Partition- August 15 th, 1947
The division of India to create an independent Pakistani state resulted in the division of libraries, as shown, Image courtesy Life Magazine©, August 1947
The manner in which the the All India Muslim League defined Pakistan was very vague, and could have been interpreted to mean an independent state or a separate Muslim nation within India . Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the leader of the All India Muslim League, hoped to use this leverage in order to obtain a Muslim state to the League’s satisfaction. Many members of Congress, such as Mohandas Gandhi fervently opposed the division of India based on the religious differences that so deeply divided the country, claiming that allowing a division would be to claim that both Islam and Hinduism are opposing religions.
When the decision was made to accept India ’s demands to be an independent state, the Muslim League, lead by Jinnah continued in its demands for a separate Muslim state. The rift between the Congress and the Muslim League had widened too greatly to be repaired, the Muslim League felt that Congress was not effective in representing the people of India , while Congress blamed the Muslim League for not living up to its stated purpose. Faced with the prospect of civil war, Britain agreed to divide the subcontinent and granted Pakistan its own independent nation.
Although the symbolic date of Partition of India and Pakistan from Britain as well as Pakistan from India is August 15 th, 1947 , it was the Indian Independence Act passed by British Parliament on July 18 th, 1947 that was the step that officially granted India and Pakistan independence. The Government of India Act of 1935 was adopted to serve as a guide for the newly independent India and Pakistan .
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Border Lines
The border lines created by the Radcliffe Awards, Image Courtesy of the Encarta Encyclopedia ©
The line of separation that divided India and Pakistan was determined by the Radcliffe Award, or the Radcliffe line that was drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe. Radcliffe had never visited the region, and his recommendation of separation was highly regarded because of his unbiased views. Radcliffe’s decision was guided by the concentration of Hindus and Muslims in each region. The two regions with the highest concentration of Muslims became East and West Pakistan , while the region with the highest concentrations of Hindus became India .
Princely States and Future Conflict
The 560 Princely States , or regions governed by regional hereditary rulers were given the option of joining either Pakistan or India . The states that chose to join a country that did not represent the majority religion of their region, suffered a great deal of upheaval. Kashmir was a Princely State that suffered the greatest from this turmoil. However, the chaos about Kashmir was only beginning, and would set the grounds for the deep rooted dispute that remains unresolved to this day.
Expedited Partition: Controversy and Slaughter
The Massive Migration of 13 million people across borderlines, Image Courtesy The Cable News Network(CNN)©
Partition was a very rushed event, as claimed by British Viceroy Lord Mountbatten if Partition had been delayed any longer, civil war was certain to outbreak, and many lives would have been lost due to the force that the British would have had to use in order to maintain order.
However, heavy accusations were laid on Mountbatten stating that he had influenced the Radcliffe line in favor of India , giving the country more land area than Pakistan .
In addition, the haste that was used in Partition is said to have left both India and Pakistan without any guidance. Although the Government of India Act of 1935 was supposed to serve as the new framework for both countries, several very important details were overlooked. Although there was the general guideline of protecting the religious minorities on both sides, there was no set framework or plan of action to do this. As a result, millions of innocent people were killed in massacres simply because they represented the religious minority. The result was a massive population movement of approximately 13 million people. 7 million Muslims went from India to Pakistan , while 6 million Hindus and Sikhs went from Pakistan to India . The massive violence on both sides ensued, and an additional 5 million lives were lost as a result of the Indian and Pakistani government’s inability to handle these massive population movements.
Partition caused massive rioting, Image courtesy Life Magazine©, 1947
Further controversy erupted when the assets of the former British Indian Empire were to be divided. At independence, the British simply advocated a division of the assets between the two countries, however a specific method was not proposed. This led to further dispute as well as Gandhi’s hunger strike to advocate the use of a peaceful resolution.
Further Controversy
The territory of Kashmir remains disputed to this day, Image courtesy The Legacy Project©
The conflict between India and Pakistan did not stop at Partition conflict. They went to war another four times in addition to the communal riots occurring in both countries as well as the ongoing disputes over Kashmir . These wars occurred in: 1947, 1965, 1971, and the 1999 Kargil conflict. Three of these four wars occurred because of a deepened chasm in the war over Kashmir . To this day, the Kashmir region remains heavily disputed, and can claim its origins from a population that wanted to join Pakistan and a leader who wanted to join India . There is also an ongoing nuclear arms race which has at times threatened to become nuclear war.