Indian Decolonization

1
Indian Decolonization

• 1947-Present

2
India and Britain

• India supported Allies during WWI, GB promised
  eventual self-rule in return did not give it
• Indian National Congress staged protests after
  WWI, but divided by religion Hindu and Muslim
• British passed laws that could arrest and jail
  nationalists without trial
• April 1919, Amritsar Massacre
• Brits declared all large gatherings illegal
• 10,000 unarmed Indians gathered in walled garden
  , British troops blocked only exit and fired 400
  dead (many children), 1200 injured
• Indians shocked and more determined to rid
  British control

3
Gandhi

• Mohandas K. Gandhi, after massacre became leading
  nationalist
• Educated in GB
• Passive resistance, civil disobedience boycotted
  British goods, refused to pay taxes, disregarded
  British laws
• Used ahimsa (nonviolence) and satyagraha (search
  for truth)
• Tried to improve status of untouchables
• Called Mahatma Great soul
• Boycotted British cloth, spun cloth 30 minutes a
  day and always wore homespun clothes, symbol of
  INC became spinning wheel

4
Salt

• Indian workers needed salt to replace what they
  lost in sweat daily
• British controlled salt mines and ocean salt
  fields, heavily taxed all salt
• 1930, Gandhi staged a march to the sea
• British did not arrest him, but did arrest
  thousands of followers
• Continued throughout the 1930s

5
Government of India Act

• 1935, passed by Parliament
• Gave provincial legislatures control over
  agriculture, health, public works
• GB remained in control of national laws, finance,
  defense, foreign affairs
• Most nationalists rejected, but INC at urging of
  Gandhi, accepted it as first step toward full
  independence

6
Hindu-Muslim Relations

• As independence grew nearer, Muslims worried
  about how they would be treated by Hindus, formed
  Muslim League, headed by Mohammed Ali Jinnah,
  demanded separate Muslim nation
• Hindus led by Jawaharlal Nehru, wanted united
  India
• Gandhi greatly concerned about split

7
Independence and Division

• 1947, after WWII, British agreed to give India
  independence
• Riots between Hindus and Muslims convinced GB to
  partition India into India (Hindu) and Pakistan
  (Muslim)
• August 15, 1947 Independence for both countries
• Mass migration of 12 million between India and
  Pakistan
• 1 Million died in violence between religious
  groups
• Gandhi killed by Hindu extremist angered by
  Gandhis call for peace and reconciliation
• More than 60 million Muslims remained in India

8
Independent India

• Democratic government with an elected
  legislature, led by Prime Minister Jawaharlal
  Nehru (1947 until his death in 1964)
• Wanted modern, industrialized state with
  religious freedom and social equality
• Universal suffrage
• Ban caste distinctions
• Improve status of women
• Mixed economy private and government owned
• Non-alignment tied to neither superpower

Doctors in India protesting affirmative action
against caste system
9
Nehru Dynasty

• After Nehrus death, his daughter Indira Gandhi
  became PM
• Continued fathers policies
• Accused of violating election laws, forced to
  resign in 1977
• Returned to office in 1980, but ethnic unrest in
  Punjab region of N. India
• Sikhs wanted own state, occupied shrine in
  Punjab, Gandhi ordered troops to get them out
• Gandhi assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguard
• Her son, Rajiv Gandhi was PM from 1984-89, but
  assassinated in 1991

10
India since 1991

• Struggle with poverty, disease, illiteracy
• Free compulsory education through age 14, 52
  literacy rate
• Religious freedoms, but still differences caused
  by revival of traditional Hinduism in wake of
  modernization
• Five-Year plans helped boost economy

11
Pakistan

• India has fought three wars with Pakistan 1947,
  1965, 1971
• Both claimed Kashmir region Hindu prince ruled
  mostly Muslim population
• Indian troops helped Bangladesh break away from
  Pakistan in 1971
• Both nations worked to develop nuclear weapons,
  1998 both successfully tested nuclear bombs
• 1999 Indian and Pakistani PMs met and relations
  became less tense