The partition of India occurred in 1947 when Britain released control of its South-East Asian territories and redrew borders of the countries it held. The Partition divided the formerly British Raj territory into two separate countries, Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-Majority Pakistan and later Bangladesh, as referenced in the Interpreter of maladies in the chapter “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine.” The creation of these new countries stranded millions of people on the wrong side of either border. Due to this event one of the largest human migrations in history took place as people fled their homes to relocate to their new “home country.”
Former British Territories divided into Pakistan and India. In 1971, East Pakistan was formed and became Bangladesh.
Violence in the partition occurred as a culmination of growing religious nationalism in wake of Britain’s slow departure in the 1940’s as a result of World War II. Religious nationalism became synonymous with politics as local political parties grew increasing religiously dominant. Local groups of young men influenced by gangs and political parties began to commit violence and incite riots under the guise of tangible material gains. As the armed police force became polarized violence heightened, it wasn’t until ethnically unrelated militaries were dispatched that violence ended in Northern India.
Partition violence in Calcutta.
The rapid migration of an estimated “14.5 million people” along with religious and political turmoil led to incredible struggle and displacement. An estimated “800 thousand to 2 million” were killed during The Partition as people relocated over a four-year period. In the wake of The Partition, tensions heightened resulting in a war between India and Pakistan in 1947-1948. Turmoil again led to the assassination of Ghandi in 1951 as a Hindu Nationalist extremist blamed Ghandi for being too supportive of Muslims during the Partition.
The Partition sought to redefine the region in an unconventional manner in order to avoid the Nationalist-bordering issues that ensued after World War I. Two countries were created out of interest in Indian Independence and providing the large Muslim population with a “homeland.” The ensuing violence was not foreseen, and some scholars continue to study and question the events that unfolded. The consequences of the migration and the violence within are still felt in the region to this day, both politically and socially amongst those who witnessed the events first-hand.
Sources:
Sarah Ansari, “How the Partition of India happened – and why its effects are still felt today”. https://theconversation.com/how-the-partition-of-india-happened-and-why-its-effects-are-still-felt-today-81766, 2017
Dr Andrew Whitehead, “Partition 70 years on: The Turmoil, trauma – and legacy”. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40643413, 2017
Guneeta Singh Bhalla, “What Really Caused the Violence of Partition?”, https://thediplomat.com/2019/08/what-really-caused-the-violence-of-partition/, 2019
Great research! Thanks for sharing!
I knew Pakistan and India used to be united, but I didn’t know anything about why it happened or the results of that. This is a great overview and I definitely feel more prepared to get into the reading now!
I think when a lot of people think about the partition of India, they either focus heavily on the incredibly mass migration or the potentially millions of deaths that occurred. It is very important that, when discussing this topic, both are given equal weight so people can get a scope of just how many people were affected by a third party colonialist country. You do a great job of focusing both on the migration and violence in your blog post.
Thank you for sharing more about the partition of India! I did not know much before reading your post but now I do.
It is interesting to know about the history of the partition of India and how it was split up. It is unfortunate that this splitting led to turmoil between themselves when the enemy who ruled over them for so long was Britain. The displace definitely relates to the stories we are reading this week
I really enjoyed reading your post, it goes to show that history can affect and have influence till modern times. Tensions between India and Pakistan are still going on until this day. I really didn’t know what happened and what resulted into this ongoing friction until your post.
This is a great context presentation. These are all very interesting things about the effects of migration had on the history of the world and its future. There are just some things that happen in history that doesn’t get taught in high schools and I am glad I’m learning about this now. This really gives me more insight on migration and this can help me when I read the different stories for class.
I really learned a lot from your post! I was very uneducated on this huge migration event prior to your presentation thank you!
Personally, I didn’t know anythi ng about this topic until reading your post. You did a really great job of explaining what happened and how it affected the lives of these people. The effects of migration obviously are very important and can cause unknown turmoil from within! Thanks for sharing this!!
I was aware of the division between Muslims and Hindus in India, and I also had some prior knowledge of the British presence in India, but this post gives me a much greater understanding of the problems and division that occurs in India. Asian history is seldom taught in grade school, but learning more about these historical events it crucial in gaining a more thorough understanding of global cultures. Great job in being detailed and concise, your post shares very important information!
I knew only bits and pieces of the partition of India, and after reading your post I am more knowledgable about it. After reading, I feel like you did a good job explaining and give a greater understanding about what happened, and like you said at the end, the migration is something that really does still affect the area to this day. Learning more about it helps understand why violence still occurs there today and it’s important to discuss it.
I knew that the creation of new nations from former colonies had sometimes resulted in instability, but I had no idea this had happened in India. I think you did a great job of explaining how arbitrarily drawing lines for new countries can result in instability due to a region’s culture or religion and can lead to wars or massive social upheaval.
This is a very nice post. I learned many things by reading your post. There’s a very good analysis of the imigration and the violation in our days . Thank you for sharing that
This is definitely an important post and topic you’ve shared. The entire time reading your post, I’m thinking about how we see these problems today between India and the new countries recently formed from it, and most of what you shared makes sense in correlation to that. Great post, very informative!
Before this, I hadn’t heard about the partition in India. Thank you for sharing, a very informative presentation!