Question

Analyze any two of the positive effects on the Muslims due to the Partition of Bengal in 1905

Answer 1

Answer:

In 1905 the decision of the Partition of Bengal and creation of a new province (Eastern Bengal and Assam) by Lord Curzon was an epochmaking step of the British Government. It created a new sensation both in political and social history of Bengal & the Indian Sub-continent. The event also brought out an unprecedented awakening in the Muslim education of East Bengal. However, there was a mixed reaction in the two major communities of Bengal viz. Hindus and Muslims after the partition of Bengal. The Muslims, the majority community of this part, welcomed the decision; on the other hand, the educationally more developed Hindu community rejected it. To them, the partition of Bengal was done merely to weaken the Indian nationalistic movement. But the so long disregarded Muslim society of Eastern Bengal felt rather much encouraged and regarded it as a correct step in the development of their own society.1 The difference and disagreement on this issue caused collision between these two communities. Alongside, it gave birth to political unrest in the form of terrorist and allied movement of 'Swadeshi'.2 In the face of terrorist agitation, the British Government was compelled to announce its annulment in 1911. But despite so many negative reactions, the positive influence of the Partition of Bengal in the educational arena of East Bengal was unprecedented and surprising in the contemporary social history of Bengal. Especially at that time, extension in the education sector, which was recorded in the Muslim majority Eastern Bengal, was quickest ever at any period of British India.