The Causes & Consequences of the Partition of India
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The Causes & Consequences of the Partition of India Gov 1255; Lecture 3 Prof Prerna Singh
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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? - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of The Causes & Consequences of the Partition of India
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
