Freedom of Pakistan and India

The Freedom of Pakistan and India Plan of the Investigation: In this essay, I chose to further investigate the freedom of Pakistan and India. On August 14, 1947, there was the birth of the new Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The very next day India had won its freedom from colonial rule lasting three hundred fifty years. The partition of India, following World War II, is the most tragic political event to affect India in its history. The partition divided Hindus and Muslims, who had lived together for nearly three hundred fifty years. It led to endless boundary disputes, three wars between the two neighbors, a nuclear powered arms race, and state-sponsored terrorism. Summary of Evidence: The freedom movements started when the Englishman Allan Hume helped a group of Indians start the Indian National Congress in 1885, which didn’t compete with British power. In the early 1900s, Bal Gangadhar Tilak brought a new faction within it, whose aim was independence. The Indian National Congress also had socialist impacts. In 1906, a big split occurred and the few Muslim that’s were in the Indian National Congress left, and a group called the Muslim League was formed. There are three main reasons that the Muslim nationalist movement emerged later than the Hindu movement. The first one is because the Muslims had their own religious schools and did not care about western thought as much as they should have. This was a problem because it was an important characteristic of the leaders of the revolutionaries. Secondly, the Muslims in the Indian National League were decreasing due to the increase in Hindu nationalism. Thirdly, the â€Å"big bang† was a dispute that occurred 1905-1911 in Bengal. In 1905, the British redrew the borders, giving the Muslims a majority of the districts. This upset the Hindus and in 1911, this decision was reversed. In 1906, as a result, there were two parties working for independence: the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. In 1915, Mohandas Gandhi arrived in India. Gandhi obtained a degree in law with experience in nonviolent protests. Gandhi had the qualities to find peace with the Hindus for a greater cause, which was independence. He was well qualified. In his work, he actually caused pressure, causing the British Parliament to pass the Government of India Act. The act gave Indians the chance to have a law-making group, but the British Viceroy had the power to veto and the British were still the supreme rulers of India. The Hindus and Muslims were not satisfies with this act. The elected Indian legislature was formed by popularity. The Muslims had little representation, which upset them that the Hindu had more power over them. Gandhi tried to make peace, but in the elected congress there was no room for Muslims. The Hindus in the congress made it so the Muslims had limited rights. This upset the Muslims tremendously and was the final break between Hindus and Muslims. Evaluation of Sources: There are three main reasons for the partition of India. The first is that the British used the â€Å"divide and conquer† principle to rule India and had to instead use the â€Å"divide and relinquish† demands of Muslims. Secondly, the British thought that there were more people in the Muslim League pushing for Pakistan than there really were. They also didn’t understand why the Muslims were in every village and couldn’t move to Pakistan. Analysis: In India, many nationalistic movements had started and nationalism had grown tremendously. For example, the British made advances in transportation and communication. The British did not care about the customs of the people of India, which caused a distance between the ruler and the people. Therefore, the Indian National Congress was trying to get Britain to Quit India. The Muslim League came up with the idea for the British to divide up the land and then quit. The British implanted on this idea, but were also fearful of the potential threat that the Muslims. They had previously ruled the subcontinent for over 300 years under the Mughal Empire, so the British didn’t wanted hostility amongst them. They decided to separate the Muslims in India. In order to do so, the British helped establish the M. A. O. College at Aligarh and supported the All-India Muslim Conference, which were institutions that leaders of the Muslim League and Pakistan ideology came from and were placed on a separate electorate. The Muslims and the Hindus of India had religious conflicts amongst one another. The people that were rooted from India felt that the nature of Islam called for a communal Muslim society because that is all that they know. This idea made it hard for Muslims to accept change and refused to learn English or associate with the British especially because the Hindus were in high ranked positions in the government. The Muslims felt like the British favored Hindus. The Hindus resent the Muslims because of their formal rule. They wanted to make Hindi the national language, rather than Urdu. The Hindus and Muslims merely just fought for power. The Muslim League was further convinced by the Congress that it was impossible to live in an undivided India due to religious issues. For example, the â€Å"Bande Matram† was the national anthem that was forced to be sung in the schools, which expressed anti-Muslim sentiments. Conclusion: After years of oppression, at midnight on August 14, 1947, India was deemed an independent nation. Jawaharlal Nehru ruled as the first Prime Minister of the newly emancipated country. Gandhi was opposed to India being divided. In response, he spent the day in Calcutta fasting and praying. Muslims in the northern region of India were absorbed into Pakistan, and riots ensued. Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs found themselves at war with each other, and Kashmir and the surrounding area became a callous that greatly contributed to the First Indo- Pakistani War, lasting for two years, from 1947 to 1949. India and Pakistan were both granted full self-rule, with the King- Emperor being crowned Head of State of both countries. The Governor General served a King-Emperor’s representative, and in 1948, Chakravarti Rajgopalachi ensued Mountbatten. Mohammed Ali Jinnah stepped up as Pakistan’s Governor General, and Liaquat Ali Khan became Prime Minister. Sources and Word Limit: Hasan, Mushirul (2001), India's Partition: Process, Strategy and Mobilization, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 444 pages Kamat, Vikas. â€Å"The Partition of India. † Kamat's Potpourri — The History, Mystery, and Diversity of India. N. p. , n. d. Web. 8 Feb. 2010. . Provincial, and Central Governments. â€Å"Pakistan, or, The Partition of India, by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. † Columbia University in the City of New York. N. p. , n. d. Web. 8 Feb. 2010. . Wolpert, Stanley. 2006. Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 272 pages. Words: 1,283