Do You Agree with the View That the Threat of Popular Violence Was Primarily Responsible for the Partition of India?

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2) Use Sources 4,5 and 6 and your own knowledge. Do you agree with the view that the threat of popular violence was primarily responsible for the partition of India? Popular violence, which is the mobilization of people to commit acts of aggression, played a significant part in the partition, but one could also argue that it was not primarily responsible for the partition as other factors played a more pivotal role. Many would argue, as seen in Source 6, that the partition was simply the inevitable outcome of the irreconcilable opposition between Hindus and Muslims. Although the acts of popular violence did cause Nehru, Jinnah and Lord Mountbatten’s nerves to rise, movements such as the Riots of Rawal Pindi in 1947 were essentially a result of religious tension. Furthermore, it may be said that it was not popular violence that caused the partition, but Britain’s inability to continue to control government. Source 5 seems to support this notion as it claims, “government was on the verge of collapse”, indicating that the Raj no longer held an irrefutable position in India. Although we must consider that the threat of popular violence in the future did in fact worry Congress and encourage the need for partition, a more significant factor in causing Partition was Congress’ incapability to meet the demands of Jinnah and The Muslim League as seen in the Cabinet Mission of 1946. One may infer that their differing views played a fundamental role in partition, because the only viable solution to preserve peace in the sub-continent was to partition it into a Muslim-dominated area and a Hindu-dominated area in August 1947. One could argue that the threat of popular violence had a noteworthy position in encouraging the partition of India, as it was a weapon that could essentially provoke discontent by all the main parties. Source 4, written by Mohammed Ali Jinnah of the
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