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Mahabharata katha London
2012
Partition of India has been a particularly painful moment in India’s long history. Here is my view of why Britain partitioned India.
Why Britain Partitioned India :-
Having fought two major wars with their fraternal cousins in less than three decades, the British were desperate to cut their losses and leave those parts of the empire that were giving them particular headaches. Indian subcontinent was a major headache for the British. Though it was the jewel in its crown, the crown itself was too heavy for the British to wear.
Of all its colonial enterprises, India was one of the most profitable. It
was also the most populous and hence the most difficult to manage. At the
end of WWII, Britain was broken. Though it won the war, it was just by the
skin of it’s teeth – it was a close fought thing and Britain was badly drained
by the war. Bigger than its loss of money was its loss of man power.
It had once managed to rule a vast empire around the world by exporting its
young men as administrators and generals in charge of ‘natives’. At the
end of WWII, that capital of young blood was badly depleted. Starved of
fresh blood, it was impossible to m aintain control of far flung parts of
the empire.
Natives of the empire were also no longer happy to be ruled by their British
over lords. Having seen how the Europeans lived and fought in their own
lands, the Natives realized that they were just as human as themselves.
They also realized the hypocrisy of Western governments, who espoused democracy
at home, but promoted ruthless dictatorship in colonial outposts.
Natives who had studied in Britain were also agitating for self-rule. In
face of their logical arguments, Britain found it difficult to defend the empire
on moral grounds. Having fought fascist ideology in Germany it was
impossible to defend the concept of empire. Economic grounds for empire
were also weakening. What had been lucrative investments in pre-war years
were no longer profitable. Without the use of slaves or indentured
labourers, extracting minerals, wood and other raw materials was also becoming
expensive. Laying the infrastructure (roads, rails, government buildings,
phone etc) was expensive in countries where floods kept wiping these out on a
regular basis. Getting rid of expensive overseas commitments made good
business sense.
Britain knew exactly what would happen as a result of the partitioning India.
They had used 'partition' as a tool of it's 'mischievous' foreign policy in the
past. Partition gave Britain and excuse to keep itself involved in the
affairs of the nations it was forced to give up. Currently, Africa,
Middle-East, South-East-Asia and India - they are all suffering thanks to the
way British government split them up upon independence. Nations were
deliberately not split in a rational manner - geography, history, ethnicity etc.
Local people's wishes were deliberately ignored to create artificial boundaries
that are impossible to defend or maintain.
Sadly, emotive issues involved with 'partition' has kept India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh on the boil for the last 67 years. If only the politicians involved
realise that they are being played like a fiddle by Britain and the Western
powers, they would stop fighting and work to improve the lives of their
countrymen.
What all the citizens of the subcontinent should realise is that the Partition
is a done deal and it can not be undone. India can't reabsorb the 2 x Pakistans
and the 2 Pakistans can't steal land given to India without a catastrophic war.
Politicians keep the issue alive to divert the people away from real issues of
jobs, housing, education, commerce, infrastructure etc. As long as they
are able to ‘blame’ the neighbouring country for fermenting some trouble, they
can get away with doing their real job of working to improve the lot of their
own country. People should call out this fraud and make their politicians
more responsible for what really matters in their lives.
Britain also needs to take responsibility and apologise for the mess it has
created in the sub-continent (and the world). BUT at no time should Britain go
back in to 'fix' things. They will only make matters worse.