By 1940 the Muslims demanded their own separate state made up of those provinces where Muslims were the majority.
In 1942 the National Congress demanded that the British quit India. The British responded by imprisoning their leaders, including Gandhi, who was released in 1944.
In 1946 the Viceroy appointed an interim cabinet with Jawaharlal Nehru as prime minister. However the divide between Muslims and Hindus had become unbridgeable. The leader of the Muslims, M A Jinnah declared a 'day of action' on 16 August 1946. In Calcutta the 'day of action' led to violence between Muslims and Hindus. About 5,000 people were killed in what became known as 'The Great Killing'.
Mountbatten was then made viceroy. He quickly realised the Muslims must be granted their own state (modern Pakistan and Bangladesh). India and Pakistan became independent on A4 August 1947. Mountbatten agreed to stay in India as Governor-general for an interim period.
Unfortunately some provinces had mixed populations of Muslims and Hindus and violence broke out between them. Many Hindus fled to India and Muslims fled to Pakistan but about half a million people died in the violence.
The violence threatened to overwhelm New Delhi but Gandhi managed to prevent it by fasting and threatening to fast to death unless the violence stopped. It did but some extreme Hindus became angry with Gandhi. One of them murdered Gandhi on 30 January 1948.
In December 1946 a Constituent Assembly met to draw up a constitution for India. The new constitution came into force in January 1950. India became a secular state. Prime minister Nehru made the economy a 'mixed economy' of some state owned industry and some private enterprise. Industry was strictly regulated. Unfortunately this restricted free enterprise.
Nevertheless in the 1950s a series of 5 year plans were devised. The first increase irrigation and boosted agriculture. The second and third plans boosted industry. On the other hand India's population grew rapidly. Poverty and illiteracy remained common
0 comments
Post a Comment