Indian Subcontinent get Independence

1. 1. Final exam essay – Thursday, Jan 5– see website for final exam essay questions on the top of the important course documents page. Please Complete Graphic organizer for each of the three essays. You may use this completed g.o. on the day of the final. • Complete Asia map – packet page 1 • Complete p 4 to review homework • Read p 5 – First Servant of the Indian People - Nehru • identify the purpose for the speech, • list the economic problems India faced, • list the solutions Nehru proposes. • What role does he suggest the regular Indian citizen must play? • Online, read current events about the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) What are the current conflicts? What is the current political, religious and demographic situation? Where are there examples of the results or effects of colonialism and the above EU’s? Why should we care? • Work on Core 2 Indian Subcontinent get Independence Long-standing cultural and religious differences and conflicts are still evident in the post-colonial world. 3. The end of World War II led to the ending of colonization, the creation of new countries and conflict between the superpowers for influence.

2. Decolonization • Decolonization—the process by which a colony gains independence from an imperial power • Why? • Imperial powers began to rethink the cost of maintaining their colonies after World War II • People in the colonies began to realize their rulers were not unbeatable

3. India • Jewel in the Crown, Sepoy Mutiny, Rowlatt Acts, Amritsar Massacre – key events in the early independence movement during the 19th century. 1 - Mohandas Gandhi – leader of the independence movement who promoted non-violence resistance to achieve political ends through satyagraha. • Goals – independence, equality for Hindus and Muslims, improved standards of living for the untouchables • Britain commits India’s armed forces to World War II without first consulting the colony’s elected representatives • Indians unhappy that they were not consulted • Indians believe that if they fight for the principles of the Atlantic Charter, that they should then have the same rights to self-determination - independence • Gandhi leads the Quit India movement • Britain calls into question the very basis of imperialism  Was it acceptable to take by force the land and resources of another nation in order to enrich the imperial nation?

4. India • Indian National Congress (Congress Party)—national political party, claimed to represent all of India • Muslim League—founded to protect Muslim interests in India 2 - Concerned that the INC would only promote interests of Hindus • India in the 1940s had approximately 350 million Hindus and 100 million Muslims • Muslim League proposed the partition of India along religious lines, much to the dismay of Gandhi who wanted a united and multi-religious country • Britain supported partition, grants India independence in 1947 • Mass migrations and killings precede independence How does the information on this slide and the history of Indian Independence support the understanding that : Long-standing cultural and religious differences and conflicts are still evident in the post-colonial world.

5. India 3 - Problems to be solved before Independence on August 15, 1947 – • What about courts? • Who will be part of the civil service? • What should be the structure of the military? • How will so many people be transported once partition occurs? • Violent fighting between Hindus and Muslims as partitioning occurred and each group wants as much land as possible. • 4 - Cease-fire brokered by the UN led to the division of the Kashmir region – 1/3 to Pakistan and 2/3 to India – and so began the largest migration in the history of the world 0- over 12 million people relocated • - Gandhi was assassinated by Hindu for promoting Muslim rights and equality • 5 - Jawaharlal Nehru, first prime minister of India attempted to modernize India: • Social reforms • Industrialization • Ending the caste system • Promoted rights for women • - Today—more than 1 billion people, issues of social inequality (caste system); Indian industry is on the rise, new oil and coal resources have been discovered, scientific and technical education have expanded

6. 6 – creation of Bangladesh 6 - East and West Pakistan were both Islamic, but the people were culturally, linguistically and ethnically different. East Pakistan was governed from Islamabad in West Pakistan, but felt that its needs and interests were being neglected. For 24 years after independence the Bengalis organized, used elections and protests to achieve better political and economic conditions. In 1971 the protests got very heated and the Pakistani Army attempted quell the protests through force. Bengali freedom fighters fought hard, and India came in on the side of the Bengalis militarily, diplomatically and politically. Pakistan gave up so… East Pakistan became independent from West Pakistan and adopted the name of Bangladesh – “Country of Bengalis.” Another big area of conflict is over Kashmir

7. India faced big problems • After the Nehru era, when India led the non-aligned movement of 3rd world countries, India faced big problems: • Population growth • Poverty • Growing an economy in a very poor country • Ethnic conflict • Religious conflict • Managing its role in the world during the Cold War while bordering both the USSR and China while staying friendly with the US • 7- Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru but no relation to MK Gandhi, was the first and only woman to be prime minister of India. She governed from 1966 to 1977 and then again from 1980 to her assassination at the hands of her Sikh bodyguards as a result of her direction of military force against Sikh separatists in the North west state of Punjab. • Big issues were economic growth, the position of India during the Cold War, Conflict with Pakistan, but mostly the issue of Sikh extremists who wanted their own autonomy in the Punjab – North West India.

8. 8- Sri Lanka Mixing Sinhalese Buddhists and Tamil Hindus, Sri Lanka has a religio-ethnic conflict. The conflict was greatly exacerbated by British colonial policy that elevated the minority Tamils political and economically over the majority Sinhalese In 1971, conflict between Tamils and Sinhalese began violently in earnest. The civil war continues until 2009 when the Tamil tiger Rebels were defeated by government forces