Was the Partition of India Inevitable by Inaya Chaudhry from London Academy of Excellence Tottenham - London, UK

Abstract

The Partition of India took 2 million lives and uprooted 15 million people. The aftermath of the tragedy continues to cast a shadow over India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The inevitability of Partition remains widely contested, however this project attempts to understand the point at which Partition truly became inevitable. The Partition commenced in the context of Empire, which was an undeniable driving force in gearing India towards a Partition. The meddling of Britain disrupted the peaceful coexistence of religious groups, in their desire to dominate the region. India became more polarised in the 20th century, with the detrimental intermingling of religion and politics, and a growth in nationalist sentiment, provoking the surge of communal violence between 1946 to 1947. The aims of this project were to uncover the moment that India was bound to Partition, and why it became the only solution for independence. In doing so, the essay aims to demystify the image of leaders and figures, including Jinnah, Nehru and Mountbatten, as ethier deities or villains, by assessing their roles. The legacy of Partition remains at the forefront of politics in South Asia, whilst it is buried beneath the rubble of a violent past in Britain. This project confronts the uncomfortable realities of Partition, and all those who contributed to its inevitability.