Question

Discuss the reasons behind the partition of India.

Answer 1

1. The Muslim League was formed mainly to fight for the political rights of the Indian Muslims.
2. Jinnah revived the Muslim League in 1934 with the determination to demand a separate state for Muslims.
3. By 1940, he was demanding a separate nation for Muslims, arguing that in Independent India, Muslims would lose all political power to the Hindus.
4. The Muslim League dubbed the Congress a Hindu organisation.
5. The British policy of Divide and rule had encouraged the vested interests of the Muslims to exploit the religious differences.
6. Cripps mission declared that it would provide a federal government, and the provinces were divided into three groups, namely.
7. Non-Muslim majority provinces, Muslim majority provinces in the North West and in the North East.
8. This proposal was agreed upon by both parties, but they interpreted it differently.
9. The Congress wanted the division to be temporary, but the Muslim League wanted it to be permanent.
10. Differences arose between the Congress and the Muslim League, which led to the Hindu-Muslim conflicts, bringing communal violence.
11. Finally, the Mountbatten plan - Two-Nation theory, dividing India into two states, India and Pakistan.
12. The partition of India was the ultimate outcome of the splitting of the unity of Independent India.