-Caveat Lector-
>From http://www.boloji.com/perspective/partition.htm
> Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, was given full power by
> one of the British leaders to negotiate any agreement he could to help
> come to some sort of conclusion. Mountbatten saw that the only way for
> the British to withdraw was to transfer power to two governments, not
> one.
}}}>Begin
Partition of India
By Anjali Gupta
August 15, 1947 was a very significant day for Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs
and many others.
It marked the day of the British partition of India into a Muslim-
controlled Pakistan and a Hindu-dominated India. India won its
freedom from colonial rule, ending nearly 200 years of British rule.
Many different events lead to the final decision of the partition.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the British gained full power
over India. Bitterness towards the British developed as Hindus and
Muslims were denied jobs and high positions in the government and
army.
The Indian National Congress (INC), lead by Jawaharlal Nehru, was
created by the end of the 19th Century. Indians demanded equal
opportunity and freedom from colonial rule.
The British wanted to make the Muslims their allies in order to
counter the perceived threat of the Hindu educated class. The British
feared the potential threat from the Muslims, since the Muslims were
the former rulers of the subcontinent and ruled India for over 300
years under the Mughal Empire. In order to win them over to their
side, the British helped support the All-India Muslim Conference.
They instilled the notion that the Muslims were a separate political
entity and by the beginning of the 1900s they gave the Muslims
separate electorates in local government all over British India. Thus
the idea of the separateness of Muslims in India was built into the
electoral process of India.
Muslim leaders led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah felt that the Hindus, by
dominating the Indian National Congress, were beginning to dictate
decision-making in British India. The Muslims felt they should have
their own state in order to protect their Islamic heritage. So in
1940, the All-India Muslim League declared its desire for a separate
state. Hindus began to feel uncomfortable about being a minority in a
majority Muslim State. Relations between the two groups began to
deteriorate.
On August 16, 1946, in its demand for a separate Pakistan, the Muslim
League called for "Direct Action" day. Direct Action day witnessed
thousands of Muslims and Hindus fighting in mixed areas. Calcutta
became the scene of the most brutal violence in what became known as
the great 'Calcutta killings'. Within 72 hours, more than 5,000
people died, at least 20,000 were seriously injured, and a hundred
thousand residents of Calcutta City alone were left homeless. As
Jinnah remarked "If not a divided India, then a destroyed India".
More violence followed as the rioting spread to the rural areas of
Punjab and the Ganges valley.
British and Indian leaders such as Nehru and Valla Bhai Patel decided
that the only solution to the conflict was a partition. Lord
Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, was given full power by one
of the British leaders to negotiate any agreement he could to help
come to some sort of conclusion. Mountbatten saw that the only way
for the British to withdraw was to transfer power to two governments,
not one. With this in mind, he pressured and finally persuaded
congress to accept the idea of a divided India. He made the
announcement of the partition and declared the boundaries, which
would divide India into two. His plan was to create two separate
wings in the areas where the Muslims were the most numerous, in
northwest India and in eastern Bengal which together would form
Jinnah's Pakistan. This meant that both Bengal and Punjab would be
divided between India and Pakistan.
Thus, August 14, 1947 saw the birth of the new Islamic Republic of
Pakistan- a Muslim nation separate from the predominantly Hindu
India. At midnight the next day (on Aug. 15, 1947) India won its
freedom from colonial rule. Pakistan was made up of two regions: West
Pakistan on the Indus River plain, and East Pakistan, which is now
known as Bangladesh.
In a speech to the nation in the night of August 14th, Nehru, the
first Prime Minister of independent India said "A moment comes which
comes but rarely in history, when we step from the old to the new,
when a age ends, and when the soul of a nation long suppressed, finds
utterance."
For Indians, the partition was the logical outcome of Britain's
policies of dividing and ruling. For Pakistanis it was their founding
moment. It was the outcome of the struggle of Muslims to have their
separate identity recognized by both the British and the Indian
nationalist movement. For the British, the partition was a necessity
because they could no longer afford the cost of maintaining colonial
rule. It was unquestionably a very significant event for many.
The partition can also be seen from a different perspective; on a
more personal level. "Cracking India", a novel written by Bapsi
Sidhwa, is a fascinating account of the violent racial-religious
clashes created by the partition of India and Pakistan as seen
through the eyes of Lenny, an eight-year-old girl. The experiences,
hopes and fears of Lenny provide an intense image of the period.
Lenny is growing up rich in pre-partition Lahore (the Punjabi city
that saw some of the bloodiest pogroms) in 1947. This story is unique
in that it not only comes from the point of view of a child, but also
from within an impartial community. Lenny, belonged to the minority
sect of 'Parsees', who are new there and emigrated from Persia during
the 9th century in order to escape religious persecution following
the rise of Islam. The Parsees were not allied with any particular
ethnic group during Partition and thus tried to remain neutral among
the warring Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus. Being neither Hindu nor
Muslim, the Parsees were able to keep out of the sectarian divide and
stayed on the sidelines; they were not targeted by the mobs nor
forced leave.
The story begins with the British preparing to quit their empire in
India and the process of splitting British India into Independent
India and Pakistan is about to begin. Lenny's family is well off and
maintains friendly
relations with various religious groups. But later, these relationships begin to turn
sour. Everyday jokes and innocent games between friends of different ethnic and
religious backgrounds are replaced by bickering and ha
rsh remarks over religion and family bloodlines. The serious killing begins. Lenny and
her nanny, Ayah see Sikhs slaughtering Muslims, Hindus butchering Muslims and Muslims
burning Hindus alive. Men betray one another. Ri
sing tensions are inflamed with reports of murder, rape, and rioting mobs wrecking
homes, shops and temples and mosques. "One day everybody is themselves," Lenny
observes, "and the next day they are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, C
hristian. People shrink, dwindling into symbols."
Ayah (a Hindu), is the kind of woman who is desired by every man. She has two main
admirers in this story, one a Hindu (Hasan), and the other a Muslim (Ice Candy Man).
Ice Candy Man turns into a madman when Ayah falls in
love with Hasan. He becomes one of the many roaming the streets of Lahore with
vengeance and murder on their minds. Enraged by jealousy, he leads a group of Muslim
rioters to Lenny's house to demand the removal of all Hin
du servants, including Ayah. The servants attempt to protect Ayah, claiming that she
has left the house; but trusting the Ice Candy Man, Lenny admits that Ayah is still in
the house. The young nanny is dragged off to her
death. Lenny's innocent mistake will haunt her for the rest of her life.
This story vividly portrays how the process of partition claimed many lives in the
riots. It shows it in an up close and personal level. All in the name of religion and
nationalism, people who had lived together in relati
ve harmony for centuries committed mindless acts of violence against each other. It
was a tragic experience because over a million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims who were
killed. Twelve million people were forced to move-Hindu
s to India, and Muslims to Pakistan. Both groups moved because they feared being ruled
by leaders of the other faith. If a Hindu, Muslim or Sikh was caught on the wrong side
of the dividing lines, they were driven out of
their homes. The journey was long and torturous. Many people were forced to leave
their possessions or trade them for water. Hunger, thirst and exhaustion killed
others. An estimated 75,000 women were raped.
The two countries lost many of their most dynamic leaders, such as
Gandhi, Jinnah and Allama Iqbal, soon after the partition. Pakistan
had to face the separation of Bangladesh in 1971. Even the imposition
of an official boundary has not stopped conflict between them. A war
between India and Pakistan continues to this day. Boundary issues,
left unresolved by the British, have caused two wars and continuing
conflict between the two countries. Over the past fifty years, India
and Pakistan have been in a state of constant hostility, fighting
three wars in 1947-48, 1963 and 1971. In the last decade, they have
fought over the possession of Kashmir and the drawing of boundaries
in the high Himalayas.
October 5, 2000
End<{{{
>From http://www.worldrover.com/history/india_history.html
> On August 15, 1947, India became a dominion within the Commonwealth,
> with Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister. Enmity between Hindus and
> Muslims led the British to partition British India, creating East and
> West Pakistan, where there were Muslim majorities. India became a
> republic within the Commonwealth after promulgating its constitution
> on January 26, 1950.
}}}>Begin
India
HISTORY
The people of India have had a continuous civilization since 2500
B.C., when the inhabitants of the Indus River Valley developed an
urban culture based on commerce and sustained by agricultural trade.
This civilization declined around 1500 B.C., probably due to
ecological changes.
During the second millennium B.C., pastoral, Aryan-speaking tribes
migrated from the northwest into the subcontinent. As they settled in
the middle Ganges River Valley, they adapted to antecedent cultures.
The political map of ancient and medieval India was made up of myriad
kingdoms with fluctuating boundaries. In the 4th and 5th centuries
A.D., northern India was unified under the Gupta Dynasty. During this
period, known as India's Golden Age, Hindu culture and political
administration reached new heights.
Islam spread across the subcontinent over a period of 500 years. In
the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and
established sultanates in Delhi. In the early 16th century,
descendants of Genghis Khan swept across the Khyber Pass and
established the Mughal (Mogul) Dynasty, which lasted for 200 years.
>From the 11th to the 15th centuries, southern India was dominated by
Hindu Chola and Vijayanagar Dynasties. During this time, the two
systems--the prevailing Hindu and Muslim--mingled, leaving lasting
cultural influences on each other.
The first British outpost in South Asia was established in 1619 at
Surat on the northwestern coast. Later in the century, the East India
Company opened permanent trading stations at Madras, Bombay, and
Calcutta, each under the protection of native rulers.
The British expanded their influence from these footholds until, by
the 1850s, they controlled most of present-day India, Pakistan, and
Bangladesh. In 1857, a rebellion in north India led by mutinous
Indian soldiers caused the British parliament to transfer all
political power from the East India Company to the Crown. Great
Britain began administering most of India directly while controlling
the rest through treaties with local rulers.
In the late 1800s, the first steps were taken toward self-government
in British India with the appointment of Indian councilors to advise
the British viceroy and the establishment of provincial councils with
Indian members; the British subsequently widened participation in
legislative councils. Beginning in 1920, Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi
transformed the Indian National Congress political party into a mass
movement to campaign against British colonial rule. The party used
both parliamentary and non-violent resistance and non-cooperation to
achieve independence.
On August 15, 1947, India became a dominion within the Commonwealth,
with Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister. Enmity between Hindus and
Muslims led the British to partition British India, creating East and
West Pakistan, where there were Muslim majorities. India became a
republic within the Commonwealth after promulgating its constitution
on January 26, 1950.
After independence, the Congress Party, the party of Mahatma Gandhi
and Jawaharla Nehru, ruled India under the influence first of Nehru
and then his daughter and grandson, with the exception of two brief
periods in the 1970s and 1980s.
Prime Minister Nehru governed the nation until his death in 1964. He
was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri, who also died in office. In
1966, power passed to Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister
from 1966 to 1977. In 1975, beset with deepening political and
economic problems, Mrs. Gandhi declared a state of emergency and
suspended many civil liberties. Seeking a mandate at the polls for
her policies, she called for elections in 1977, only to be defeated
by Moraji Desai, who headed the Janata Party, an amalgam of five
opposition parties.
In 1979, Desai's Government crumbled. Charan Singh formed an interim
government, which was followed by Mrs. Gandhi's return to power in
January 1980. On October 31, 1984, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated, and
her son, Rajiv, was chosen by the Congress (I)--for "Indira"--Party
to take her place. His government was brought down in 1989 by
allegations of corruption and was followed by V.P. Singh and then
Chandra Shekhar.
In 1989, the Janata Dal, a union of opposition parties, dislodged
Rajiv Gandhi's Congress (I) Party with the help of the Hindu-
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the right and the
communists on the left. This loose coalition collapsed in November
1990, and the government was controlled for a short period by a
breakaway Janata Dal group supported by Congress (I), with Chandra
Shekhar as Prime Minister. That alliance also collapsed, resulting in
national elections in June 1991.
On May 27, 1991, while campaigning in Tamil Nadu on behalf of
Congress (I), Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, apparently by Tamil
extremists from Sri Lanka. In the elections, Congress (I) won 213
parliamentary seats and put together a coalition, returning to power
under the leadership of P.V. Narasimha Rao. He was the first Congress
Party Prime Minister in 30 years who did not come from the
Gandhi/Nehru family.
Rao's Congress Government served a full 5-year term. This period
marked the beginning of a gradual process of economic liberalization
and reform, which has opened the Indian economy to the globe. India's
domestic politics also took a new shape, as divisions of caste,
creed, and ethnicity gave rise to a plethora of small, regionally
based political parties. The final months of the Rao-led Government
in the Spring of 1996 were noted for several major political
corruption scandals, which contributed to the worst electoral
performance by the Congress Party in its history. The Hindu-
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged from the May 1996
national elections as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha, but
without enough strength to prove a majority on the floor of
parliament. Under Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the BJP lasted
13 days in power. With all political parties wishing to avoid another
round of elections, a 14-party coalition led by the Janata Dal
emerged to form a government known as the United Front, under the
former Chief Minister of Karnataka, H.D. Deve Gowda. His government
lasted less than a year, as the leader of the Congress Party withdrew
his support for the Deve Gowda Government in March 1997. Mr. Inder
Kumar Gujral replaced Deve Gowda as the consensus choice for prime
minister of a 16-party coalition in the United Front.
In November 1994, the Congress Party again withdrew support for the
United Front and the President called for elections. In the February
1998 elections, the BJP again received the largest number of seats in
Parliament, 182, but fell far short of a majority. On March 20, 1998,
the President inaugurated a BJP- led coalition government with
Vajpayee again serving as Prime Minister.
On May 11 and 13, the government of Prime Minister Vajpayee conducted
a series of underground nuclear tests. U.S. President Clinton imposed
economic sanctions on India pursuant to the 1994 Nuclear
Proliferation Prevention Act.
source: U.S. State Department Background Notes 1998
End<{{{
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