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Peoples & World Cultures (Cote)Unit VI: India (South Asia)

6.4 - Independence & Partition

Source: www.1947partitionarchive.org/

This website is maintained by the a volunteer staff who is interviewing and recording the stories of people who were displaced by the partition of British India in 1947. This is very important work, as that generation has become very old and it is important to preserve their experiences for posterity.

Directions

On the “browse” tab, you will find a map tagged with links to summaries of interviews that were conducted with people who were displaced during partition. Select at least one story and summarize it in the space below.

Questions to Consider Notes

What is his/her name?

What is his/her religion?(if stated or able to be determined)

How old was he/she at the time of partition?

From where was he/she forced to move?to where did he/she go?

How did being displaced affect this person? his/her family?

Peoples & World Cultures (Cote)Unit VI: India (South Asia)

Primer: The Painful Birth of India and Pakistan (1945-1947)

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Standard(s) Referenced (MLRs): E1.b (eras + turning points), E2.a (issues affecting unity and diversity)

The British Have to Go

Before World War II, rising protests against the British made it difficult for them to maintain their rule of India. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi [right] and Jawaharlal Nehru [left] were prominent Indians leading protests against British rule.They were leaders of an important political movement, the Indian National Congress (INC). The INC wanted independence for India. They envisioned a secular, democratic India. Gandhi was a believer in non-violent protest (satyagraha Sanskrit “insisting on the truth”). One of his most famous protests was the Salt March. Under the British, the Indians were forced to buy salt from British controlled supplies. In 1930, he organized a protest in which Indians marched to the sea to make their own salt. Many thousands of Indians participated. British authorities were confused and did not know how to respond to non-violent protest. 80,000 Indians would be arrested. Similar protests spread across India boycotting British goods. In Peshawar, British Indian forces were order to fire on a crowd of protesters, killing several hundred. Protests like strengthened Indian popular opinion against British rule.

During World War II (1939-1945), the British faced continued Indian protests. This was a problem, as Britain depended on India for its war effort. Great Britain borrowed billions of dollars from India to fight the war; over 2.5 million Indian soldiers would fight for the British Empire. Many Indian leaders were promised independence post-war in exchange for supporting Britain. The All-India Muslim League chose to support the British. It was led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who wanted a to create a separate nation-state for Muslims. The Indian National Congress demanded the British leave India first before supporting the war effort. From 1942, they led a “Quit India” campaign. Many of the INCs leaders, including Gandhi and Nehru, were imprisoned.

After World War II, a number of factors forced the British to make a hasty exit from India. Britain was bankrupt and exhausted from the war. They did not have the money or soldiers to maintain a presence in India. Also, Indian popular opinion was firmly opposed to the British presence. By 1945, it was clear that the British would not be able to keep control over India for much longer. An exit strategy was necessary.

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The Problem for Muslims (and Sikhs)

Under the British, Indian Muslims were a privileged group in the government, the military, and the economy. The problem was that they only made up 25% of the population. Most other Indians were Hindu. In a democratic India, Muslims would be a minority. Some Muslims worried that they would lose their special status at the top of Indian society.

Similarly, Sikhs, who had faced a history of discrimination in the subcontinent, but who had prospered after the British conquest, wondered what would happen to them in an independent India. The same was true of many other ethnic and religious minorities. That fear led many of these groups to support the INCs ideas for an inclusive, secular India, in which they might enjoy the protections of law.

.On the map [left], darker green represents a higher percentage of Muslims in the community. Although Muslims were scattered across British India, most could be found in the Northwest or the Northeast. Some Muslim leaders were willing to accept a special arrangement for Muslim areas to rule themselves within an Indian union, but the INC was opposed to the idea. This led some Muslims, like Muhammad Ali Jinnah of the All-India Muslim League (a political party), to call for the British to divide India before they left, into a Muslim-majority Pakistan and a Hindu-majority India.

As the British rushed to exit India following World War II, they searched for a plan that would provide peace and stability for India. The British also wanted an independent India that would be friendly to the British and British interests. The last British ruler of India, Viceroy Louis Mountbatten, decided on splitting up British India. He believed that separating the religions would prevent violence between communities after British forces left. Creating a Pakistan for Muslims would appease the All-India Muslim League, which had been loyal during the war. He also believed dividing India would serve British interests.

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This plan was called “Partition,” which means to divide something into parts. A majority Muslim Pakistan and a majority Hindu India would be created. A commission would divide up British controlled territory. The 584 “princely states”, which were not directly controlled by the British, would be free to “accede to” or join either India or Pakistan.

There were parts of India where drawing a line would be easy, and other places where it would be hopelessly complicated. As independence approached, communities began to arm militias to protect themselves from violence from other communities. Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs eyed each other warily. Each feared being on the wrong side of the lines in a divided subcontinent.

[right] a meeting between Nehru and Jinnah. Both the INC and the Muslim League would petition the British during the process of Independence and Partition.

The Partition of British India (1947)The Punjab was under British direct rule. The region sat right on the proposed line of partition. The region also contained a large population of Muslims (53.2%), Hindus (29.1%), and Sikhs (14.9%). Muslims, who formed a slight majority, hoped it would go to Pakistan. Some Sikhs wanted to cede Muslim parts of the Punjab to Pakistan and Hindu parts to India, leaving an independent Sikhistan. Other Sikhs wanted the majority of Sikh territory to be incorporated into India. A commission was formed to determine the fate of the Punjab. The

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commission was made up of two Muslims, a Hindu, and a Sikh. The commission deadlocked and the division of the Punjab fell into the hands of colonial officials instead. The Punjab was split between India and Pakistan. Many Sikhs and Hindus were on the Pakistani side of the Partition. Many Muslims were on the Indian side of the Partition.

As Independence neared, violence between religious groups became intense. Muslim refugees fled into Pakistan from Hindu-dominated India. Hindu and Sikh refugees fled into India from Muslim-dominated Pakistan. About 10 million Punjabis were forced from their homes. This remains the largest forced human migration in history. [above: Muslim refugees flee to Pakistan] Villages were destroyed, people were tortured and mutilated, and 75-90,000 women were abducted and/or raped. There was violence committed on all sides, and each community was a victim. There is evidence to suggest that some of the violence was organized by community leaders and was not entirely spontaneous. In the Punjab alone, estimates range between 500,000 and 800,000 killed. Independence officially came on August 15, 1947. This was not an end to violence, however.

Jammu and Kashmir was a large princely state in the far north of India along the line of Partition Jammu and Kashmir was ruled by a Hindu, Maharaja (Sanskrit “Great King”) Hari Singh. The majority of his subjects were Muslims. Both India and Pakistan felt that Kashmir should rightfully belong to them. The Maharaja and some Kashmiris wanted independence for Kashmir. In spring of 1947, a Muslim rebellion in Western parts of Kashmir was supported by Pakistan. In response, Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession in October, which joined Kashmir to India in exchange for military aid. This was the start of the first Indo-Pakistani War (1947-8), the

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first of several wars between the countries and the start of a conflict over Kashmir that persists today.

Hyderabad was a large and wealthy state in the heart of the Indian peninsula. A Muslim ruler, Nizam (Urdu “Administrator”) Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, ruled over a mostly Hindu population. Peasant rebellions after World War II threatened the rule of the Nizam. Most of the rebels were Hindus. In response, Muslim elites formed militias called Razakars to support the rule of the Nizam. When the leadership of the Razakars pressured the Nizam to accede to Pakistan, India intervened (i.e. invaded) and compelled the Nizam to accede to India instead in 1948.

Partition took a terrible toll on the Indian subcontinent. The horrible violence and the millions who were displaced was a terrible tragedy. Over 14 million people were forced to flee their homes. Between one and two million people are estimated to have been killed in conflicts during Partition and Independence. The trauma is a major cause of the continued tension between India and Pakistan. Today, 80% of Indians view Pakistan as a threat. 87% of Pakistanis have a negative view of India.

RESOURCES CONSULTED

Ahmed, I. (2012). “The Bloody Punjab Partition.” South Asia Citizens Web.

Basu, T (2014). "The Fading Memory of South Asia's Partition." The Atlantic.

Crowe, A. (2014). “The Sikhs and the Partition of the Punjab.” University of Edinburgh.

Ghosh, P. (2013) "Partition Of India And Pakistan: The Rape Of Women On An Epic, Historic Scale." International Business Times.

Sengupta, Somini. (2013). "Potent Memories From a Divided India." The New York Times.

Pictures from Wikicommons

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Peoples & World Cultures( India (South Asia)

6.4 Independence & Partition Formative

Part I - Objective (10 points)

___1) The British were forced to leave India for all of the following reasons, EXCEPTa. they had little money or resources after World War IIb. massive protests by Indians who wanted the British to leavec. an armed revolution defeated British forcesd. Strong anti-British public opinion in India

___2) Some Muslims were afraid that in an independent, democratic Indiaa. The Hindus would force them to leave Indiab. they would lose their special status at the top of societyc. they would be vulnerable to invasiond. Islam would be banned by a Hindu majority

___3) The British decided to partition British India into India and Pakistan becausea. they believed it would reduce violence between Muslims and Hindusb. they wanted to make them both weaker, so that they would not be a threat to Britainc. they thought a united India would be too big for one government to ruled. they had been different countries before the British came

___4) Partition caused all of the following in 1947, EXCEPTa. the largest forced migration in human historyb. terrible violence committed against Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh communitiesc. the division of Hyderabad between India and Pakistand. a war between Pakistan and India

___5) Today, India and Pakistana. have a deep mistrust and fear of each otherb. have a close partnership in government and tradec. are once more part of the same nationd. are separated by an enormous wall

Part II (12 points) Collins Type II

Prompt Scoring

Explain why the experience of Independence and Partition has created fear and mistrust between India and Pakistan. Give at least three specific, significant reasons. Be sure to represent both India and Pakistan’s perspectives.

12 points (2 for reason, 2 for explanation)