Was the Partition of India a Mistake

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Farai Phillip Maliro 23886013 AZA 1325: International studies 1 Was the partition of India a mistake? Was the partition of India a Mistake? 1947 was a year that is remembered in Indian and world history for two things; it was the year India gained its independence from British rule and the year when the subcontinent got divide into three states: India, East Pakistan and West Pakistan which later became Bangladesh. This essay accesses those factors and determines whether or not partition was a mistake, this will be done by examining the years leading to 1947, then the causes of partition, how India was partitioned and lastly will look at the aftermath of partition and the present state of India. During the course of the First World War a large number of Indians were shipped to Britain, Africa and other places abroad to fight the war, during their time in Western Europe they got to see first-hand how the people in Eastern Europe lived in contrast to the living conditions in British-India. This new found “sight” that the Indians had gained abroad opened their minds and provoked political change when they returned home. Such conditions are what brought about the partition and one of India’s most important eras. Muslim and Hindu intellectuals formed the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885 led by B. Tilak and G. Gokhale, throughout 1920 to 1939 the INC had turned itself into a major national party under Ghandi’s leadership. Britain had always known that it had to let go of its crown jewel (India), it however wanted to achieve this without losing face. The Indian National congress with its leaders Nehru and Ghandi were seeking an independent but “united” India, Jinnah who used to be part of the congress but later on became president of the Muslim league in 1924 wanted; an independent India and a separate Muslim state. The Muslim League at a meeting in
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