Question

what were the main problems faced by india during independence?

Answer 1

There were so many challenge that India was facing in the process of nation building. A significant contribution of Indian national movement had been to forge India’s unity cutting across class, caste, ethnic and religious divides. It was achieved as a struggle against colonialism. After 1947, when the British had left India there was a resurfacing of tensions inherent in the Indian society.

The foremost was the challenge of religious communalism. The national movement’s attempt at uniting Hindus and Muslims in face of the higher challenge of colonialism was undermined even when the major movements like Non-cooperation and Civil Disobedience Movements were withdrawn.

In the post-colonial phase with the growing social and economic insecurity communalism reared its ugly head again. Partition stimulated a wave of communal unrest. The challenge was to address the problem of communal tension and its violent aftermath.

Various approaches were tried which included gearing up the law and order machinery to the education of the general population regarding the syncretic tradition of Hindu-Muslim unity. You must be aware of the recent controversy regarding the syllabus and curriculum of history writing in India.

In the 1960s and 70s a major attempt was made to write history textbooks countering communalism and putting towards the secular viewpoint. Attempts were also made to reconcile through peace marches, seminars, discussions as well as cultural interactions.

These it may be pointed out were responses coming from within the civil society. At the constitutional level fundamental rights to equality and freedom. For minority institutions to run their own affairs sought to create an atmosphere in which amicable conditions came in to being for communal harmony