Partition of India

Introduction

“Partition” – the division of British India into the two separate states of India and Pakistan on August 14-
15, 1947 – was the “last-minute” mechanism by which the British were able to secure agreement over
how independence would take place. At the time, few people understood what Partition would entail or
what its results would be, and the migration on the enormous scale that followed took the vast majority of
contemporaries by surprise.

The main vehicle for nationalist activity was the Indian National Congress, whose best-known leaders
included Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Even before the 1940s, it had long argued for a unitary
state with a strong centre; even though Congress was ostensibly secular in its objectives, organizations
representing minority interests increasingly viewed this idea with suspicion, believing that it would
entrench the political dominance of Hindus, who made up about 80% of the population.

At around 25% of its population, Muslims were British India’s largest religious minority. Under imperial
rule, they had grown accustomed to having their minority status protected by a system of reserved
legislative seats and separate electorates. The British system of political control hinged on identifying
interest groups willing to collaborate, a governing style often describes as “divide and rule”.

The prospect of losing this protection as independence drew closer worried more and more Muslims, first
in parts of northern India, and then, after World War II, in the influential Muslim-majority provinces of
Bengal and Punjab. In 1945-6, the ALL INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE, led by MUHAMMAD ALI
JINNAH, won a majority of Muslim votes in provincial elections. This strengthened the party’s claim to
speak for a substantial proportion of, but never all, the subcontinent’s Muslims.

Then came World War II – and suddenly, the political stakes in India were considerably higher.

REASONS OF PARTITION
By the end of the 19th century, several nationalist movements had emerged in India. Indian nationalism
had expanded as the result of British policies of education and the advances made by the British in India
in the fields of transportation and communication. However, British insensitivity to and distance from the
people of India and their customs created such disillusionment among Indians that the end of British rule
became necessary and inevitable. (See Sepoy Mutiny)

While the Indian National Congress was calling for Britain to quit India, in 1943 the Muslim League
passed a resolution demanding the British divide and quit. There were several reasons for the birth of a
separate Muslim homeland in the subcontinent, and all three parties — the British, the Congress, and the
Muslim League — were responsible.
As colonizers, the British had followed a divide-and-rule policy in India. In the census they categorized
people according to religion and viewed and treated them as separate from each other. The British based
their knowledge of the people of India on religious texts and the intrinsic differences they found in them,
instead of examining how people of different religions coexisted. They also were fearful of the potential
threat from the Muslims, who were the former rulers of the subcontinent, ruling India for over 300 years
under the Mughal Empire. To win them over to their side, the British helped establish the Mohammedan
Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh and supported the All-India Muslim Conference, both of which were
institutions from which leaders of the Muslim League and the ideology of Pakistan emerged. As soon as
the league was formed, Muslims were placed on a separate electorate. Thus, the separateness of Muslims
in India was built into the Indian electoral process.

There was also an ideological divide between the Muslims and the Hindus of India. While there were
strong feelings of nationalism in India, by the late 19th century there were also communal conflicts and
movements in the country that were based on religious identities rather than class or regional ones. Some
people felt that the very nature of Islam called for a communal Muslim society. Added to this were the
memories of power over the Indian subcontinent that the Muslims held, especially in old centers of
Mughal rule. These memories might have made it exceptionally difficult for Muslims to accept the
imposition of colonial power and culture. Many refused to learn English and to associate with the British.
This was a severe drawback as Muslims found that cooperative Hindus found better government positions
and thus felt that the British favored Hindus. Consequently, social reformer and educator Sir Syed Ahmed
Khan, who founded Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College, taught the Muslims that education and
cooperation with the British was vital for their survival in the society. However, tied to all the movements
of the Muslim revival was the opposition to assimilation and submergence in Hindu society.

Hindu revivalists also deepened the chasm between the two nations. They resented the Muslims for their
former rule over India. Hindu revivalists rallied for a ban on the slaughter of cows, a cheap source of meat
for the Muslims. They also wanted to change the official script from the Persian to the Hindu Devanagri
script, effectively making Hindi rather than Urdu the main candidate for the national language.

The Congress made several mistakes in their policies which further convinced the League that it was
impossible to live in an undivided India after freedom from colonial rule because their interests would be
completely suppressed. One such policy was the institution of “Bande Matram,” a national anthem
historically linked to anti-Muslim sentiment, in the schools of India where Muslim children were forced
to sing it.

The Congress banned support for the British during the Second World War while the Muslim League
pledged its full support, which found favor from the British, who needed the help of the largely Muslim
army. The Civil Disobedience Movement and the consequent withdrawal of the Congress party from
politics also helped the league gain power, as they formed strong ministries in the provinces that had large
Muslim populations. At the same time, the League actively campaigned to gain more support from the
Muslims in India, especially under the guidance of dynamic leaders like Jinnah. There had been some
hope of an undivided India, but the Congress’ rejection of the interim government set up under the
Cabinet Mission Plan in 1942 convinced the leaders of the Muslim League that compromise was
impossible and partition was the only course to take.

Timeline
1885: Indian National Congress founded by A. O. Hume to unite all Indians and strengthen bonds with
Britain.

1905: First Partition of Bengal for administrative purposes. Gives the Muslims a majority in that state.

1906: All India Muslim League founded to promote Muslim political interests.

1909: Revocation of Partition of Bengal. Creates anti-British and anti-Hindu sentiments among Muslims
as they lose their majority in East Bengal.

1916: Lucknow Pact. The Congress and the League unite in demand for greater self-government. It is
denied by the British.

1919: Rowlatt Acts, or black acts passed over opposition by Indian members of the Supreme Legislative
Council. These were peacetime extensions of wartime emergency measures. Their passage causes further
disaffection with the British and leads to protests. Amritsar Massacre. General Dyer opens fire on 20,000
unarmed Indian civilians at a political demonstration against the Rowlatt Acts. Congress and the League
lose faith in the British.

1919-Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (implemented in 1921). A step to self-government in India within

the Empire, with greater provincialisation, based on a dyarchic principle in provincial government as well
as administrative responsibility. Communal representation institutionalised for the first time as reserved
legislative seats are allocated for significant minorities.

1920: Gandhi launches a non-violent, non-cooperation movement, or Satyagraha, against the British for a
free India.

1922: Twenty-one policemen are killed by Congress supporters at Chauri-Chaura. Gandhi suspends non-
cooperation movement and is imprisoned.

1928: Simon Commission, set up to investigate the Indian political environment for future policy-making,
fails as all parties boycott it.

1929: Congress calls for full independence.

1930: Dr. Allama Iqbal, a poet-politician, calls for a separate homeland for the Muslims at the Allahabad
session of the Muslim League. Gandhi starts Civil Disobedience Movement against the Salt Laws by
which the British had a monopoly over production and sale of salt.

1930-31: The Round Table conferences, set up to consider Dominion status for India. They fail because
of non-attendance by the Congress and because Gandhi, who does attend, claims he is the only
representative of all of India.

1931: Irwin-Gandhi Pact, which concedes to Gandhi’s demands at the Round Table conferences and
further isolates Muslim League from the Congress and the British.

1932: Third Round Table Conference boycotted by Muslim League. Gandhi re-starts civil disobedience.
Congress is outlawed by the British and its leaders.
1935: Government of India Act: proposes a federal India of political provinces with elected local
governments but British control over foreign policy and defense.

1937: Elections. Congress is successful in gaining majority.

1939: Congress ministries resign.

1940: Jinnah calls for establishment of Pakistan in an independent and partitioned India.

1942: Cripps Mission to India, to conduct negotiations between all political parties and to set up a cabinet
government. Congress adopts Quit India Resolution, to rid India of British rule. Congress leaders arrested
for obstructing war effort.

1942-43: Muslim League gains more power: ministries formed in Sindh, Bengal and North-West Frontier
Province and greater influence in the Punjab.

1944: Gandhi released from prison. Unsuccessful Gandhi-Jinnah talks, but Muslims see this as an
acknowledgment that Jinnah represents all Indian Muslims.

1945: The new Labour Government in Britain decides India is strategically indefensible and begins to
prepare for Indian independence. Direct Action Day riots convince British that Partition is inevitable.

1946: Muslim League participates in Interim Government that is set up according to the Cabinet Mission
Plan.

1947: Announcement of Lord Mountbatten’s plan for partition of India, 3 June. Partition of India and
Pakistan, 15 August. Radcliffe Award of boundaries of the nations, 16 August.

1971: East Pakistan separates from West Pakistan and Bangladesh is born.

Provincial election and congress ministries

 The demise of the Civil Disobedience Movement around 1934 resulted in serious dissension
within Congress, in the same way as it had happened after the withdrawal of NCM.
 While Gandhi temporarily withrew from active politics, the socialists and other leftist elements
formed in May 1934, Congress Socialist Party within Congress. Nehru never formally joined this
group, whose ideology ranged fro vague and mixd up radical nationalism to fairly firm advocacy
of Marxian Scientific Socialism.
 Soon divide within Congress centred on two issues: (a) Council Entry (b) Office acceptance
 At Lucknow Congress in 1936, majority of delegates led by Rajender Prasad and vallabhai patel
with the blessing of Gandhi, came to the view that contesting election and subsequent acceptance
of office under Act of 1935 would help boost the flagging morale of the Congress at a time when
direct action was not an option.
 AICC meeting in Aug 1936 in Bombay decided in favour of contesting election but postponed the
decision on office acceptance until election was over.
  The federal part of the Government of India Act, 1935 was never introduced but provincial
autonomy came into operation from 1937. Though new constitutional reforms fell far short of
India’s national aspirations. Congress decided to contest the elections to the assembles in the
provinces under the new Act of 1935.

Election:

 Provincial elections were held in British India in the winter of 1936-37 as mandated by the
Government of India Act 1935. Elections were held in eleven provinces – Madras, Central
Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, United Provinces, Bombay Presidency, Assam, NWFP,Bengal, Punjab
and Sindh.
 The 1937 election was the first in which large masses of Indians were eligible to participate. An
estimated 30.1 million persons, including 4.25 million women, had acquired the right to vote
(14% of the total population), and 15.5 million of these, including 917,000 women, actually did
exercise their franchise.

Election Result:

 The results were in favour of the Indian National Congress. Of the total of 1,585 seats, it won 707
(44.6%). Among the 864 seats assigned “general” constituencies, it contested 739 and won 617.
Of the 125 non-general constituencies contested by Congress, 59 were reserved for Muslims and
in those the Congress won 25 seats, 15 of them in the entirely-Muslim North-West Frontier
Province.
 The All-India Muslim League won 106 seats (6.7% of the total), placing it as second-ranking
party.The election results were a blow to the League. The Muslim League fared badly even in
provinces predominantly inhabited by Muslims.After the election, Muhammad Ali Jinnah of the
League offered to form coalitions with the Congress. The League insisted that the Congress
should not nominate any Muslims to the ministries, as it (the League) claimed to be the exclusive
representative of Indian Muslims. This was not acceptable to the Congress, and it declined the
League’s offer.
 The only other party to win more than 5 percent of all the assembly seats was the Unionist Party
(Punjab), with 101 seats.

Formation of Ministries:

 AICC sanctioned office acceptance by overriding objections of Nehru and other CSP
leaders. Nehru objection hinged on the argument that by running provincial
governments.., Congress would be letting down the masses whose high spirits the
Congress itself had once helpd in boosting up.
 Congress Ministries were formed in 8 out of 11 provinces of India in 1937

Madras Presidency:

 The Government of India Act of 1935 established a bicameral legislature in the Madras
province.The Legislature consisted of the Governor and two Legislative bodies – a Legislative
Assembly and a Legislative Council.
 The Justice Party had been in power in Madras for 17 years since 1920. Its hold on power was
briefly interrupted only once in 1926-28.The Justice Government under the Raja of Bobbili had
 been steadily losing ground since the early 1930s. It was beset with factional politics and its
popularity was eroding slowly due to the autocratic rule of Bobbili Raja.
 The Justice Party was seen as the collaborative party, agreeing with the British Government’s
harsh measures. Its economic policies during the Great Depression of the 1930s were also highly
unpopular. Its refusal to decrease the land revenue taxation in non-Zamindari areas by 12.5% was
hugely unpopular. The Bobbili Raja, himself a Zamindar, cracked down on the Congress protests
demanding reduction of the revenue.
 The Swaraj Party which had been the Justice party’s main opposition merged with the Indian
National Congress in 1935 when the Congress decided to participate in the electoral process. The
Civil Disobedience movement, the Land Tax reduction agitations and Union organizations helped
the Congress to mobilize popular opposition to the Bobbili Raja government. The revenue
agitations brought the peasants into the Congress fold and the Gandhian hand spinning
programme assured the support of weavers. Preferential treatment given to European traders
brought the support of the indigenous industrialists and commercial interests.
 Congress won 74% of all seats, eclipsing the incumbent Justice Party (21 seats). Despite being
the majority party in the Assembly and the Council, the Congress was hesitant to form a
Government. Their objections stemmed from the special powers given to the Governor by the
Government of India Act of 1935.
 Eventually an interim Government was formed with Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu of the Justice
Party as Chief Minister on 1 April 1937. Congress leaders like S. Satyamurti were apprehensive
about the decision to not accept power. They carried out a campaign to convince Congress High
Command to accept power within the limitations set by the Government of India Act. They also
appealed to the British Government to give assurances that the Governor’s special powers will
not be misused.
 On 22 June, Viceroy Linlithgow issued a statement expressing the British Government’s desire to
work with the Congress in implementing the 1935 Act. On 1 July, the Congress Working
Committee (CWC) agreed to form Governments in the provinces they had won. On 14 July,
Rajaji was sworn in as the Chief Minister.
 The 1937 elections marked the start of the Indian National Congress’ participation in the
governance of India. In the Madras Presidency, it also marked the beginning of Rajaji’s
ascendancy in the Congress Legislature Party.

Sindh:

 These were the first elections in the province after its creation in 1936.The Sind Legislative
Assembly had 60 members. The Sind United Party emerged the leader with 22 seats.
 In the General constituencies, the Sind Hindu Mahasabha won eleven seats, the Congress Party
eight seats.
 Mohammad Ali Jinnah had tried to set up a League Parliamentary Board in Sindh in 1936, but he
failed, though 72% of the population was Muslim.Though 34 seats were reserved for Muslims,
the Muslim League could secure none of them.

United Provinces:

 The UP legislature consisted of a Legislative Council of 52 elected and 6 or 8 nominated

members and a Legislative Assembly of 228 elected members: some from exclusive Muslim
constituencies, some from “General” constituencies, and some “Special” constituencies.
 The Congress won a clear majority in the United Provinces, with 133 seats, while the Muslim
League won only 27 out of the 64 seats reserved for Muslims.
Assam:

 In Assam, the Congress won 33 seats out of a total of 108 making it the single largest party,
though it was not in a position to form a ministry.
 The Governor called upon Sir Muhammad Sadulla, ex-Judicial Member of Assam and Leader of
the Assam Valley Muslim Party to form the ministry.The Congress was a part of the ruling
coalition.

Bombay:

 GOI Act,1935 created a bicameral legislature in the Bombay province.

 The Congress fell just short of gaining half the seats. However, it was able to draw on the support
of some small pro-Congress groups to form a working majority. B.G. Kher became the first Chief
Minister of Bombay.

Other provinces:

 In three additional provinces, Central Provinces, Bihar, and Orissa, the Congress won clear
majorities.
 In the overwhelmingly Muslim North-West Frontier Province, Congress won 19 out of 50 seats
and was able, with minor party support, to form a ministry.
 The Unionist Party under Sikander Hyat Khan formed the government in Punjab with 67 out of
175 seats. The Congress won 18 seats and the Akali Dal, 10.
 In Bengal, though the Congress was the largest party (with 52 seats), The Krishak Praja Party of
A. K. Fazlul Huq (with 36 seats) was able to form a coalition government.

Rule of Congress Ministries(1937-39): (More explanations in different chapters)

 Rule of Congress ministry aroused many expectations among almost all classes. There was all
around increased civil liberty and many legislations regarding land reform, industry reform,
social reform etc. were passes in many provinces.
 But the achievements of the Congress ministries during two years frustrated all groups who voted
for Congress(Industrial working class, peasants, dalits).
 Dalits and their leaders were not impressed with only few caste disabilities removal and temple
entry bills by Congress ministries.
 Congress Victories had aroused the hopes of industrial working class leading to increased
militancy and industrial unrest in Bombay, Gujarat, UP and Bengal at a time when Congress was
drawn into a closer friendship with Indian Capitalists. This resulted in antilabour shift in
Congress attitudes that led to Bombay Traders Disputes Act in 1938.
 Congress also found it difficult to rise up to expectations of Kisan voters who were expecting
radical changes.
 Another dilemma of Congress leadership was visible regarding princely India(to support
Prajamandal movement or not)
 Pirpur Committee was established in 1938 by the All India Muslim League to prepare a detailed
report regarding the atrocities of the Congress Ministries (1937-1939) formed after the elections
under the 1935 Government of India Act in different provinces. Its report charged the congress
for interference with the religious rites, suppression of Urdu and propaganda of Hindi, denial of
legitimate representation and suppression in economy of the Muslims.
ROLE OF MUSLIM LEAGUE
The Muslim League, formed in 1906, was founded in the context of an emerging Indian nationalist
movement that was dominated by Hindu intellectuals. The purpose of the league was to promote Muslim
interests and civil rights in the movement. As it became evident that limited self-government would
eventually lead to Indian independence, the Muslim League represented the interests of Muslims in the
Indian National Congress. The leader of the Muslim League, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, endeavored...

The Muslim League, formed in 1906, was founded in the context of an emerging Indian nationalist
movement that was dominated by Hindu intellectuals. The purpose of the league was to promote Muslim
interests and civil rights in the movement. As it became evident that limited self-government would
eventually lead to Indian independence, the Muslim League represented the interests of Muslims in the
Indian National Congress. The leader of the Muslim League, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, endeavored to
create a two-state proposal for the subcontinent, and persuaded the British authorities that such a solution
was viable after negotiations for a single-state solution broke down. When the British finally left the
subcontinent, they did so under the understanding that Jinnah would govern a separate Pakistan, which he
did beginning in 1947. The Muslim League thus helped to provide a foundation for protecting Muslim
interests once independence was achieved. It should be noted, however, that neither Muslim nor Hindu
leaders were able to control the actions of radicals who slaughtered opposing groups in disputed areas
throughout the subcontinent, and hundreds of thousands of Muslim and Hindu Indians lost their 1
Educator Answer

The Muslim League was founded in 1906 to protect the rights of Muslims living in India. As India was
poised for independence in 1947, the Muslim League lobbied the British to create a separate Muslim
nation. They were worried that a unified India would be dominated by the Hindu majority and the Muslim
needs and priorities would be sidelined. The leader of the Muslim League, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was
able to convince the British that this two-state solution would be a favorable one. He pointed to the
Hindu–Muslim riots in Calcutta in 1946 to help illustrate that a unified India would only be prone to
unrest and violence. Separate nations would be more sustainable and peaceful. It was not an elegant
solution though. The partition left a significant Muslim minority in India and many Hindus in Pakistan. A
massive migration marked by violence followed. East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was separated from the
rest of the country by 1700 kilometers. However, the Muslim League succeeded in creating a homeland
for Muslims of the former colony of India.

Main event

In February 1947, the British government announced that India would be granted independence
by June 1948. Viceroy for India Louis Mountbatten (1900–1979) pleaded with the Hindu and
Muslim leaders to agree to form a united country, but they could not. Only Gandhi supported
Mountbatten's position. With the country descending further into chaos, Mountbatten reluctantly
agreed to the formation of two separate states. 

Mountbatten proposed that the new state of Pakistan would be created from the Muslim-majority
provinces of Baluchistan and Sindh, and the two contested provinces of Punjab and Bengal
would be halved, creating a Hindu Bengal and Punjab, and Muslim Bengal and Punjab. The plan
gained agreement from the Muslim League and the INC, and it was announced on June 3, 1947.
The date for independence was moved up to Aug. 15, 1947, and all that was left was "fine-
tuning," determining the physical border separating the two new states.

Difficulties of Separation

With the decision in favor of partition made, the parties next faced this nearly impossible task of fixing a
border between the new states. The Muslims occupied two main regions in the north on opposite sides of
the country, separated by a majority-Hindu section. In addition, throughout most of northern India,
members of the two religions were mixed together—not to mention populations of Sikhs, Christians, and
other minority faiths. The Sikhs campaigned for a nation of their own, but their appeal was denied.

In the wealthy and fertile region of Punjab, the problem was extreme, with a nearly even mixture of
Hindus and Muslims. Neither side wanted to relinquish this valuable land, and sectarian hatred ran high.

The Radcliffe Line

To identify the final or "real" border, Mountbatten established a Boundary Commission under
the chairmanship of Cyril Radcliffe (1899–1977), a British judge and rank outsider. Radcliffe
arrived in India on July 8 and published the demarcation line a mere six weeks later on August
17. Punjabi and Bengali legislators were to have a chance to vote on a potential split of the
provinces, and a plebiscite for or against joining Pakistan would be necessary for the North-West
Frontier Province. 

Radcliffe was given five weeks to complete the demarcation. He had no background in Indian
affairs, nor did he have any prior experience in adjudicating such disputes. He was a "confident
amateur," in the words of Indian historian Joya Chatterji, chosen because Radcliffe was
supposedly a nonpartisan and thus apolitical actor. 

Jinnah had proposed a single commission made up of three impartial persons; but Nehru
suggested two commissions, one for Bengal and one for Punjab. They would each be made up of
an independent chairman, and two people nominated by the Muslim League and two by the INC.
Radcliffe served as both chairs: his job was to put together a rough-and-ready plan for dividing
each province as soon as possible, with the fine details to be resolved later. 

On Aug. 14, 1947, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was founded. The following day, the
Republic of India was established to the south. On Aug. 17, 1947, Radcliffe's award was
published

Atrocities
During the Partition of India, violence against women was an extensive issue.[1] It is estimated that during
the partition between 75,000[2] and 100,000[3] women were kidnapped and raped.[4] The rape of women by
males during this period is well documented,[5] with women also being complicit in these attacks.[5][6]
Systematic violence against women started in March 1947 in Rawalpindi district where Sikh women were
targeted by Muslim mobs.[7][8][7] Violence was also perpetrated on an organized basis, with Pathans taking
Hindu and Sikh women from refugee trains while one observer witnessed armed Sikhs periodically
dragging Muslim women.[9] It has been estimated that the number of abducted Muslim women was double
the number of abducted Hindu and Sikh women, because of the actions of coordinated Sikh jathas.
[10]
 India and Pakistan later worked to repatriate the abducted women. Muslim women were to be sent to
Pakistan and Hindu and Sikh women to India.[10]
In contrast to earlier riots women were victimised in the direct action day riots in Calcutta. [12] Many Hindu
women were kidnapped during the Noakhali violence. [13] Anti-women violence occurred during the 1946
massacres of Muslims in Bihar. Thousands were kidnapped just in Patna district. [14] Muslim women in
Bihar committed suicide by jumping into wells.[15] In November 1946 Muslim women were subjected to
stripping, nude processions and rape by Hindu mobs in the town of Garhmukteshwar.[16][17]
Systematic violence against women started in March 1947 in Rawalpindi district where Sikh women were
targeted by Muslim mobs.[7] Numerous Hindu and Sikh villages were wiped out. Huge numbers of Hindus
and Sikhs were killed,[18] forcibly converted, children were kidnapped and women were abducted and
raped publicly.[19][20] The official figure of death in Rawalpindi stood at 2,263. [20] Before further attacks
many Sikh women committed suicide by jumping in water wells to save honour and avoid conversion.[21]
[8]

Violence was also perpetrated on an organized basis, with Pathans taking Hindu and Sikh women from
refugee trains while one observer witnessed armed Sikhs periodically dragging Muslim women from their
refugee column and killing any men who resisted, while the military sepoys guarding the columns did
nothing.[9]
Both Sikh and Muslim communities also cited revenge as a reason for their attacks. The scholar Andrew
Major notes that the large-scale abduction and rape of girls seemed to have been a part of systematic
'ethnic cleansing' in the Gurgaon region on the outskirts of Delhi.[22] There was a nude procession of
Muslim women near the Golden Temple in Amritsar.[23]
Although many influential men such as deputy commissioners and police officials tried to prevent
abductions or rescue the victims many other men abused their positions of authority such as the Maharaja
of Patiala who was holding a Muslim girl from a reputable family. Known perpetrators included police
officials, landed magnates and Muslim League members as well as criminal elements. Armed Pathans in
particular were considered the worst offenders, particularly in the Rawalpindi district. The Pathans
abducted a large number of non-Muslim women from Kashmir and sold them in West Punjab and these
sold women often ended up as 'slave girls' in factories. By early 1948, Pathans started abducting even
Muslim women.[24]
In East Punjab, local police and the Indian military frequently engaged in the abduction and distribution
of Muslim women besides the Sikh jathas and refugees from West Punjab. According to Anis Kidwai, the
'better stuff' would be distributed among the police and army while the remaining were distributed among
the rest of the attackers.[25] In the villages around Delhi, police and army soldiers participated in the rape
of Muslim women.

Estimate abduction
The exact figures of abducted women are unknown and estimates vary. Leonard Mosley wrote that in
total 100,000 girls were abducted on all sides. The Indian government estimated that there were
 33,000 Hindu and Sikh women in Pakistan and the Pakistani government estimated that there were
50,000 Muslim women abducted in India.[27] Andrew Major estimates that 40-45,000 women in total
were abducted during the Partition riots, with approximately twice as many Muslim women as Hindu
and Sikh women having been abducted.[28] Masroor estimates that 60,000 Muslim women were
abducted while Begum Tassaduq Hussain estimated that 90,000 Muslim women were abducted.

Case study
The night everything changed 0

Sohinder Nath Chopra, 81, still has vivid dreams of his old village near Gujranwala in present day Pakistan.
A village he and his Hindu family had to flee overnight, guarded by their Christian servant, after the local
Muslim cleric suggested it would be best for them to leave. He was 12 at the time

On Aug. 14, 1947, the day of Pakistan's independence, groups of Muslims marched through villages wearing
the country's newly created flags on their shoulders.

For some, it was a time of celebration. For Sohinder Nath Chopra (right) and his Hindu family, it was time to
flee.

A Muslim cleric urged the family to leave their ancient village in what is now western Pakistan. A Christian
servant accompanied them as a guard.

'Our village had a family-type community,' recalls 81-year-old Chopra, who was 12 at the time. 'There was
always something going on, and life in that village was very good.'

Chopra's family moved through refugee camps on both sides of the border, eventually reaching the bustling
Indian capital of New Delhi.

Chopra and his three brothers immersed themselves in their schoolwork, with Chopra and his eldest brother
earning scholarships for post-graduate studies in Canada.

When he returned to India in 1973, the country was struggling with social unrest and extreme poverty. In the
decades of economic growth and reform that have followed, India became more economically and politically
stable, while seeing its population more than double to 1.3 billion. Chopra believes the country's separation
from Pakistan helped.

'It was a blessing in disguise. Although in the first 10 years or so, we felt very bitter about it,' he said.

He still dreams of visiting his old family home, but lingering fears and turbulent India-Pakistan relations have
kept him from making the journey. His wife tries to console him by saying that everything he remembers has
probably changed.

Neighbours lynched, houses burnt

+10

Octogenarian Mohammad Ishaq's memories of the creation of Pakistan from a larger India are filled with
frightful images, including a young Sikh boy from his neighborhood lynched by a rampaging mob of
Muslims

Every hour there was rumor of another attack. One Sikh man lynched by rampaging mobs of Muslims,
another hacked to death in his own home.

Mohammad Ishaq's boyhood memories from Pakistan's first days are filled with these images of killing and
destruction.

'That was the time of extreme fear. Then only the men stayed in their homes. The women and children were
sent to safer places,' he recalled.

In the early evenings, a silence would settle over his neighborhood in the old, congested city of Rawalpindi as
no one dared to leave their homes. In the morning, they'd find other houses burnt, smoldering.

Ishaq remembers mobs attacking three large houses belonging to wealthy Sikh families, whom many in the
Muslim majority neighborhood resented. They ravaged and robbed the homes. They stabbed and hacked one
homeowner to death. His body lay in the street for days.

'When I first saw the body, I turned pale and I was so scared that I didn't dare come out of my home for many
days,' Ishaq said.

He said poor Muslims were in the majority in his neighborhood, and both feared and envied their wealthy
Sikh and Hindu neighbors. The creation of Pakistan as its own Islamic republic offered opportunities they
otherwise wouldn't have had, he said.

Today, he sees Pakistan's biggest handicap as its rapid population growth, from about 45 million in 1960 to
about 200 million today.

'The population continues to increase, and resources decrease, and it is because of this that as a country we
could not achieve great progress,' he said.

A family massacred

+10

Shamus Nisa, 80, breaks down as she tells her story inside her house in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir.
Nisa was 10 when she watched her Muslim father, grandfather and six uncles killed by Hindu mobs in
Udhampur
Shamsul Nisa was 10 when she watched her Muslim father, grandfather and six uncles killed by Hindu mobs
in Udhampur, a southern town in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

'Our homes and our lives were destroyed. We were suddenly turned into beggars,' said Nisa, 80. She had
escaped along with her mother and four brothers, and the family settled in Muslim-majority Srinagar, the
main city on the Indian-controlled side of the still-divided territory.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over control of Kashmir. Today, they each administer
part of it, separated by a heavily militarized line of control. A third, smaller portion is controlled by China.

In the chaos of those first days, when ancient principalities were pledging to join one of the two nations,
Kashmir's final status was by no means certain.

The Muslim majority rose up repeatedly against the Hindu Maharaja and his plans to remain independent.
Pakistani tribesmen raided in an effort to wrest control; India marched troops into the region with a promise
to keep the peace and to hold a referendum.

Tens of thousands of Muslims were slaughtered by Hindu mobs in the southern Jammu region, while
hundreds of thousands more were driven from their homes to Pakistan or Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

Until Partition, 'Kashmir was not divided,' Nisa said. 'But whosoever could, grabbed and occupied parts of it.'

Nisa eventually became a teacher, got married and had three daughters and a son. Since the recent death of
her husband, she remains with her son. 'I can't stay alone' since those violent days in 1947, she said. 'My heart
palpitates with pain.'

She still believes Partition was the right move for South Asia - if only Kashmir could decide its own
affiliation.

'I think it was a right decision, and we also say that Kashmir should 

Conclusion
Partition of India, created two independent dominions- India and Pakistan where the formation of
Pakistan was on the basis of religious line.

The partition displaced 14.5 million people along religious lines, creating overwhelming refugee crises in
the newly constituted dominions. Families were uprooted and dragged out forcefully because of
circumstances where they lived peacefully for centuries together. The mass violence, killings and loot of
property was the result of this exercise perpetuated to create a atmosphere of lifelong hostility and
suspicion between two nations, both nuclear powers.

The magnitude of these mass movement is something still unknown in the world history where the two
newly formed Governments were incompetent to handle such situation. One of the biggest blunder done
by British Raj and worst Colonial experience of British ever faced by any colony.

Today, the result of this partition is felt when both the countries spent a huge amount of their GDP on
securing their borders and have fought three wars till date. Both the countries have big defence budgets
and maintains a large scale of army.
In spite of having common culture, shared history and common language, there’s little people’s
movement, a lot of hatred spread by political leadership and mistrust.

Partition of India, also gave birth to the crisis of Kashmir issue, which has been a centre point of the
battles fought between the neighbours.

The succession of Bangladesh, result of War of 1971 is not discussed here.