POLITICAL UNREST
AND PARTITION
Ever since the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 the voices calling for Freedom from British rule became ever louder. Indians fought back against an ever more repressive British Government.
ਆਪੂੰ ਬੁਰਾ ਤਾਂ ਜਗ ਬੁਰਾ ਆਪੂੰ ਭਲਾ ਤਾਂ ਜਗ ਭਲਾ
Aap buren taa jugg bhurra, uss bhalley taa jugg bhalla.
Be good and people be good to you. Be bad and
expect the same.
1922
Panja Sahib incident
During the “Guru kaa Baagh” morcha, when Sikhs were fighting to regain control of historical Gurdwaras. Several Sikhs were killed trying to stop a train at Panja Sahib Station, close to the famous Gurdwara. A squad of army pensioners were sentenced to jail for their part in the morcha. They were boarded onto a train from Amritsar to Attock. When the Sikhs found out they insisted that the train must stop at Panja Sahib so that the Sangat can feed the imprisoned Sikhs. When the British government discovered this they decided to order the train not to stop at the station. The Sikhs took it upon themselves to stop the train by laying on the tracks. As the train screeched to a halt it killed at least two Sikhs and injured several others.
1923–1933
Increasing riots and unrest
The previous unity of Muslim and Hindu interests in the Indian National Congress (INC) begins to splinter. After his release, Gandhi relaunches his civil disobedience campaign with a view to obtaining full independence for India. A peaceful protest in Peshawar in 1930 is brutally attacked by the British military, resulting in over 200 civilian deaths.
1933–1939
Power of the INC grows
The Government of India Act (1935), which gave more powers of selfgovernance to Indian provinces whilst retaining central control, is passed after growing pressure on the British government. The INC win control over six out of eleven provinces from 1937, whereas the Muslim League fares badly in the elections.
1940–1946
The ‘two-nation’ theory
After the British government declares war on Germany on behalf of India, the INC moves to an anti-war stance and launches its ‘Quit India’ movement. This is met with severe reprisals from the British military, and many INC leaders are imprisoned whilst the Muslim League agrees to cooperate with the British government. The vision of India as two distinct nations—one Hindu, one Muslim—is put
forward by the Muslim League, and the idea of Pakistan is born.
The new British Labour government elected in 1945 promises a new colonial policy of self-governance for India. However, both the INC and Muslim League reject the proposals regarding a representative government. Amidst rising tensions, a two-nation solution becomes inevitable.
1947
Partition
There is much uncertainty and unrest after the talks break down, leading to rioting in Pothohar by March 1947. The British decide to leave India almost immediately, and an incoherent and clumsy plan
to split the country in response to rising hostility is broadcast over the radio in just three months later. A British judge called Cyril Radcliffe is given 40 days to decide where Pakistan should begin and where India should end. ‘Radliffe’s Line’ arbitrarily created Pakistan in two distinct areas – west Pakistan and east Pakistan – with thousands of miles of India between them.
Overnight, the terror and uncertainty caused one of the biggest mass migrations in human history.
The painful, traumatic legacy of Partition is still felt today
“I was in High School, so I saw myself the killing of people, the burning of my village, and how we were running… in the night we assembled in a big house; luckily the army came and we were saved, otherwise the whole village would have been finished.”
sardar tarlochan singh