India’s independence 

> India became independent on the midnight of 14, 15 August 1947.

> At this time a speech was given by Jawaharlal Nehru which is called Tryst with Destiny

> After independence India was divided into three different parts. Of which the first part

was British India, the second part was Pakistan and the third part was the princely

states (princely states means the place where the kings used to rule)


The reason for this partition was the two-nation theory  

Two Nation Theory

This theory was introduced by the Muslim League. According to this principle, India was not

the nation of one religion but two different religions, hence the demand for two different

countries was made. Out of which the first country was India which became a Hindu nation

and the second country was Pakistan which became a Muslim nation. There were also some

problems with this partition.

Segmentation Problems

Two Pakistans

According to this theory, the place where Hindus were more was to be made India and where

Muslims were more, Pakistan was to be made. But the problem was that at that time there

were two areas in India where the Muslim population was more. One was in the east and

the other was in the west therefore two Pakistans (East Pakistan and West Pakistan) were

created.

Division of states

Punjab and Bengal were two such states where both Muslims and Hindus were in equal

quantity, due to which these states had to be divided.

Public dissent

There were many people who did not want to go to Pakistan, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also

known as Frontier Gandhi. He openly opposed the two-nation theory. The voice of all such

people was suppressed and they were forced to join Pakistan.

Problem of minorities

It was not that there were no Hindus in Pakistan’s territory or no Muslims in Indian

territory. Minorities were present in both the regions. This was the biggest problem of

partition and no solution could be found for this problem and this problem went on to

become the biggest reason for the riots in both the countries.

Result of division

East and West Pakistan came into existence

There was extreme violence, with great loss of both life and property.

The refugee problem arose in both Pakistan and India.

The problem of Kashmir also arose due to partition.

Nation building challenges

After dealing with the partition and its tragedy, the attention of the leaders turned to those

problems which were of utmost importance. These were the issues on which all the leaders

had agreed before independence and now they had to be brought into existence.

Building a united India

India was divided into three different parts. Of which the first part was British India, the

second part was Pakistan and the third part was the indigenous princely states. In such a

situation, India has to convince those 565 independent princely states to be a part of India, to

make a united India and this became a huge became a challenge

Establish democracy

At the time of independence, most of the people in India were illiterate and poor, in such a

situation establishing democracy in India was no less than a challenge.

Development

At the time of independence, most of the people in India were poor and uneducated. It was

necessary for the country to get out of this poverty and illiteracy therefore development was

also one of the challenges present at the time of independence.

The problem of Princely states

At the time of independence, the British announced that along with India, all the

indigenous princely states would also become independent from the British rule.

All the princely states were given the right to either join India or Pakistan or maintain

their independent existence.

This war lasted for a long time and in the end the Nizam had to give up and thus

Hyderabad became a part of India.

Manipur
Manipur was a princely state located in the east of India.

The king of this was Bodh Chandra Singh.

Due to the pressure of the people, the king had to hold elections in June 1948 and in

this way the constitutional monarchy was established in Manipur

There was a lot of difference of opinion in the Legislative Assembly of Manipur on the

issue of full accession to India.

Congress wanted Manipur to join India completely but the rest of the parties did not

want it.

If the resolution to remain separate from India was passed in the assembly, it would

have been impossible to include Manipur in India.

In view of this, the Indian government put pressure on the king of Manipur and got

him to sign the complete accession letter, thus Manipur became a part of India.

The people of Manipur did not like this and the people there were angry with this

decision for a long time.

Jammu and Kashmir

The state of Jammu and Kashmir is located on the northernmost part of India

Before independence, Jammu and Kashmir used to be a princely state, whose king was

Hari Singh.

Raja Hari Singh wanted to remain independent while Pakistan used to say that Jammu

and Kashmir has more Muslim population, therefore Jammu and Kashmir should be

included in Pakistan.

immediately after independence, in view of this demand, Pakistan attacked Jammu and

Kashmir with the aim of capturing it.

Raja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir asked India for help and India helped him

Meanwhile, Raja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir signed the Instrument of India’s

accession and officially Jammu and Kashmir became a part of India.

During this, it was also said that when the situation becomes normal, a referendum will

be held there. to know in which country the people of Jammu and Kashmir want to

join.

But this referendum was not conducted till date and Jammu and Kashmir was given

special rights under Article 370.

During the war in 1947, Pakistan occupied some part of Jammu and Kashmir, which

Pakistan calls Azad Kashmir and by India it is called POK (Pakistan Occupied

Kashmir).