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.

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.

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 They drew the new borders using outdated maps while sitting far away from the regions that were the focus of the disputes.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.

A Million Dead and Counting

Nuclear testing and weapons in both Pakistan and India have escalated tensions between the countries.

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.

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. Click Here!

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