Chapter 2
The ‘Sipahis’: Between the Independence and Loyalty
By the end of 1942, India was witnessing a political drift in the struggle for Independence. The chapter tries to relate the political unrest in India and the problems it brought for the Indian Army who at that time was contributing their men and officers in the Second World War for Britain. The Fall of Singapore again posed the question of loyalty amongst the Indian ‘Sipahis’ who were either captured by the Japanese Army or retreated back. The formation of ‘Indian National Army’ by ‘Subhas Chandra Bose’ whose motive was to support the Japanese Army against the British Forces, with the aim of attaining Independence through military expeditions over India. This brought Indian men and officers who were on one side fighting with British forces and on the other side the Indian men and officers who were part of Indian National Army with the Japanese Army. On both sides the Indian ‘Sipahis’ fighting were having the same, Independence of India but with two different ideologies. The chapter also discusses about the social and political unrest from 1942 to end of the Second World War in 1945.
1.1 Congress and the War Threats (1939-1940)
India being the part of The British Empire through efforts of Civil Disobedience tried to gain Constitutional methods of reforms. The Government of India Act of 1935 passed by the British Parliament sought to satisfy the demands of Indian people. This Act provided Indians to share power
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).
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.
In 1930 India was still under the control of the British Empire, or at least what was left of it. Under this rule the British enacted what many consider to be unfair and unjust laws and taxes. A series of these laws, titled the British
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Ho Chi Minh are the leaders of national independent movements from late 19th to early 20th century. Both of them defeated the colonial rulers and won national independence. This paper will talk about the influences of ideas and circumstances, the goals that they wanted to get and the historical significance of their behaviors.
The Indians were starting to feel as if their country wasn't theirs anymore. Poor farmers and other hard-working would work all day long just for the british who were forcing them to do so.Whenever someone would raise their voice they would end up in jail. Indians would start to wonder why they were so civilized by another nation. For some time the only power british had to keep the Indians quite was to start putting people in jail.some would be afraid of that and some would not even speak, But Gandhi wasn't one of them, he didn't want to stay quiet and watch them rule India.One of the examples was when Gandhi wanted to repeal the taxes,the salt march in particular, he was a very brave to speak up but once again he was sent to jail. Indians didn't think it was such a great Idea to send someone to jail without any official court orders. They would rally outside jails and finally the British signed an agreement to repeal some taxes. The British would have a sudden fear that if they still rallied outside the jail they would probably have to do even more of repealing taxes. But I am pretty sure it wasn't the last time Gandhi was sent to
While researching The Mark of the Warrior by Paul Scott, my research came across a couple authors who wrote about the 1940’s in India. These authors often spoke of the little world knowledge of India in World War II and the sacrifices they made to help with the war. India was a very important part of the Invasion of Italy liberating them from Nazi control and they also played a significant role in defeating Japan by supplying huge armed forces and massive production of weapons. Although Indian troops compiled our largest allied troops, with more than 2.5 million all over the world, many were never taught of their sacrifice and bravery. This idea of forgettance forms the way the book was written and why Paul Scott chose this time for his book.
to make its' own salt and its' own cotton and they did not pay any
It’s clear that Gandhi’s campaigns of non-cooperation and attending political meetings with high ranked British officials during the early 1930s, were hugely significant as they mounted pressure on the Raj, leaving the British with no other alternative than to make concessions towards the nationalists. However, Purna Swaraj wasn’t achieved by Gandhi’s campaigns in the 1930s, due to the limitations of his methods as he was unable to cooperate and negotiate with the British. Conversely, demands for nationalism increased across India and the British began to lose any moral authority they had over the Indians.
India determination to due without the British and the British treated Indian nationalism with a firm hand (1921) (even though the British had stated that they would
In my search for a research topic, all I knew was that I wanted to learn more about a country that I knew almost nothing about. I’ve always been intrigued by India with its beautiful land and culture, but in my years of school I have never learned too much about it and had always wondered why there was such a heavy British influence there. Little did I know, this English influence began long before I imagined and will mostly likely continue to exist for quite some time. Furthermore, I have chosen to research and write about India’s break from the British Raj (rule) of almost 100 years of imperialism. The leader I chose in this movement that proved to be extremely significant for its success is Mahatma Gandhi. Through my research I wanted to focus on how India, aided by Gandhi, fought the increased interconnectedness forced upon them by the British to show how this resistance movement was successful and brought about change. A significant question that I want to answer in this paper is, what does India’s example of resistance show us about both imperialism and globalization? To effectively analyze their resistance movement, we must consider the many causes for the tension and need for separation, the nature of the resistance movement, and most importantly, whether or not it was effective. From my research, I learned that there were countless causes for resistance towards Great Britain due to the fact that so many issues had been building up between the two countries overtime,
The 1935 Government Act of India proposes more governmental reforms and allows for an assembly made up of Indian but it is rejected by Indian nationalists who want dominion status granted to them immediately. Beginning in 1946, the Muslim League begins to advocate for an independent Muslim state, which causes widespread panic. India receives its independence from Great Britain in 1947 but as their last major act the British governors separate India into two new countries: India and Pakistan. Many people are forced to leave their homes in order to get to the new country and refugees become an issue in both countries. Widespread fighting breaks out along the borders as people try to get to the country that corresponds with their religion. The new governments struggle to agree on who will get what parts of the natural resources, military and financial resources along with the regions of Jammu and Kashmir. Great Britain sold Kashmir to a maharajah during the colonial era and as they were withdrawing, gave him the option to going to either country. Most other states sided with religions but Kashmir was ruled by a Hindu yet had a predominantly Muslim population. The maharajah hesitates and is forced to leave the region. He signs over the territory to India and Pakistan sends troops to protect the Muslims in that area. War breaks out and continues for three years until a ceasefire is declared and
Congress leader Nehru and Gandhi were frustrated that the offer came with no guarantees which forced the offer to be rejected. Demands were made for a full cabinet government with integration of all Indian provinces into one nation. The significance of this is that India recognized the power it possessed and that they could now demand guarantees: Congress saw its opportunity to press its demand for independence leading to the Quit India Campaign. Britain however was not prepared to yield: instead of negotiating with Gandhi, the British wielded its imperial power, imprisoning Congress’s leadership. Herman writes of how fast Britain was to crush this movement “almost the entirety of Congress, not just at a national-level, was imprisoned without trial within hours of Gandhi’s speech” This shows that even though British were pre-occupied with the war effort they were not willing to relinquish their authority to the extent of arresting the country’s largest political party.
The British passed many acts that were met with dissatisfaction by the Indians. As a result the Indians formed large groups and revolted against the British, but the British forces crushed each movement. Though Indian leader like Mahatma Gandhi arose and openly condemned the British. He was people’s leader who insspired the masses not to be afraid of the intensity. Finally after 200 years of British rule, India gained independence from on 15th August 1947. Many innocent lives were sacrificed for this achievement and India was also separated from Pakistan. The partition of India and Pakistan spread incidents of horror in the both countries. But due to the effort of the leaders masses, India was able to gain freedom from the British and progress till the present times. On the other hand, the situation of colonizing India under Britain had the most