📰 Class 12 History – Chapter 14
✳️ Understanding Partition || NCERT CBSE Notes
❇️ Communalism
🔹 Communalism is the politics that creates conflicts (संघर्ष) between religious communities (धार्मिक समुदाय).
🔹 Communal politicians try to strengthen religious identity (धार्मिक पहचान) over national unity. ⚡
❇️ Partition of India & Attainment of Independence
🔹 Scholars estimate the death toll during Partition ranged from 2 lakh to 5 lakh. ⚰️
🔹 Partition is seen as the endpoint of communal politics that began in the early 20th century.
Key Factors:
1️⃣ Separate electorates (1909, 1919) for Muslims allowed them to choose their own representatives, creating a divide between communities.
2️⃣ Politicians used community slogans for political gain. 🗣️
3️⃣ Early 20th-century communal tensions escalated due to:
- Cow-protection movements 🐄
- Arya Samaj’s Shuddhi campaigns (attempt to reconvert Muslims to Hinduism)
- Expansion of Tabligh (Propaganda) and Tanzim (Organization)4️⃣ Middle-class activists mobilized people within communities against others.5️⃣ Each communal riot deepened mistrust & created traumatic memories. 💔
🔹 Note: Partition was not solely due to communal tensions; houses were never destroyed in large numbers before 1947. 🏠
❇️ British Divide & Rule
🔹 British policy of Divide and Rule fueled communal tensions.
🔹 Initially, the British were wary of Muslims (blamed for 1857 Revolt), but later sided with them against Hindus. ⚖️
🔹 Bengal Partition (1905) by Lord Curzon officially cited administrative reasons, but actually aimed to create Hindu-Muslim divide.
🔹 Separate electorate (1909 Act) gave Muslims special political rights.
🔹 Lucknow Pact (1916) – Congress & Muslim League agreed on political cooperation, promoting Hindu-Muslim unity. ✊
❇️ Political Developments Before Partition
🔹 1937 Elections – only few had voting rights; highlighted political inequalities.
🔹 Cabinet Mission Plan (1946) – attempted to solve India’s political crisis; Muslim League accepted, Congress opposed.
🔹 Lord Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947) – proposed division of India into India & Pakistan, accepted by Congress & Muslim League. 🕌🕉️
❇️ Partition: Incidents & Facts
🔹 Large-scale violence, murders, arson, rape, abduction. 💔
🔹 Mass displacement: 15 million people became refugees. 🚶♂️🚶♀️
🔹 Loss of immovable & movable property; separation from family & friends. 🏚️
🔹 People were forced to rebuild their lives & culture from scratch. 🌱
❇️ Historical Background of Partition
🔹 Politicization of religion began with separate electorates (1909), strengthened by 1919 reforms.
🔹 Communal identities shifted from faith to active opposition & hostility between communities. ⚔️
🔹 1920s–1930s:
- Rajjid movements 🎶
- Cow protection campaigns 🐄
- Arya Samaj Shuddhi movement 🔥🔹 Communal activists strengthened solidarity within communities and mobilized against others.🔹 Every riot deepened divisions and created disturbing memories. 😢
❇️ Reasons for Partition
🔹 (i) Policies of Muslim League 🕌
🔹 (ii) Morleminto Reform 1909 📝
🔹 (iii) Agrejo’s Conspiracy 🤫
🔹 (iv) Appeasement policy of Congress towards Muslim League ⚖️
🔹 (v) Hindu-Muslim riots 🔥
🔹 (vi) Divide and rule policy of the British 🇬🇧
🔹 (vii) Failure of the Interim Government ❌
❇️ Why Did the Partition Happen?
🔹 Jinnah’s Two Nation Theory: Hindus and Muslims were considered two separate nations in colonial India, tracing roots to medieval history. 🕌🕉️
🔹 British Divide & Rule Policy 🇬🇧
🔹 Separate electorates (1909, 1919) shaped communal politics 🗳️
🔹 Hindu-Muslim conflicts & communal riots 🔥
🔹 Congress’ secular rhetoric failed to win Muslim support, alarming orthodox Muslims & elites 🏛️
🔹 Pakistan Resolution (23 March 1940) demanded autonomy for Muslim-majority regions
❇️ Provincial Elections of 1937 🗳️
🔹 First provincial elections in 1937:
- Congress won majority in 5 provinces, formed government in 7/11 provinces ✅🔹 Congress did poorly in reserved constituencies, Muslim League also won few seats ❌🔹 United Provinces: Muslim League wanted to form a government with Congress; rejected by Congress → convinced League only a Muslim party could represent Muslims 🕌🔹 Muslim League expanded support in Muslim-majority areas 🔹 Congress failed to win over Muslim masses🔹 Growth of RSS & Hindu Mahasabha widened Hindu-Muslim divide ⚡
❇️ Proposal of 'Pakistan' 🇵🇰
🔹 23 March 1940: Muslim League passed resolution for autonomy of Muslim-majority areas.
🔹 Resolution did not mention partition or separate country initially ❌
🔹 1930: Poet Mohammad Iqbal suggested Muslim-majority areas unite within a larger federation, not a separate country ✍️
❇️ Sudden Demand for Partition ⏳
🔹 Initially, Muslim League leaders were unclear about Pakistan. ❓
🔹 1940: Demand for autonomous region, partition happened within 7 years ⚡
🔹 Jinnah may have used Pakistan as bargaining tool to prevent British concessions to Congress 🏛️
❇️ Important Events During Partition Talks 🕊️
🔹 1945: Talks between British, Congress, & Muslim League → broke down due to Jinnah’s council & communal veto demands ❌
🔹 1946 Provincial Elections:
- Congress in general constituencies
- Muslim League won all 30 reserved seats at center & 442/509 provincial seats 🕌✅🔹 Result: League became dominant party among Muslims 🌟
❇️ Cabinet Mission Came to India (March 1946) 🇬🇧✈️
🔹 Aim: Create a suitable political framework for India 🏛️
🔹 Recommended three-tier federation:
- Section A: Hindu-majority provinces 🕉️
- Section B & C: Muslim-majority areas 🕌🔹 Proposed weak central government; provinces had power to establish intermediate officials & legislature🔹 Initially agreed by all parties ✅🔹 Later differences:
- Muslim League: Aggregation compulsory + right to secede ❌
- Congress: Provinces decide to join group ✅🔹 Result: Talks broke down → Congress sensed partition inevitable 😔🔹 Opposition: Gandhi & Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan continued opposing partition ✊
❇️ Provincial Elections 1946 🗳️
🔹 Muslim League pursued Direct Action to achieve Pakistan 🇵🇰
🔹 16 August 1946: Declared Direct Action Day → riots in Calcutta spread to northern India 🔥
🔹 March 1947: Congress agreed to divide Punjab & Bengal based on majority populations 🕌🕉️✡️
❇️ Destruction of Law and Order ⚖️💥
🔹 Massive bloodshed in 1947 🩸
🔹 Governance collapsed → British officers hesitant, preparing to leave 🇬🇧
🔹 Indian civil servants focused on self-preservation 😨
🔹 Soldiers & police sometimes joined communal violence 🪓
❇️ Status of Women During Partition 👩🦰💔
🔹 Women suffered most → raped, abducted, sold, forced into unknown families 😢
🔹 Governments often ignored women’s consent
🔹 Example: Rawalpindi: 90 Sikh women jumped into wells to protect themselves 💔
🔹 Seen as martyrdom; communities struggled with extreme trauma 🙏
❇️ Role of Mahatma Gandhi During Partition ✊🕊️
🔹 Visited villages in East Bengal, Bihar, Calcutta, Delhi to restore peace 🌾🏘️
🔹 Ensured protection of minorities & promoted mutual trust 🤝
❇️ Regional Diversity in Division 🌍
🔹 Punjab: Major displacement, looting, rape, abduction, massacres 😢
🔹 Bengal: Less violent than Punjab; displacement moderate 🌊
🔹 Migration continued from UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Hyderabad to Pakistan in 1950s-60s
🔹 Jinnah’s Two-State Theory failed → East Pakistan → Bangladesh 1971 🇧🇩
🔹 Women were primary targets of communal violence ⚠️
❇️ Help, Humanity & Goodwill 🤝💖
🔹 Stories of empathy & aid amidst violence
🔹 Example: Khushdev Singh, a Sikh doctor, helped migrants of all communities with shelter, food, and protection 🌈
❇️ Oral Testimony & History 📜🗣️
🔹 Sources: Memoirs, diaries, family histories, first-hand accounts
🔹 Helped understand suffering, experiences, trauma 1946–50
🔹 Oral history captures voices of poor & powerless, often ignored in official records
🔹 Limitations:
- Lacks chronology & brevity ⏳
- Needs corroboration from other sources ✅
- Some survivors may not want to share their stories ❌
