The Causes & Consequences of the Partition of India Gov 1255; Lecture 3

Prof Prerna Singh

Questions for this Lecture

Why was India partitioned? Was this inevitable?

What were the consequences of Indian partition?

Was the extent of violence at Partition inevitable?What were the longer term implications of partition?

Why was India partitioned?

Demand for Pakistan by the Muslim League

All India Muslim League Working Committee, Lahore session, March 1940

Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Founder of Pakistan

Why was India partitioned?

Why was India partitioned?

Jinnah’s demand for Pakistan driven by political, NOT religious reasons

Jinnah & Gandhi

Why was India partitioned?

Nehru & Gandhi

The Two-Nation Theory

Why was India partitioned?

Two Views on Muslim Separatism

Primordalist

Instrumentalist

Primordialist view Ethnic conflict is the result of fundamental,

‘natural’ differences between groups

Main problems with primordialism:

1. Assumption of fixed, natural identities.

2. Failure to account for the significant variation in the incidence and intensity of ethnic mobilization and conflict.

Instrumentalist View of Ethnicity

Ethnicity as a weapon in the pursuit of collective advantage. Ethnic conflict as a result of conflicting socio-political, economic interests.

Map of India with Distribution of Muslims (1909)

Emergence of Muslim Separatism in UP

Emergence of Elite Hindu and Muslim Nationalism

Political competition: Hindu-Hindi vs. Muslim-Urdu

Hindu Mahasabha + Muslim League

Popular Religious Nationalism

Economic changes:-Railways TradeWealthy Hindu merchant castesSocial changes:- Beginnings of “Western education” through govt colleges

Rise of Hindu elite Dominance of Muslims

Two Views on Muslim Separatism

* ROLE OF THE BRITISH *

Role of the British

The British “welcomed and furthered the animosities between Hindus and

Muslims” (Guha).

WHY?

Role of the British in India’s Partition

WHY?

Classification and division was the only way they knew to make sense of India’s overwhelming diversity

Role of the British in India’s Partition

WHY?Classification and division was the only way they knew to make sense of India’s overwhelming diversity

Check anti-colonial sentiment by creating internal dissensions in the population

Favored Muslims-Closer to Monotheistic

Islam- History of Muslim

participation in the 1857 Rebellion

Distribution of Different Religious Communities in India, 1909

Distribution of Muslims in India, 1909

Largest population movement in recorded history:

12.5 million people

A crowd of Muslims at the Old Fort (Purana Qila) in Delhi, which had been converted into a vast camp for Muslim refugees waiting to be transported to Pakistan. Manchester Guardian, 27 September 1947

Distribution of Different Religious Communities in India, 1909

Train to Pakistan, A Railway Station in Punjab

Estimates range up to 1 million killed in Partition Violence

India's Survivors of Partition Begin to Break Long Silence: Projects Document Anguish of 1947 Split

The Washington PostWednesday, March 12, 2008; Page A01

NEW DELHI -- Every year in March, Bir Bahadur Singh goes to the local Sikh shrine and narrates the grim events of the long night six decades ago when 26 women in his family offered their necks to the sword for the sake of honor.

At the time, sectarian riots were raging over the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, and the men of Singh’s family decided it was better to kill the women than have them fall into the hands of Muslim mobs.

"None of the women protested, nobody wept," Singh, 78, recalled as he stroked his long, flowing white beard, his voice slipping into a whisper. "All I could hear was the sound of prayer and the swing of the sword going down on their necks. My story can fill a book.”

Was the extent of partition violence inevitable?

Guha – No

Role of the British

Lord Mountbatten against the backdrop of the

count-down to Indian Independence

Lord Mountbatten, Last Viceroy of India

Was the extent of partition violence inevitable?

Guha – No

Role of the British

Role of Nationalist leaders

Gandhi, Nehru vs. Jinnah

Legacy of Partition

Refugee Rehabilitation

Young Refugee sits atop a wall in Purana Quila (Old Fort) in Delhi, transformed into a vast refugee camp

Legacy of Partition

Refugee Rehabilitation

India-Pakistan relations

Dividing Government Documents

Legacy of Partition

Refugee Rehabilitation

India-Pakistan relations

Challenge for Indian Secularism

Next week…

Nehru’s India