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? Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Founder of Pakistan

Why was India partitioned? Jinnah’s demand for Pakistan driven by political, NOT religious reasons

Why was India partitioned? Jinnah & Gandhi Nehru & Gandhi

Why was India partitioned? The Two-Nation Theory

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 1800 1850 1875 1900 1920 1940 Political competition: Hindu-Hindi vs. Muslim-Urdu Political changes: Admin reforms Economic changes: Railways Trade Wealthy Hindu merchant castes Social changes: - Beginnings of “Western education” through govt colleges Rise of Hindu elite Emergence of Elite Hindu and Muslim Nationalism Dominance of Muslims Hindu Mahasabha + Muslim League Popular Religious Nationalism

Two Views on Muslim Separatism Primordialist position Partition flowed almost ‘naturally’ from differences between Hindus and Muslims Instrumentalist position Partition resulted from the instrumental actions of Hindus and Muslims who were competing for positions of political power and privilege. * 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 Post Wednesday, 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