explain the policy of divide and rule that were introduced by the british?
Answers
Divide and Rule is a very old political strategy. It basically means that you divide the population into manageable chunks and that makes it impossible for them to come together and fight against the sovereign authority. This strategy is also used in economics and society.
Divide and Rule policy was a policy of the British in which they sowed the seeds of hatred among communities of Hindus and Muslims so that we could not be united and strong enough to fight with the British .
Why did they adopt the policy ?
They adopted the policy so that they can easily administer our country .
They can easily extract resources and exploit us .
The Muslim and Hindu unity was their strongest enemy.
Their unity brought about the First War of Independence .
Hence they resorted to this policy.
How did they implement the Divide and Rule Policy ?
They implemented the Divide and Rule Policy by the following ways :
- The British Government portrayed the Muslims as plunderers to the Hindus.
- They portrayed Hindu rulers as cruel kings to the Muslim subjects .
- They tried to justify that Bengal was partitioned for creating Muslim majority.
- They gave special aid to Muslim madarsas .
- They tried to spread communal hatred through literature.
- They spread communal hatred through the press .
- They tried to take advantage of the caste system.