Partition of India and Pakistan

1. Partition of India and Pakistan

2. Pair Activities • Throughout this PowerPoint Lecture, there are pair activities built in that you will be completing with your partner next to the slides on the lines. • This is to help review key concepts, get you thinking critically, and give opportunities for clarification of main points.

3. 1 Cause and Effect: Partition of India Effects Long-Term Causes Short-Term Causes Connections to Today Violence erupts as millions of Hindus and Muslims cross the border between India and Pakistan Gandhi is assassinated by Hindu extremists India and Pakistan become centers of Cold War rivalry Establishment of the state of Bangladesh Muslim conquest of northern India in 1100s British imperialism in India Nationalists organize the Indian National Congress in 1885 Muslim nationalists form separate Muslim League in 1906 World War II weakens European colonial empires Pressure from Indian nationalists increases Insistence by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League that Muslims have their own state Rioting between Hindus and Muslims throughout northern India Continuing clash between India and Pakistan over Kashmir Nuclear arms race as both India and Pakistan refuse to sign Non-Proliferation Treaty

4. Review: Religious Conflict and Partition Religious Groups • India had long had two main religious groups: Hindus, Muslims • 1940, home to 255 million Hindus, 92 million Muslims • Smaller numbers of Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists Muslim Fears • As hopes for Indian independence rose, so did religious tensions • Some Muslims feared large Hindu population would dominate independent democratic India, wanted separate nation to protect their rights Muslim League • Muhammad Ali Jinnah led Muslim League, worked for interests of India’s Muslims • 1940, Muslim League called for a partition, division of India, creation of separate Muslim, Hindu countries

5. Pair Activity • Next to each map, write down your observations on the major locations of Hindus and Muslims in South Asia in 1909.

6. Map of Indian Subcontinent Directions: Click back and forth quickly between this slide and the previous one. Notice where each group is located.

7. Map of Indian Subcontinent

8. Task  Predict what will happen after the British leave India (decolonization). Do this next to this slide. Explain why.

9. British Views on Independence

10. Why Britain Agreed To Independence • 1. WWII Left Britain Broke, Weak, Needing To Rebuild--- • No additional resources for maintaining colonies • 2. Labour Party Came to Power --- • More sympathetic to Indian desire for self government. • Had been against colonialism for a long time and believed that other countries should rule themselves. • 3. Sacrifices Made By India During WWII--- • Over 2 million Indians fought in WWII for the British • India raised food for soldiers at expense of its own population, (Great Bengali Famine took over 1 million lives)

11. Britain Now Wants to Withdraw • The aim of the British government was now to have a peaceful and quick withdrawal from India. • They did not want to be caught up in any violence so any withdrawal and the future shape of India would have to be negotiated with the two Indian parties. • They needed to get agreement from both, no solution could be imposed as the British were too weak to enforce it.

12. Independence, BUT? • Britain agreed to grant India independence by 1947 on one condition: India had to have a plan for dealing with the ongoing religious issues between Hindus and Muslims

13. Pair Activity • Which of the reasons for why Britain agreed to independence for South Asia do you think was the greatest motivator and why?

14. Idea of Partition

15. Idea of Partition • The Muslim League had been the first to come up with the idea of partitioning India and in 1940 presented a plan to the INC to partition after independence. • The INC rejected the plan because Gandhi believed Hindus and Muslims could work out their problems.

16. Jinnah’s and Muslim League’s Goal • Concern was the in a united India the Hindus would have the majority and dominate the government • Afraid the Hindus would severely interfere with the Muslim ways of living as per the Quran---that the Hindus would take away their social and religious freedom • Was the consistent betterment of Muslims marked by developments in all the spheres of life...”our spiritual, cultural, and economic consonance with own ideals and according to the genius of our people.”

17. Indian Congress Party & Muslim League cannot agree on 1 or 2 state solution

18. Gandhi on Partition • “My whole soul rebels against the idea that Hinduism and Islam represent two antagonistic cultures and doctrines. To assent to such a doctrine is for me a denial of God.” • Pair Activity: What does Gandhi mean by this quote? How does this relate to the issue of partition?

19. Reasons for Partition • 1. Ideological Divide: INC and Muslim League could not agree on how the representative government of independence India should be based. • Should a certain number of seats be set aside for Muslims, Sikhs, etc…to ensure that the all the religions were represented • Should it just be completely open…which would mean that since most of India was Hindu, almost all of the government positions would be filled by Hindus and not the other religious groups

20. Reasons for Partition • 2. British Treatment of Hindus and Muslims: • The British had followed a divide-and-rule policy in India. • Even in the census they categorized people according to religion and viewed and treated them as separate from each other. • They had based their knowledge of the peoples of India on the basic religious texts and the intrinsic differences they found in them instead of on the way they coexisted in the present. • Encouraged Indians to see religion as the key defining feature of their identity

21. Reasons for Partition • 3. British Feared the Muslims: • The British were still fearful of the potential threat from the Muslims, who were the former rulers of the subcontinent, ruling India for over 300 years under the Mughal Empire. • Since Jinnah and the Muslim League pushed for two states, the British went in that direction.

22. Reasons for Partition • 4. Mistakes Made by INC: • Congress made several mistakes in their policies which further convinced the League that it was impossible to live in a undivided India. • One such policy was the institution of the "Bande Matram," a national anthem which expressed anti-Muslim sentiments, in the schools of India where Muslim children were forced to sing it.

23. Reasons for Partition • 5. Recent Riots and Acts of Violence: • Calcutta Riots: Jinnah decided it was time to push for a separate Muslim State by using mass (large groups of people) protests. • The 16th of August was to be Direct Action Day. – A strike by Muslim workers and a meeting of 100,000 through the streets of Calcutta. • It started when the Muslim League members asked the Hindu business men to close their stores and the Hindus retaliated. • When the Hindu owners opened their stores they were beaten and they fought back in their defense.

24. Reasons for Partition: Riots and Violence Continued • Jinnah had wanted a peaceful demonstration but trouble flared up leading to three days and nights of rioting and killing. • 6,000 killed, 20,000 injured, 100,000 homeless. • The violence spread to other areas, Gandhi was horrified and travelled to areas of conflict to call for peace. • This made any chance of togetherness and unity between Muslims and Hindus seem impossible.

26. Pair Activity • Rank in order of importance from number one being most important to number five being least the five reasons for why Britain created two nations in South Asia. • Next to each ranking, explain your thinking/why.

27. Work of Lord Mountbatten

28. Lord Mountbatten against the backdrop of the count-down to Indian Independence

29. Lord Mountbatten – Vice-RoyFebruary 1947 • He was sent to get agreement on a one state government within the British commonwealth. • The British Prime Minister wanted Britain to withdraw by June 1948. • It was hoped a deadline would push the parties into agreement.

30. Lord Mountbatten • Developed a good relationship with Gandhi and Nehru • Did not have a good relationship with Jinnah who felt that Mountbatten favored the Indian National Congress • After some time, Mountbatten became convinced that a united India was impossible

31. Mountbatten’s Reasons for Two States • His first weeks in India showed him the gulf between Hindus and Muslims could not be bridged.---riots in Punjab and the North-West Province • Gandhi’s fasts and pleas could not stop the religious violence • He realized that the violence of 1946 had left bitter scars on the population. • Realized the Indian National Congress and Muslim League would not agree on how to handle one state---result in chaos • Realized that independence should be as soon as possible and suggested August 28, 1947

32. The Mountbatten PlanJune 1947 • There were to be two separate states. ( India and Pakistan) • Pakistan was to be made up of two parts in the North West and North East separated by 1000 miles. • The Punjab and Bengal with their small Muslim majorities were to be divided and parts given to each State. • The Muslim majority parts were to be given to Pakistan.

33. Mountbatten Plan • India would be made up of the old Raj ( British controlled India). • The Princely States could decide which country they joined. • Most decided to join India. • The big problem was KASHMIR – A Muslim majority state with a Hindu Ruler.

34. Mountbatten Plan • Mountbatten had provided for the separate state that the Muslim League had been demanding but had not given them all of the Punjab or Bengal. • The date for withdrawal was brought forward to 15th August 1947. ( 2 months later – rushed?)

35. Pair Activity • What do you think about the Mountbatten Plan and why? • Do you think it was a good plan? Why or why not?

36. How Was Partition Handled?

37. British Plan for Partition • The British left much of the groundwork for India to figure out. • The British created the border between India and Pakistan. • Government facilities were to be split equally, which did not happen. • Individual communities could decide for themselves which country they wanted to live in.

38. Englishman Cyril Radcliffe draws the boundaries -Historian Lucy Chester

39. The Boundary Commission • A boundary commission was set up to draw up the borders in the Punjab and Bengal. • Cyril Radcliffe, a British civil servant, was the chairman and had the final say after getting advice from Muslim and Hindu members.

40. Boundary Commission Problems • Radcliffe had never been to India. • He knew no-one in India. • The British thought this would make him unbiased. • He had to work with out of date maps and census figures. • He had to produce a report in 37 days.

41. Radcliffe • Did not know of short timetable until he arrived in India on July 8, 1947 • He protested, but Mountbatten, Nehru, and Jinnah were firm on the August 15, 1947 withdrawal date • Hampered by the fact he was completely ignorant on information and procedures on how to draw boundaries • He lacked any advisors on boundary-making • He was biased in that he felt the process must preserve the British interests

42. Mistakes • Radcliffe operated on the assumption that India and Pakistan would have good relations after independence • He repeatedly expressed hope that India and Pakistan could work together to resolve some of the most difficult infrastructure problems created by the boundary

43. Mistakes • Allotted 62% of the Punjab to India and 55% of the population • Radcliffe had been mandated by Mountbatten to use religious demographics as his main focus in the boundary-making • But many believed Radcliffe focused more on economic considerations as being more important than the majority religions in areas

44. Mistakes • The irrigation systems and other infrastructures of Punjab and Bengal were build under one administration • They were never intended to be divided • So the boundary line did not address the fact that neither Pakistan nor India could operate the infrastructure separate from each other • It disrupted the Punjab’s road, telephone, telegraph, and irrigation systems

45. Mistakes • The new borders went through villages, farms and even houses. • Millions of Hindus or Muslims were left on the wrong side of the border. • They would not publish details of the new borders until after Independence, this increased tensions.

46. Mistakes: Effects • Pakistan: Provinces of Sind, Baluchistan, North-West Frontier, West Punjab, and East Bengal • This means that East Pakistan was separated by the rest of Pakistan by 1000 miles of Indian territory • Resulted in: • 5 million Muslims in India • 5 million Hindus in Pakistan • Sikhs being ignored

47. Mistakes: Effects • Uttar Pradesh: the heartland of Indian Muslims was not included in Pakistan • 90% of the subcontinent’s industry and taxable income base remained in India including the largest cities • The economy of Pakistan was chiefly agricultural. • Pakistan only received 17.5% of the former government’s financial assets. • Once the army was paid for, there was no money left of economic development.

48. Pair Activity • What is the message of the political cartoon? • How can you tell? • Identify three examples from the history of the partition that support the message of the political cartoon.

50. When did the Partition occur? The Partition occurred on August 14, 1947 and August 15, 1947.