Separation Of India Dbq Essay

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World War I and II took a toll on many nations, one of them being Britain. After Britain finished fighting two world wars they were struggling with debt (India, 36). This is a major reason that leads them to withdraw from many of their colonies. There was also rising tension between Hindus and Muslims in this empire, which was getting out of control. The separation of Pakistan and India was beneficial for Hindus and Muslims alike. Muslims were the minority group in India before the separation and they felt that they did not have as much power or advantage over Hindus. The Indian National Congress (INC) was formed in 1885 and it was primary goal was to gain a greater voice for Indians in the government. Although the INC wanted to defend all Indians, the Hindus compromised much of their leadership. Because of this, Muslims highly doubted that their voices would be heard due to the Hindu majority and that resulted in many leaving the INC (Patel, 68). This eventually led Muslims to protect their interests which gave rise to the India Muslim League (IML) in 1906. There was an increasing amount of violence between Muslims and Hindus that lead up to …show more content…

Self determination is the process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own allegiances and government. This is exactly what India and Pakistan were able to do when they were separated. For example, they both played parts in the cold war. India was completely neutral, and Pakistan allied with the United States to prevent Soviet expansion in Asia (India, 36). Another example would be in 1974 when India tested a plutonium-based bomb after Pakistan celebrated their 40th anniversary separated from India. India said it was a “peaceful nuclear explosive (Schorr, 19). These examples show that the Britain’s separation and withdrawal from the two subcontinents allows them to make their own choices and possibly benefit from

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