The British divided the subcontinent into India and Pakistan. The repercussions are still being felt
A YEAR BEFORE PARTITION
The fate of India was to be decided. World War II had left Britain bankrupt. It could no longer afford to keep their men in India. The partition of India was inevitable. 15 million people were about to lose their homes where they lived for generations.
MARCH, 1946
In March, 1946, the United Kingdom Cabinet Mission arrived at Shimla to discuss the transfer of power. Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru represented the Muslim League and Congress. The whole of India was glued to their radio. The radio announcer said, “Pandit Nehru who calls for the Indian Republic is accused by the Muslim League of working for the domination over the Muslim minority. It is reported that the concessions offered by Jinnah were regarded by the Congress as inadequate. At any rate, the conference in Shimla has ended in failure."
With the failure of Shimla, riots erupted in many parts of the country.
AUGUST, 1946
When the news of the partition spread, Gandhiji was at his Sevagram ashram in Maharashtra. Soon the news reached him riots in Calcutta resulted in the deaths of 5000 Hindus. There were ugly retaliations too.'An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind', Gandhi murmured to himself. He took a deep sigh. At the evening prayers, he closed his eyes and sang out loud, “Vaishnava jana to, tene kahiye je peed paraayi jaane re, para duhkhe upakāra kare to ye mana abhimāna na āne re (A true devotee of Lord Vishnu is one who realises the pain of others; who helps those who are in misery, without letting pride enter his mind.)”
Tears of helplessness trickled down his wrinkled face. His own countrymen were killing each other, and there was hardly anything he could do about it. Yet the karma yogi in him had to do what he had to do.
Gandhi had a flashback. He remembered Jinnah and their correspondence in 1940, where Jinnah wrote to him saying that Muslims and Hindus are two major nations by all definitions. Jinnah had asserted that the 100 million Muslims have a distinct culture, civilisation, language, literature, architecture, names legal laws, moral codes, customs, and ambitions. In short, he said that since Muslims have a distinctive outlook, by all canons of international law, they are a separate nation.
Gandhi had shot back saying he cannot find a parallel in history for a body of converts and their descendants claiming to be a nation apart from the parent stock. He further wrote, 'If India was one nation before the advent of Islam, it must remain one in spite of a change of the faith of a very large body of her children.'
Meanwhile, Jinnah was in a celebratory mood. The 70-year-old British-educated barrister knew he was in a position to make demands. After all, he had successfully consolidated a large population and had become their Quaid E Azam (The Great Leader).
Soon, Gandhi met with the Congress Working Committee and also met the Viceroy Wavell who had already indicated that the British would leave India by June, 1948. He led hundreds of prayer meetings across the nation.
By this time, the riots had already spread to Bihar, Punjab and Bombay.
JANUARY, 1947
Gandhiji did everything in his capacity to lower the tension between communities. In the early months of 1947, Gandhiji reached Noahkali (present-day Bangladesh) where a massive riot had erupted.“I am going to walk barefoot, ”Gandhiji insisted. He was unsure of how to settle this conflict, yet he decided to meet all. He walked miles. The frugal legs developed blisters. It did not stop him.
He went to 49 villages in the region. Gandhiji spent many months trying to quell the violence. “Ishwara Allah Tero Naam, Sabko Sammati De Bhagavan,” he sang out while walking.
He rested in the homes of both Muslims and Hindus. The more he reached out Gandhi realised the futility of his mission. He was heartbroken to see that people had defiled the approach road to villages where he was supposed to walk, with thorns and bones. An advanced party was sent to clear the debris. The region was in the grip of lunacy. It was beyond repair, even for the Mahatma.
At the Northwest frontier, Lahore too burnt. A meagre 100 policemen were in charge of 50,000 square miles. All hope for a united India had vanished.
MARCH, 1947
In Delhi Lord Mountbatten took charge as viceroy in March, 1947. Before leaving for India he was given a brief: 'Get out of India before it implodes'.
After much deliberation on the night of June 3, 1947 - Mountbatten, Jinnah, and Nehru broadcast the news that a separate state of Pakistan was accepted.
Even this news was met with riots across Punjab and other bordering states.
Bir Bahadur Singh was a young Sikh who was a witness to what happened. Sikhs who were living in Muslim majority areas like Rawalpindi knew that their lives were in danger.
Sikhs like him were scared that if India was divided then Punjab with its Muslim majority would go to Pakistan. It was unthinkable for them to be ruled by the Muslims as Sikhism itself emerged owing to the persecution of Hindus by the Mughals. Many villages in Punjab witnessed riots.
In a video documentary on Youtube, Bir Bahadur narrated his ordeal. His family had told all women to assemble at their home. Bir Bahadur had a sister. All the women were his aunts and cousins.
“My uncles were holding swords. They told my sister to kneel and stretch her neck forward,” he said.
Thud! In one strike, his sister's head fell off. Bir Bahadur went into shock. Soon, he could hear similar sounds upstairs too. All the Sikh women were being killed, to prevent them from being captured and raped by Muslims.
“I still remember they just chanted God's name. Nobody ran away. Nobody screamed,” says a sobbing Bir Bahadur.
Muslims living in Sikh-dominated villages were also not spared. The Sikhs, who were part of the British army started training their clan on using swords and guns. In the same video, an old Sikh was seen saying, “I don't remember how many Muslims I killed with my sword.”
JUNE, 1947
A press member questioned it.
Mountbatten retorted, “Why should we wait? Waiting would mean I would be responsible for the law-and-order situation.”
Meanwhile, English barrister Cyril Radcliffe was given the task of drawing the border. On July 8 he arrived in India. He did the job within 36 days. Mountbatten would reveal the border only after August 15.
AUGUST, 1947
Mountbatten ordered a calendar to be hanged at his office where more than 5000 staffers were working. The calendar was a like a ticking time clock. On it was written, '11 days left to prepare for transfer for power'. The number reduced by one daily.
Lahore was unsure of which side of the nation they would fall. After all the buildings, educational institutions, money, and banks were under the control of the Hindus. With just a month away, on August 15, British soldiers were sent back home.
The lawlessness escalated. The border areas became volatile. The princely states agreed to be part of India.
Along the volatile areas, vultures were seen in large numbers. Villages in Punjab were decimated. In Lahore, just two weeks before August 15, news spread that the city would go to Pakistan. Soon, the famous Shalmi bazaar was up in flames and the flames could be seen miles away. Hindus in large numbers started to flee Lahore.
Pakistan was declared an independent state on August 14.
The same evening, Nehru gave his speech at the Indian Constituent Assembly where he said, “The appointed day has come – the day appointed by destiny – and India stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent.”
On August 15 Nehru raised the Indian flag at the Red Fort.
Not everyone was celebrating thetheirdependence day. Gandhiji was still fasting at Calcutta trying to unite Hindus and Muslims. What followed the partition was ghastly. It was one of the largest human massacres of the 20th century.
(Published in The Making of Mahatma' Supplement, The New Indian Express, south India, October 02, 2019
Link: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/1841233/The-Making-Of-Mahatma/02102018#page/12/1
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