Decolonization - India and Pakistan

What were the religious divisions in India? How could this affect independence?

350 million Hindus and 100 million Muslims

1971 East Pakistan declares independence

A giant cyclone hit East Pakistan in 1970. International donors sent money to the government to help, but the government (which was based in West Pakistan) was very slow to transfer the aid to East Pakistan. East Pakistan felt neglected by the government for a long time, but this was the last straw. So East Pakistan declared itself independent and calls itself Bangladesh. Civil war resulted

Her assassination (1984)

Sikh body guards killed her

Britain's 1942 offer "Cripps Mission."

- British tried to gain support of the nationalists by promising governmental changes after war -offer didn't included India's independence

Gandhi's non-cooperation tactics (Quit India Movement)

- Gandhi led non-cooperation w the British -telling them to leave India now -officials arrested many nationalists

message of the flag

- Gandhi used the spinning wheel as a symbol of Indian resistance to British rule -wheel-featured on Indian National Congress flag, a forerunner of India's national flag -Gandhi told followers to not buy British cloth and to make their own (bc British makes a lot of $ off of their cloth) -Gandhi spent 2 hours a day spinning yarn onto a wheel -he wore only homespun cloth and encouraged indians to follow - → British cloth sale decreased/ struggled to keep trains running, factories operating, and overcrowded jails from bursting

RESULTS OF PARTITION

- during summer of 1947, 10 million people were on the move in Indian subcontinent - → violence -Muslims killed Sikhs who were moving into India -Hindus and Sikhs killed Muslims who were headed into Pakistan -around 1 million people died

Rajiv Gandhi

- he changes economic policy -capitalist and opened to foreign investors

The Salt March of 1930

- in 1930, Gandhi organized a demonstration to defy the hated Salt Acts -according to British laws, indians can buy salt from no other source but the gov -also had to pay sale tax on salt -Gandhi and his followers went to the sea and collected water and dried it out to get their own salt -helps Gandhi bc it makes British gov look bad bc their arresting innocent people

Jawarhalal Nehru (Congress Party; PM from 1947-1964)

- independent nation's first prime minister -addressed the country's political leaders -His policies- He emphasized democracy, unity, and economic modernization; won popularity among all of India -His Reforms - Nehru called for a reorganization of the states by language; he also pushed for industrialization and sponsored social reforms; he tried to elevate the status of the lower castes, and help women gain the rights promised by the constitution -Non-alignment$$$$$$$$$$$$

How does World War 2 and its aftermath relate to independence for India?

- it led to its independence -Britain committed India to fight on their side for war without asking Indian leaders -last straw; Indian leaders mad

Amritsar Massacre 1919

- the slaughter of Indians in 1919 -10,000 Muslims and Hindus fled to Amritsar, a major city in the Punjab, in 1919 -they fasted and prayed and also listened to political speeches at a huge festival in a square - → british angry w demonstration people did not know that public meetings were banned by British gov, but the British commander of Amritsar thought they were doing it to demonstrate - → sent troops to shoot at the crowd w/o warning -400 indians died and 1,200 wounded -news spread and many indians around the world got mad → millions of Indians changed from loyal British subjects into nationalists; Indians demanded independence

Gandhi's assassination January 30, 1948

- went to the Indian capital of Delhi to plead for fair treatment of Muslim refugees -a Hindu who thought Gandhi was too protective of Muslims shot and killed him

The Calcutta Killings August 1946

-(Muslims tried many things to resist this→ rioting) four days of clashes left more than 5000 people dead and more than 15000 hurt

Why has Pakistan been politically unstable?

-Because Jinnah died so soon after independence. He was very sick when independence, and he died about a year after independence. After his death, Pakistan lacked a strong leader. -military coups. Because it has not had strong leaders, Pakistan has had many military coups. Coup means that "to overthrow the government." A military coup is when the army overthrows the government and takes over.

Rowlatt Acts of 1919

-British laws that were passed in 1919 -laws-allowed the gov to jail protesters w/o trial for 2 years -this violated Indians individual rights

Congress Party (the Indian National Congress)

-India's national political party -most members were Hindu, but sometimes had Muslims

WW1

-broke up Ottoman Empire (British people ruling Indian people) -before/until WW1, Indians had little interest in nationalism→ thoughts changed bc millions of Indians joined the British army -bc of their service, British gov promised reforms that would eventually lead to self-government -1919 Indian troops returned from war -expecting British promise→ did not happen/ still treated as second classmen

1935 Government of India Act

-creates local govs that are elected; local self-rule -affects relationship btwn Hindus and Muslims bc Muslims are out numbered by Hindus; some Muslim leaders think that when they get independence were going to be a minority in what will probably be in a Hindu country

Mohandas Gandhi

-educated in England, English lawyer, worked in S Africa to protect Indians against discrimination and while there he developed his philosophy -went to school in Britain - his teachings blended ideas from all types of cultures/religions (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity)

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

-leader of Muslim league -insisted all Muslims reign from the Congress Party

civil disobedience and nonviolence

-when British failed to punish officers responsible for the Amritsar Massacre, Gandhi urged the Indian National Congress to follow the policy of noncooperation w British gov. -in 1920, Congress Party started civil disobedient, the deliberate and public refusal to obey an unjust law, and nonviolence as the means to achieve independence

Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto was a woman and she served as Prime MInister of Pakistan, but later she was assassinated.

Bangladesh

East Pakistan became known as Bangladesh

Boycotts (a/k/a hartal)

Gandhi told his followers to refuse to buy British goods, attend gov schools, pay British taxes, or vote in elections

"Mahatma"

Gandhi's followers called him this; means "great soul"

Satyagraha

Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence was called Satyagraha; means "soul-force" or "truth-force"

Gandhi's beliefs/tactics

His strategy for fighting for what is right comes from his deeply religious approach to political activity

civil war - West v. East Pakistan

In the civil war that resulted, West Pakistan fought East Pakistan (of Bangladesh). India came in on the side of East Pakistan (Bangladesh). That led to a quick end of the war. Pakistan surrendered and East Pakistan was free.

Golden Temple of Amritsar

Indira sent Indian army to attack and fire on the temple→ outraged Sikhs

Indira Gandhi

Nehru's daughter

Nuclear Weapons

Pakistan and Indians both have them

The Battle for Kashmir

Pakistan invaded Kashmir and then India invaded too and then they fight and United Nation told them to stop and they stopped and then they divided Kashmir and supposed to have an election but India said no to the election -problem of Kashmir=both groups squared off the country; still hostile relations between Pakistan and Muslim and they both think they need nuclear weapons

What continuing problems does Pakistan have?

The continuing dispute with India about Kashmir. The fact that its neighbor India has nuclear weapons. There are muslim extremist militants in Pakistan, including the Taliban and other groups. These groups attack the Pakistani people. (Remember Malala, the young Pakistani girl whom the Taliban shot because she went to school.) They also target the Pakistani government and others.

West Pakistan and East Pakistan

When independence was granted, Pakistan consisted of 2 parts - West Pakistan and East Pakistan. So this means difficulty from the start because (a) the two parts are very far from each other and (b) the two parts are very different (in terms of culture, language, ethnicity and economics). In fact, the only thing they have in common is religions.

India's partition

after the war British were rethinking the expenses of maintaining and governing distant colonies→ bc India kept pushing for independence, they thought India would be a good match; but who would get power... Hindus or Muslims?

House of Commons acts July 16, 1947

british House of Commons passed an act that granted 2 nations, India and Pakistan, independence in 1 month's time

General Reginald Dyer

british commander who sent troops to fire at Indians

Modern India

granted independence Aug 15 1947; became world's largest democracy

Sikh independence movement

growing threat from Sikh extremists who wanted an independent state, sends Indian troops to fire on the Temple (outrages Sikhs)

The princes' (maharajas') decisions

in that time, more than 500 independent native princes had to decide which nation they would join

Pakistan (East & West)

northwest and eastern regions of India, where most Muslims lived, would become the new nation of Pakistan

Muslim League

organization founded in 1906 in India to protect Muslim interest

Major problems India faces today

poverty, religious tension, over population

partition

the term given to the division of India into separate Hindu and Muslim nations