GRADE XII

POLITICAL SCIENCE

PART II : CHAPTER 1 :- Challenges of Nation Building

 Introduction
At the hour of midnight on 14-15 August 1947, India attained independence. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime
Minister of free India, addressed a special session of the Constituent Assembly that night. This was the famous ‘tryst with
destiny’ speech that you are familiar with. There were two goals almost everyone agreed upon: one, that after
Independence, we shall run our country through democratic government; and two, that the government will be run for the
good of all, particularly the poor and the socially disadvantaged groups. This was not going to be easy. India was born in
very difficult circumstances. Perhaps no other country by then was born in a situation more difficult than that of India in
1947. Freedom came with the partition of the country. The year 1947 was a year of unprecedented violence and trauma of
displacement. It was in this situation that independent India started on its journey to achieve several objectives.
 Read
Broadly, independent India faced three kinds of challenges. The first and the immediate challenge was to shape a
nation that was united, yet accommodative of the diversity in our society. India was a land of continental size and
diversity. Its people spoke different languages and followed different cultures and religions. At that time it was widely
believed that a country full of such kinds of diversity could not remain together for long. The second challenge was to
establish democracy. You know that the Constitution granted fundamental rights and extended the right to vote to every
citizen. India adopted representative democracy based on the parliamentary form of government. These features ensure
that the political competition would take place in a democratic framework. The third challenge was to ensure the
development and well-being of the entire society and not only of some sections. Here again the Constitution clearly laid
down the principle of equality and special protection to socially disadvantaged groups and religious and cultural
communities.
 Explain
1. When did India gained independence?

2. Which famous speech did Jawaharlal Nehru deliver in 1947 and where?

3. What were the two goals set to be achieved by independent India?

4. What are the difficulties India had faced to achieve the goals?

5. Explain the challenges that India faced at the time of independence in 1947 of nation building.

 Read

Partition

On 14-15 August 1947, not one but two nation-states came into the division of British India into India
and Pakistan. According to the ‘two-nation theory’ advanced by the Muslim League, India consisted of not one but
two ‘people’, Hindus and Muslims. That is why it demanded Pakistan, a separate country for the Muslims. The
Congress opposed this theory and the demand for Pakistan. But several political developments in 1940s, the
political competition between the Congress and the Muslim League and the British role led to the decision for the
creation of Pakistan.
 Explain
6. Which theory led to the partition of India in 1947?

7. What is the Two Nation theory advanced by the Muslim League?

8. Analyse the two political developments 1940s that lead to the decision for the creation of Pakistan.

9. What is the Two Nation theory advanced by the Muslim League?

Process of Partition

Thus it was decided that what was till then known as ‘India’ would be divided into two countries,
‘India’ and ‘Pakistan’. Such a division was not only very painful, but also very difficult to decide and to implement. It
was decided to follow the principle of religious majorities. This basically means that areas where the Muslims were
in majority would make up the territory of Pakistan. The rest was to stay with India. it presented all kinds of
difficulties. First of all, there was no single belt of Muslim majority areas in British India. There were two areas of
concentration, one in the west and one in the east. There was no way these two parts could be joined. So it was
decided that the new country, Pakistan, will comprise two territories. Secondly, not all Muslim majority areas
wanted to be in Pakistan. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, the undisputed leader of the North Western Frontier Province
and known as ‘Frontier Gandhi’, was staunchly opposed to the two-nation theory. Eventually, his voice was simply
ignored and the NWFP was made to merge with Pakistan. Secondly, not all Muslim majority areas wanted to be in
Pakistan. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, the undisputed leader of the North Western Frontier Province and known as
‘Frontier Gandhi’, was staunchly opposed to the two-nation theory. Eventually, his voice was simply ignored and
the NWFP was made to merge with Pakistan. This was the problem of ‘minorities’ on both sides of the border.
Lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs in the areas that were now in Pakistan and an equally large number of Muslims on the
Indian side of Punjab and Bengal found themselves trapped.

Explain

10. “The division of India into India and Pakistan was not only very painful but also very difficult to
decide and to implement”. Try to find out the difficulties that was associated with partition of India.
11. (a) What principle was followed while partitioning India?
Or
(b) What was the basis of India’s Partition?

12. Map Work.

Identify and Locate East Pakistan and West Pakistan from the following Map

 Read

The year 1947 was the year of one of the largest, most abrupt, unplanned and tragic transfer of population that
human history has known. There were killings and atrocities on both sides of the border. Amritsar and Kolkata became
divided into ‘communal zones’. Minorities on both sides of the border fled their home and often secured temporary shelter
in ‘refugee camps’. Even during this journey they were often attacked, killed or raped. Thousands of women were abducted
on both sides of the border. They were made to convert to the religion of the abductor and were forced into marriage. In
many cases women were killed by their own family members to preserve the ‘family honour’.Many children were
separated from their parents. Writers, poets and film-makers in India and Pakistan have expressed the ruthlessness of the
killings and the suffering of displacement and violence in their novels, short-stories, poems and films. Above all, it was a
violent separation of communities who had hitherto lived together as neighbours. It is estimated that the Partition forced
about 80 lakh people to migrate across the new border. Between five to ten lakh people were killed in Partition related
violence. There were competing political interests behind these conflicts. The Muslim League was formed to protect the
interests of the Muslims in colonial India. It was in the forefront of the demand for a separate Muslim nation. Similarly,
there were organisations, which were trying to organise the Hindus in order to turn India into a Hindu nation. But most
leaders of the national movement believed that India must treat persons of all religions equally and that India should not
be a country that gave superior status to adherents of one faith and inferior to those who practiced another religion. All
citizens would be equal irrespective of their religious affiliation. Being religious or a believer would not be a test of
citizenship. They cherished therefore the ideal of a secular nation. This ideal was enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
 Explain

13. Name the political organization that was formed to protect the interest of the Muslims in colonial
India.
14. The partition of India generally regarded as “Division of Hearts”. Explain the tragic situation during the period
of partition.

15. Examine the consequences of partition.

16. Why did the idea of secular nation emerge in India?

Resources

 NCERT TEXT BOOK - http://ncert.nic.in/textbook/textbook.htm?leps2=1-9

EXTENDED LEARNING:

Documentary on Partition by BBC - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZS40U5yFpc&t=4146s

Movie- Garam Hava - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzO1EIEG_fc&t=756s

Article on Partition: - https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38683657

‘TRYST WITH DESTINY’ by Jawaharlal Nehru : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oljKFJUJs2c