©Success Academy Charter Schools World History III, Unit 5: Decolonization and Independence Movements World History III: The Contemporary World Unit 5: Lesson 7: Sources Set 1: For Partition U5L7: Document A Source: Timeline By the end of World War I in 1919, Indian leaders began fighting for independence from Great Britain. At this time, two major ethnic populations existed in India: Hindus, who were the great majority, and Muslims, who were a minority. The Hindus hoped that India would remain united once the British left, with Hindus and Muslims living together in harmony. But some Muslims, especially Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah, worried about being a minority in a Hindu state, where they would have had little power. When the British finally left India in 1947, they divided the Indian subcontinent, creating India for Hindus and a new state called Pakistan for Muslims. They called this division the Partition Plan. 1930s: The idea for a separate homeland for Muslims is introduced. 1935: Great Britain grants some independence and political participation to Indians. Muslims worry they will be a permanent minority in a fully independent India. 1940: Muslim leader Jinnah calls for the establishment of Pakistan as a separate state for Indian’s Muslims. 1944: Hindu leaders fail to convince Jinnah to keep India unified. August 1946: Hindus and Muslims clash in Calcutta over formation of interim government. Approximately 5,000 die. March 1947: The British Government sends Louis Mountbatten to India to determine an acceptable plan for transferring power to Indians before June 1948. June 3, 1947: Mountbatten announces Partition Plan and speeds up the transfer of power from Britain to India by ten months. August 14–15, 1947: Transfer of Power: India gains independence from Great Britain. August 16–17, 1947: Decision for partition boundaries is released and published. Migration and violence due to partition continues until the end of 1947. Approximately 15 million people migrated and between 300,000 and one million refugees lost their lives during partition. U5L7: Document B Source: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, “Two Nations” speech, Muslim League Annual Meeting, 1940. The passage below is a speech by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who was known as the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as president of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until Pakistan’s independence on August 15, 1947. The speech became known as the “Two Nations” speech and was delivered at the Muslim League’s annual meeting in 1940. If the British Government really wants to secure the peace and happiness of the people of this Subcontinent, the only course open to us is to allow Hindus and Muslims separate homelands, by dividing India into ‘autonomous national States.’

Question

©Success Academy Charter Schools World History III, Unit 5: Decolonization and Independence Movements World History III: The Contemporary World Unit 5: Lesson 7: Sources Set 1: For Partition U5L7: Document A Source: Timeline By the end of World War I in 1919, Indian leaders began fighting for independence from Great Britain. At this time, two major ethnic populations existed in India: Hindus, who were the great majority, and Muslims, who were a minority. The Hindus hoped that India would remain united once the British left, with Hindus and Muslims living together in harmony. But some Muslims, especially Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah, worried about being a minority in a Hindu state, where they would have had little power. When the British finally left India in 1947, they divided the Indian subcontinent, creating India for Hindus and a new state called Pakistan for Muslims. They called this division the Partition Plan. 1930s: The idea for a separate homeland for Muslims is introduced. 1935: Great Britain grants some independence and political participation to Indians. Muslims worry they will be a permanent minority in a fully independent India. 1940: Muslim leader Jinnah calls for the establishment of Pakistan as a separate state for Indian’s Muslims. 1944: Hindu leaders fail to convince Jinnah to keep India unified. August 1946: Hindus and Muslims clash in Calcutta over formation of interim government. Approximately 5,000 die. March 1947: The British Government sends Louis Mountbatten to India to determine an acceptable plan for transferring power to Indians before June 1948. June 3, 1947: Mountbatten announces Partition Plan and speeds up the transfer of power from Britain to India by ten months. August 14–15, 1947: Transfer of Power: India gains independence from Great Britain. August 16–17, 1947: Decision for partition boundaries is released and published. Migration and violence due to partition continues until the end of 1947. Approximately 15 million people migrated and between 300,000 and one million refugees lost their lives during partition. U5L7: Document B Source: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, “Two Nations” speech, Muslim League Annual Meeting, 1940. The passage below is a speech by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who was known as the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as president of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until Pakistan’s independence on August 15, 1947. The speech became known as the “Two Nations” speech and was delivered at the Muslim League’s annual meeting in 1940. If the British Government really wants to secure the peace and happiness of the people of this Subcontinent, the only course open to us is to allow Hindus and Muslims separate homelands, by dividing India into ‘autonomous national States.’

©Success Academy Charter Schools World History III, Unit 5: Decolonization and Independence Movements It is extremely difficult to appreciate why our Hindu friends fail to understand the real nature of Islam and Hinduism. They are not religions in the strict sense of the word, but are, in fact, different and distinct social orders. It is a dream that the Hindus and Muslims can ever evolve a common nationality. This misconception of one Indian nation has gone far beyond the limits and is the cause of most of our troubles and will lead India to destruction, if we fail to revise our notions in time. The Hindus and the Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, social customs, and literature. They neither intermarry, nor inter-dine together, and indeed they belong to two different civilizations, which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. To join 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 the final destruction of the government of such a State. Muslim India cannot accept any Constitution that will lead to a Hindu majority Government. The Muslims are a nation according to any definition of a nation, and they must have their homelands, their territory and their State. We wish to live in peace and harmony with our neighbors as a free and independent people. U5L7: Document C Source: Indian Independence and the Question of Pakistan, Choices Program, 2013. Not all Indians agreed with the approach or the goals of the [Indian National] Congress Party. Many Muslims were uneasy with what they felt was the religious element of the Congress Party. Gandhi’s strategies were seen by many Muslims to be Hindu-based—for example, his use of fasting and non-violent protest. More than merely pro-Hindu the Congress Party was seen as anti-Muslim. Increasing sectarianism led even moderate Muslim leaders to grow wary of working with Congress. Some feared that a representative democracy, like Great Britain's, would not work in India. They believe the Hindu majority would overwhelm the Muslim minority. Some also felt that Muslims had fallen behind Hindus in formal education, which was now based on English instead of Persian. Muslims also participated far less in commerce, industry, and local government... Directions: Answer the prompt below in a short paragraph response. Be sure to use evidence from the sources to support your response. Prompt: Was India’s Partition Plan a good decision given what people knew at the time? and then bullet points of cons and state back to the sources for each con

Answer 1

India's Partition Plan was not a good decision given what people knew at the time.

- The Partition Plan led to a significant loss of life and violence during the migration process. According to Document A, between 300,000 and one million refugees lost their lives during partition, and approximately 15 million people migrated. This shows that the decision to divide India resulted in unnecessary suffering and death.
- The Partition Plan also created ongoing tensions and conflicts between Hindus and Muslims. Document A mentions clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Calcutta in August 1946, where approximately 5,000 people died. This suggests that the division of the country did not lead to the harmonious coexistence that some had hoped for.
- Document B provides insight into the thinking of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who advocated for the establishment of Pakistan as a separate state for Indian Muslims. He argued that Hindus and Muslims belonged to different civilizations and had conflicting ideas and conceptions. This highlights the concern among some Muslims about being a minority in a Hindu-majority India. The fact that Jinnah called for a separate homeland for Muslims indicates that there was a significant level of fear and distrust in the Hindu-Muslim relationship.
- Document C supports the idea that many Muslims viewed the Indian National Congress Party, which was leading the independence movement, as Hindu-based and anti-Muslim. This added to the skepticism and uneasiness among Muslims about the prospect of a united India under Congress's leadership.

In conclusion, the Partition Plan was not a good decision given what people knew at the time. It resulted in large-scale loss of life, ongoing tensions between Hindus and Muslims, and highlighted the deep-seated divisions between the two religious communities. The concerns and fears expressed by Muslim leaders, as evident in the sources, demonstrate the potential negative consequences of the Partition Plan.