Name: M.

Ali Aqdas
CMS ID: 367627

How justifiable partition of the Indian-Subcontinent is in the current

political context.
We are going to discuss the most notable partition in the history of the world. The consequences
of the partition, the options available before the partition, some unanswered questions, and some
predictions that were made before the partition of the Indian Subcontinent.
One of the most significant questions in this context is:
‘‘Was partition of Indian-Subcontinent just and did we need partition?”
Yes, partition was essential, but it was biased. As Chaudhary Rehmat Ali said: ‘the blackest and
bloodiest treachery in our history!’[ CITATION Kha1998 \l 1033 ]
When the British decided to leave India, there was a problem with the transfer of power. Hindus
had the majority so they were the first and favored candidate to get the political power. Muslims
had valid concerns about their future. They were going to be dependent on Hindu’s mercy if the
power was to be presented to Hindus. Therefore, partition was the only solution as Quaid after
turning down the Cabinet mission plan and in a statement on 22 May 1946 said, “Pakistan is the
only solution to the constitutional problems of India”[ CITATION Wah011 \l 1033 ]
Partition completely changed the fate of millions of people living there. It resulted in the
creation of an Islamic state for the Muslims as demanded by their political party and secular state
for Hindus and all the minorities opted for living there including Muslims. The announcement of
the partition by both the representatives of the Muslim League and Congress created confusion
and chaos among the people. Mass migration of 12-15 million people was unconventional and
resulted in the abduction of 75,000 and deaths of about a million people.
Surely partition was the only viable option for all the problems. Muslims living in Pakistan have
complete political representation and freedom of speech. They practice their rights without any
objection and fear. Also, the minorities in Pakistan have the freedom of practicing their religious
activities without any objection and have their quota of representation in all fields. While in
India, minorities are still struggling to get their basic rights and have fair representation. Their
voices have been suppressed, they were abducted and murdered. There are many stories of
Muslims that were brutally massacred by the extremist Hindu mobs for speaking for their rights
and religious freedom. Also after all these centuries, the dispute of slaughtering cows is still
there and is a cause of many killings.
The condition of Indian Muslims has been worsened during the tenure of the BJP of Narinder
Modi. BJP is the right-wing party closely related to extremist RSS. RSS has the idea of
upholding Indian culture and spread of Hindutva ideology that shows the strengthening of the
Hindu community.[ CITATION Mal20 \l 1033 ]. RSS has been involved in killing 20,000-100,000
Muslims. In his speech, the RSS leader boasted of killing 2000 Muslims and warned that Hindus
are not sleeping.[ CITATION RSS17 \l 1033 ].
Recently, Citizenship (Amendment), Act, 2019 was passed by the parliament of India on 11
December 2019 which revised the Citizenship Act, 1955 by providing a way for oppressed
religious minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh who are Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains that
arrived in India before December 2014[CITATION Par19 \l 1033 ]. The Law doesn’t allow Muslims
from these Muslim-majority countries.[ CITATION Sam19 \l 1033 ]. This was the first time that the
religion of people was used as a criterion for getting citizenship under Indian law and this act
was criticized globally by politicians and media.[ CITATION Nir19 \l 1033 ]. This is the largest
discrimination based on religion. This will not only affect the 1.9 million people but will equally
affect their families too. Muslims all over India held peaceful protests against this unjust Indian
citizenship act but it resulted in multiple bloodsheds of innocent Muslims by extremist Hindu
mobs. The most prominent of those brutal killings were the Delhi Riots 2020 began in North
East Delhi which resulted in injuries of 200+ and deaths of 53 including 36 Muslims.
Now a glance at the unjust partition or the bloodiest treachery in history. Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the
chairman of the boundary commissions did everything to damage the Muslims of the Sub-
Continent. By giving many Muslim majority areas to Hindus based on biased factors and finally
giving Gurdaspur to India where Muslim’s constituted 52% was the last nail in the coffin of the
new Muslim state to create a linkage between Muslim majority areas of Jammu and Kashmir
which is the worst example of the injustice. Ghazanfar Ali Khan called the Awards “disgusting
and unfair” and said that the decision might “not persuade Pakistan to remain in the
Commonwealth[ CITATION The47 \l 1033 ]. Kashmir was an independent state with a Muslim
majority. Their Hindu Raja wanted to affiliate with India but Kashmiri people wanted to affiliate
with Pakistan. This erupted civil war in Kashmir and escalated to the Indo-Pak war. Pakistan
supported Kashmiris as it was their right to affiliate freely. Under these circumstances, Kashmiri
Raja signed an agreement with India. The war of 1947 ended with a ceasefire due to the
mediation of the UN. Since then this issue is unresolved.
Kashmir under India had the right to make its constitution, own flag and didn’t allow Indian
citizens to buy and own property in Kashmir under article 370 and Kashmir had a special status
under article 35a of the Indian constitution. But in 2019 Indian government abolished both 370
and 35a acts. This erupted countrywide protest and was then followed by a complete curfew in
Jammu & Kashmir and the issue is still unresolved.
Partition had some adverse effects. It created misery for Kashmiris who are struggling for more
than 70 years for their independence, for their basic human rights. Also, the Muslim minority in
India that are left behind are suffering every day at the hands of Hindu extremists. We have got a
separate homeland for us as we wanted but our Muslim brothers having a population more than
we are still suffering from the same problems.
The situation of Kashmir and the situations of the Muslim minority struggling for their rights
every day from unjust and the fascist government of India is the biggest proof why Muslims of
the Indian Subcontinent badly needed Pakistan and it was the only solution for all the problems
and conflicts at that time. This proves all the claims of the Muslim League about the need for a
separate Muslim country correct. “Muslims who are opposing Pakistan will spend the remainder
of their lives proving their loyalty to India,” Jinnah once said in 1945[ CITATION DrM19 \l 1033 ]

Bibliography
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Gringlas, S. (2019, December 11). India passes a controversial Citizenship Act that would exclude
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Hasan, K. (1998, April 14). The News International. The Quaid's Detractor.

Jayal, N. G. (2019). Reconfiguring Citizenship in Contemporary India. South Asia: Journal of South Asian
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Parliament passes the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. (2019, December 11). Retrieved from Press
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RSS leader boasts killing 2,000 Muslims in Gujarat, calls for beheading Kerala's CM. (2017, March 3). The
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