1947-Partition of India

Nithin.S

The Partition of India was a partition that led to the creation on 14 August 1947 and 15 August
1947, respectively, of the sovereign states of Dominion of Pakistan (later Islamic Republic of
Pakistan) and Union of India (later Republic of India) upon becoming free from British rule. In
particular, it refers to the partition of the Bengal province of British India into the East Pakistan
(now Bangladesh) and the Indian state of West Bengal, as well as the similar partition of the
Punjab region of British India into the Punjab province of West Pakistan and the Indian state of
Punjab.

Most Indians today happily celebrate August 15th as Independence Day, but all seem to have
forgotten that August 15 marks a day when our Holy Motherland, our Akhand Bharathvarsha was
divided, when about 1/3 of our land was taken away from us, when a large number of Hindus
were killed and more number became refugees in their own Nation. H.V Sheshadri in his Book,
The Tragic Story of Partition says-
“In the [past] one thousand years many parts of our country had been ruled by the
Muslims and then by the British, but the nation had never compromised, in principle, its
sovereignty over any part of the motherland. As a result, our nation had never ceased to
strive for throwing out the aggressors and liberate those parts. And history tells us that
ultimately it did succeed in freeing the entire land from the clutches of foreign invaders.
However, for the first time, Partition conceded the moral and legal right to them over
certain parts of the country and declared an ignominious finale to the one thousand years
old heroic struggle for freedom. Thus it was an act of humiliating surrender on the point of
principle. The usual interpretation of Partition, however, does not utter a word about this
aspect. Even while conceding Partition to be a tragedy, it is sought to be made out as the
only practical way out then available - as the inevitable price for achieving freedom.” 1

Throughout the history of Bharathavarsha, we find that even though there was no political unity,
the whole Bharath was united together by a stronger bond of culture, that is, Sanatana Dharma.
Akhand Bharat for Hindus was never a mere clod of clay. It was verily the Matrubhoomi, the
Punyabhoomi, the Dharmabhoomi, the Devabhoomi, the Karmabhoomi - all sublimated into one
single majestic figure of Bharat Mata. This Bharathavarsha was later painted as “Indian Sub-
continent” by the English men for breaking the Hindu Morale. The territorial unity and integrity of
Bharatavarsha - the land that lies south of the Himalayas, east of Sakadvipa (Seistan), south-east
of Vãhlîka (Balkh), west of Burma and between the two seas - was never a political contrivance
created by the sword of a conqueror. On the contrary, it was meant and manifested by Mother
Nature herself as the cradle of an incomparable culture - the culture of Sanãtana Dharma.2

But, in 1947, this Bharathvarsha was divided due to the political unwillingness and the muslim
appeasing policies of our national leaders Gandhi, Nehru and their Congress party. To quote the
appropriate words of Prafull Goradia in this context: "For Mahatma Gandhi, no price was too great
for appeasing Muslims, so that they did not oppose Hindus. That he did not understand the
Muslims was proved by the conduct of the Muslim League and by the vivisection of the country." 3
No one among the national leadership had the time or the talent to take stock of the situation, see
the forces at work in a historical setting, and give a resounding call for a new national resolve - to
foil the consolidation of Islamic imperialism in several parts of Bharatavarsha, and to launch
another struggle for winning back all our people and every bit of national territory from the
stranglehold of a theocratic state that was fast taking shape. The millions of Hindus who had to
abandon their ancestral homes in East and West, became refugees at the very dawn of freedom
for which they had worked so hard and made so many sacrifices. Their dream of becoming the
proud citizens of a country freed from every vestige of foreign imperialism had suddenly turned
into a nightmare. Something had gone seriously wrong somewhere. 4
Pakistan grew out of the two-nation theory of the Muslim League, The very name of the State
which the Muslim League envisaged-and achieved-is, in the context in which it was adopted, a
standing insult to the Hindus and other non-Muslims living in India.  This name-Pakistan-means
literally the Land of the Pure or of Purity.  This implies clearly that Hindus and all that belongs to
them credally and materially is impure, defiled and unholy. 5 Dr. Mohammad Iqbal in his
presidential address at the Annual Muslim League Session held at Allahabad in 1930, said that
he felt a separate nation for Muslims was essential.6 In the January of 1933 appeared, on behalf
of certain Indian Muslim students at Cambridge, headed by Chaudhari Rehmat Ali, a pamphlet
entitled Now or Never.  This pamphlet advocated a complete break away of the Muslims of North-
Western zones of India from the rest of the Indian nation. 7 At the 1940 AIML conference in
Lahore, Jinnah made clear his commitment to two separate states, a position from which the
League never again wavered: “The Hindus and the Muslims belong to two different religions,
philosophies, social customs and literature… To yoke together two such nations under a single
state, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent
and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the government of such a state.” 8

The Direct Action of the Muslim League was launched on August the 16th, 1946 after cabinet
Mission failed. The Muslim League Bengal Government declared August 16, 1946 to be a public
holiday throughout Bengal. This Direct Action Day, also known as Great Calcutta killings, left
5,000 Hindus dead and about 15,000 injured. The Direct Action Day riots in Calcutta spread to
other regions, reaching this district where a massive pogrom was organized against the Hindu
minority. An important incident following Direct Action Day was the Noakhali district massacre on
October 1946. The death toll is estimated to be in the thousands, with 51-75 thousand Hindus
ethnically cleansed from the region. In the words of S. L. Ghosh of the Ananda Bazar Patrika-
"The horror of the Noakhali outrage is unique in modern history in that it was not a simple
case of turbulent members of the majority community (Muslims) killing off helpless
members of the minority Hindu community, but was one whose chief aim was mass
conversion, accompanied by loot, arson and wholesale devastation... No section of the
Hindu community has been spared, the wealthier classes being dealt with more
drastically. Abduction and outrage of Hindu women and forcible marriages were also
resorted. The slogans used and the methods employed indicate that it was all part of a
plan for the simultaneous establishment of Pakistan." An attack on Hindus occurred in Delhi
on the 12th August, 1946.  There was rioting in such vastly different places as Cawnpore,
Bombay, Poona, Ahmedabad, Dacca and a few others.  The lesson of it all was becoming very
abundantly clear.  The Muslim League was waging its war in earnest on non-Muslims to achieve
its Pakistan. This was followed by genocide of Hindus and Sikhs by Muslim League in Punjab.
According to Richard Symonds “at the lowest estimate, half a million people perished and twelve
million became homeless”

August 15th marks this bloody partition, where Hindus not only lost a major chunk of their
motherland, but also left thousands dead and millions as refugees. On the midnight of August
15th, 1947, Pandit Nehru made historic speech where he said- “Long years ago we made a tryst
with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full
measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India
will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step
out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed,
finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the
service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.” 9I am forced to ask the
question H.V. Sheshadri asks, “Did the tryst with destiny which our leaders had made long years
ago include this crucial twist of history also? Was it a picture of a divided Bharat which had been
the cherished vision of our freedom fighters including Pandit Nehru?”

Finally, Mahayogi Sri Aurobindo in his birthday message on 15 th August 1947, said- “India today
became free bust she has not achieved Unity… The old communal division into Hindus and
Muslims seems now to have hardened into permanent political division of the country. It is hoped
that this settled fact will not be accepted as settled forever, as anything more than a temporary
expedient. For if it lasts, India may be seriously weakened, even crippled; civil strife may remain
always possible, possible even a new invasion and foreign conquest. India’s internal development
and prosperity may be impeded, her position among nations weakened, her destiny impaired or
even fractured. This must not be; the Partition must go. By whatever means, in whatever way, the
division must go; unity must and will be achieved, for it is necessary for the greatness of the
India’s future”10

Sources-
1 The Tragic Story of Partition, .
2 Muslim Separatism Causes and Consequences, Chapter 2, Sita Ram Goel
3 http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_070120.htm
4 Muslim Separatism Causes and Consequences, Chapter 3, Sita Ram Goel
5, Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947, Chapter 1
Compiled for the SGPC, By S. Gurbachan Singh Talib
6,8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_India
7 Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947, Chapter 2
Compiled for the SGPC, By S. Gurbachan Singh Talib
9 http://my-utterances.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/08/tryst-with-destiny-rare-videos-of-
indian-independence.htm
10 Sri Aurobindo, Complete works, Vol 26