What Were the Problems Facing a Newly Independent India After the Partition of 1947? How Were They Handled? Were They Successful?

Disputes over land seem to be a catalyst for almost every hostility and war since the dawn of time. The addition of politics and religion into the matter only serves to aggravate an already tense situation. Kashmir knows this all too well. The conflict between Hindus and Muslims seems to be an ever reoccurring battle. This is also evidenced in population battles. Hindus make up the social majority of the population of India by almost eighty percent. Feelings of tension and uneasiness are a natural reaction to being dominated by a majority and are a problem unto itself.

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).

The origins of the conflict can be traced back most clearly to 1947. The Indian Independence Bill went into effect in August of that year, resulting in the split of the area into two separate states: India and

The Muslim areas, on the other hand, will be economically backward” (Stanford Document B). The British government recognized that this conflict could lead to further clashes, so it sent Louis Mountbatten to India who announced the Partition Plan and to pushed the transfer of power ahead by ten months (Stanford Timeline). That advance indicated how anxious the British were to leave India and grant its people independence. In 1947, British, Muslim and Hindu leaders finally agreed to partition India, so Muslim and Hindu refugees were forced to migrate to Muslim Pakistan or Hindu India (Bentley 890). As the

Because government as well as their neighbour were against them. Both these powers wants to reduce the population of Muslims in state. Over 32 million Muslims lost their property. This approach was totally power based. Mostly political power was used in this massacre. Hindu wanted to boycott the Muslims. It is kind of war against both the religion which resulted murders, rapes, homelessness and destroyed the property.

Sikhism transformed after the eighteenth century. The entitlement of war had made a big impact on power within regions in India. The Early nineteenth century, Sikhs dominated most of the territory in Punjab due to their ruler, Ranjit Singh. The nineteenth century was a time for Sikhs to understand their identity again. A few years later, imperialism appeared in India from British companies. The British controlled Punjab in 1840s. Corruption and oppression raised because British looked at Sikh as enemies. The British colony started creating policies to suppress Sikhs and started instigating tension with other dominant religions in India. In 1947, the partition of India and Pakistan began from India Independence Act. The Sikhs were promised self

Pakistan also wanted to end Indian influence in Afghanistan because India had used its Afghan allies for stirring troubles in the Pakistani provinces of Northeast Frontier and Balichustan. The tribes living in these two regions have ethnic affinities with the Afghan tribes, and India and its Afghan allies were supporting secessionist movement in these two provinces.

Kashmir is conflict territory after the partition of India and Pakistan. Conflict is not only between India and Pakistan but also India and the religious militants. Religious Militants are conducting a jihad to govern by the religious law. Historically, Kashmir included Sufis Muslim not orthodox Muslim. Numerous international events had influenced in the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Kashmir. Jihad is not originally from Kashmir but they are foreign militancy bought during the end of the Soviet –Afghanistan War. Additionally, they are trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan Inter service Intelligence helped them to incorporate into organized militant groups. Pakistan helped Jihad group with full moral,

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 partition of India left a lasting legacy on India politics. Although the British rule was exploitive, it did much to modernize India (Roskin 336). This all began in 1947 when the British left India and the state was divided into two separate states. A mostly Hindu India and a mostly Muslim Pakistan. This caused for massive immigrations on both sides. It also caused a large divide between the two states causing violence and hatred between the two. There were over half a million lives lost during the partition (Roskin 331-8).

Making a decision is not always as simple as it may seem. Needs and preferences must be ascertained, someone will ultimately be compelled to make a choice, and more often than not, others will be forced to make sacrifices and may become indignant that their preferences were not honored. The decision to partition India was not a simple decision, but, in fact, the very opposite of that; India was in a state of such mayhem that it seemed as if it would be impossible to come up with the perfect solution. Eventually, the British government was forced to partition India and virtually everyone was forced to make dire sacrifices. As India was divided into the nation of Pakistan and the Republic of India, it is not an understatement to suggest that millions of lives were overturned. However, when accurately trying to understand the Indian Partition and its effect, historical accounts often focus solely on prominent figures and overlook the experience and perspectives of the millions at the ground level. Not only would studying the viewpoints and experiences of ordinary people bring forth a very different sense of history, but it is important to wholly understand the Partition as well. By considering this aspect of history, this evaluation will demonstrate that, by ignoring non-elites’ interpretations and experiences, historians omitted key elements of the story. [Can you add a roadmap that looks ahead to some of the specific themes you’ll discuss?]

The partition of India on August 14-15 1947 saw Kashmir become an independent nation like many other princely states. The understanding was that each of these states was to accede to either Pakistan or India based on their geographical position and the wishes of their population. Maharaja Hari Singh delayed his decision in an attempt to maintain Kashmiri independence, a move that resulted in frustration and

India thinks that Kashmir is not the issue for an international concern and India does not consider UN’s take on any political action over Kashmir. India’s apprehension of Kashmir is reasonable somehow because India has fought three times with Pakistan regarding Kashmir’s issue. On the contrary, resolution does not come through military action. According to India, if India is ready to establish Kashmir as a democratic province with all the privileges of an autonomous, there is no guarantee to Kashmir will be under the Indian union. Because there are lots of terrorist groups are fighting against India. Pakistan is supporting them by providing materials as well as financial backing (Schofield, V. 2000).

Question: Examine the process of state creation in India through the lens of the short story– ‘Toba Tek Singh’ written by Saadat Hasan Manto

(Indian Independence Act 1947): The Indian Independence Act, which came into force on 18 July 1947, divided the British Indian territory into two new states of India and Pakistan, which were to be dominions under the Commonwealth of Nations until their constitutions were in effect. The Constituent Assembly was divided into two for the separate states.