before. And that was why it worked. Gandhi did not agree with the general reasoning of the time: that conflicts could be solved through negotiation and forceful resistance.1 Rather, his faith led him to go

The general cause of the Indian Independence Movement was India’s desire for independence from British, French and Portuguese Rule. The aim of the movement was “Swaraj, a self-governing India” (Sharma, 2005, p. 22). One, more specific, cause of the Indian Independence Movement took place in 1905 when the province of Bengal was divided into two provinces,

In 1939 World War II broke out in Europe. Britain proclaimed India’s involvement in the war without consulting the Indian people. This led to increased protest and volatility. In 1942 India established a national army and proposed the Quit India Movement. This movement promised to lend Indian military support to Britain in return for complete independence. If they refused this treaty the Indian people promised civil disobedience. In 1947 India was granted its independence and became self governing (Luscombe, 2012). On January 26, 1950 the Republic of India was proclaimed and it drafted a constitution. The first democratic elections were held in 1952. However the Hindus and Muslims were not united and colonial India was divided into Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India (History, 2010).

British imperialism had a negative impact on the politics of India because of the establishment of the framework for India that leads to their downfall and the Indian Army which they used to control their own kind. According to Dr.Lalvani, the British established the framework for India’s justice system, civil services, loyal army, and the efficient loyal police. (Paragraph #6). While this is true, the framework didn’t include the Indians, because “Of 960 civil offices, 900 are occupied by English men and 60 by natives”(Doc. #2). British laws often benefited the British and were designed to limit the freedom of speech of the Indians, for example, the Rowlatt Act in 1919. (Gandhi). This evidence shows that the British, when creating the framework for the new and improved India wanted to benefit from it while trying to lower the Indian’s and limit the

While the British set up the framework for India and claimed to peacefully transition India to independence. The British however did not include Indians and caused a lot of death. The British ultimately did more harm than good. British did set up India’s framework for things like the army, police, justice system and civil services (Lalvani). On the other hand the British did not include Indians in the framework. “Of 960 civil officers… 900 had been occupied by englishmen” (Doc 2). That is only about 7 percent that were actually Indian. This means the British did not let the Indians have a say in anything in their country because they had no representation and also they did not include Indians in the framework of their own country so when they gained independence they had to learn to govern themselves because the British had done it for them. Dr. Lalvani also claimed that the British made India's transition to Independence peaceful. That is a blatant lie. According

(Document 5) This shows that even though Britain gave education to Indians they only gave it to who could afford it and hardly anyone could. Lalvani claims that over the 200 year span of British imperialism, India’s religions felt safer and less discriminated against. ( According to Dr.Lalvani) Although the British thought this was true it actually was not. Christians were mocking and discriminating against Muslims and Hindus. (Gandhi) Similarly Hinduism believes in nonviolence so when the protest at Amritsar took place the Indians were brutally slaughtered while being unarmed. (Gandhi) Because of their non-violence beliefs the Hindus had no defense and were killed by what they thought was their

Throughout the years many historians have compilated and examined why Indian people were so desperate to gain back their independence from the British Empire during their rule over India, from 1612 to 1947. The reasoning can most definitely be found as the British discriminated against Indian people as they believe that they were inferior; it is no surprise that Indian people fought so hard for their independence. Throughout the British Raj, they placed and put forward unbelievably racist acts and laws which discriminated against Indian people. Which of course led to Indians to rebel against the British rule and which the British reacted with causing massacres. Explaining the nationalistic many India’s felt during the British Raj.

The Causes of Indian Independence in 1947 In 1947 India was declared an independent country from Britain, after years of peaceful and violent protests, pressure from all sides, and numerous promises. Not only this, but Pakistan was also formed by partitioning the country into two, providing a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. Although independence was greeting with relief from all, partition came with riots, millions of murders and a hatred between countries that has not healed up even by today. The word "inevitable" in the essay title implies something which was almost 'destined' to happen from the beginning, and the course of action could not be averted under any circumstances.

Eventually Gandhi helped pave the way for India’s independence however it wasn’t all over. India began to divide between Muslim’s and Hindu’s and it was settled that the North and Eastern parts of India would be given to Muslim’s and called Pakistan and Hindu’s would be left with the rest of India as their homeland. Thus happening all against Gandhi’s wishes. As scenes move on, Gandhi takes ill, and it becomes known that he has gone on a hunger strike due to the violence between Muslims and Hindu’s. At one point it is clarified

Gandhi was really concerned about the increasing divisions between the Hindu and Muslim's. He tried as much he could to prevent the partition between the Hindu and Muslim's. However the amount of success he had been trough this was very different and he did not achieve what he wanted. He was very disappointed about the separation between the Hindu and Muslim's. To prevent the

War raged from 1918 to 1947 and over 18 million were displaced however no one was left unaffected (Press Information Bureau, Military Evacuation Organisation.). Neighbors of the Indian ethnicity worried for their loved ones at home, families separated not knowing where or when they’d ever see each other again, and others trying to recover after being severely injured in an attack. The Partition, or splitting of India forced people out of their homes to try and relieve religious tension between the warring states, India and Pakistan. Jhumpa Lahiri, an Indian author, writes about the struggles of the people before, during, and after the Partition in her books Interpreter of the Maladies and The Namesake. In the Interpreter of the Maladies, Lahiri introduces the readers to Mr. Pirzada, an Indian man who endures much turbulence after being awarded a grant to study in New England while a civil war is occurring in his home country, and Boori Ma, an elderly woman who struggles to find stability after being reluctantly migrated to Calcutta because of the Partition. In Lahiri’s The Namesake, Ashoke Ganguli was traveling to see his family when the Pakistani Army had placed a terror attack and turn his and his family life upside down. The Partition of India impacted anyone and everyone of India and largely effected the lives of these characters in many ways.

The Partition of India in August, 1947 was a significant event in history that accounted for the separation of one of the world’s oldest civilization into two, independent nations – Pakistan and India. Like many other wars in history, The Partition of India was instigated by religious, political and social conflict. This resulted in violence, discrimination and the largest human displacement in contemporary history. While the Partition was well-studied, much of our understanding was focused on the political side of history, not the human side of it. This was why oral history played an important role in manifesting the complexity of a historical event. Our focus here is Maya Rani’s testimony from Butalia’s book, The Other Side of Silence:

The famous scholar M.A. Rahim has said in his “The History of Bengal Muslims” that, “ It is a matter of great wonder that the Hindu politicians who have raised movements to protect the division of Bengal in 1905 , have claimed for the division of Bengal in 1947.On the other hand, the Muslims who have supported the decision of dividing Bengal in 1905 have protested against the division of Bengal in 1947.” Actually lack of solution of community disputes, lack of cordial approach of British Government, selfishness of the politicians of two most political parties ‘Muslim League’ and ‘Congress’ etc. were the actors led the way of division of Bengal. The Bengal was divided into two parts. The Hindu West Bengal became the part of India and the predominately Muslim East Bengal (present Bangladesh) became the part of Pakistan. The partition was done on 14-15 August, 1947 in the reign of Lord Mountbatten. This partition of Bengal also divided the people spoke Bangla in different ascend in different areas.