India-Pakistan Partition

History, through photos

Iqbal: Two Nation theory• First articulated in the Presidential

address to the All India Muslim league in 1930 by Allama Iqbal, the famous poet, philosopher and politician.

• Argued that the aspirations of two different communities, especially when one was a minority, and the other a majority, could be addressed within one state

• Was in disagreement with both Nehru and Gandhi

• In India’s nationalist discourse this came to be known as Muslim separatism.

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PAKISTAN is created as a Muslim Country

Jinnah Muslim Leader with Gandhi – Hindu Leader

Wants homeland for Muslims

Wants united India

Jinnah Mountbatten Last English Viceroy to India with Nehru – Hindu Leader

Wants homeland for Muslims

Wants united IndiaSupposed to be neutral and administer independence and partition

Nehru and LadyMountbatten had intimaterelations to which Lord Mountbattenwas indifferent to. Partition, favored India in land, infrastructure, and control of water and critical cities.

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Example journey

Net result of partition

• Greatest mass migration of humans in 20th century

• Over 15 Million Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus moved across borders

• Communal slaughter over 1 Million killed, • Tens of thousands of women raped and

kidnapped

Net result of partition

• Families divided• 3 Wars between India and Pakistan• Large part of Pakistani GNP and Indian defense

dedicated to defense of borders• East Pakistan fought for independence and with

aid from India, broke off from West Pakistan.• Human rights abuses by Pakistani forces in East

Pakistan.

Net result of partition

• Kashmir a Muslim Majority state at heart of conflict over self-determination and independence from India.

• Human rights abuses against civilians including women by Indian Armed forces who have 0.5 Million army.

• Issues of Water Resources controlled by India to Pakistan and Bangladesh may lead to future conflict and wars.

What is the price of freedom?

Dawn of Freedom (August 1947)Faiz Ahmed Faiz,

translated by Agha Shahid Ali

“These tarnished rays, this night-smudged light -This is not that Dawn for which, ravished with freedom, we had set out in sheer longing, so sure that somewhere in its desert the sky harbored a final haven for the stars, and we would find it,….

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Dawn of Freedom contd.

• We had no doubt that night’s vagrant wave would stray towards the shore that the heart rocked with sorrow would at last reach its port.…Friends, come away from this false light. Come, we must search for that promised Dawn”.

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References

• All photos are copyright of respective owners and used from the public domain.