- Phone :+917814622609
- Email :[email protected]
- Student Dashboard
HPAS/Allied Mains 2022 Answer Writing Challenge Day 29 : Model Answer
Question Partition was a culmination of a communal politics that started developing in the opening decades of the twentieth century. Comment. (8 marks 120 words)
| Understanding of question: Briefly introduce by mentioning the divisive policies adopted by the British for creating a communal divide. Trace the series of events that occurred right from the beginning of 20th century till the partition of India which ultimately shaped the communal politics on the Indian subcontinent. | ||
| Introduction | The adoption of divide and rule by the British, after the challenge faced by them in 1857, led to assigning religious identities to a functional use, within the modern political system. The logic of electoral politics deepened and hardened these identities. Community identities no longer indicated a simple difference between faith and belief. They came to mean active opposition and hostility between communities. | |
| Keywords | ||
| Main Body | Partition of Bengal in 1905, though couched in administrative terms, had clear communal undertones. Similarly, separate electorates created by the colonial government in 1909 and expanded in 1919 crucially shaped the nature of communal politics. Muslims could now elect their own representatives in designated constituencies. This created a temptation for politicians working within the system to use sectarian slogans and gather a following by distributing favours to their own religious groups. During 1920s and 30s communal tensions grew around a number of issues. Muslims were angered by music before mosques, cow protection movement and efforts of Arya Samaj to bring back others to Hindu fold (shuddhi). On the other hand, Hindus were angered by rapid spread of Tabligh (propaganda) and Tanzim(organisation) after 1923. During this period Muslim League was gaining voice, Hindu organizations like RSS were formed. In this background, middle class publicists and communal activists sought to build greater solidarity within their communities by mobilising people against other community. This gave rise to riots in different parts of country. In the provincial elections held in 1937, when Muslim league performed badly, it decided to resort to extreme communalism. In order to counter the propaganda, Hindu organisations such as Hindu Mahasabha and RSS also advocated for militant communal nationalism. The main purpose was to encourage the Hindus to transcend the divisions of caste and re-define Hindu identity in opposition to Muslim identity. Communalists on both sides started seeking narrow interests often undermining national movement. Muslim League now started asking for political demands with focus on Muslim majority areas of sub- continent. As a result, the demand for Pakistan was formalised gradually by 1940 as expressed in the famous ‘Pakistan Resolution’. It demanded grouping of all geographically contiguous Muslim majority areas into independent states. | |
| Conclusion | Thus, the seed of an independent sovereign nation of Pakistan finally developed into a full-fledged tree in a matter of few decades. And in a short span of 7 years after resolution, an independent Pakistan comprising of Muslim majority areas of Punjab, Singh, Baluchistan, North-West Frontier Province and Bengal was born in 1947owing its origin to communal politics. | |
© 2024 Civilstap Himachal Design & Development
