Challenges Of Nation Building
Challenges for the New Nation
India attained independence on 14-15 midnight in 1945. Jawahar Lal Nehru
The first Prime Minister of free India, addressed a special session of the Constituent Assembly that night. This was the famous ‘Tryst with destiny’ speech.
Our leaders on attaining independence agreed upon two goals to be achieved:
☝ We shall run our country through democratic government.
✌ The government will be run for the good of all, particularly the poor and the socially disadvantaged groups.
No other country by then was born in a situation more difficult than that of India in 1947.
Freedom came with the partition of the country. The year 1947 was a year of unprecedented violence and displacement.
It was in this situation that independent India started on its journey to achieve several objectives.
Constituent Assembly
Immediately after independence, there were three challenges in nation building: –
?♂️ To shape a nation– The first challenge was to shape a nation that was united in spite of the diversity in the society, where people spoke different languages and followed different cultures and religions, also to eradicate poverty and unemployment.
? To establish Democracy– To establish democracy India adopted representative democracy based on parliamentary form of government.
But it was not sufficient so the challenge was to develop democratic practices in accordance with the constitution.
? To ensure the development and well-being of entire society– The third challenge was to ensure the development and well-being of the entire society without any discrimination.
The constitution was clearly made based on the principle of equality and special protection to socially disadvantaged groups, religious and cultural communities.
Major goals of our national movement after Independence was to form a democratic government and function for the welfare of all sections of the Society.
Partition: Displacement and Rehabilitation
After independence two-nation theory was propounded by Muhammad Ali Jinnah to create a separate state for Muslims, which resulted in the partition as India and Pakistan.
Such a partition was not only very painful but also very difficult to decide and implement.
It was decided that areas where the Muslims were in majority would make up the territory of Pakistan and the rest was to stay in India.
As a result of this decision, lakhs of people from both sides lost their lives, homes, properties and became victims of communal violence.
On the basis of muslim majority, West and East Pakistan was created. The portion of land of Punjab and Bengal was sacrificed for this partition.
Process of Partition
The decision to divide India into two nations was painful. Partition was based on the principle of religious majorities.
Places where muslims majority stays would make up the territory of Pakistan, and rest of the portion would constitute the territory of India.
But it created several problems…
Mainly there were four problems: –
Consequences of Partition
The year 1947 was the year remembered for the largest, most abrupt, unplanned and tragic transfers of population in human history.
Mahatma Gandhi did not participate in any of the Independence celebrations.
He was in Kolkata where gruesome riots between Hindus and Muslims took place.
He was saddened by the communal violence and disheartened that the principles of ahimsa and Satyagraha had failed to bind the people in troubled times.
Gandhi ji tried to persuade Hindus and Muslims to give up violence.
His presence in Kolkata greatly improved the situation.
Integration Of Princely States
British India was divided into two parts British Indian provinces and the Princely states.
The British Indian provinces were directly under the control of the British government and Princely states governed by Indian princes.
Princely states were having some form of control over the internal affairs as long as they accepted British Supremacy.
After independence it was left to the state whether to join India or Pakistan or remain independent. But this was a very serious problem and could threaten the existence of a united India.
Immediately after independence there were almost 565 princely states. Many of them joined Indian Union.
Travancore, Hyderabad, Kashmir and Manipur initially refused to join Indian Union.
Majority of people of most of the princely states clearly wanted to become part of the Indian Union.
The government was also prepared to be flexible in giving autonomy to some regions.
Later on the ruler of Travancore announced that the state had decided on Indian union.
The ruler of Hyderabad made a similar announcement the next day.
The ruler of Bhopal was also announced to join the Constituent Assembly.
Indian independence aimed at unity and diversity as well as democracy approach.
Government’s Approach Towards Princely States
The government took a firm stance against possible division of India. Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel played a historic role in negotiating with the rulers of princely states firmly but diplomatically and bringing most of them into the Indian Union
The government’s approach was guided by three considerations:
Instrument Of Accession
The rulers of most of the states signed a document called the ‘Instrument of Accession’ which meant that their state became a part of the Union of India.
The princely states of Junagadh, Hyderabad, Kashmir and Manipur proved more difficult than the rest.
Issue of Junagadh was resolved after a confirmation of people’s desire to join India.
Hyderabad
Hyderabad, the largest of the princely states, was surrounded entirely by Indian territories such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.
The people of Hyderabad started agitation against the Nizam’s rule. Women were also part of the movement.
The Telangana region in particular was a victim of Nizam’s oppressive rule and rose against him.
The Communists and Hyderabad Congress were in the forefront of the movement.
The Nizam responded by releasing a paramilitary force known as Razakars on the people. Razakars committed a lot of atrocities on the people. They murdered, raped and looted, targeting the non-muslims.
In September 1948 Indian Army moved in to control of the Nizam’s forces and finally after a few days Nizam surrendered. This led to the accession of Hyderabad to India.
Manipur
A few days before independence the Maharaja of Manipur Bodhachandra Singh signed the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government
Under the pressure of public opinion, Maharaja made the state a constitutional monarchy and it became the first state to hold elections under Universal Adult Franchises.
But there was a sharp difference over the merger of Manipur, the government of India pressurized Maharaja into signing an agreement in September 1949.
Reorganization of States
During the national movement Indian National Congress recognized the demand and need of state reorganization on linguistic basis.
In December 1952 Andhra Pradesh was created on linguistic basis.
The Government of India appointed the States Reorganization Commission in 1953.
This commission accepted that the boundaries of the state should reflect different languages.
On the basis of the commission’s report the States Reorganization Act was passed in 1956. This led to the creation of 14 States and 6 Union Territories.
Patel and National Integration
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the first deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India, who emerged as a major leader of the freedom movement.
At the time of independence, integrating all the princely states was a big challenge for the national unity and integrity of India.
Sardar Patel undertook this difficult task of uniting all 565 princely states of India.
He was known as an ‘Iron Man’ of India, Patel’s approach was very clear. He was not at all in favour of any compromise with the territorial integrity of India.
By his political experience and foresightedness, out of India’s 565 princely states, many states had already given their consent to merge with India even before achieving independence.
Sardar Patel faced key challenges to integrate three states, viz. Hyderabad, Junagarh and Kashmir.
It was under his leadership that Indian forces compelled two states Hyderabad and Junagadh to merge with India.
Keeping well versed with Jinnah’s divisive ‘Two Nation Theory’, Sardar Patel’s opinion on Kashmir was different from other leaders.
Like Hyderabad and Junagadh he also wanted Kashmir’s integration with India through military operations. But due to many reasons, Sardar could not succeed in integrating Kashmir fully with India.
However, Sardar Patel will always remain as an notable leader who has the features of a true ‘Nationalist’, ‘Catalyst’ and ‘Realist’ – popularly characterised as NCR in Indian political history.
Key Words To Remember
Keywords
Two Nations Theory: It was propounded by Muhammad Ali Jinnah to create a separate state for Muslims.
British Indian Provinces: The Indian provinces which were directly under the British government before independence.
Princely States: – States ruled by Princes who enjoyed some form of control over their state’s internal affairs under the British supremacy.
Razakars: – A para-military force of Nizam was sent to respond to the people’s movement which had no bounds.
Nizam: – Ruler of Hyderabad was titled as Nizam who was world’s richest person.
State Reorganization Commission: – It was appointed in 1953 to look into the matter to redraw the boundaries of states.
Instrument of Accession – A document signed by rulers of states when they agreed to become part of Indian Union.
Bifurcation – Division of something into branches or parts.
Other Chapter Notes
- Class 12 Political Science Syllabus
- Chapter 1: Cold War Era and Non aligned Movement
- Chapter 2: The End of Bipolarity
- Chapter 3: New Centre Of Power
- Chapter 4: South Asia and The Contemporary World
- Chapter 5: United Nation And Its Organisations
- Chapter 6: Globalization
- Chapter 7: Present
- Chapter 8: Planned Development
- Chapter 9: India’s Foreign Policy
- Chapter 10: Parties And The Party Systems In India
- Chapter 11: Democratic Resurgence
- Chapter 12: Indian Politics: Trends And Developments
MCQ & Syllabus Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
What is princely state?
Answer: The British Indian provinces were directly under the control of the British government and Princely states governed by Indian princes.
Princely states were having some form of control over the internal affairs as long as they accepted British Supremacy.
What is instrument of accession?
Answer: The rulers of most of the states signed a document called the ‘Instrument of Accession’ which meant that their state became a part of the Union of India.
Challenges of Nation Building Unit 7 CBSE, class 12 Political science notes. This cbse Political Science class 12 notes has a brief explanation of every topic that NCERT syllabus has. You will also get ncert solutions, cbse class 12 Political Science sample paper, cbse Political Science class 12 previous year paper.
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