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SPECIAL DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE OF THE

SUBCONTINENT

Introduction

Colonial India was a constituent of the subcontinent under the jurisdiction of the British

through trade and conquest. One of the main trade catalyst for this trade remained to be

spices. Primordial groups remained attracted to the wealth of the Indians due to the long

era of Mughal rule which enriched the empire and region in various ways. Though

successful or not, the East India Company under the British remained the most

sustainable group which retained its power in the subcontinent for their own benefit for a

very prolonged period of time (100 years of Company rule plus 90 years of British

Crown rule). This study guide walks us through the colonial history of India from the

middle of the 19th century and the reactions thereof. It guides us through the means

and mechanisms that facilitated colonial raj and how British policies helped structure the

social, political and economic domains of Indian society.

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What is expected from Decolonization Committee at HUMUN ‘17?

HUMUN 2017 hence sets a committee that will assign all the delegates with stakeholder

personalities so that they can partake in the discussion. As representatives either of a

country’s government, a political party or an outfit of the sort, the delegates are

expected to analyse the situation unfolding in the subcontinent for the set timeframe.

Through this analysis, they are expected to produce terms and conditions under which

the British depart from the subcontinent and how the process of decolonization of the

vast area of the land that made up pre-partitioned India is to take place. As mentioned

before, the case study of the committee is as follows: Through the study guide, we are

made aware of many of the events leading up to the partition (1947), inclusive of party

formations, representations from each side, case studies of turmoil incidents taking

place due to the colonized rule of the British etc. The situation should be addressed

towards the future of the subcontinent where terms and conditions of the resulting

political order are to be discussed by the delegates i.e. the state which India should be

left in with regards to resources, legitimization, state-centric rule, citizenship rights,

minority inclusivity, division of lands, leadership and other similar matters.

A BASIC TIMELINE OF EVENTS THAT LED UP INDEPENDENCE

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A Brief History and Analysis of the Political scenario in the 1930s that led to the

partition (1858-1939)

1858: The East India company was formed as part of the trade between Britain and the

East Indies. With an interest in cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpetre, tea, and opium,

the company expanded as a result of booming trade and made its way into the

subcontinent during the late 18th century. Ruling for a whole century, the East India

Company was abolished in 1858 after the War of Independence the year prior and the

Government of India Act was passed. The Government of India Act placed India under

the direct control of the British government, ending the rule of East India Company.

1885: To safeguard Indian rights, the Indian National Congress was founded as a forum

for emerging nationalist feelings. This party acted as a platform to voice Indian opinion

against the rising British rule and grew to be a defining political organization in the

Independence Movement to come.

1905-1911:

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1) The partition of Bengal (1905) took place under Lord Curzon as a result of the

growing population which was causing problems with the spatial designation. The area

extended over 189,000 square miles with a population of 80 million. To ease

administrative issues and to restore governmental efficiency, partition was deemed

necessary and carried out. Bengal was divided in two provinces East Bengal and West

Bengal.

2) The Simla deputation (1906): The SD was the first systemic attempt on the part

of the Muslims to present their demands to the British government and to seek their

acceptance. The SD comprised 35 prominent Muslims from all over India. The

delegation emphasized that the democratic principle or the principle of election should

be introduced keeping in view the peculiar conditions and circumstances of India. The

diversity and the fact that there are different kinds of people living here, the fact that the

Muslims consider themselves to be a separate identity.

3) Formation of All India Muslim League (AIML): Just 3 months later on 30th

December the Muslim leaders desired to create a permanent political forum or the

Muslim League. The Muslim League was established in Dhaka on 30th December in

1906.

1919-1920: After the end of the First World War, Britain, including the subcontinent,

were affected greatly socially, economically and politically. It was in 1919 that the

Amritsar Massacre, also known as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, took place. Troops

of the British Indian Army open fired at over three hundred non-violent, unarmed

demonstrators. These Indian nationalists who were demonstrating in Amritsar, Punjab

met to protest against the heavy war tax imposed on the Indians during World War One

as well as the oppressive social, political, and economic conditions in India. Through the

evident dissatisfaction of the Indian people in demanding more representation and a

higher level of self-governance, the Montague-Chelmsford reforms were brought about

which introduced diarchy thus giving more political representation to the natives of India.

1930: Gandhi organized a peaceful demonstration to defy the hated Salt Acts.

According to British laws, Indians could buy salt from no other source but the British

government while also paying a sales tax on it. Thus, the British had a monopoly on salt

production and forbade the Indians from producing it.

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1930 - 1934: The League began viewing Muslims as one that needed a separate nation

from Hindus as a result of the Civil Disobedience Acts (1930-1934) and the Round

Table Conferences (1930-1932).

1935: Government of India Act legitimized local self-rule. Consequently, it affected the

relationship between Hindus and Muslims due to Muslims being a minority in some

provinces and sub-districts. This sowed the feeling among Muslims that they would be

outnumbered by Hindus and would have little to none political representation.

World War II and its aftermath relate to independence for India

World War II led to events that made independence perhaps an inevitable process as a

result of the course of events which would follow. Additionally, Britain committed India to

fight on its side for war without asking the most important and leading Indian

representatives on the legal platform - Jinnah and Gandhi.

Furthermore, Provincial elections seemed to have convinced the League that Muslims

were a minority and would have to play a second fiddle in any democratic structure

post-Independence. It feared that the Muslims may even go unrepresented. The

Congress's rejection to form a Congress-League government in the United Provinces

agitated this issue.

Pre-partition 1940-1947

1940: The Lahore Resolution of the Muslim League demanded for a separate state for

the Muslims of India. Churchill became Prime Minister in Britain while the viceroy made

a statement on India's constitutional development - the August Offer - announcing that

more places would be open to Indians in an expanded Executive Council and on a new

War Advisory Council. Congress and League rejected the August Offer and Congress

launches the Civil Disobedience Act.

1941: Congress civil disobedience sets prisoners free.

1942: Subhas Chandra Bose forms the Indian National Army. Additionally, the British

government announced its decision to send Sir Stafford Cripps to India. After his

proposals were published, Congress and League rejected the Cripps proposals. As a

result, Congress launched the 'Quit India movement' after which it is declared an

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unlawful organization; Gandhi and all members of the Congress Working Committee are

arrested.

Britain's 1942 offer Cripps Mission. This was an attempt by the British to try to gain

support of the nationalists by promising governmental changes after the end of the war.

Their main aim was gaining control of India during the course of the war for added

support in front of foreign lands. The offer did not however mention India's

independence.

1944: Gandhi-Jinnah talks end in failure.

1945: A number of events took place during this year where the first trial of the Indian

National Army men opened. Towards the end of the Second World War, Germany

surrendered and imprisoned Congress leaders were released. Additionally, the Labor

Government comes into power in Britain and Japan also surrenders. The General

Elections in India in 1945 resulted in Congress gaining 59 out of 102 seats and the

Muslims winning in all their respective constituents.

1946: Elections to the provinces seemed to indicate that Congress did well in the

General Constituencies (where there were no reservations for any religious group) but

the League's success in the seats reserved for Muslims was popular within themselves.

As a motivation for Jinnah on political power, he thought that he could be the first Prime

Minister if there was a separate nation for Muslims.

In March 1946, the British Cabinet sent a three-member mission to Delhi to examine

this demand and suggest a suitable political framework. It agreed that India should

remain united with some autonomy for Muslims in the NorthWestern and Eastern

regions but they could not make the Congress and the League unite to agree to the

specific details of the proposal. Partition became more or less inevitable. Gandhi tried

his best to persuade Jinnah but in vain. He was prepared to make Jinnah as the first

Prime Minister of India but Congress would not accept it.

In August 1946, Direct Action Day was agitated among the Muslims for winning its

demand on Pakistan and communal riots broke out in Calcutta and Punjab region. The

Cabinet Mission visited India which announced its constitutional scheme and tried for a

united federal India. The Cabinet Mission presented the scheme for the formation of an

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interim government at the center. Congress rejected the proposals for an interim

government but accepted the overall scheme, agreeing thereby to join the proposed

Constituent Assembly. On the other hand, the Muslim League accepted the scheme

and agreed to join the interim government. The Muslim League passed resolutions

retracting its acceptance of the Cabinet Mission plan and calling upon Muslims to

observe August 16th as 'Direct Action Day'. As communal violence was still undergoing,

the resultant four days of clashes ended with more than five thousand people dying and

an additional fifteen thousand wounded.

1947: Muslim League demanded the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly. Prime

Minister Attlee announced of the British intention of leaving India by June 1948, as well

as that Mountbatten would become Viceroy till then. Jinnah declared that the Muslim

League would not yield an inch in their demand for Pakistan. Outbreak of communal

disturbances remained ongoing in Lahore, Multan, and other Punjab towns and cities.

The Prime Minister's letter sent to the Viceroy-designate on the policy and principles in

accordance with which power should be transferred resulted in Mountbatten to act as

Viceroy and Governor-General. Viceroy Mountbatten held the first of five interviews with

Gandhi and the first of six interviews with Jinnah.

The British House of Commons passed an act on 16th July which granted two nations

as well as independence to both in a month's’ time. Mountbatten met the Indian leaders

during this time and gave them the Partition Plan. Over discussion and agreements on

the plans, Mountbatten, Nehru, Jinnah, and Baldev Singh make the news public to the

population of the subcontinent over the All India radio. Additionally, Mountbatten also

gave a press conference discussing the plan and supportive decisions.

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The first meeting of the Partition Committee was held which analysed the votes in

Bengal Legislative Assembly supporting the decision that the province should be

partitioned. The Indian Cabinet mutually agreed to establish the States Department and

the Indian Independence Bill was published.

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Under Sir Cyril Radcliffe, in August 1946, the Radcliffe line was established becoming t

the border demarcation of India and Pakistan.

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Muslim League vs Congress:

The Congress failed to mobilize the Muslim masses in 1930s and allowed the League to

mobilize its support, which grew to large numbers as it attracted people through religion.

The Congress under Nehru were confident in their sociological approach that they

underestimated the Muslim League and its power. They were under the delusion that

Muslims would not support a party just because of religion and would support the

Congress because of its ideologies but they were wrong. The League now saw itself as

the sole representative of all Muslims in the country. The Congress refused this claim

since some Muslims still supported it.

While the Indian National Congress was calling for Britain to Quit India, in 1943 the

Muslim League passed a resolution demanding the British Divide and Quit.

As colonizers, the British had followed a divide-and-rule policy in India which consisted

of the British conducting a census in which they categorized people according to religion

and viewed and treated them as separate entities. The British based their knowledge of

the people of India on religious texts and the intrinsic differences they found in them

instead of examining how people of different religions coexisted. They were also 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. To win them over to their side,

the British helped establish the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh and

supported the All-India Muslim Conference, both of which were institutions from which

future leaders of the Muslim League and the ideology of a separate nation-state

emerged. As soon as the League was formed, Muslims were placed on a separate

electorate. Thus, the separateness of Muslims in India was built into the Indian electoral

process.

There was also an ideological divide between the Muslims and the Hindus of India.

While there were strong feelings of nationalism in India, by the late 19th century there

were also communal conflicts and movements in the country that were based on

religious identities rather than class or regional ones.

Some people felt that the very nature of Islam called for a communal Muslim society.

Added to this were the memories of power over the Indian subcontinent that the

Muslims held, especially in old centers of Mughal rule. These memories might have

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made it exceptionally difficult for Muslims to accept the imposition of colonial power and

culture. Many refused to learn English and to associate with the British. This was a

severe drawback as Muslims found that the more cooperative Hindus found better

government positions and thus felt that the British favored Hindus. Consequently, social

reformer and educator Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, who founded Mohammedan Anglo

Oriental College, taught the Muslims that education and cooperation with the British was

vital for their survival in the society. However, tied to all the movements of Muslim

revival was the opposition to assimilation and submergence in Hindu society.

Hindu revivalists also deepened the chasm between the two nations. They resented the

Muslims for their former rule over India. Hindu revivalists rallied for a ban on the

slaughter of cows, a cheap source of meat for the Muslims. They also wanted to change

the official script from Persian to the Hindu Devanagri script, effectively making Hindi

rather than Urdu the main candidate for the national language.

The Congress made several mistakes in their policies which further convinced the

League that it was impossible to live in an undivided India after freedom from colonial

rule because their interests would be completely suppressed. One such policy was the

institution of “Bande Matram,” a national anthem historically linked to anti-Muslim

sentiment, in the schools of India where Muslim children were forced to sing it.

The Congress banned support for the British during the Second World War while the

Muslim League pledged its full support, which found favor from the British, who needed

the help of the largely Muslim army. The Civil Disobedience Movement and the

consequent withdrawal of the Congress party from politics also helped the League gain

power as they formed strong ministries in the provinces that had large Muslim

populations. At the same time, the League actively campaigned to gain more support

from the Muslims in India, especially under the guidance of dynamic leaders like Jinnah.

There had been some hope of an undivided India, but the Congress rejection of the

interim government set up under the Cabinet Mission Plan in 1942 convinced the

leaders of the Muslim League that compromise was impossible and partition was the

only course to take.

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Description of major stakeholders

Indian National Congress: This was set up as a broad-based political organization in

1885 to represent the political concerns of all the Indians in their dealings with the

British. Its birth was helped by two liberal-minded British men; Sir Allan Hume and Sir

Henry Cotton. From the start, however, it was dominated by a Hindu majority. The

Congress was originally created for the idea of making reforms within the British

parliamentary government by placing greater prevalence on such issues as a better

educational system and greater representation of the Indian population within the

parliamentary government. At first, it concentrated on making suggestions on social

issues to the government, but gradually it became a more political organisation. In 1920,

under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and others, it became a political party and

spearheaded the nationalist movement for independence from Britain. But with later

developments many Muslims, including Muhammad Ali Jinnah, gave up expecting it to

represent all Indians and saw it as a Hindu political voice. Some others, however, like

Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, still believed it was possible for religious groups to work

together for everyone’s benefit, thus supporting it. It is often known as the Congress

party or simply, the Congress.

All India Muslim League:

Some leading Muslims thought that the gulf between the Hindus and the Muslims could

not be bridged; they urged Muslims to keep away from Congress and to speak up for

their own interests, and formed their own political party; the All India Muslim League. A

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deputation of 36 leading Muslims met the viceroy at Simla and in 1909 separate

electorates for religious minorities was introduced, which was thoroughly opposed by

the Congress at that time. In spite of its original commitment to ‘feelings of loyalty’

towards the British, by 1913 the Muslim League supported self-government as well, but

one in which the ‘the rights of the Muslim minority had to be protected.’ This cumulated

in a unanimous adoption of a resolution for a separate state for Muslims by the Muslim

League on 23 March 1940; the name of this state was to be ‘Pakistan’. Predictably,

Congress was baffled by the implications of this resolution, and utterly opposed this

separatist ideology. Muslim League became the second largest political party in terms

of seats in assemblies after the 1946 elections, and was instrumental in both the

independence and partition of colonial India.

The British:

In 1858, British Crown rule was established in India, ending a century of control by the

East India Company. The life and death struggle that preceded this formalisation of

British control lasted nearly two years, cost £36 million, and is variously referred to as

the 'Great Rebellion'. Inevitably, the consequences of this bloody rupture marked the

nature of political, social and economic rule that the British established in its wake.

Two-fifths of the sub-continent continued to be independently governed by over 560

large and small principalities, some of whose rulers had fought the British during the

'Great Rebellion', but with whom the Raj now entered into treaties of mutual

cooperation.

But the 'Great Rebellion' did more to create a racial chasm between ordinary Indians

and Britons. According to some historians, this was a social segregation which would

endure until the end of the Raj, graphically captured in EM Forster's 'A Passage to

‘India'.

Financially speaking, there were two incontrovertible economic benefits provided by

India. It was a captive market for British goods and services, and served defence needs

by maintaining a large standing army at no cost to the British taxpayer. However, the

economic balance sheet of the empire remains a controversial topic and the debate has

revolved around whether the British developed or retarded the Indian economy.

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The British Raj unraveled quickly in the 1940s, perhaps surprising after the empire in

the east had so recently survived its greatest challenge in the shape of Japanese

expansionism. The reasons for independence were multifaceted and the result of both

long and short-term factors.

With aforementioned details on partition, the British played an imminent rule starting

from the works of the East India Company till they departed the subcontinent. The world

war had left British with no means to maintain their massive empire anymore. The

arrival of Lord Louis Mountbatten as India's last viceroy in March 1947 brought with it an

agenda to transfer power as quickly and efficiently as possible. The resulting

negotiations saw the deadline for British withdrawal brought forward from June 1948 to

August 1947.

Contemporaries and subsequent historians have criticised this haste as a major

contributory factor in the chaos that accompanied partition. Mass migration occurred

across the new boundaries as well as an estimated loss of a million lives in the

communal bloodbaths involving Hindus, Muslims and also Sikhs in the Punjab. The

people, the country, the administration and the policy makers were ill-equipped to deal

with partition and political order of this magnitude at such a short notice.

Some Stakeholder Personalities

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CLEMENT ATLEE:

Clement Attlee, in full Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee of Walthamstow, Viscount

Prestwood (born Jan. 3, 1883, Putney, London, Eng.—died Oct. 8, 1967, Westminster,

London), British Labour Party leader (1935–55) and prime minister (1945–51). He

presided over the establishment of the welfare state in Great Britain and the granting of

independence to India, the most important step in the conversion of the British Empire

into the Commonwealth of Nations. He was perhaps the leading Labour politician of the

20th century. He transformed his party into the natural opponent of the Conservative

Party and thus polarized British politics.

LOUIS MOUNTBATTEN:

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten, original name Louis Francis Albert Victor

Nicholas, prince of Battenberg (born June 25, 1900, Frogmore House, Windsor, Eng.—

died Aug. 27, 1979, Donegal Bay, off Mullaghmore, County Sligo, Ire.), British

statesman, naval leader, and the last viceroy of India. He had international royal-family

background; his career involved extensive naval commands, the diplomatic negotiation

of independence for India and Pakistan, and the highest military defense leaderships.

As viceroy of India (March–August 1947) he administered the transfer of power from

Britain to the newly independent nations of India and Pakistan at the partition of the

subcontinent that took effect at midnight Aug. 14–15, 1947. As governor-general of

India (August 1947–June 1948) he then helped persuade the Indian princes to merge

their states into either India or Pakistan. He was created viscount in 1946 and earl in

1947.

CYRIL RADCLIFFE AND BOUNDARY COMMISSION:

Boundary Commission, consultative committee created in July 1947 to recommend how

the Punjab and Bengal regions of the Indian subcontinent were to be divided between

India and Pakistan shortly before each was to become independent from Britain. The

commission—appointed by Lord Mountbatten, the final viceroy of British India—

consisted of four members from the Indian National Congress and four from the Muslim

League and was chaired by Sir Cyril Radcliffe.

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The commission’s mandate was to draw boundaries in the two regions that would keep

intact as much as possible the most-cohesive Hindu and Muslim populations within

Indian and Pakistani territory, respectively. As the August 15 independence date

loomed and with little chance for agreement in sight between the two sides, however,

Radcliffe ultimately made the final determination on the frontiers. The partition left

millions of Muslims on the Indian side and similar numbers of Hindus in Pakistani

sectors and sparked mass migrations by members of each religious community seeking

what they hoped would be safety on the other side of the border. Nonetheless, in both

Punjab and Bengal before and during the transition of power, widespread sectarian

violence left some one million people dead. India and Pakistan have settled some of the

boundary issues left unresolved by the British, but strife has continued in some areas,

notably the Kashmir region.

Cyril Radcliffe was born in 1899 who later became a lawyer in England. He did not

travel much outside England except going for a vacation somewhere in Italy. At the age

of 48, he was summoned to New Delhi barely on June 3, 1947 barely 37 days before

India would be partitioned into two independent nations. He was appointed as the

chairman of the Boundary Commission whose sole job was to submit a report that

would contain “the partition map.”

Radcliffe’s office was in New Delhi where a whole bunch of government workers were

working feverishly to partition the undivided India solely based on the latest census

report, which contained the most valuable information on the composition of Hindus and

Muslims of any village. Totally based on that information, the Boundary Commission

was cutting the maps of two very important provinces of undivided India namely, East

and West Bengal and Punjab. He was given this extraordinary power to divide these

provinces based not only on census data but also on the geography of the land. Special

consideration was given on the flow of the river; therefore, the Radcliffe could still give a

Muslim-dominated part to India and a Hindu-dominated part to Pakistan at his whim. His

decision would be final and that would seal the fate of tens and thousands of people

living in those disputed areas both Bengal and Punjab.

MOHANDAS GANDHI:

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Mahatma Gandhi, byname of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (born October 2, 1869,

Porbandar, India—died January 30, 1948, Delhi), Indian lawyer, politician, social

activist, and writer who became the leader of the nationalist movement against the

British rule of India. As such, he came to be considered the father of his country. Gandhi

is internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest (satyagraha) to achieve

political and social progress.

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU:

Jawaharlal Nehru, byname Pandit (Hindi: “Pundit” or “Teacher”) Nehru (born November

14, 1889, Allahabad, India—died May 27, 1964, New Delhi), first prime minister of

independent India (1947–64), who established parliamentary government and became

noted for his neutralist (nonaligned) policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the

principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the 1930s and ’40s.

Nehru met Gandhi for the first time in 1916 at the annual meeting of the Indian National

Congress (Congress Party) in Lucknow. Gandhi was 20 years his senior. Neither seems

to have made any initially strong impression on the other. Gandhi makes no mention of

Nehru in an autobiography he dictated while imprisoned in the early 1920s. The

omission is understandable, since Nehru’s role in Indian politics was secondary until he

was elected president of the Congress Party in 1929, when he presided over the historic

session at Lahore (now in Pakistan) that proclaimed complete independence as India’s

political goal. Until then the party’s objective had been dominion status.

SARDAR VALLABHAI PATEL:

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Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel, byname Sardar Patel (Hindi: “Leader Patel”) (born Oct.

31, 1875, Nadiad, Gujarat, India—died Dec. 15, 1950, Bombay [now Mumbai]), Indian

barrister and statesman, one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress during the

struggle for Indian independence. During the first three years of Indian independence

after 1947, he served as deputy prime minister, minister of home affairs, minister of

information, and minister of states.

As a lawyer, Patel distinguished himself in presenting an unassailable case in a precise

manner and in challenging police witnesses and British judges.

Patel traveled to London in August 1910 to study at the Middle Temple. There he

studied diligently and passed the final examinations with high honours. Returning to

India in February 1913, he settled in Ahmadabad, rising rapidly to become the leading

barrister in criminal law at the Ahmadabad bar. Reserved and courteous, he was noted

for his superior mannerisms, his smart, English-style clothes, and his championship in

bridge at Ahmadabad’s fashionable Gujarat Club. He was, until 1917, indifferent to

Indian political activities.

In 1917 Patel found the course of his life changed after having been influenced by

Mohandas K. Gandhi. Patel adhered to Gandhi’s satyagraha (policy of nonviolence)

insofar as it furthered the Indian struggle against the British. But he did not identify

himself with Gandhi’s moral convictions and ideals, and he regarded Gandhi’s emphasis

on their universal application as irrelevant to India’s immediate political, economic, and

social problems. Nevertheless, having resolved to follow and support Gandhi, Patel

changed his style and appearance. He quit the Gujarat Club, dressed in the white cloth

of the Indian peasant, and ate in the Indian manner.

From 1917 to 1924 Patel served as the first Indian municipal commissioner of

Ahmadabad and was its elected municipal president from 1924 to 1928. Patel first made

his mark in 1918, when he planned mass campaigns of peasants, farmers, and

landowners of Kaira, Gujarat, against the decision of the Bombay government to collect

the full annual revenue taxes despite crop failures caused by heavy rains.

In 1928 Patel successfully led the landowners of Bardoli in their resistance against

increased taxes. His efficient leadership of the Bardoli campaign earned him the title

sardar (“leader”), and henceforth he was acknowledged as a nationalist leader

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throughout India. He was considered practical, decisive, and even ruthless, and the

British recognized him as a dangerous enemy.

DR B. R. AMBEDKAR:

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, (born April 14, 1891, Mhow, India—died December 6, 1956,

New Delhi), leader of the Dalits (Scheduled Castes; formerly called untouchables) and

law minister of the government of India (1947–51).

In 1947 Ambedkar became the law minister of the government of India. He took a

leading part in the framing of the Indian constitution, outlawing discrimination against

untouchables, and skillfully helped to steer it through the assembly. He resigned in

1951, disappointed at his lack of influence in the government. In October 1956, in

despair because of the perpetuation of untouchability in Hindu doctrine, he renounced

Hinduism and became a Buddhist, together with about 200,000 fellow Dalits, at a

ceremony in Nagpur.

MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD:

Abul Kalam Azad, original name Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin, also called Maulana

Abul Kalam Azad or Maulana Azad (born November 11, 1888, Mecca [now in Saudi

Arabia]—died February 22, 1958, New Delhi, India), Islamic theologian who was one of

the leaders of the Indian independence movement against British rule in the first half of

the 20th century. He was highly respected throughout his life as a man of high moral

integrity.

In Calcutta, he joined the Indian National Congress (Congress Party) and galvanized

India’s Muslim community through an appeal to pan-Islamic ideals. He was particularly

active in the short-lived Khilafat movement (1920–24), which defended the Ottoman

sultan as the caliph (the head of the worldwide Muslim community) and even briefly

enlisted the support of Mohandas K. Gandhi.

Azad and Gandhi became close, and Azad was involved in Gandhi’s various civil-

disobedience (satyagraha) campaigns, including the Salt March (1930). He was

imprisoned several times between 1920 and 1945, including for his participation in the

anti-British Quit India campaign during World War II. Azad was president of the

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Congress Party in 1923 and again in 1940–46—though the party was largely inactive

during much of his second term, since nearly all of its leadership was in prison.

After the war Azad was one of the Indian leaders who negotiated for Indian

independence with the British. He tirelessly advocated for a single India that would

embrace both Hindus and Muslims while strongly opposing the partition of British India

into independent India and Pakistan. He later blamed both Congress Party leaders and

Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, for the ultimate division of the

subcontinent. After the two separate countries were established, he served as minister

of education in the Indian government of Jawaharlal Nehru from 1947 until his death.

His autobiography, India Wins Freedom, was published posthumously in 1959. In 1992,

decades after his death, Azad was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian

award.

MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH:

Mohammed Ali Jinnah, also called Qaid-i-Azam (Arabic: “Great Leader”) (born

December 25, 1876) Karachi, India [now in Pakistan]—died September 11, 1948,

Karachi), Indian Muslim politician, who was the founder and first governor-general

(1947–48) of Pakistan.

An excerpt:

Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the voice of one hundred million Muslims, fought

for their religious, social and economic freedom. Throughout history no single man

yielded as much power as the Quaid-e-Azam, and yet remained uncorrupted by that

power. Not many men in history can boast of creating a nation single handedly and

altering the map of the world but Jinnah did so and thus became a legend.

"Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of

the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Mohammad Ali

Jinnah did all three." Stanley Wolpert.

In the words of John Biggs-Davison, "Although without Ghandi, Hindustan would still

have gained independence and without Lenin and Mao, Russia and China would still

have endured Communist revolution, without Jinnah there would have been no Pakistan

in 1947."

21

Lord Mountbatten had enormous confidence in his persuasive powers. But as far as

Jinnah was concerned, he felt that though he tried every trick, he could not shake

Jinnah’s resolve to have partition. Mountbatten said that Jinnah had a consuming

determination to realize the dream of Pakistan." And he remained focused on that till his

death.

LIAQUT ALI KHAN:

Liaquat Ali Khan, (born Oct. 1, 1895, Karnal, India—died Oct. 16, 1951, Rawalpindi,

Pak.), first prime minister of Pakistan (1947–51). Born the son of a landowner, Liaquat

was educated at Aligarh, Allahabad, and Exeter College, Oxford. A barrister by

profession, like his leader, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, he entered politics in 1923, being

elected first to the provincial legislature of the United Provinces and then to the central

legislative assembly. He joined the Muslim League and soon became closely

associated with Jinnah. By degrees he won first the respect and then the admiration of

the Muslim community for his share in the struggle for Pakistan; when independence

was won in 1947 and Jinnah became the first governor-general, Liaquat was the

obvious choice as prime minister. In this post his achievements were outstanding. If

Jinnah founded Pakistan, Liaquat established it, laying down the main lines of policy,

domestic and foreign, that afterward guided the country. After Jinnah’s death, Liaquat

was acclaimed as qaid-i-millet (“leader of the country”). Liaquat was assassinated in

Rawalpindi in 1951.

AGA KHAN III:

Aga Khan III, personal name Sultan Sir Moḥammed Shah (born November 2, 1877,

Karachi, India [now in Pakistan]—died July 11, 1957, Versoix, Switzerland), only son of

the Aga Khan II. He succeeded his father as imam (leader) of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī sect in

1885.

22

Under the care of his mother, who was born into the ruling house of Iran, he was given

an education that was not only Islamic and Oriental but also Western. In addition to

attending diligently to the affairs of his own community, he rapidly acquired a leading

position among India’s Muslims as a whole. In 1906 he headed the Muslim deputation

to the British viceroy, Lord Minto, to promote the interests of the Muslim minority in

India. The Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 consequently provided for separate Muslim

electorates. The Aga Khan served as president of the All-India Muslim League during its

early years and initiated the fund for raising the Muslim college at Aligarh to university

status, which was affected in 1920.

When World War I (1914–18) broke out, the Aga Khan supported the Allied cause, but

at the subsequent peace conference he urged that the Ottoman Empire (and its

successor state, Turkey) should be leniently treated. He played an important part in the

Round Table Conference on Indian constitutional reform in London (1930–32). He also

represented India at the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva in 1932 and at the

League of Nations Assembly in 1932 and from 1934 to 1937. He was appointed

president of the League in 1937. During World War II (1939–45) he lived in Switzerland

and withdrew from political activity.

23

QARMA:

1) How was the British divide and rule policy implemented during their time of rule

over the Indians?

2) How were divisions made in the armed forces between India and Pakistan?

3) The conflict with natural resources was an ongoing fight. What kind of divide can

possibly be made in those primary resources?

4) How are border adjustments to be made with regards to the minorities present in

each area?

5) How did India’s participation in the Second World War affect its relationship with

its British colonial masters?

6) At the end of the Second World War, Britain owed more to India than it could

afford to pay back. How far do you think this is the reason more than anything else for

Indian Independence in 1947?

7) How far had the conflict between the Muslim League and the Congress been

created by the British, if at all?

8) Look at all the ways that the Indians resisted against the British and ascertain

whether or not they were effective and to what degree.

24

References:

Smith, N. (2014). Pakistan: History, culture and Government. Oxford: OUP

Inventing Boundaries: gender, politics and the Partition of Indiaedited by Mushirul

Hasan (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000)

Pakistan as a peasant utopia: the communalization of class politics in East Bengal,

1920-1947 by Taj ul-Islam Hashmi (Boulder, Colorado; Oxford: Westview, 1992)

The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the demand for Pakistan by

Ayesha Jalal (Cambridge University Press, 1985)

The Partitions of Memory: the afterlife of the division of Indiaedited by S. Kaul

(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001)

Borders & boundaries: women in India's partition by Menon, Ritu & Bhasin, Kamla (New

Delhi: Kali for Women, 1998)

Remembering Partition: violence, nationalism and history in India by Gyanendra Pandey

(Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001)

'Reviews: The high politics of India's Partition: the revisionist perspective' by Asim Roy

(Modern Asian Studies, 24, 2 (1990), pp. 385-415)

Websites:

https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2014/06/21/partition-of-india/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/

http://www.rediff.com/news/interview/how-world-war-ii-changed-india/20160524.htm

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33105898

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2017/08/india-pakistan-partition-borders-

drawn-170817124309858.html

25

Novel:

Forster, E.M. (1924). A passage to India.

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University of Cambridge - C.U.H.&G.S. -- Earl Mountbatten of Burma

British Library - Indian Independence: Partition Source 9

MapsofIndia.com - 17th August 1947: The Radcliffe Line, the border between the Union

of India and the Dominion of Pakistan is revealed

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26

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