The Idea of India - Evolution
The next part of Guha’s book helps us understand the events post independence, gives us a glimpse on the pain that partition inflicted on the country. Guha also delves on the efforts taken by Nehru, Patel, Ambedkar to define a unified, secular and democratic country. The Idea of India The partition left the country divided on religious lines. Hindus from Pakistan were forced to relocate to India, and the Muslims from India prepared to relocate to Pakistan. The newly formed governments of both countries were ill equipped to handle the violence or handle the scale of migration. Punjab, Bengal, and Delhi were the states that were most affected by the violence. While the Hindus of Bengal took the West and the Muslims took the east (now Bangladesh), it was not straightforward in Punjab as the state had a strong Hindu, Muslim and Sikh population. The most violent clashes took place in Punjab. Gandhi believed that if he could help quell the unrest in Bengal, then he would be able to cont...