Question

Why did Partition occur and what were the consequences?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) The India-Pakistan partition led to one of the greatest mass-migration of people in the history of the world. The riots between the Hindus and Muslims in this territorial war led to the loss of the lives of millions. Children were separated from their parents, missing family members, death by hunger and famine, corpses on the pavement were commonplace during this displacement.

It was thought that the partition was the plan drafted and executed by Lord Mountbatten, who was the last viceroy of India. However, recent evidence of letters and conversations between The first Pakistani Prime Minister Jinnah and Winston Churchill proved that it was the idea of Churchill and Jinnah to separate the countries.

Churchill felt closer to Jinnah than to Nehru who was the first Indian Prime Minister. Churchill and Jinnah connected over how similar their monotheistic religions of Christianity and Islam were compared to the polytheistic Hinduism. Churchill knew that once India was independent, the trade would not be as cheap and lucrative for Britain with India. In order to keep up these old ties even after independence, Churchill decided to give Jinnah the position of Prime Minister for the new nations of East Pakistan (Pakistan) and West Pakistan (present day Bangladesh). Churchill apparently was ruthless in drawing this line across states, which even went in the middle of single houses.

This greedy and selfish venture, coupled with the seeds of hatred between the Hindus and Muslims that the British had sown at the time of implementing their “divide and rule” policy in order to thwart independence efforts, led to a bloody mass-migration.

Lord Viceroy, who was sent to execute these plans, came to be known as the face of it all for decades and was even blamed for this ruthless act that a majority of the people did not even want.