CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

r- ~~ ~== -- -- r.. ,;. --..; ; ;.....~~~~.;:;;:;:,- ~

y
ck wa rds to tra ce t he journe
ere we tak e a few steps ba in
on d Wo rld War, Ind ia aga
to ind ep enden ce. In t he Sec ng with
and s of sol diers to fi gh t alo
supplied hu ndred s of thous August
Bri tish . In 194 0 the Bri tis h govern me nt made t he
the India
om y. Th is seemed to give
Offer tow ard s greater au ton r, and
ind ep en d ence after t he wa
all that it had asked fo r: full But
ke t he ir ow n co nst itu tio n.
the Indian people co uld ma t civil
once m ore sta rte d vio len
Congr ess rejected it, and
disobedience and ri ots .
e
aid -i-Azam .J-.U/ at a con ferenc
1

Meanwhile, in March 194 0, Qu

:..· ,

re
La ho re, iss ue d t he La ho
of the Mu slim League in Mu slim s
be sep arate sta tes fo r
Resolution - that there should of
pl ete an d dram atic change
and Hindus This was a com a
Jin nah-:.""-" =--•, had fou gh t for
policy all his political life, Mr
1

' shari ng responsi bil ity. Now

united India with both sides
he de ma nd ed two
en tire ly separate
sta tes . The na me
f or t he ne w
M us lim co un t ry
ha d al r ea d y
be en su gg es te d
by a yo un g
In dia n stu de nt
a t Ca m br i dg e
Un i v er s i ty in
Bri tai n, Ch au dh ri
Re hm at Ali . He
sa id t ha t a new
Mu sli m sta te
Sm gh co uld be na med
Al, Jinnah -:: ·...,':..', and Tar a
Mohamme d aft er the regio ns it
vmh Lo rd and Lady Wave/I
at Sim la, 1945
w as comprise d of:
Pu nja b; Afg hania
(KP
Balochistan -
K); Kas hm ir; lnd us -Si nd h;
... PAKISTAN .

I
~
Wo rl d Wa r at
In 1942 , wit h t he Seco nd
ern me n t sen t a
its peak , t he Britis h g ov
r Sir Sta ffo rd
d eleg at io n to Ind i a un de
 LJ

r
1937 -46: The last \...,HAPT ER 18
steps to indep ende nce

\
Nore: stands tor Azad
:&
·A J & Kashmir as defined
\
1
· Jarnrn JK Interim const1tut1on
in (he A
Ac! 1974.
K) IND/AN /LLEGALL Y BHUTTAN
2 (IIOi~p/ED JAMMU &
OC (DISPUTED
KA5~~iRY-FINAL STATUS
TER EDECIDED IN LINE
~~T~ RELEVANT UNSC
otted line represents
The re d d f
3. roximately the line o .
app 1. Jammu & Kashmir.
contra 1n
state of Jammu and .
~h\mir and its accession 1s
;s10 be decided through a
Y/ebiscite under the releva nt Bombay
P •red Nations Security
U n1 .

I
council Resolutions
Actual boundary in the
4. area where FRONTIER
UNDEFINED appears , would
ultimately be decided _by
the sovereign authorities
ooncemed after the final
settlement of Jammu &
Kashmir dispute .

Source: ed·t· 2020

survey of Pakistan 5th 110n

CEYLON

are shown in black lines.

The boundaries drawn in 1947 by Radcliffe

ain the Japanese

Cripps, asenior statesman. His purpose was to expl
offer them full
threat to India and, in return for Indian supp ort,
dominion status. Th e plan also allowed prov ince
s the cho ice to join
cted to by the
or withdraw from the Indian union, a proposal obje
offer as it did not
Congress. The Muslim League rejected the Cripps
lims . Mr Gandh i
concede Pakistan as a separate state for the Mus
h to leave Ind ia.
passed a resolution in Cong ress asking th e Britis
with severely by
There was widespread civil disobedience, dealt
gal in 1943, and
the British. Things got worse with fam ine in Ben
further unrest.

: 1945, when Germany surrend ered , the Briti

sh vice roy, General
red tota l political
avell, called the Simla Conference. India wa s offe
re.
Power, With the viceroy just as a ceremonial figu
~~ 5
~xecutive Counci l with equal representation
of Hindus and
positions except
irns Was to be formed and given all ministerial

OXF ORD
1(, 11 \ !'Ill''
.,_ir\ /
87
 defence and foreign affairs w h · h
H ' ic would b
ow~ver, the Congress demanded the . e With the Vic
Muslim members as well ri ght to norn i eroy
. nate the
As the Hindus would always have 75
L . p er cent maJ·o .
eague reJected this: the two sides wer f nty, th e Musi·
there seemed no w ay of getting back t ethas a~ apart as ever /n
M r [Link] h .J-.w1;:..•, had fought so long Pa ot ·t · e united Ind·,a for Vvhi
' t1d
h
. r I ion was now . . c
A f I inev,tab1
rna attempt w as m ad e by the British to kee t h . e.
together as a fe d eration. P e subcontinent

In 1946 the Cab inet M iss ion, com pri sin g th .

· · f re e seni or ca b·I
ministers rom Britain, cam e t o In d ia t o ho ld d. . net
. 1scussIon s with th
Iea d ers of all pa rt ies. The mi ssi o n p ro posed : e

An all- India unio n made up of provin ces and prin cely states
Defe n ce, for eig n affairs an d co mmu n icat io ns to be h
resp o ~sibi li ty o f the cent ral govern m ent, w ith everyth ing :,s:
t o be in t h e co ntro l of t he p rovin cial assemblies.
The re w o uld be three grou ps of provinces: Musli m in the north-
w est ; Be ngal and Assam; Hind u m aj o rity provin ces.
Af t er lengthy discussi o ns, the Cab inet Missio n delegat ion finally
realized t hat t he Congress and Muslim League were f undamentally
opposed to each oth er's po ints of view.
Th e Ca bi n et M iss ion eventu a ll y p rop osed d iv isio n of the
subcon tine nt in t o three pa rts , an d loca l auto nomy under a
Central India n Union de ali ng w ith d ef e n ce, fo reign affai rs,
and com mu nicati o ns . Ho we ve r, this p la n also co llapsed when
Mr Nehru's stat ements revea led th e rea l inte ntio ns of th e Congress
for total do m inatio n.
An interim govern m ent was for med, w ith t he sw ea rin g in of the
Executive Council, in Sept em b er 1946. Persuaded by Lord Wavell,
Mr Jinnah J--w 1;:..·, no minated f ive name s, i ncl udin g a Hin du, to
' ,:.
represent the Musl im League. Th e im p orta nt position of finan ce
f ,f°"
m inister was awarded t o M r Liaq uat Al i Khan.
~ 4
·I I
lr,tfO[\O'},fa'lra fnr th,:i I rnnt - 1Q.1.7
I
El ections had ta ke n p lace in Bri ta in in 1945. Th ese brough t a
~~ new Lab o u r g overn me nt t o pow er, with compl etel y differe nt
,/
id eas fro m the Conservati ve o ne w hich had been defeated. The
Muslim refugees who safely new p ri me m in ister, Mr Attlee, said that any party w hich had the
reached the newly created su ppo rt of th e people of India could form the government there,
state of Pakist an
and that Britain would w ithdraw from the subcontinent in July
1948. Mr JinnahJ-.w 1;;.?, asked for a separate Muslim state, and Britain

1111
88 OXFORD
 A famous mural de picting the .
m1grat1on into Pak1~tan in 1947

The independence date was brought forward t o August

agre ed ·
1947, which left only a few weeks for the extremely
.
co mp 1icated
arrangements to b~ sorted_out. An Indian independence Bill was mfo
shed through Pa rliament in London, which said that there shou Id
ru d d . .
e two indepen ent omin . Ions in th e Com monwealth: India , an d It is said that the
b
two pakistans, West . PakIstan (as today) and East Pakistan (now migration of people
Bangladesh). The pnn~es were urged to Join whichever of the from India to Pakistan
two new states they wished to depending on the religion of the and vice versa, in 194;,
rulers or the majori ty of th e people A Boundary Com mission was was th e largest single
set up under a senior Briti sh Judge Sir Cyril Rad cliffe, helped by movement of people
two Muslim and two Hin du Judges, to decide exactly wh ere th e between two countries .
boundaries between th e two new states should be.
Independence saw te rrible scen es Six mil lion Ind ian and Si kh
refugees from Pakista n territory poured into India, and eig ht million
Muslims were forced to flee to Pakistan . There were drea dful
atrocities on eithe r sid e trains carrying refugees were derailed
and the people massacred The state of Junagadh (Hindu majority,
Muslim ruler) opted to JOl n Pakistan but was seized by Ind ian
troops. The state of Hyderabad (Mu slim ruler, Hindu majority)
wanted to remain independent but was occupi ed by Indian fo rces
in 1948.
The Hindu ruler of Jamm u and Kashmir, where the majority of
the popu lation was Muslim, deciding against the advice of his
Hindu prime minister, joined India. Pakistan objected against this
obvious injustice, and wa r broke out between India and Pakistan .
t
The United Natio ns intervened and said that a plebiscite muS take
place to leave the people themse lves to deci de to which cou ntry
th ey wa nted to be long (1949). Well over 50 years later, India has
th
refused to honou r th e UN 's decision, kn owing what e res ult
th
Would be, an d t here have been two further wa rs between e two To this dJ, Ka!>hnW remains
countr'ies, [Link] th e problem still unsol ved. a disputed terr torY
Pakist b t was terribly
d' an wa s no w an independ ent state, u
isadvantaged .
o [Link]
'- 'f\(l\lTY ral\\
89
 Social Studies 2
secon dary

India insisted on taking the name 'India' wh·

. . h ' ICh
gave it an automatic rig t to a seat on internatio
bodies such as the UN Security Council. nai
More importantly, however, the Indians took over
m ost of the British institutions. Section 244 of the
India Act of 1935 that governed the creation of the
Indian Civi l Service was rem oved, in order to create
a new civil service for Pakistan.

Pakist an had a ter r i bl e re f ugee prob lem.

Approximately e ig ht million M uslims fled to
Pakista n. The new government had to provide for
them out of a limited supply of resources. India also
had about six million refugees, but they cou ld be
spread out over a much wider area in a m uch richer
country.

After t he d eaths of the early leaders, Jinnah..J<.J.i1::?, (in

1948) and Liaquat Ali Khan (i n 1951), t here were no
more inspirational leaders who could compete with
t he great stature of the founders of the state.

CHINA
Kashmir was an open w ound even after the UN
ceasefire. It kept tension hig h b etween India and
Pakistan when w hat was needed was cooperat ion.
PAKISTAN INOIA.l<( [Link],Y OCC0!!,£ 0 JAIIMU t. KA3HMlft
It meant that much more money and effort had
to be devoted t o defe nce-money wh ich was
desperately needed to build up the state.
INDIA
 CHAPTER18
ependence
937-46:Thelaststepstoind
1

was not a rich country . There were hu ge

.
kistan
rren desert and high mo
untains , and
pa f ba
, as o
are on e third of the land
was cultivated · Even th·1s
IY
on .1 area was threatened
by India's control of th
.
e
ferti es of the great rivers
source

over 1600 kilomet res

East and West Pakistan we re
communicatio n network
' apart, and there was no
between them . They ha d
little in com mo n except
for their religion. This made
govern in g the m as one
country extremely difficul t.

litt le fro m British Ind ia

and
, Pakistan received ve ry l
machinery for substantia
did not have the asse ts or
e initial de cade . Apart
economic development in th me sectors
from these issu es , co rru pt io n in so
s of Pa kistan.
further hindere d the progres

e we re polit ical qua rrels

' Throughout the 1950s, ther
n istries, particularly
~nd constant chang es in mi
unti l martial law wa s
~n West Pakistan. It was no t
fo rm of sta bil ity was
irnposed in 1958 that som e
achieved.

FO RD
OX lt,11-Y l' ltF, <. 91
L' NIVE
 Refugees at a railw ay station, on a t rain to Pakistan

Paki stan had other

Apar t fro m these majo r prob l ems, th e youn g
necessities to run a
disadva ntages as well. It had very few of th e
riters and office
co untr y, lacking even such basic item s as t ypew
spa ce and eq uipm ent.
Four of th e main rivers w hich fed the
Indu s, on whi ch Paki stan was completely
dep end ent for most of its ag riculture,
rose in Indi an terri tory. India could cut
off th e vital w ater supp lies, and, indeed
in the mon th of Apri l 1948, did so. In
1960 an agre e m ent was even tuall y
reach ed th ro ug h th e World Bank for
each coun try to have th e water of three
I N D I A tribu taries of the great Indus Rive r.
Th en came t he greatest disaster: Quaid-
i-Az a m .J<4i11.:r,, who se dete rmin at ion
Important places and sin g le- min ded nes s had led t o
Canal the creat ion of Pakistan, died a year
~ River afte r Ind epe nde nce , suff erin g from
,,-. - Intern ation al boundary tube rcul osis and worn out by deca des
• Bahawalpur
of fi ght ing for his country. His successor,
t he effic i ent Liaq uat Ali Kh an, was
T~i~ '.11ap shows th e international boun dary
b
assa ssina ted thre e years later, leaving
d1v1d1ng the rivers and canals in the Punja
th e new coun try in total confusion.

OXF ORD
\' l" kll S>;
l.' NI VikSl r
 Qu aid -i-A zam '5,..J,,iv1;:,?., funeral , 11 Sep t em b er 1948
•

f om these des per ate ea rly yea

rs, thr ou g h ma ny political
resources
few of th e mineral
i:~e:vals, wars with India, an d w!th
bo urs , Pakistan as a country
ofsome of its more for tun ate nei gh
ural disast ers ove r the yea rs,
through various crises, wars, a nd nat ple
has fought to build up rea son
abl e stability. Th e spirit of its peo
en gth tow a rds its de vel op me nt.
has been a major so urce of str

Questions a.:.~ cl Ac•-~\ :..ries

ng co untry, after
1 ha rde r for Pa kis tan to es tab lis h its elf as a wo rki
Why was it
partitio n?
bcontin ent?
2
nd Wo rld Wa r aff ec t the fre ed om mo ve me nt in the su
How did the Se co
, did th ey do
3 1
th e Ca bin et Mi ss ion 's proposals: why, do you think
: ~ side s rejected
0,
th
4 . , ·rn th e yea rs 1945- SO, af ter e
· oth er ne w co un trie s ca me int o be ing
Find out which
Se ende nce.
nd World War. Ma ke a lis t wi th the dates of the ir ind ep
5
co
des of Paki st an h',st ory.
ca
Ask y ren ts ab ou t the firs t tw o de
Tr our parents an d gra nd pa
nd pic tur es of early Pakistan .
y a collec t inf orm ati on an d