NCERT Revision Notes for Chapter 1 Challenges of Nation Building Class 12 Political Science
CBSE NCERT Revision Notes1
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In this chapter we will focus on the events leading to partition in India and following that how first few years of independent India were full of challenges. We begin the story of politics in India since Independence by looking at how three of these challenges of nation-building were successfully negotiated in the first decade after 1947.
Freedom came with Partition, which resulted in large scale violence and displacement and challenged the very idea of a secular India. The integration of the princely states into the Indian union needed urgent resolution. The internal boundaries of the country needed to be drawn afresh to meet the aspirations of the people who spoke different languages.
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On 15 August, 1947, after ruling the subcontinent for over 200 years, the British left India and it became a free nation. It was a moment of celebration and rejoicing. On the eve of independence, political consolidation and nation building appeared to be a gigantic problem before India.
The problem was further made complicated by the problem of reorganization of states and conflicts over linguistic identity. These problems being of a serious nature tended to disrupt the cohesive fabric of the nation.
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The first challenge was to shape a nation that was united yet accommodative of the diversity in our society. It spoke different languages and followed different cultures and religions. It was widely believed that a country full of such kinds of diversity could not remain together for long.
The second challenge was to establish democracy. India adopted representative democracy based on the parliamentary form of government. A democratic constitution is necessary but not sufficient for establishing a democracy so the challenge was to develop democratic practices in accordance with the constitution.
The third challenge was to ensure the development and well-being of the entire society and not only of some sections. The constitution clearly laid down the principle of equality and special protection to socially disadvantaged groups and religious and cultural communities.
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On 14-15 August 1947, not one but two nation-states came into existence, India and Pakistan. This was the result of ‘partition’ the division of British India into India and Pakistan. Such a division was not only very painful, but also very difficult to decide and to implement.
It was decided to follow the principle of religious majorities which means that areas where the Muslims were in majority would make up the territory of Pakistan and rest was to stay India. But the division of the country had lot of difficulties:
First, there was no single belt of Muslim majority areas in British India. There were two areas of concentration, one in the west and one in the east and in no way these two areas could be joined. So it was decided that new country Pakistan will comprise of two territories, West and East Pakistan separated by a long expanse of Indian Territory.
Secondly not all Muslim majority areas wanted to be in Pakistan. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan the leader of North western frontier province and known as Frontier Gandhi was opposed to the two-nation theory.
The third problem was that two of the Muslim majority provinces of British India, Punjab and Bengal had very large areas where the non-Muslims were in majority. So it was decided that these two provinces would be bifurcated according to the religious majority at the district and even lower level.
The fourth problem was of the minorities on both sides of border. Lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs in the areas that were now in Pakistan and an equally large number of Muslims on the Indian side of Punjab and Bengal found themselves trapped. They were aliens in their own land and became easy targets.
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There were killings and atrocities on both sides of the border. In the name of religion people of one community ruthlessly killed and maimed people of the other community.
Cities like Lahore, Amritsar and Kolkata became divided into communal zones. Minorities on both sides of the border fled their home and often secured temporary shelter in refugee camps.
They travelled to the other side of the new border by all sorts of means often by foot and were often attacked, killed or raped.
In many cases women were killed by their own family members to preserve the family honour. Many children were separated from their parents. For lakhs of these refugees the country’s freedom meant life in refugee camps for months and sometimes for years.
The partition was not merely a division of properties, liabilities and assets or a political division of the country and the administrative apparatus but also financial assets and things like tables, chairs, typewriters, paper-clips, books and also musical instruments of the police band.
It is estimated that about 80 lakh people were forced to migrate across the new border and about 5 to 10 lakh people were killed.
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British India was divided into what were called the British Indian provinces and the Princely states. The British Indian provinces were directly under control of the British government and several large and small states were ruled by princes called princely states. Princely states covered one- third of land area of the British Indian Empire and one out of four Indians lived under princely rule.7
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There were 565 princely states and just before independence British announced that paramountcy over these states will come to an end. It was left to these states whether to join India or Pakistan or remain independent. This was a very serious problem and could threaten the very existence of a united India.
The ruler of Travancore announced that the state had decided on Independence. The ruler of Hyderabad made similar announcement the next day. The ruler of Bhopal was also averse in joining the Constituent Assembly. So all this showed a strange situation since Indian independence aimed at unity and self determination as well as democracy.