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Understanding Partition NCERT Class 12 With Solution PDF Free Download
Chapter 14: Understanding Partition Politics Memories Experiences
Here are three incidents narrated by people who experienced those trying times to a researcher
in 1993. The informants were Pakistanis, the researcher Indian.
The job of this researcher was to understand how those who had lived more or less harmoniously for generations inflicted so much violence on each other in 1947.
The narratives just presented point to the pervasive violence that characterized Partition. Several
hundred thousand people were killed and innumerable women were raped and abducted.
Millions were uprooted and transformed into refugees in alien lands. It is impossible to arrive at an accurate estimate of casualties: informed and scholarly guesses vary from 200,000 to 500,000 people.
In all probability, some 15 million had to move across hastily constructed frontiers separating India and Pakistan.
As they stumbled across these “shadow lines” – the boundaries between the two new states were not officially known until two days after formal independence – they were rendered
homeless, having suddenly lost all their immovable property and most of their movable assets, separated from many of their relatives and friends as well, torn asunder from their moorings, from their houses, fields, and fortunes, from their childhood memories.
Thus stripped of their local or regional cultures, they were forced to begin picking up their life from scratch.
Was this simply a partition, a more or less orderly constitutional arrangement, an agreed-upon division of territories and assets?
Or should it be called a sixteen-month civil war, recognizing that there were well-organized forces on both sides and concerted attempts to wipe out entire populations as enemies?
The survivors themselves have often spoken of 1947 in other words: “marshal-la” (martial law), “mara-mari’ (killings), and “raula”, or “hullar” (disturbance, tumult, uproar).
Speaking of the killings, rape, arson, and loot that constituted Partition, contemporary observers and scholars have sometimes used the expression “holocaust” as well, primarily meaning destruction or slaughter on a mass scale.
You would have read about the German Holocaust under the Nazis in Class IX. The term “holocaust” in a sense captures the gravity of what happened in the subcontinent in 1947, something that the mild term “partition” hides.
It also helps to focus on why Partition, like the Holocaust in Germany, is remembered and referred to in our contemporary concerns so much. Yet, differences between the two events should not be overlooked.
From 1947-48, the subcontinent did not witness any state-driven extermination as was the case with Nazi Germany where various modern techniques of control and organization had been used.
The “ethnic cleansing” that characterized the partition of India was carried out by self-styled representatives of religious communities rather than by state agencies.
| Author | NCERT |
| Language | English |
| No. of Pages | 30 |
| PDF Size | 773 KB |
| Category | History |
| Source/Credits | ncert.nic.in |
NCERT Solutions Class 12 History Chapter 14 Understanding Partition (Politics Memories Experiences)
1. What did the Muslim League demand through its resolution of 1940?
Ans: An important resolution was passed by the Muslim League on 23rd March 1940. This resolution was drafted by Sikandar Hayat Khan, the leader of the Unionist Party and the Punjab Premier.
Through this, the Muslim League demanded autonomy for the Muslim -majority areas of the subcontinent.
But in the resolution, there was no mention either of the partition of the country or the creation of Pakistan. Sikandar Hayat Khan was opposed to the idea of the formation of Pakistan. He opined of a loose federation with a lot of autonomy for the states.
2. Why did some people think of Partition as a very sudden development?
Ans: Some people thought that the Partition was sudden development due to the following factors :
- On 23 March 1940 in the Resolution, the Muslim League demanded only a measure of autonomy for the Muslim – majority areas of the subcontinent. Later on in the Punjab Assembly Sikandar Hayat Khan, Punjab Premier, who had drafted the resolution reiterated his plea for a loose but united confederation with considerable autonomy for the confederating units.
- The period between the above resolution and the Partition was only seven years. So, it all happened suddenly.
- No one was sure about what would happen to people’s lives in the future. That is why many migrants in 1947 thought they would return as soon as peace prevailed again.
- During the initial period, even Jinnah did not seriously raise the demand. He adopted it only as a bargaining counter, to gain additional favors for the Muslims.
- The Second World War had delayed the negotiations with the British but the Quit India Movement compelled the British to negotiate with Indian leaders for a transfer of power.
- After the War too, Cabinet Mission had recommended a loose three-tier confederation. That was initially accepted by all the major parties but later developments led to the partition.
3. How did ordinary people view Partition? (or)
Describe the harrowing experiences of ordinary people during the period of partition of India.
Ans: For ordinary people, partition was full of challenges and brought suffering. The division was not a territorial division for them. It was also not a party politics of Congress and the Muslim League for them.
But for the ordinary people, partition was a challenge for them. It brought misery and troubles to them. It meant the death of their loved one, and the loss of property, and wealth.
Partition also uprooted them from their paternal land. People were forced to live in refugee camps. They were also forced to start their life once again from a new platform. So for ordinary people, partition was not a pleasant experience, but it was painful and full of suffering.
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