Assignment 3

North South University

Department of History and Philosophy, SPRING2021
Bangladesh: History and Culture, HIS101.18
Name: Atae Rabby
ID: 1512385030

1. Briefly summarized the main debates, which raised in the documentary The Day India
Burned?

During 19th century the people of India lived together in peacefully and harmoniously. At that
time, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan were one country, India. Many people of one religion used
to be friends with people of another religion; Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs used to live in the
same culture. They used to look after each other, but it should be remembered that at the time,
some Hindus used to keep cast and behave as racists and a few Sikhs used to hate Muslims at the
time. Besides, Muslims were also had fear about this, that the Hindus of that time were much
more educated than Muslims so they did not want to be under the Hindu’s roles. This perception
were exposed when in 1946 conditions began to change and turned into the most exceedingly
terrible in the year 1947. Because in 1946, 200 year old English principle planned to reach a
conclusion, Since World War II had a crippling economic impact on them, they had already
given an unofficial declaration that they would leave India entirely, giving its power to its
citizens. This announcement was created a sense of insecurity and uncertainty among India's
people, as they wondered who would be rule after the British left. Would the Muslims rule over
the Hindus, or will the Hindus rule over the Muslims?

Gandhi and Pundit Nehru from the Indian Congress Party wanted just one state, but the Muslims
didn't like the idea because they had feared that they would be ruled and dominated by Hindus.
The leader of the Muslim League, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, also feared this and called for a state
of its own such as status for Muslims and Hindus. Because he believed in a united India, Hindus
would get more institutions in which as many Muslims as less privileged lived. Later that year,
the former British politician called a meeting with Nehru from Congress and the Muslim Jinnah.
On the one hand, the British and Nehru proposed a unified India; on the other, Jinnah stuck to his
words and called for a separate Muslim nation, as he knew that Muslims would be the minority if
a unified India were formed, possibly they would be the minority oppressed by the Hindu
majority. Jinnah attempted to make numerous different refutations with the British and Nehru
later that year, but there was no utilization.

By then, the relationship between Hindu and Muslims gradually began to change. When the
negotiations failed, Jinnah called a public gathering of Muslims in Calcutta on August 16, 1946,
where he called on them to stand up for a free Muslim nation "Pakistan". When the meeting was
almost over, many Muslims formed groups of radicals and persecuted the Hindu communities.
They broke into their homes, looted their belongings, beat them, and eventually killed them in
many cases. So that, Hindus were also begun to protest against the Muslims as well, which
eventually led to civil violence, the situation was "death for death". The uprising lasted 3 days
and killed an estimated 5,000 people, many homes were burned down and families were
destroyed. That was a total massacre. At the time, the British armed forces barely played their
part, instead of taking action to stop and overcome the violence they did nothing but wait for an
even worse situation.

But deep down, the British knew they couldn't leave India in peace so they left such a violation
and in March 1947 appointed the Viceroy to resolve the matter with both parties, Congress and
the Muslim League. He personally was also for United India and tried to convince Jinnah of it,
but ultimately he failed. So he had to change his mind and finally decided to split the country in
two. The failure of rejection and the dream of a united India Pundit Nehru also changed his mind
and agreed to have two separate nations.

By then, disturbances had erupted across the region, and the announcement of partition had the
greatest impact on the disturbances; Punjab was the site of the most violence and killing.
Because Punjab was the home of major population of Muslims, Hindus and Sikh which was
about 33 million where Muslim were majority and Hindus and Sikhs together were made
percentage of minorities about 44-47 percent. Besides, the head of Congress Nehru, Jinnah and
the British chief Viceroy issued a statement on Radio in June 1947 stating that, by August 14 and
15, in1947, Muslims and Hindus had separate nations whereas the two independent States had
not yet settled their borders, boundaries. On the other hand, none of these three groups wanted to
leave Punjab, they could not believe that Punjab would split or be a separate province, which
means that both groups feared losing their heritage and authority over Punjab. Violence began in
several villages in Punjab. Lahore, the main attraction in Punjab, wasn't violent either. The
British governor also sent his troops to join the local Indian police force in an attempt to fix
things and bring peace. There were very few British troops, so the violence in these areas only
became worsened. Mainly some radical Sikhs stared at this and started forming local gang
groups armed with small arms, rifles and swords and started attacking the Muslim community.
Terror arose; Muslims also came from armed groups to protect themselves and sometimes
attacked the Sikh community.

Moreover, many people from each group, Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs, took advantage of the
assault to rob homes, girls from other communities were abducted and raped, and lands were
occupied. Torture and abuse were so prevalent that some members of the Sikh community made
a barbaric decision to keep other members of the community from gaining control of their
females. So they began beheading their own girls in order to prevent other communities from
kidnapping, converting, and raping them.

Finally on 14th August Muslim nation, East Pakistan and West Pakistan and on 15th Hindu and
Sikh nation, India, was declared. The next day the precise border drawn by Radcliff was
declared, Punjab was divided into two parts, one for Hindus and Sikhs which fell in India and the
other for Muslim majority Pakistan, Lahore was on Pakistan side. Once the borders were
declared it forced 14-18 million people to become refugees to cross the international border and
enter their new own land. During the division of India the approximate loss of life is 1 million
which some consider this to be one of the severe major tragedies of 20th century’s.

2. Developing structured notes about the main events of the Partition of India?

Most historians consider the partition of India to be the pivotal event in twentieth-century South
Asian history. It caused one of the largest migrations in human history, with Muslims fleeing to
Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs fleeing to India. Up to 15 million people were displaced, and this
was accompanied by a massive outbreak of sectarianism, as communities that had coexisted
peacefully for hundreds of years massacred and killed each other. About a million people have
died through this process. The partition also marked the end of the British presence in India after
300 years domination.

Here some structured notes has been developed which recorded in history as main events of the
Partition of India like as,

Britain had to get out of India

The 30 year-long nationalist movement in India had made it increasingly difficult and costly to
manage, and Britain no longer had the money to govern it after WWII. Indeed, Britain's Labor
administration, elected in 1945, was staunchly opposed to Indian self-rule. Clement Attlee
declared Louis Mountbatten as viceroy in early 1947, instructing him to "keep India together if
you can." If not, try to save everything from the crash. In any case, get the British out.”
Mountbatten advanced at a pace that is now widely regarded as devastating, but from a limited
British viewpoint, he was relatively successful; the British marched out of the country with just
seven casualties.

It seem appropriate to partition India

At the time of partition, a quarter of India's population was Muslim as a result of Muslim
conquests going back to the 11th century. Though Muslims and Hindus had coexisted peacefully
for decades, the two communities were sharply divided in the early twentieth century. In 1906,
prominent Muslims founded the Muslim League in response to their perception that the Indian
National Congress, the largest nationalist movement, was predominantly Hindu. There were
incidents of religious violence beginning in the 1920s, and in 1940, anticipating the possibility of
a Hindu-dominated India; the League pledged itself to a separate Muslim homeland. Congress
initially opposed the proposal, and meetings between Congress leader Nehru and Muslim League
leader Mohammed Ali Jinnah grew increasingly tense. A British mission suggested a loose
territorial system of three independent groups of provinces in 1946, but it was refused, and
Mountbatten went on to persuade the main players that partition was the only solution.
India partitioned by Cyril Radcliffe

Cyril Radcliffe, a British barrister, was assigned less than a month to redraw the map of India.
His two border commissions, one for Punjab and the other for Bengal, were tasked with drawing
a line between the two most polarized provinces. It took two days after the declaration of
independence to negotiate on the final boundaries. Few people were happy. And a vast number
of people were forced to cross the new line on the opposite side.

The division was been so violent

This issue has been discussed for decades in history. Indian nationalists usually accuse the
intransigence of Jinna: he would be the only India he would allow to be 'divided India or a
broken India,' and had contribution to direct action in Calcutta led to riots and killings on his day
in August 1946. Local leaders stoked racial tensions, while landowners and businesses funded
and educated paramilitary groups. The policy of "divide and rule" had heightened tensions
between diverse groups, and the swift removal of law enforcement forces had created a
dangerous vacuum. Daily massacres began in August 1946 and continued until the summer of
1947.

The violence was occurred most: Punjab and Bengal

It was particularly ferocious in Bengal, and it was at its worst in Punjab, where there were
killings, forced conversions, mass abductions, and rapes.”Gangs of killers set villages on fire,
hacking to death people’s treasury, girls, and the elderly, while taking off young women to be
raped,” writes Nisid Hajari in Midnight's Furies, his history of India's partition. 'Some British
forces and journalists visiting the Nazi death camps reported that the brutality of the division was
worse: women's pregnant breasts were cut off, and their babies were hacked. In effect, the Punjab
was ethnically purified, in the west, the Hindus and Sikhs and in the east, Muslims. Refugee
trains have been ambushed to the border full of assassinations and mutilations. Pakistan's first
capital, Karachi, was almost half a Hindu before the partition, almost all of its Hindus fled by the
end of the decade. Around 200 000 Muslims have been driven from Delhi.

Those that have been most affected: women

Women were kidnapped, raped and mutilated in great numbers during the partition process.
Phrases like "Jai Hind" (India Victory) and "Pakistan Zindabad" were tettooed to the victims
(long live Pakistan). There are also stories where men sacrifice their wives and children to save
them from the humiliation of future capture and rape. According to the Indian authorities, 83 000
women were kidnapped in 1947, many from the large columns of refugees known as Kafilas. 50
000 were Muslims, with the remainder being Hindus and Sikhs. The acts of organized Sikh
jathas, or armed bands, are blamed for the higher number of Muslim casualties. "Tens of
thousands of women were held as permanent captives, slaves or forced wives rather than
abandoned; they were known as the women who were taken away” writes Yasmin Khan in The
Great Partition. 30 000 women were gradually repatriated to the other country during the eight-
year period following partition. More than 20,000 Muslim women were sent to Pakistan and
more than 9,000 Hindus and Shiks to India and rest of never returned to their families.

3. Generating a timeline of the main events by using the documentary as a main source?

Partition: The Day India Burned

Video can be found online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGiTaQ60Je0

The documentary shows the impact of England's 1947 exit from India, which has led to one of
the greatest migrations ever. Fifteen million were displaced and over a million died. The story is
related by people who had lived together for several hundred years but were thrown out of their
homes as a separation was one of the world's biggest and most ethnically diverse countries.

Day 1 – The Cabinet Mission 

(0:00-12:44)
Here you can see how Lahore was like before partition and how is it being described in the
beginning of this documentary, also you will see how was life for the English in India before
Parcel? What change occurred in 1946 for England? Who were India's Autonomy chiefs and
what did they need? How were relations among Hindus and Muslims in Lahore?
What was the motivation behind the Cabinet Mission?
Day 2 – Riots in Calcutta 
(12:45 – 18:24 – 21:54) 
1. Here you can see, what was happened in Calcutta on August 16, 1946?
- How did it start?
- Who was involved?
- What was the result?
2. What was British's reaction to the violence?
3. What was Gandhi’s response after the riots? What did he do?

Day 3 – British appointed Mountbatten for the solution 

(22:00 – 40:00 – 42:30) 
1. Who was Lord Mountbatten? What was his purpose?
2. What was the British Viceroy's life like?
3. How was Mountbatten different from previous viceroys?
4. Was Mountbatten able to reach successful agreement with Nehru and Jinnah?
5. Why were tensions rising in the Punjab?
6. What did the Sikhs in the area do when the tensions escalated?
-What methods did Sikhs use to protect their women from Muslim mobs?
7. What was the impact of abuse on leaders who worked on an Independence Plan?
8. What was Mountbatten's most surprising reform since the plan for independence was
finalized?
9. What effect would this have? 
Day 4 – Division and Violence 
(43:00 - 1:00:00)
1. Who was chosen to draw the partition line between India and Pakistan?
2. How did he draw the dividing lines?
3. What would happen in the princely states?
4. What has happened to the partitioning of the region?

Day 5 – Mobilization 
(1:00:00 - 11:29:29)
1. When did Cyril Radcliff finish establishing India and Pakistan's boundaries?
2. When did Mountbatten want the new boundaries to be released?
3. What was the effect?
4. What was the atmosphere on the day on Independence in India and Pakistan?
5. What happened to Hindus and Sikhs on the Pakistan side of border?
6. What happened to Muslims on the Indians side of the border?
7. How did people move to the “right” side of the border?
8. What dangers awaited the refugees?
9. What protection did they have?
10. What were some of the problems that were faced during the move?
11. What did Mountbatten do during Partition?
12. What happened to Lahore after partition? 

References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGiTaQ60Je0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_India
Partition The Day India Burned (Full) with English subtitles (closed captions) and transcript
(yousubtitles.com)
The Day India Burned: Partition - Top Documentary Films