Quora question: "
Was Partition of India is failure as India has more Muslims than Pakistan"
It's was never a question of how many Muslims live in India, therefore success of partition of India shall never depend upon the quantity but definitely quality.
It's not possible to separate Hindus & Muslims by any kind of partition; those Muslims who live in India in fact had rejected partition & Pakistan both. Many have never seen Pakistan till now.
It is obvious that population of India shall exceed that of Pakistan because Bangladesh having 90% Muslims have been curved out of Pakistan in 1971 immersing two nation theory in the Bay Of Bengal.
In this context it's important to rehearse the true story & background of Partition of India.
In the end please assess for yourselves the outcome of partition & what it was meant for & what it actually delivered.
Bharat is known as the land of Sindhu or colonised term Indus and the name India was given to us by others for the people who stayed in the East of the Sindhu river till Indian Ocean; if you jump to Indian Ocean & beyond then it's Lanka.
According to Vedic texts it transcended from Afghanistan to Malaysia, Kashmir to Kanyakumari but according to some it was Tibet to Kanyakumari. Reference of Tibet is found in the instrument of accession that Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir signed with India. [1]
Before Partition of India it was a loose conglomerate of 584 princely states & main land of Provinces as described in Gov't of India Act 1935. The western limit started from Balochistan to Chittagong and Northern from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in the south.
Major disadvantage amongst the various political forces was the disunity among the rulers. Religion was not a big issue then; people were tolerant of each other & respected the individual cultures, traditions amongst all & cohabiting in a peaceful coexistence.
However Britishers did survey & census & found minute differences amongst communities & looked for the fault lines under microscopic view.
University of Oxford was asked to study & scholars were appointed to complete the research.
Max Muller propounded the Aryan - Dravidian theory & gave to authorities but the response from the ground was not encouraging despite high voltage propaganda.
Then Religious angle was studied & found after Sanatana Dharma followers, Muslims are the major political force. But there is a general cohesion of Bharatiya or Hindutva culture prevailing all across the communities, difficult to break, the same is happening now as Hindutva resurgence occurs, everybody feeling nervous. In the first & foremost attempt Muslims & Christians who otherwise love India & Indian culture is being attempted to being dithered away.
Countering this united Indian ethos was difficult & everyone was having a subconscious connection with the motherland India. That's Hindutva a unifying, intrinsically secular force, being tried to be consigned to flame to make it ashes, even today.
But congregation of all Sanatana Dharmic disciples of too many diverse traditions & rituals were difficult as within them there were several sects but with some strange commonality, which was nothing but Hindutva or Indianess.
So Hindu term was coined in 1868 finally for administrative convinience by none other than British.
Indian National Congress was formed in 1885 by British by Mr Hume & right in the initial days it was dominated by the Hindus & Parsis, so British formed Muslim league in 1906 in Shimla & thereafter finally at Dhaka to counter it & give more predominant space to Muslims.
British felt that to contain Indian prowess & restrain it from becoming Superpower, it is a requirement to divide India & for that best bet is for Hindus to be pitted against Muslims & for that they started to enthuse the weaker group of Muslims with all kinds of ecouragement & support.
Muslim constituencies were created & funding support was provided by directly paying to Muslim League by the British from the coffers of Princely states. However they found one great difficulty, which is even valid as of today, ie, lack of quality leaders amongst Muslims. So British started head hunting, they interviewed the locals leaders intensely; but was not satisfied & ultimately had to recall the oldest lawyer Quaid e Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah from England. Jinnah's problem however was that he was not absolutely passionate about Islam but reluctantly agreed to, in the end, to cooperate. The circumstantial evidence behind this statement is Jinnah was never jailed or sent to single cell Kalapani, Andaman by the British anytime, ever!
Jinnah started negotiating with Gandhi-Nehru duo - the Hindu representative Congress, demanded lot of things but settled for less as usual in any deal.
Talks of Independence of India started to gather momentum.
British won the IInd World War in 1945 but become penniless & unable to contain the trouble they themselves created on the ground in India.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had formed Azad Hind force & with the help of adversary Japan, he was progressing towards eastern border of Manipur, Naval Mutiny took violent turn taking leaf out of 1857 sepoy Mutiny, which was India's first battle for Independence.
British then presuming premonition of impending danger decided to quickly leave India & passed Indian Independence Act of 1947. British didn’t bother much about Gandhiji’s antiques and actually enjoyed it being a good diversion. This is as per the admission of Hon'ble Clement Attlee then PM of the UK in Calcutta after Independence of India. [2]
Therefore, Gandhi gave us freedom is one of the biggest propaganda & lie fed to us through innumerable mediums including history text books for children, but elders in the house when they discussed used to curse Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in a very bitter language.
Initially during the independence of India negotiations it was proposed by Choudhury Rahmat Ali; again an English educated lawyer in 1933 about PAKSTAN, here “I” was missing from PAKISTAN. He demanded in his explosive leaflet headlined 'Now or never' to express deep anguish & agony of decimation & discrimination of Muslims dominated by Hindus in Independent India. Here as PAKSTAN only western areas of India like Punjab, Khyber Pakhstunwala, Kashmir, Belochistan, Northwest Frontier Province, Sindh will form separate federation with Muslims to rule as Federal sovereign Islamic entity.
Bengal was not in contention.
Partition of India became inevitable after the cabinet mission plan of British failed in 1946 to have a undivided India with Muslim suzernaity over the areas where it dominates. Jinnah declared Direct action plan & under the authority supported pogrom ( HM Swahawardy then PM of Bengal spearheaded it; here it may be interesting to note that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the first President of Bangladesh was a favourite disciple of Swahawardy & then was an undergraduate budding student in the Calcutta's Islamia College at Rafi Ahmed Kidwai road, now Maulana Azad College).
In this pogrom in Calcutta & Noakhali more than 20000 Hindus were killed on 18th August 1946 onwards. [3]
'Vultures of Calcutta': The Gruesome Aftermath of India's 1946 Hindu-Muslim Riotsa Time Magazine report. [3]
Thereafter, it was agreed by Congress after long deliberations that, Partition of India will take place on religious lines, all Muslim majority areas will go to Pakistan & all Hindu majority areas will remain in India.
Jinnah demanded entire Punjab, Balochistan, Kashmir, North West Frontier Province, Khaiber Pakshtunwala, Entire Bengal & North East to be part of Muslim Pakistan.
The basic underlying idea or the hidden agenda was to take all riverine fertile agriculture lands of river valleys & deltas in the name of Muslim majority. Chief reason being agriculture was the mainstay of Indian economy & British thought it's the best way to cripple India before leaving.
If you closely look at the India's demographic, no area is available in Akhand Bharat which was totally either Muslim free or Hindu free. Both the communities are so closely knit & stay side by side that even today it's impossible to visit an area & Burqa clad women will miss your sight.
But it was not to be & India had to be divided by hook or by crook. Therefore the Lawyer from UK Sir Cheryl Redcliff was assigned the task of drawing boundary lines with deadline ending within around 2 weeks of working time.
An impossible task & flaws were natural outcome of such haste full action.
Weeks after 15thAugust 1947, it was not known to people what is the actual boundaries of two new dominions of India & Pakistan formed by Indian Independence Act 1947.
No land of Sindhu included in India, neither Sindh river, nor a state for the Sindhis, it's like a headless chicken with limbs just cut off; so as to construe narrowly!
Partition followed Civil war, bloodbath & turmoil of one of its worst kind in the human history. The eye witness account say death toll was around 40 million & displacement was 120 million on both sides.
Partition of India thus is a complete show of horrific tragedy, nobody anticipated, nobody imagined, nobody envisaged.
It's not only an utter failure but also untimely abortion of a foetus. The offspring, which would have otherwise flourished to be the Superpower in the World or a great force to reckon with by now!
Would like to allege that Partition of India is that conspiracy which prevented India to become the Vishwa Guru by now, but hopes not lost as yet.
Partition of India didn't happen in just Bengal & Punjab as ordinarily perceived but actually, partition happened in an effect major loss to Mother India or भारत माता;
1. Bengal - all fertile delta lost
2. Punjab - all Sind river valley lost
3. Assam - most prosperous Sylhet District lost
4. Kashmir - Fertile lands of Jammu & others lost as in PoK now.
The British therefore very successfully applied the divide & rule policy & latched on to Mohammed Ali Jinnah to perform its objectives.
Needless to mention Mohammed Ali Jinnah's performance in the British articulated objective was more than par excellence than his own record as the counsel of the Bombay High Court.
During the incidence preceding and succeeding the partition of India into two dominions of India & Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah was made the messiah of the Muslims and was crowned Quaid e Azam – meaning great leader.
He shed his lawyer suit, gown & boots and wore Sherwani, Coat & skull cap. British helped him to become the First Governor General of Pakistan, no elections preceded. British also conspicuously helped Jinnah as a person with money & also as he was never arrested ( as mentioned in previous paras) even for a day during pre-independence period unlike Veer Savarkar etc., who were jailed for years together including in solitary cells of Andaman.(Kalapani) Compared to this Gandhi – Nehru was also not imprisoned beyond Naini, Allahabad & Yerwada-Pune. What a classic co-incidence!
However it is prudent to acknowledge the facts that in the initial days of Independence movement Jinnah advocated for Hindu Mulsim unity and in Lucknow Pact of 1916, he represented Muslim League. In Lahore declaration of 1940, which was later promoted as Pakistan declaration (but in the declaration itself there was no mention of Pakistan name in particular) Hindu Muslim unity was not totally forgotten but due rights of Muslims in India was desired & sought for.
Quaid e Azam, Mohammed Ali Jinnah had made many reversals of his own decisions i.e. change of mind after fully committing to certain principle, cause or finality.
He took fees of gold weighing his own body from the Khan of Kalat and gave status to Princely state of Kalat as an independent sovereign state. This he accomplished after negotiating as the counsel of Kalat with Lord Mountbatten; but soon after partition on 14th August 1947, he ordered Pakistan Army to forcefully occupy Balochistan. On being questioned by Khan of Kalat about the U – turn, he confided that “previously I was your Lawyer, but now I am the Governor General, I am only playing my changed role.”
On 11th August 1947 in the constituent assembly of Pakistan Quaid e Azam declared that Pakistan will be a secular country and freedom of religion shall prevail, this is what LKAdvani refers quite often in TV talk shows & during visit to Jinnah memorial at Karachi in 2005 Advani lavishly praised Jinnah on this very point, but later Jinnah changed his mind & allowed it to become a Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Just before the partition of India Jinnah signed a standstill agreement with Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir to allow Jammu & Kashmir princely state to remain independent & sovereign and Pakistan not only promised never to attack but also provide assistance in various common services like postage etc. that was the agreement, but he changed his mind later & apparently ordered Tribals (Kabailis) supported by Pakistani Army to attack Jammu & Kashmir in 1947. On being asked why there is invasion in Kashmir, he reportedly said; “I don’t know & I don’t want to know.” But complicity is derived as; at that time Rs 300,000 was withdrawn from Pakistani treasury and attack was organised in Kashmir keeping Maharaja & its Kashmiri people in complete darkness. Rs 300,000 in today’s currency value may be 1 Rs = 1 USD in 1947 equals to more than Rs 2 Crores. Maharaja thus had to seek India’s help for protection but had to accede to India as a pre-condition.
Another incident worth mentioning here is giving away
Sylhet District of Assam in 1947 to East Bengal. Sylhet was very prosperous & productive district of Assam since 1873. But Jinnah demanded it & agreed for a
referendum on the ground that it is a Muslim majority district of Assam.
Whereas for all India scenario Jinnah never accepted the idea of referendum! But if one makes a close observation on the issue the results of referendum; that was 239,619 votes in favour of Pakistan 184,041 votes for Sylhet to remain in Assam or consequently India.
Now in that election Hut & Axe were two boxes there for people were to vote, Hut where ballot paper to go for India, Axe box where ballot will count for Pakistan or East Bengal. Now interesting fact is additionally 123,155 votes were declared invalid & another 197,272 tea estate labourers from 221 tea estates of Sylhet was not allowed to vote. These tea estate labourers had voted in 1946 constituent assembly elections - says Bidyut Chakrabarty Ex Prof of Delhi University in his book. (Ref: http://wwwshodhganga.inflibnet.a...) Link provided below for more details. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.i...[4]
It looks like Sylhet was given away by India by becoming victim of fraud, but whether that was intended or not shall be discussed now. During the Sylhet referendum of June 1947, Indian National Congress or to be more precise Assam Congress didn’t mobilise any canvassing for Sylhet to remain in Assam. Mr Gopinath Bordoloi in private meeting as well in public mentioned Assam’s intention to give away the Sylhet district so that they can get rid of the Sylhetti Bengalis in one go. The chief reason being the Sylhettis were more educated, as English education arrived there earlier than Assam & they were competitors in Gov’t jobs. Futher Sylhettis were a bit adamant to adopt Assamese culture while in Assam unlike Muslims. Hence the slogan Assamese will remain power with Ali(Muslims) & Kulee(Teas estate labourers) & no Bengali.
The idea was that for Assam to have a more homogeneous Assamese speaking population so that political power with the Assamese is ensured. This Gopinath Bordoloi in a Parti pris deal agreed with Nehru & the British. Assam Govt refused to provide additional police force to ensure free & fair elections of the referendum. Muslim league taking advantage of the situation mobilized huge volunteers from across the country & adopted pressure tactics of organized violence & coercion to Hindu voters not to vote and encouraged Muslim voters to ensure voting. There were many incidents of murder and bomb blast in Sylhet prior to the referendum. Complicity of Gopinath Bordoloi was evident from his not taking any interest and not sending adequate police contingents & indirectly ensured that elections are rigged. No Congress leaders visited Sylhet to mobilise support for the Sylhet to remain in India & lastly the invalid votes and the withdrawal of franchise of the tea garden labourers give sufficient circumstantial evidence of surrendering the most prospective district to Pakistan & deprive the Hindus the basic human rights. (Collection of information is based on books by
Bidyut Chakrabarty & Prafulla Roy.)
If the partition was on a Hindu Muslim religious lines, then why Hindu majority Districts of Khulna, Jessore, Buddhist majority Chittagong hill tracts, Hindu majority city of Karachi, are they in Pakistan and not India? Why Muslim majority of Malda & Murshidabad of West Bengal are there in India. Why Hyderabad is in India?
Why after partition of India, all Muslims in Hindu majority areas not left for Pakistan en masse? Why Maulana Abul Kalam Azad refused to go to Pakistan inspite being a devout Muslim or never joined Muslim league despite having an Arabic ancestry?
It's because Indian Muslims have rejected Pakistan & it was only the dreams of a few secessionist forces, some Fundamentalist Nawabs from Uttar Pradesh & Bihar were responsible for Partition of India & ill-fated Pakistan.
Maulana Azad was a Indian patriot & he remained in India despite pressure from Jinnah & became first Education Minister in Independent India, it's due to his initiative that we see such centres of excellence in India like IITs – the pride of India.
So what really happened to Quaid e Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who had to overturn many his own decisions from till the time of his death in 1948, only he can probably best answer the question, but all these have great historical impact and it continues to affect the lives of ordinary people of India Pakistan in Kashmir, Assam, Balochistan & the rest, even on date (2018).
Both Hindus & Muslims are equally affected, but one of the conceivable reasons which we could probably circumspect is that would solely vindicate Abraham Lincoln’s 19th century quote, with reference to Quaid e Azam;
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power”
Taslima Nasreen tweeted once that due to theocracy, Pakistan is one of the Worst Countries today in the World.
I don't know why Muslims love Jinnah who ate pork, drank alcohol, and didn't know how to pray namaz. The biggest mistake he made by founding a country based on religion. Pakistan is now one of the worst countries in the world.
— taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) May 4, 2018
This is the outcome of partition & Pakistan is Bankrupt as well as of date - 2nd Oct 2018 Mahatma Gandhi's 121st Birth Anniversary???
Can we call the situation happy?
[1] Exclusive: For the First Time, a True Copy of Jammu & Kashmir’s Instrument of Accession
[2] Video on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose by Chandra Kumar Bose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwuUziM5I94&t=2009s
References: More shall be provided on request being basically an opinion article.
