Understanding Partition
Write a critical note on the provincial elections held in 1946.
After 1937, provincial elections were once again held in 1946. The results of these elections were as given below:
(i) The Congress won all the seats in the general constituencies. It
captured 91.3% of the non-Muslim votes.
(ii) The Muslim League also got a spectacular victory in constituencies
reserved for the Muslims. It won all the thirty reserved constituencies
in the centre. It got 86.6% of the Muslim vote.
(iii) Out of the total of 509 reserved constituencies in all the
provinces,the Muslim League won in 442 constituencies. In other words,
the Muslim League was able to prove that it really represented the
Muslim community in India. It came up as the dominant party of the
Muslims. It vindicated its claim that it was the only spokesman of the
Muslims of India.
(iv) In these elections, only a few people enjoyed the right to vote. The
voters were just 10 to 12% of the total population. Similarly only one
percent voters enjoyed the right to vote for the Central Assembly.
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What did the Muslim League demand through its Resolution of 1940?
Why did some people think of Partition as a very sudden development?
How did ordinary people view Partition?
What were Mahatma Gandhi’s arguments against Partition?
Why is Partition viewed as an extremely significant marker in South Asian history?
Why was British India partitioned?
How did women experience Partition?
How did the Congress come to change its views on Partition?
Examine the strengths and limitations of oral history. How have oral-history techniques furthered our understanding of Partition?
Find out about the ethnic violence that led to the partition of Yugoslavia. Compare your findings with what you have read about partition in this chapter.
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