Chapter Notes

Challenges for the new nation-state

India gained its independence at midnight on 14-15 August 1947, a moment famously described by its first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in his 'tryst with destiny' speech. The entire nation had waited for this freedom, united by two common goals that emerged from the long national movement:

1. To run the country through a democratic government.
2. To ensure the government worked for the good of all, especially the poor and socially disadvantaged.

However, India was born into extremely difficult circumstances. Freedom did not just mean a new beginning; it came with the Partition of the country, which led to unprecedented violence and the displacement of millions of people. The year 1947 was a time of both joy and mourning, a reality captured by Mahatma Gandhi who said, "Tomorrow we shall be free from the slavery of the British domination. But at midnight India will be partitioned. Tomorrow will thus be a day of rejoicing as well as of mourning."

Despite the chaos, India's leaders were determined to tackle the multiple challenges facing the new nation.

Three Challenges

Immediately after independence, India faced three major challenges that would shape its future.

The First Challenge: A United and Diverse Nation

The most immediate challenge was to shape a nation that was united but also respected the immense diversity of its society. India is a vast country with people speaking different languages and following different cultures and religions.

• The Fear of Disintegration: Many believed a country with such diversity could not stay united for long. The Partition seemed to confirm these fears.
• The Question of Identity: Leaders had to decide how to build national unity. Would it mean rejecting all regional identities?
• Territorial Integration: An urgent task was to integrate the territories of the princely states into the new India.

The Second Challenge: Establishing Democracy

The second challenge was to establish a true democracy. While the Indian Constitution granted fundamental rights and the right to vote to every citizen, a constitution alone is not enough.

• From Theory to Practice: The real test was to develop democratic practices and traditions that were in line with the Constitution. This meant creating a system where political competition could happen within a democratic framework.

The Third Challenge: Development and Well-being for All

The third challenge was to ensure that development benefited the entire society, not just a select few.

• Constitutional Goals: The Constitution laid down the principles of equality and provided special protection for socially disadvantaged groups. The Directive Principles of State Policy set out welfare goals for the government.
• The Real Task: The challenge was to create effective policies for economic development and to eradicate poverty, translating these constitutional promises into reality.

This chapter focuses on the first challenge: the task of nation-building in the years immediately following 1947.

Partition: displacement and rehabilitation

On 14-15 August 1947, British India was divided into two new nation-states: India and Pakistan. This division was the result of the 'two-nation theory' promoted by the Muslim League, which argued that Hindus and Muslims were two separate 'people' and that Muslims therefore needed their own country, Pakistan. The Indian National Congress opposed this theory, but political competition and the role of the British ultimately led to the decision to partition the country.

Process of Partition

The decision to divide India was painful and incredibly difficult to implement. The guiding principle was that of religious majorities: areas where Muslims were the majority would become Pakistan, and the rest would remain India. This seemingly simple idea created several complex problems.

1. No Single Muslim-Majority Belt: Muslim-majority areas were concentrated in two different regions: one in the west and one in the east. Since these two areas could not be joined, it was decided that Pakistan would consist of two territories, West Pakistan and East Pakistan, separated by a long stretch of Indian land.
2. Opposition to Partition: Not all Muslim-majority areas wanted to join Pakistan. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, also known as 'Frontier Gandhi' and the undisputed leader of the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), was strongly against the two-nation theory. His voice was ignored, and the NWFP was made to merge with Pakistan.
3. The Problem of Punjab and Bengal: Two Muslim-majority provinces, Punjab and Bengal, had very large non-Muslim populations. It was decided to bifurcate these provinces based on religious majority at the district or even lower levels. This decision was not finalized by the night of independence, meaning millions of people did not know whether they were in India or Pakistan when freedom came. This division caused the deepest trauma of Partition.
4. The Plight of Minorities: The most difficult problem was that of minorities on both sides of the new border. Millions of Hindus and Sikhs in what was now Pakistan, and a similar number of Muslims in the Indian parts of Punjab and Bengal, suddenly found themselves trapped as "undesirable aliens in their own home." As soon as it became clear that partition was happening, brutal violence erupted against these minority communities.

Consequences of Partition

The year 1947 witnessed one of the largest, most abrupt, and tragic transfers of population in human history.

• Unprecedented Violence: On both sides of the border, people of one community ruthlessly killed and maimed people of the other. Cities like Lahore, Amritsar, and Kolkata were divided into 'communal zones', where people were afraid to enter areas dominated by the other community.
• Mass Displacement: An estimated 80 lakh people were forced to migrate across the new border. People had to abandon their homes at a few hours' notice and travel by any means possible, often on foot. Many were attacked, killed, or raped during this journey.
• Suffering of Women and Children: Thousands of women were abducted and forced to convert and marry their abductors. In many tragic cases, women were killed by their own families to preserve 'family honour'. Many children were separated from their parents.
• Life in Refugee Camps: For those who survived the journey, freedom meant living in 'refugee camps' for months or even years, with no home to call their own.
• A 'Division of Hearts': The partition was not just a political or administrative division. It was a violent separation of communities that had lived together for centuries. It divided everything from government employees and railway assets to tables, chairs, and even the musical instruments of the police band. Writers and poets have often described it as a 'division of hearts'.
• Challenge to Secularism: The Partition posed a deep question for India. The leaders of the national movement did not believe in the two-nation theory. Even after the creation of Pakistan, India's Muslim population was about 12% in 1951. The challenge was how to treat these citizens and other religious minorities. Most leaders were committed to the ideal of a secular nation, where all citizens would be equal regardless of their religion. This ideal was enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

Mahatma Gandhi's sacrifice

On 15 August 1947, Mahatma Gandhi did not participate in the Independence Day celebrations. He was in Kolkata, where gruesome riots had broken out between Hindus and Muslims. Saddened by the violence, he worked to persuade both communities to give it up.

• Peace in Kolkata and Delhi: His presence greatly improved the situation in Kolkata. Later, he moved to Delhi to quell large-scale violence there. He was deeply concerned that Muslims should be able to live in India with dignity and as equal citizens.
• The Last Fast: In January 1948, Gandhi undertook his last fast. He was unhappy that the Indian government was not honouring its financial commitments to Pakistan and wanted to bring an end to the communal violence in Delhi. His fast had a dramatic effect, reducing tensions and allowing Muslims to safely return to their homes. The Government of India also agreed to give Pakistan its dues.
• Assassination: Gandhi's actions were not liked by extremists in both communities. On 30 January 1948, during his evening prayer meeting in Delhi, he was shot and killed by Nathuram Vinayak Godse. His death marked the end of a lifelong struggle for truth, non-violence, justice, and tolerance.

Integration of Princely States

At the time of independence, British India was divided into two types of territories:

• British Indian Provinces: These were directly under the control of the British government.
• Princely States: These were 565 states of various sizes ruled by princes who had some control over their internal affairs as long as they accepted British supremacy, a concept known as paramountcy. These states covered one-third of the land area of the British Indian Empire.

The problem

Just before independence, the British announced that their paramountcy over the Princely States would end. This meant all 565 states would become legally independent. They were given the choice to join either India or Pakistan, or to remain independent. This decision was left to the rulers, not the people.

• This created a serious problem that threatened to divide India into numerous small countries.
• The rulers of Travancore and the Nizam of Hyderabad quickly announced their decision to remain independent. The Nawab of Bhopal was also against joining the Constituent Assembly.
• Furthermore, most of these states were run in a non-democratic manner, and the rulers were unwilling to grant democratic rights to their people.

Government's approach

The interim government, led by leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was India's Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, took a firm stand against this possible fragmentation. He played a historic role in negotiating with the rulers and bringing most of them into the Indian Union.

The government's approach was guided by three key considerations:

1. The Will of the People: The people of most princely states clearly wanted to become part of the Indian union.
2. Flexibility and Autonomy: The government was prepared to be flexible and grant autonomy to some regions to accommodate their unique demands.
3. National Unity: After the trauma of Partition, the integration and consolidation of India's territorial boundaries was of supreme importance.

By 15 August 1947, through peaceful negotiations, most states whose territories were contiguous to India had joined the Union by signing a document called the 'Instrument of Accession'. However, the accession of Junagadh, Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Manipur proved more difficult.

Hyderabad

Hyderabad was the largest of the Princely States, completely surrounded by Indian territory. Its ruler, the Nizam, was one of the world's richest men and wanted an independent status for his state.

• He signed a Standstill Agreement with India in November 1947 for a year while negotiations continued.
• Meanwhile, a popular movement against the Nizam's oppressive rule grew strong, especially among the peasantry in the Telangana region.
• The Nizam responded by unleashing a brutal para-military force known as the Razakars, who murdered, raped, and looted, particularly targeting non-Muslims.
• In September 1948, the Indian army moved in to control the situation. After a few days of fighting, the Nizam surrendered, leading to Hyderabad's accession to India.

Manipur

A few days before independence, the Maharaja of Manipur, Bodhachandra Singh, signed the Instrument of Accession on the assurance that Manipur's internal autonomy would be maintained.

• Under public pressure, the Maharaja held elections in June 1948, and Manipur became a constitutional monarchy. It was the first part of India to hold an election based on universal adult franchise.
• There were sharp differences in Manipur's Legislative Assembly about merging with India. The state Congress wanted the merger, but other parties were opposed.
• The Government of India successfully persuaded the Maharaja to sign a Merger Agreement in September 1949.

Reorganisation of States

The process of nation-building didn't end with the integration of princely states. The next major challenge was to draw the internal boundaries of the Indian states. The colonial-era boundaries were based on administrative convenience or British conquests and were seen as artificial by the national movement.

Leaders of the movement had promised to create states based on the linguistic principle, meaning states would be formed for people speaking the same language. However, after independence and Partition, leaders like Nehru feared that creating states on the basis of language might lead to disruption and disintegration. They decided to postpone the matter.

This decision was challenged by local leaders and people.

• The Vishalandhra movement began in the Telugu-speaking areas of the old Madras province, demanding a separate state of Andhra.
• The movement gained momentum when Potti Sriramulu, a Congress leader and veteran Gandhian, went on an indefinite fast and died after 56 days.
• His death caused widespread unrest and violent protests, forcing the Prime Minister to announce the formation of a separate Andhra state in December 1952.

This pressure led the Central Government to appoint a States Reorganisation Commission in 1953.

• Recommendation: The Commission accepted that the boundaries of states should reflect the boundaries of different languages.
• Implementation: Based on its report, the States Reorganisation Act was passed in 1956. This led to the creation of 14 states and six union territories.

The creation of linguistic states did not lead to the disintegration of the country as many had feared. Instead, it strengthened national unity by accommodating regional aspirations. It also made democracy more accessible to people who did not speak English and underlined India's acceptance of the principle of diversity.

Fast Forward Creation of new states

The process of state creation did not stop in 1956. Over the years, new states were formed based on language, regional culture, or demands related to imbalanced development.

• 1960: The bilingual Bombay state was divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat.
• 1966: The larger Punjab state was divided into Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.
• North-East India: Nagaland became a state in 1963. In 1972, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Tripura emerged as separate states. Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh followed in 1987.
• 2000: Three new states were created based on regional culture and development issues: Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand.
• 2014: Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh.

The story of reorganisation continues, with movements for smaller states still active in various parts of the country.