Chapter 9: South Asia in Transition

1. Chapter 9: South Asia in Transition Section 1: Freedom and Partition

2. Lesson Questions • Why did Gandhi help India win independence from Britain? • How did WWII affect the struggle for independence? • What cultural differences led to the partition of India?

3. Growing Unrest from the British Empire • Indian nationalists demand freedom in 1919, hoping their cooperation from WWI would grant them freedom • G.B. responded by limiting their freedom of press, furthermore General Dyer banned their rights to public gatherings after 5 British officials were killed

4. Unrest continued • April 13th, 1919: the Amritsar Massacre • 10,000 Indians gather for protest in northwestern India, General Dyer and his troops open fire • 379 dead, 1100 wounded • The incident increased violence from both sides and led to the distrust of G.B.

5. Mohandas Gandhi • Gandhi led the Indian nationalist movement from around 1914 • His leadership skills allowed him to attract all types of different classes from rich to poor • The congress party of India was mainly middle class, but he managed to get poor people and Indians who benefited from British rule on his side

6. Gandhi’s Principles • He studied law in London and had little success as a lawyer when he returned to India • He developed his satyagrahaor “truth force” from his experience in South Africa • Gandhi said his teachings were from Hinduism and Christianity • Hinduism stressed nonviolence and respect for life • Christianity taught forgiveness of one’s enemies • He was influenced heavily by American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, whom practiced civil disobedience, or the refusal to obey unjust laws • Gandhi hoped to make the world aware of British injustice by accepting punishment without striking back. • He hoped to awaken in the British a sense of their own wrongdoing

7. Gandhi’s Appeal • He gained appeal by drawing on the rich heritage of India • He gave up western ways and encouraged traditional Indian industries such as spinning cotton • Gandhi dressed simply in white garments much like the India’s poor people • He stressed morals and ways of life such as virtue, self-discipline, fasting, and being a vegetarian; which are all values of devout Hindus • Mahatma or “Great Soul” became his name • The Mahatma wanted reforms for the lower castes and political power for Muslims

8. Campaign of Civil disobedience • The early 1920’s: the Mahatma travels around the country supporting worker strikes and protests • He calls for a boycott on British made goods • 1930: Salt March: the Satyagraha movement to protest the tax on salt • led by Gandhi, followers go on a 200-mile march to the coast to harvest salt • They also broke the British ban on manufacturing salt by making it from sea water • The result was the arrest of Gandhi and 50,000 followers • Furthermore, it gained worldwide support for India and Britain’s government began to debate if holding onto India was worth it

9. Pictures of the Salt March

10. Moving Toward Independence • WWII started in the west in 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Germany • The Indian National Congress refused to support the war and Gandhi organized a “Quit India” movement • 20,000 Congress members and supporters are arrested • 1945: war-weakened Britain realized it can no longer maintain India • Nationalist forces became too strong and British popular opinion opposed keeping their colonies

11. Hindu- Muslim Conflict • Hindus and Muslims had cooperated in the nationalist movement • G.B. encouraged their divisions to weaken their grip over the region • The Muslim League, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, asked for a separate Muslim state • Religious differences caused a clash between the Muslims and Hindus • Also, some Muslims feared for their rights to be dominated by a Hindu majority • Gandhi thought the groups could live together, if they respected each other and treated each other as family • Hindus distrusted the Muslims and looked at them as foreign conquerors • Economic and political differences also increased the tension

12. The Subcontinent Divided • 1946: Rioting breaks out between Hindus and Muslims • 1947: the British Parliament tried to prevent civil war by passing the Indian Independence Act • This act partitioned the Indian subcontinent into two independent nations • Pakistan- Muslim ruled by Governor General Jinnah • India – Hindu ruled by Prime Minister Nehru Jinnah Nehru

13. Partition • The division led to increased violence • Both governments on each side stressed a policy of religious toleration, however distrust was deeply rooted • 500,000 people would die as a result • To escape death on both sides, roughly 15 million people migrated to their religious majority country • Gandhi refused to celebrate the independence and in prayer services he recited from the Koran, the Bible, and the Bhagavad-Gita • A Hindu extremist assassinated Gandhi because he believed he betrayed his own people