Decolonization and Independence

The late nineteenth century saw the rise of a number of nationalist movements in South Asia. {Note: I find 'nationalist' problematic when talking about South Asia, as not all the movements wanted a single India, not surprising given the shifting political landscape of South Asia over the centuries. But the term is the one currently in use, so it is used here.]

 

The Bengal Renaissance

Although not a political movement, the Bengal Renaissance (nineteenth to mid twentieth centuries), exemplifies the new identity and awareness that were developing. While the British (and most westerners) saw South Asia as trapped in the past - a static and stagnant remnant of a once thriving civilization - the artistic, literary, and spiritual elements of the Bengal Renaissance showed a thriving culture that innovated while drawing inspiration from 'tradition'. Two figures can serve as bookends: Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) and Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Centered in Calcutta, the movement mixed progressive social reform with intellectual and artistic awakening.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a political and social reformer. Working for the East India Company and helping translate Sanskrit and English into Bengali, he gained influence within the Company. Some of this he used to promote reforms, with particular interest in ending sati, polygamy, and child marriage, and he advocated for greater rights for women. He promoted education and the Bengal language, and helped set up colleges that later would become universities. He died in England, lobbying for a ban on sati.

(Rabindranath Tagore)

Rabindranath Tagore was a poet, writer, composer, and artist with an enormous output. Born into an artistic and musical family, he was educated in India and England. Besides short stories, novels, and dramas (many written about commoners), he also wrote essays and travel stories, some of which were collected together as Letters from Europe. In 1913, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature for Gitanjali, a collection of poetry; this made him the first person from Asia, and only the second person altogether from outside Europe, to win a Nobel Prize. He composed more than two thousand songs, two of which became national anthems (for India and Bangladesh). Tagore was a nationalist though he did not always approve of nationalist methods and was sometimes controversial in his condemnations. He traveled widely and was famous in Europe and North America as well as Asia, meeting many of the literati and glitterati of the time.

 

Independence Movements

IN 1885, a British scientist and others founded the Indian National Congress, with delegates from every province of India. It became more radicalized and turned into a mass movement thanks to the Partition of Bengal in 1905.  The All-India Muslim League was founded in 1906. Bengal had become the center of nationalist and independence movements by 1900. One of these was the Swadeshi (Buy Indian) movement that began in 1905. The movement was a boycott of British manufactured goods in favor of local ones, both to hurt the British economically and as a way to boost or develop native industry. The movement also encouraged a social boycott of those who bought British goods.

The independence movement was accelerated by the return of Mohandas Gandhi from South Africa in 1915, and in 1916 when Muhammad Ali Jinnah joined the Congress and brokered an agreement with the All-India Muslim League. Gandhi (1869-1948) trained as a lawyer in London, and began practicing law and advocating for Civil Rights in South Africa. In joining the Congress, he won supporters by his moderate approaches nonviolence, and his conviction that the best route to success lay through working in the system. He worked with the British to raise troops for World War I, but following the war he initiated a nonviolence and non cooperation movement (satyagraha) - active rather than passive nonviolent resistance. When he became the leader of the Congress in 1920 he immediately pushed for Purna Swaraj (full independence).  A number of nonviolent protesters were massacred by British police, and he began increasing the pressure. In 1922, he was arrested and imprisoned but was released after two years. Although initially supporting Gandhi, Jinnah - also a London trained lawyer - left the Congress in protest of satyagraha, and eventually returned to England.

(Gandhi, Jinnah, and Nehru)

In 1929, Jawaharlal Nehru, whom Gandhi had mentored into taking charge of the left wing of the Congress, became the leader of the Congress and called for complete independence. In 1930, Gandhi led a massive 240 mile march in protest of a tax on salt as part of his satyagraha movement. British politicians (including Winston Churchill) denounced him, but his appeal was strong and in 1931 the British government decided to negotiate. Both sides were disappointed and Gandhi was imprisoned again and he began a fast, forcing his release. The 1935 Government of India Act eventually resulted, and the elections in 1937 saw a landslide majority of Nehru and his idea of a secular state. This had a profound effect on Jinnah, who feared for oppression of Muslims, and it was at this point he began laying the foundation of what would be Pakistan.

When World War II began, Gandhi opposed any support for the British unless full independence, and his calls for complete noncompliance with the British and the complete exit of Britain from India (the 'Quit India' speech) led to another incarceration, from 1942-44, along with most leaders of the Congress. Jinnah on the other hand was more willing to work with the British, which gained him more influence and this led to the 1940 Lahore Declaration which called for a two-state solution. In 1944, Jinnah and Gandhi met to negotiate but could come to no resolution.

 

Independence and Partition

 Following the end of World War II, Churchill's government was defeated in an election and the new Labour government moved to act on India. The Indian Independence Act of Parliament of 1947 declared that India would have full independence by 1948. Negotiations between the Congress and League were factitious but eventually a consensus was reached on Partition. The viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, met with representatives of the Congress, League, and Sikhs to come up with a plan of partition. India and Pakistan came into existence the midnight of August 14/15 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru became the first prime minister of India, and Jinnah the first governor-general of Pakistan.

The Partition was a nightmare, as Bengal, Assam, and the Punjab were divided based on Hindu/Muslim majorities, with lines drawn by the British after referendums. Over 14 million were displaced as families moved to be in the 'correct' country based on religion, creating immediate and immense refugee crises in each country; and there was widespread violence with many dead. The whole process had been rushed, and independence declared before the partition lines had been drawn. Mountbatten in particular wanted to be done with the situation as quickly as possible.

Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist on January 30, 1948; Jinnah died of pneumonia on September 11, 1948.

 

Post-Partition South Asia

Both countries emerged as secular countries with large religious majorities (Hindu in India, Muslim in Pakistan). Conflicting territorial claims, especially over Kashmir, put major strains on India-Pakistan relations, with wars in 1947 (Kashmir), 1965 (Kashmir), 1971 (East Pakistan), and 1999 (Kargil district) plus other unofficial conflicts. That both have nuclear weapons has made the situation generally more tense.

India

India quickly developed into a strong democratic republic, much more stable than Pakistan. This has helped its incredible economic and industrial growth; but these have not eliminated some of the extreme poverty in the country, and there are continuing clashes between Hindus and Muslims.

Pakistan and Bangladesh

A constitution for Pakistan was created in 1956, but a military coup in Pakistan in 1958 led to eleven years of military rule. Bengal, the largest and most cosmopolitan province in Pakistan, suffered in this period, and an uprising in 1969 led to another military crackdown and martial law, and much Bengali literature and music was banned and many Bengalis were massacred by the Pakistani army. In 1971, the province rebelled in the Bangladesh Liberation War, which lasted nine months and resulted in a crushing Bengal victory. As a result, East Pakistan became Bangladesh. The US had supported Pakistan in the war, while the USSR supported Bangladesh.

A new constitution was drafted for Pakistan and democracy briefly returned from 1972-77 but was ended in another military coup, with a military presidency form 1977-88. During this time, Pakistan became a staging ground for anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan, supported by the US. Democracy returned until another military coup in 1999, but general elections were held in 2008 and 2013.