Examine the cause and consequences of partition of India
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The partition of India split British India into the countries of India and Pakistan (East and West Pakistan) in 1947. This partition was part of the end of British rule over the Indian subcontinent, called British Raj. The partition was caused in part by the two-nation theory presented by Syed Ahmed Khan, due to presented religious issues. Pakistan became a Muslim country, and India became a majority Hindu but secular country. The main spokesperson for the partition was Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He became the first Governor-General of Pakistan.
Millions of people moved across the new Radcliffe Line between the two newly formed states. The population of undivided India in 1947 was about 570 million. After partition, there were 370 million people in India, 170 million in West Pakistan, and 30 million people in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
Once the lines were established, about 14.5 million people crossed the borders to what they hoped was the safety of their religious majority. The 1951 Census of Pakistan showed the number of displaced people in Pakistan at 7,226,600. They were presumably Muslims who had entered Pakistan from India. Similarly, the 1951 Census of India showed 7,295,870 displaced people, apparently Hindus and Sikhs who had moved to India from Pakistan. The two numbers add up to 14.5 million. Other people came from China as they took advantage of the open border.
The newly formed governments were unable to deal with forced migration of such huge numbers. Massive violence occurred on both sides of the border. Hundreds of thousands died; some estimates are in the millions.
The partition caused a lot of uncertainty in many parts of the new nations; especially in the region of Jammu and Kashmir.
The British Divide and Rule Policy to promote rivalry and discord among various groups
- The Bengal Partition of 1905 dividing the province into Hindu and Muslim majority areas
- The formation of Muslim League, initially to prevent Muslims from joining Congress
- Separate Electorates for the Muslims through Lucknow Pact
- Socio-religious movements such as Tabligh,Tanzim,Shuddhi, Sangathan all aimed at attacking the religious sentiments of both Hindus and Muslims
- 1937 elections: Unwillingness shown by Congress to accept the league as coalition partners drove away the League for good
- Declaration of Jinnah at the Lahore Session of the League in 1940 that Hindusand Muslims can never have a common nationality
- Pro-League attitude of the British in the August Offer 1940
- Failure of Cripps Mission and its acceptance of autonomy of Muslim majority province
- Failure of Shimla Conference indirectly sub-served the League’s demands
- The Cabinet Mission was the final nail in the coffin. This was followed by Jinnah’s brutal Direct Action Day culminating with the Mountbatten Plan 1947.
Thus, the partition can be seen as a concerted contribution from the Muslim League whose demand for a separate homeland intensified after 1940, the British who used communalism to thwart the rise of nationalism and its pro-League approach towards the end and the ultimate failure of the Congress to integrate the Muslim masses into the national movement and its inability to evolve a strategy to fight communalism.
CONSEQUENCES OF PARTITION
The partition affected people on both sides specially in the region of Punjab. While deciding the border between the two countries, Punjab and Bengal were the states to be divided primarily on the basis of religious dominance (population wise).
Women were raped brutally, often paraded naked in the streets and then murdered. Their husbands were shot dead in front of them.
Apart from riots, cholera also killed thousands of people due to lack of proper medical facilities.
Trains which were supposed to carry 40–50 people in one bogey, carried more than 100.
I read an excerpt from the novel “ Train to Pakistan”, a newly wed couple was going back to their home. They were stopped in the middle by a mob carrying guns and swords. They paraded the man naked and cut his penis in front of his wife. She was then raped and murdered.
This decision led to riots in few districts of Punjab which later spread to almost whole northern region. Many Hindus and Sikhs lived in the west, and many Muslims lived in the east, and the fears of all such minorities were so great that the Partition saw many people displaced and much intercommunal violence.
Another consequence was the mass mobilization. An approximate of 14.5 million people were displaced. People had to leave their homes where their families lived for generations.
In the refugee camps there were no proper arrangements for accomodation, food and medical facilities. A lot of people died due to lack of proper medical treatment available.
People were so outraged at that when prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited one of the refugee camps people were shouting slogans against him.
And we should not forget that partition gave us issues such as the Kashmir conflict, Siachen dispute and many more.