Challenges of Nation Building Chapter 1 Class 12 NCERT Class Notes Political Science
Introduction
Welcome to the article, ‘Challenges of Nation Building Notrs Chapter 1 Class 12 Political Science.’ These class notes are prepared for the students of Political Science in Class 12. Students can study the entire lesson, Challenges of Nation Building, by studying these notes. These class notes are helpful for aspirants who are preparing for government jobs.
Table of Contents
Challenges of Nation Building during the Beginning of India's Independence
- India gained independence from British rule at midnight on August 14 and 15, 1947. On the same night, a special session of the Constituent Assembly was addressed by the first Prime Minister of independent India, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru. Which was known as ‘Tryst with Destiny, the long-awaited meeting with the bride’.
- In this, two things were agreed upon with the mutual consent of all: the first was that an independent India would be governed by a democratic government, and the second was that a democratic government would work for the welfare of all.
- India’s independence began with the partition of India. For this reason, it was divided into three parts: the first part was India, ruled by British rule; the second part was Pakistan, which was separated from India and created a new country; and the third part was the native princely states which were ruled by kings.
- Despite all these challenges, India’s leaders tried to achieve the characteristics of establishing democracy. Because he knew that India was facing the challenges of building a new nation.
What was Two Nation Theory?
This principle was started by the Muslim League. Through this principle, it was emphasized that India is a country of not one but two different religions, hence its division should be on the religion. On this basis, India was considered a Hindu nation, and Pakistan was considered a Muslim nation. It is through this principle that both nations were divided on the basis of religion.
Problems of Partition Posed by the Two Nation Theory:
Creation of East and West Pakistan:
Muslim population was more in the eastern and western parts of India. Therefore, on the basis of dual principle, the place where Muslim majority population was more had to be declared a Muslim nation, hence East Pakistan was created in the east and West Pakistan was created in the west. Both these areas are considered important from the point of view of division.
Division of states:
Punjab in the west of India and Bengal in the east were both such states where Hindu and Muslim population lived equally. These two states were divided on the basis of religion.
People’s opposition:
- People from different parts of India were opposing the partition of India and Pakistan. Some people did not want to leave India because it was their native country.
- Violent cases were increase in areas in areas Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Bengal because here the population of Hindu and Muslim people was equal.
- This violence spread most in the eastern and western frontier states of India because they were most affected by the partition of India and Pakistan.
- Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a prominent leader of the Western frontier province. He vehemently opposed the two-nation theory because he did not want the country to be divided.
Sudden decission to Partition the Country:
- The decission to partition India and Pakistan was not taken until midnight on 14 and 15 August. Even till the day of independence, people did not know that the country had been divided.
- On the morning of 15th August, people came to know that the place where they were living has now become two separate countries, one part has become India and the other part has become Pakistan. But the people of Punjab and Bengal states did not know whether their states were included in India or Pakistan, hence most violent incidents took place here.
Confusion of minorities:
After partition, the biggest problems in India and Pakistan came with the minority people living there. While the Muslims living in India became foreigners on Indian soil, the Hindus living in Pakistan remained as foreigners there. In both the countries, minorities started being attacked and incidents like looting and arson also happened. The minority people became foreigners in the land of India where they had lived for centuries and had to leave the land of their birth.
Outcomes of Partition
- In this partition, a large population of the country shifted from one place to another, where it faced sudden and unplanned tragedies. This was considered one of the largest transfers ever made in the history of mankind.
- Cities like Amritsar, Kolkata, and Lahore became victims of communal violence. This partition now became a fight between the two sects, Hindu and Muslim.
- At this time, women and children were kidnapped. Women were forced to marry, and they also had to adopt the religion of their kidnappers. People lived in refugee camps for years on the borders of both countries.
- This partition has been termed by poets, writers, and creators as ‘breaking of hearts into pieces’ because here there was violent separation of the two communities living as neighbors.
- In this episode, about 80 lakh people had to leave their homes, and more than 10 lakh people sacrificed their lives in this partition.
- After this partition, Pakistan was declared a Muslim nation, but India, which respects all religions, became a secular country.
- By 1951, only 12% were Muslims in India. Apart from Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, and Jews also lived there. The leaders of India wanted to give equal citizen status to all the people of India; hence, they took this decision.
Challenges in Nation Buildig after Partition
In 1947, India became a newly independent nation after getting independence from the British rule and at the same time it also suffered the pain of partition. India was now faced with many challenges and now there was a need to rise above all those challenges. At this time, India was facing mainly three challenges. Let us mention these challenges one by one.
1. Creating unity and Integrity:Â Among the challenges of nation building, the first challenge was to create a nation where everyone would be tied together. India has been a country full of diversity since the beginning where people living in different dialects, cultures and following different religions live. At the time the biggest question for India’s future was whether India would be able to remain united. At this time, one of the challenges facing India was how to make India a united nation in which all religions, castes and sects could get equal respect. It was emphasized that no citizen living in India should be discriminated against on the basis of religion, caste, creed, and region.
2. Establishing Democracy: One of the challenges of nation building is the method of establishing democracy in India. The India constitution has provided fundamental rights to every citizen living in India and on the basis of these rights, the citizens have also been provided the right to vote. The parliamentary system of representative democracy has been adopted by India. The immediate circumstances of India were such that conducting voting there was the biggest challenge. But voting was a fundamental process for establishing democracy.
3. To develop the Entire Nation: One of the challenge of nation building was how to develop the entire nation. It was a chance to provide equal opportunities to all sections of people living in India. At this time, there was a need to provide special protection to the socially deprived sections and minority communities. The biggest challenge of this was to make necessary policies to educate the entire nation, achieve economic development and eliminate poverty.
Government and Princely States:
- Before 15 August 1947, India was divided into many princely states or small kingdoms and by the British rule, these princely states got independence from the British rule anf they were given the freedom that they could join any nation of India and Pakistan.
- Keeping in view the possibility that the country might get divided into many small countries due to the these kingdoms, the government of India played an important role here. Through the efforts of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, all 565 princely states were included in the Indian Union.
- People of almost all the the princely states wanted to join India. Some princely states had already joined the Indian Union before 15 August 1947. With the joining of those princely states, the government of India got a memorandum of understanding called ‘Instrument of Accession’ signed.
- But there were some princely states which had to face a lot of difficulties to be included in the Indian Union like Junagadh, Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Manipur. Considering the opinion of the rules of these princely states and the people here, these princely states were included in India under different circumstances.
Role Sardar Patel in the merger of States
- Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel was working as the Home Minister of India at that time, and the government of India had given him the responsibility to bind the whole of India in the thread of unity.
- Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel also had the power to merge different princely states of the country into India. The Indian government’s method of merging the princely states was quite flexible. In this, the government adopted both methods of negotiation and the use of force.
- Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel made an important contribution by merging all the princely states present in India into the Indian Union. Because of his efforts, Mahatma Gandhi gave him the title of Iron Man.
- In honor of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, his statue was built by the government of India in October 2018 on the bank of the Narmada River in Gujarat. Which was named ‘Statue of Unity’.
What was Instrument of Accession?
This was a type of memorandum of understanding that was used by the government of India to merge the princely states into the Indian Union. The signatures of the princely states who were ready to join the Indian Union were obtained on this consent form, which was named ‘Instrument of Accession’.
The Princely states which faced problems in merging with Indian Union are the following:
Hyderabad
- On August 15, 1947, Hyderabad was one of the largest princely states in India. The name of the ruler of Hyderabad was Nizam, who was among the richest people in the world.
- The Nizam wanted to see Hyderabad as an independent princely state, while the people there wanted to join India.
- In 1947, there were rounds of talks between the Nizam and the government of India, but in the meantime, the people of the princely state of Hyderabad intensified their movement because the people of Hyderabad were not at all happy with the Nizam’s rule. Here, along with men, women were also associated with this movement.
- Seeing the movement intensifying, the Nizam sent a paramilitary force called Razakar to protest against the people there. This paramilitary force was extremely communal and oppressive. The Razakars committed many atrocities against the people of Hyderabad.
- The Indian government sent the Indian Army to Hyderabad in September 1948 to stop the Nizam’s troops, and after a battle that lasted for a day or two, the Nizam surrendered to the Indian Army. Nizam’s signature was obtained on the Instrument of Accession, and thus Hyderabad merged with India.
Manipur
- Manipur was a princely state located in the north-east of India, whose ruler was Maharaja Bodhachandra Singh. The Maharaja had signed the Instrument of Accession to join the Indian Union.
- For this, the government of India assured them that their autonomy over Manipur would remain intact even after joining the Indian Union.
- After this, in June 1948, under the pressure of the people of Manipur, elections were held there, and the monarchy was constitutionally established in Manipur. Manipur became the first state in India to conduct elections on the principle of universal adult franchise.
- There were deep differences between the Congress party and other parties regarding the merger of Manipur into India. The Congress party wanted Manipur to join India, while other parties there were against it.
- Under pressure from the Indian Government, Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh signed the Instrument of Accession. This resentment among the people of Manipur about joining the Indian Union can be seen till date.
Junagadh
- Junagadh was a princely state located in the west of India. The ruler here was Mohammad Mahabat Khan (III). When India got independence on August 15, 1947, the ruler of Junagadh announced that he was going to merge his princely state with Pakistan.
- Efforts were made by India’s Defense Secretary VP Menon, Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and Home Minister Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel to include Junagadh in India. It is said that the Nawab of Junagadh received about Rs 8 crore from Mohammad Ali Jinnah for joining Pakistan.
- But the people of Junagadh wanted to join India. Two princely states of Junagadh had joined India, but the ruler of Junagadh and his Diwan Bhutto took military action against those two princely states, in response to which the India Government sent its army there.
- In this regard, VP Menon had also met the Kathiawadi leaders there who wanted independence from the Nawab of Junagadh. When the Nawab did not accept the decision of acceding Junagadh to India, the Kathiawadi leaders opened a front called ‘RG Hukumat’. Due to this, the ruler of Junagadh and his Diwan Shahnawaz Bhutto were badly frightened.
- The ruler of Junagadh went to Pakistan, and Shahnawaz Bhutto sought help from Mohammad Ali Jinnah, but he did not help him.
- In February 1948, a referendum was held in Junagadh in which the people there decided to join India, and in this way, Junagadh became a part of India.
Jammu and Kashmir
- Jammu and Kashmir is a state situated on the northern border of India. Geographically, this state borders Pakistan in the west and Tibet in the east.
- Pakistan says that Jammu and Kashmir has a large Muslim population, and hence it is a part of Pakistan. That is why the ‘Kashmir Issue’ has been the biggest issue between India and Pakistan since the time of independence.
- Jammu and Kashmir was a princely state of India whose ruler was Maharaja Hari Singh, who wanted to make Jammu and Kashmir an independent state after independence.
- This movement was started by National Conference leader Sheikh Abdullah in Jammu and Kashmir. Maharaja Hari Singh should leave his post because Sheikh Abdullah was of the opinion that democracy should be established in Jammu and Kashmir, but he was strongly against joining Pakistan.
- In October 1947, tribal infiltrators started infiltrating from the Pakistani side. In such a situation, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir had to take the help of the Indian Army.
- The Government of India first got the Instrument of Accession signed by the Maharaja and then sent the Indian Army to Jammu and Kashmir.
- At that time, special constitutional status was given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. Under this section, the Indian government assured that the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir would remain intact.
- In 2019, the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir was abolished by the Government of India, and Jammu and Kashmir were made two separate union territories. The first union territory is Jammu and Kashmir, and the second is Ladakh.
Creation of States
- The princely states had merged into the the Union of India, but the boundaries of the states located in India still remained to be determined. Determining the boundaries of states was one of the challenges of nation building.
- During the British rule, no attention was paid to determining the boundaries of the states. The boundaries were drawn accordingly as the area was conquered by the British rule. Other areas were also merged into those conquered areas by the British rule.
- It was decided by the immediate national government that the state should be divided on the basis of language. In the Nagpur session in 1920, the principle was given by the Congress that the division of states should be on the basis of language.
- Therefore, it was accepted in the Indian National Congress that according to this principle, the states should be divided on the basis of language.
Problems faced in Reconstruction of States:
- The first problem was to divide the states on the basis of language. Our leaders were worried that the division of states could threaten the integrity of the country.
- Our leaders were worried that dividing the states on the basis of language would divert their attention from other economic and social problems in the country.
- In most of the provinces of the country, movements were being run for the division of states on the basis of language. The then Madras province (which included both the present-day states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh) was the most affected area.
- A massive Andhra movement was being carried out by the Telugu-speaking people in old Madras for the creation of a separate state. A demand was made to create a separate state called Andhra Pradesh in these areas.
- Senior Congress leader Potti Sriramulu was also involved in the massive Andhra movement. Potti Sriramulu was sitting on an indefinite hunger strike, demanding a separate state on the basis of language. He died on the 56th day of his indefinite hunger strike. After his death, this movement took a violent turn.
- Many political parties in Madras State were involved in this movement. MLAs from different political parties had started resigning. The people of Madras had come out on the streets, and violent incidents like arson were being reported in different parts of the area.
Decision of Government:
- In view of the death of Potti Sriramulu and increasing violent incidents in Madras, the government decided to create a separate state of Andhra Pradesh in December 1952.
- After the announcement of the new state of Andhra Pradesh, the demand for creating state on the basis of language started increasing in different parts of the country. Amidest these demands and struggles, the government decided to form the state Reorganization Commission in 1953.
- The State Reorganization Commission submitted its report to the government. On this basis, the State Reorganization Act was passed by the government in 1956.
Reorganization of States:
- 14 states and 6 Union territories were created by the Government of India on the basis of the States Reorganization Act.
- In 1960, Maharastra and Gujarat were created as two separate states. These states were also created on the basis of two languages, Marathi, and Gujarati.
- In 1956, a demand arose for division of the state of Punjab on the basis of language. After a 10-year long struggle, Punjab was divided into two states on the basis of language. On the basis of this partition, the punjabi region was made Punjab state and the Hindi language region was made Haryana.
- In 1972, the process of partition started in the north-earthen states of India. First of all, Assam was divided into two states in which Meghalaya was separated from Assam and made a new state.
- Manipur and Tripura became two separate states in 1972 itself. In 1987, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh were given the status of two separate states.
- Before all these North- Eastern states, Nagaland was also given statehood in 1963.
- Taking this sequence forward, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand were given the status of new states.
Conclusion:
Through this article, ‘Challenge of Nation Building Notes Class 12 Political Science’, it is stated that India had to go through a long period of struggle since independence, where first the princely states were unified and later new states were formed. Even after this, there has been no impact on the integrity of India. Today, India cherishes its diversity and is situated as a united nation.