Imperialism, Independence and Partition

From Bad to Worse?

India 1857

The British Players

Prime Minister Atlee Lord Mountbatten

One thing is granted, namely, that this government does not suit us. As has been said by an eminent statesman - the government of one country by another can never be a successful, and therefore, a permanent government. There is no difference of opinion about this fundamental proposition between the old and new schools. One fact is that this alien government has ruined the country. In the beginning, all of us were taken by surprise. We were almost dazed. We thought that everything that the rulers did was for our good and that this English government has descended from the clouds to save us from the invasions of Tamerlane and Chingis Khan…

Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1907)

If there is any eminent leader in India who is in favour of driving out the English from this country, then I am that leader. In spite of this I want that there should be no fight with the English on behalf of the Muslim League. Our big fight is with the 22 crores of our Hindu enemies, who constitute the majority. Only 4 1/2 crores of Englishmen have practically swallowed the whole world by becoming powerful. And if these 22 crores of Hindus who are equally advanced in learning, intelligence and wealth as in numbers, if they become powerful, then these Hindus will swallow Muslim India and gradually even Egypt, Turkey, Kabul, Mecca, Medina and other Muslim principalities, like Yajuj-Majuj (it is so mentioned in Koran that before the destruction of the world, they will appear on the earth and will devour whatever they will find).

The English are gradually becoming weak. . . .they will go away from India in the near future. So if we do not fight the greatest enemies of Islam, the Hindus, from now on and make them weak, then they will not only establish Ramrajya in India but also gradually spread all over the world. It depends on the 9 crores of Indian Muslims either to strengthen or to weaken them (the Hindus). So it is the essential duly of every devout Muslim to fight on by joining the Muslim League so that the Hindus may not be established here and a Muslim rule may be established in India as soon as the English depart.

Maulana Azad Sobhani (1939)

The Muslim Fear

The Indian Players

Gandhi Nehru

Jinnah

Hear them.

Hindus and Muslims:Separate or One?

Panjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Iran, Sindh, Tukharistan, Afghanistan, and BalochistaN.

Pakistan: land of the paks

Gandhi: Self-Rule

• Education• Work in South Africa against Black Laws• Passive resistance• Self-reliance• Indian National Congress

Gandhi: On Passive Resistance

“Whether I go beyond [the laws] or whether I do not is a matter of no consequence to either of us. We simply want to find out what is right and to act accordingly. The real meaning of the statement that we are a law-abiding nation is that we are passive resisters. When we do not like certain laws, we do not break the heads of law-givers but we suffer and do not submit to the laws. … It is contrary to our manhood if we obey laws repugnant to our conscience. Such teaching is opposed to religion and means slavery.”

From “Indian Home Rule” (1909)

Nehru: Independence with Unity

• Education/familial history• Irish Republican Movement• India National Congress• Ties to Mountbatten lead to PMship

Nehru’s Diplomacy"We have declared that the fate of Kashmir is ultimately to be decided by the people. That pledge we have given, and the Maharaja has supported it not only to the people of Kashmir but the world. We will not, and cannot back out of it. We are prepared when peace and law and order have been established to have a referendum held under international auspices like the United Nations. We want it to be a fair and just reference to the people, and we shall accept their verdict. I can imagine no fairer and juster offer."

From an October 1947 telegram regarding Kashmiri conflict to the British Prime Minister

“But a majority which ignores the minority is not functioning in the true spirit of the Parliamentary democracy''

Jinnah: Muslim Sovereignty

• Background• Indian National Congress• Muslim League• First Governor-General of Pakistan

Jinnah: Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan"The creation of the new state has placed a tremendous responsibility on the citizens of Pakistan. It gives them an opportunity to demonstrate to the world how a nation containing many elements can live in peace and amity and work for the betterment of all its citizens irrespective of caste or creed. Our object should be peace within, and peace without. We want to live peacefully and maintain cordial friendly relations with our immediate neighbours and with the world at large."

Radio address from Lahore, August 15, 1947

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Nehru: ‘Architect of Modern India’“And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine it can live apart. Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this One World that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.”

Speech on the Granting of Indian Independence, August 14, 1947

August 15, 1947

Independence and Partition

Independence & PartitionAugust 14 - 15, 1947

Partition

500,000 to 1.5 million dead

Fate of Pakistan

• Secular or religious state?• Central or provincial rule?• Early problems: boundaries