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3k. Separation: India and Pakistan
 | The 1947 partition of India created two nations divided by religion: a Hindu India and a Muslim Pakistan. Half of Pakistan was to India's west, the other to its east. East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971.
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When the British finally left South Asia in the late 1940s, they left in a hurry. Not caring much about what would become of their former colony, they made a few hasty plans, then pulled out. In their wake, they left suffering, conflict, and ultimately war.
As soon as World War II ended, the British decided it was time to get out of India. In 1945, they began drafting plans for an independent India. The first step was to create an Indian government free of British involvement.
The planners decided to create an Indian parliament. The two main factions vying for seats in the parliament were the predominantly HINDU INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (INC) and the Muslim League. When the votes were counted, the INC had won 90 percent of the seats in the parliament. Holding so many seats, however, did not mean that the INC could make all the decisions. Muslims and Hindus argued long and hard about how India could best be liberated from Britain.
Two Nations from One
 | | Courtesy of India-Today.com | The mass migration of people during the partition left many Indians and Pakistanis destitute.
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As the arguments continued, Britain grew impatient. Exhausted from the recent war, the British made hasty, poorly thought-out plans. Their most important decision was to divide South Asia into two countries: a mainly Hindu India and a new Muslim country called Pakistan.
The British did a sloppy job of redrawing the maps. They gave about one fifth of the land to Pakistan, but in two different lumps. East Pakistan and West Pakistan — part of the same new country — were divided from each other by the large country of India, which received all the rest of the land.
Pakistan and India were not through arguing. They bickered about where exactly to put the borders, fighting to nudge them as little as a mile in one direction or another. In the end, the British made the decisions. They drew the new borders using outdated maps while sitting far away from the regions that were the focus of the disputes.
 | Indian and Pakistani youth urge their leaders to attempt peaceful, civil meetings rather than violent conflict.
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Many people did not like the new countries. People whose families had lived in a village for hundreds of years now found that they were in a new country called Pakistan, and they wanted to live in India. Likewise, many people — especially Muslims — wanted to live in the new Pakistan. All of these people had to move, and move quickly, before the new borders became official.
A Million Dead and Counting
 | Nuclear testing and weapons in both Pakistan and India have escalated tensions between the countries.
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As soon as the borders were officially announced, over 10 million people decided to move to new homes. Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs had to flee from their familiar homes to the countries they felt offered the best opportunity for them to practice their religion.
This mass exodus of people proved to be one of the bloodiest in history. About one million people were slaughtered as they tried to reach their new homes. Refugees were murdered, raped, and robbed. Sometimes, an entire train would arrive in a station with nothing but corpses on board.
Hardest hit were the Sikhs. They had hoped to have a third country — a Sikh country — formed during partition. Instead, they found their homelands in Punjab divided by the newly drawn border. Today, some Sikhs still call for an independent country. They have proven their willingness to fight for it. In 1984, PRIME MINISTER INDIRA GANDHI was assassinated by some of her own bodyguards, militant Sikhs, angry at her unwillingness to work for an independent Sikh country.
 | The Indian-Pakistan War of 1971 began when Pakistane forces struck an Indian Air Force base.
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India and Pakistan still have great difficulties. In 1971, India intervened in a dispute between East Pakistan and West Pakistan. As a result, East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh. Border disputes, especially in the Kashmir region, constantly threaten to erupt into new hostilities.
In 1998, India tested its first nuclear bomb. Within weeks, Pakistan responded with a successful test of its own. The bitter divide between the two nations now has horrific stakes. Sixteenth century disputes between villages have evolved into a potential 21st-century nuclear holocaust – if cooler heads do not prevail.
| | The Struggle for Freedom |  Instructions:
Put the tiles in order (top to bottom) by dragging each one to its proper position. When you think you have the correct order, click on "Check me!" Correctly placed tiles will turn orange and make a ding sound. Incorrectly placed tiles will turn gray and remain silent.
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