मंगलवार, 16 मई 2023

Causes for Partition of India

 

वा न करना फ़िरक़ाबन्दी के लिए अपनी ज़ुबाँ, छिपके है बैठा हुआ हंगाम-ए-महशर यहाँ।

वस्ल के सामान पैदा हों तेरी तहरीर से, देख, कोई दिल न दुख जाए तेरी तक़रीर से।

महफ़िले-नव में पुरानी दास्तानों को न छेड़, रंग पर जो अब न आएँ उन फ़सानों को न छेड़।

                                     सर सैयद अहमद के लिए इकबाल

 

हिन्दी होने पर नाज़ जिसे कल तक था, हिजाज़ी बन बैठा

अपनी महफ़िल का रिन्द पुराना आज नमाज़ी बन बैठा।

                            इकबाल के लिए आनंद नारायण "मुल्ला"

 

ये दाग़ दाग़ उजाला ये शब-गज़ीदा सहर, वो इंतिज़ार था जिस का ये वो सहर तो नहीं

ये वो सहर तो नहीं जिस की आरज़ू ले कर , चले थे यार कि मिल जाएगी कहीं न कहीं

                                      सुबहे आज़ादी, फैज़ अहमद फैज़

 

हिन्दू भी सुकूँ से है मुसलमाँ भी सुकूँ से, इंसान परेशान यहाँ भी है वहाँ भी

उठता है दिल-ओ-जाँ से धुआँ दोनों तरफ़ ही, ये 'मीर' का दीवान यहाँ भी है वहाँ भी

                                                   निदा फ़ाज़ली

 

Why did the partition of India happen? The leaders of the Indian National Congress have generally attributed this to the policy of 'divide and rule' of the British, while European writers have attributed the partition to the lack of unity among Indians and mutual enmity between Hindus and Muslims. In the view of the Muslim League, the establishment of Pakistan was inspired by the desire of a new nation to forge its own ideals and culture, which could not be satisfied with anything other than a separate state. If the various circumstances at the time of partition of India are studied, it is known that in reality no one reason can be held responsible for the partition of India. The following reasons were mainly responsible for the partition of India -

1. Growth of Muslim communalism

In the first freedom struggle of 1857 AD, Hindus and Muslims had jointly opposed the British rule, but with the passage of time communalism developed among the Muslims and they started to feel that their interests and those of the Hindus were different. Muslims also started thinking that Hindus were in large numbers in India and Muslims were also backward from educational point of view. In such a situation, if the British leave India, they will become dependent on the Hindus. This is corroborated by Jinnah's statement to Mountbatten. In the words of Jinnah, “I consider that partition is necessary. We cannot trust Hindus."

2. Resurgent politics of Hindutva

Many such reformers emerged in the nineteenth century who reminded the Indians of the glorious past of ancient India and inspired the public to work for the revival of Hinduism. Although the aim of these social reformers was to improve the condition of India, but due to this, Muslims started to look at Hindus with suspicion. For example, 'Ganesh Chaturthi' and 'Shivaji festival' by Tilak, 'Kali Panth' by Arvind and Lala Lajpat Rai breathed new life into Arya Samaj. Although these works were not anti-Islamic, they indirectly helped the separatist policies between Hindus and Muslims.

3. Divide and rule policy of British rule

The Battle of Plassey was called the Plassey Revolution by the British and it was explained to the Hindus that it was their liberation from the cruel rule of the Muslims. Due to the attack on Somnath, the soul of Hindus was suffering for thousand years, its first claim was made in 1848 in the Common Assembly of Britain. After the revolution of 1857, the Muslims were told through Hunter's Indian Musalman that it was better for them to stay away from the Hindus and its benefits were enumerated. So, he started following the policy of 'divide and rule'. As a result of this policy of their, the distance between Hindus and Muslims continued to increase. In the beginning, they tried to incite the feeling of communalism by taking Sir Syed Ahmed Khan under his influence, but when it did not get the desired success, Bengal was partitioned in 1905 AD. On not being satisfied even with this, in 1909 it was announced to implement the communal election system by passing an act. This work of Lord Minto greatly helped in increasing communalism and greatly increased the distance between Hindus and Muslims. This is why Dr. Rajendra Prasad has written, "The real father of Pakistan was not Iqbal or Jinnah but Lord Minto".

4. Congress's policy towards the Muslim League

Some policies of the Congress were also responsible for the partition of India. The Congress always adopted the policy of appeasement towards the Muslim League and also accepted its wrong demands, due to which the feeling of communalism increased. For example, in 1916, the Congress, in agreement with the Muslim League, accepted the separate electoral system. Similarly, at the time of the Communal Award (1932 AD), the Congress adopted a wrong policy, which encouraged separatism. Similarly, the Congress made a big mistake by including the Muslim League in the interim government, because the ministers of the Muslim League made the functioning of the interim government difficult. This led to the conclusion that the Congress and the Muslim League could not rule jointly, hence the demand for Pakistan gained strength.

5. Dogma of Jinnah

Although the original idea of creating Pakistan was not Jinnah's, but once it was accepted, Jinnah was not ready to accept anything less than Pakistan. English policies also promoted Jinnah. Due to this stubbornness of Jinnah, it became impossible to find a solution to the Indian problem. In this context, the statement of the then Viceroy Lord Mountbatten is remarkable, "I was proud of the fact that I could make people do the right and proper thing, but it was not possible to do anything in the case of Jinnah. It was made (for Pakistan) and no power could shake it. I admit that I failed in Jinnah's case.

6. Communal riots

The partition of India had become necessary because of Jinnah's obstinacy. Along with that, the way communal riots took place in India from time to time, it also became clear that the partition of India was necessary. The manner in which a large number of people were killed on the 'Direct Action Day' on August 16, 1946 forced the Congress to think that in reality it was impossible to reach an agreement with the Muslim League and make it permanent. This is also confirmed by the statement of Acharya Kriplani, "Seeing these terrible scenes, my thoughts regarding this problem have been greatly influenced and like others, I am also forced to think that partition is the only solution to this problem."

7. Doubts in the stability of Pakistan

Many Congress leaders were of the view that even after the formation of Pakistan, it would not be able to survive and it would be merged with India, so these leaders accepted the creation of Pakistan as a temporary solution to the problem, but unfortunately this hope was never fulfilled.

8. Threat of transfer of power

By 1947 AD, it had become clear to the British government that it was not possible for them to maintain authority over India for a long time. Therefore, on February 20, 1947, British Prime Minister Attllee had announced that by June, 1948, power would be handed over to the Indians. Due to this announcement of the British, the Indian leaders were forced to think that if the Indian problem is not resolved soon, then the British government will act at its own discretion and transfer the power, which could be harmful for India and if there is a civil war, India will be divided into two. It could be divided into more than 100 parts, so the Congress leaders got ready for the partition of India by accepting the Mountbatten Pact.

9. Congress finally agreed

The Congress was initially strongly opposed to the partition of India. Mountbatten wrote that, "Nehru was horrified at the idea of partition". Mahatma Gandhi told Mountbatten, "Come what may, he should not even dream of the partition of India." But seeing the situation at that time, finally the Congress leaders were forced to change their views and they realized that there was no other way than partition. Sardar Patel also accepted this fact and said, "I felt that if we did not accept the partition, India would have been divided into many pieces and would have been completely ruined, I felt that instead of one Pakistan in our country, many will become."

10. Mountbatten's influence

Shortly after coming to India, it became clear to Mountbatten that the partition of India was necessary, because he had seen that it was impossible to have any agreement between the Congress and the Muslim League with Jinnah present. In the words of Mountbatten itself, the situation in India had become so explosive that it was as if standing on a volcano. So, he explained to the Congress leaders to get ready for the partition. Lady Mountbatten (Edwina) also helped a lot in this work of Mountbatten. Referring to the influence of Lord Mountbatten on the Indian leaders, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad has written, “Pt. Nehru, if not a supporter of partition, was at least a staunch opponent of the formation of Pakistan within a month of Lord Mountbatten's arrival in India. became neutral. I think that one of the main reasons for this change was the personality of Lady Mountbatten.

In this way, all the above reasons created such conditions that apart from the partition of India, there was no other option for the Indian problem. Thus, India became independent on August 15, 1947, but a day before that India was partitioned.

Be that as it may, today we must turn our historical gaze beyond the 'causes of Partition' to the people who lived through Partition, the nightmare it created, and the transmigration it brought. We should be looked at. In fact, the "truth of Partition" lay in the violence it generated, and so recent historiography has moved away from causal-centrism to a meaningful extent and has become more interested in its experiences. This is evidenced by the recent spate of publications that focus on memories of Partition, creative literature depicting that tragic experience, and pictorial representations of the " great tragedy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hee6EMHMAk . So that while learning from it, we do not become its victim again.

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