B.A. FIRST YEAR NATIONALISM IN INDIA UNIT 5 CHAPTER - 9 PARTITION AND INDEPENDENCE NOTES

Intoduction 

By The End Of The Second World War The British Had Weakened Militarily And Financially. They Had Lost The Strength To Hold On To India.And Some Other Reasons The Quit India Movement, Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army (Ina) And The Terrifying Revolt For The British In The Navy Called The (Rin) Royal Indian Navy Revolt Had All Contribute To Convince The British That They Would Have To Pull Out Of India.The British during their final parting decided to divide and quit or were forced to accept the formation of India and Pakistan by dividing United India.

The Two Nation Theory

The Movement For Muslim Self Awaiting And Identity Was Started By The Sir syed Ahmed Khan And The Aligarh School. But It Was The Lawyer Mohammed Ali Jinnah Who Executed The Political Plan By Making Pakistan A Political Reality And Independent Nation State For The Muslim Nation Of South Asia. Many Believe It Was AllamaIqbal's Presidential Address To The Muslim League On 29 December 1930 In Which Formally The First Introduction Of The Two Nation Theory Was Made Which Was Later Used In Support Of The Demand For Pakistan The Other Famous Address Where The Two Nation Theory Was Publicly Articulated Was The Speech Of Jinnah On March 22, 1940 In Lahore Where He Stated Hindus And Muslims Belonged To Two Different Religious, Philosophies With Different Social Customs And Literatures, With No Inter Marriage And Based On Conflicting Ideas And Concepts.

The Partition And Independence Of India

After The Poor Showing Of The League In The 1937 Election Jinnah Had Become Desperate And He Started Hardening His Position For An Independent Pakistan. In The 1945-46 Elections The Muslim League Head Spectacular Success They Won All The 30 Reserved Constituencies In The Center With 86.6% Of Muslim Votes And 442 Out Of 509 Muslim Seats In The Provinces.The 1946 Cabinet Mission Was Sent To Try And Reach A Compromise Between Congress And The Muslim League But It Didn’t. The Situation Rapidly Deteriorated In August 1946 When The League Carried Out Direct Action Day. 

The Worst Writing Took Place In Punjab And Bengal The Two Provinces Which Would Be Split Between India And Pakistan As A Consequence Of The Partition. The Flow Of Blood Loss Of Property And Rapes Was Horrendous And Massive In Scale. Nehru And The Nationalist Leaders Have Said They Accepted Partition To Stop This Carnage As That Seemed The Most Urgent Necessity If Law And Order Was To Be Restored.

Finally The Actual Division Or Partition Of India And The Creation Of Two New Nation Under The Mountbatten Plan In 3 June 1947. The Border Between India And Pakistan Was Determined By A British Government Commissioner Report Usually Referred To As The Red Cliff line After The London Lawyer Sir Cyril Redcliffe Who Wrote It.East Pakistan(today Bangladesh) And West Pakistan Separate Geographically By India.

Massive population exchange occurred in the months immediately following partition accompanied by relentless bloodshed and violence. when the border lines were established. About 14.5 million people crossed the borders Muslims to Pakistan and Hindus to India.According to the 1951 census of of displaced persons, 7226000 Muslims went to Pakistan from India while 7249000 Hindus and Sikhs move to India from Pakistan immediately after partition