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NCERT Class 8 History Chapter 12: India after Independence

Independence on 15th Aug 1947 with Challenges

  • 8 million refugees from Pakistan
  • 500 princely states ruled by maharajas or nawabs – address them to join new nation
  • In 1947 – population at 345 million with division b/w high caste and low caste, majority Hindus and Indians with other faiths
  • Development was another issue to be addressed – monsoon dependent farm economy; cities with crowded slums and poverty
  • On 30 January 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a fanatic, Nathuram Godse, because he disagreed with Gandhiji՚s conviction that Hindus and Muslims should live together in harmony

Constitution

  • B/w Dec. 1946 & Nov. 1949 – 300 Indians in series of meetings
  • Constitution framed on 26 Jan 1950
  • Adoption of Universal Adult Franchise – All Indians above 21 years would vote in elections (In UK & USA this was in stages – 1st to men of property, then to educated class and finally to working class after lot of struggle & women as well)
  • Equality before law to all citizens – all religions – Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains with same opportunity and jobs
  • Special privilege to poorest and most disadvantaged – abolished untouchability (Hindu temples were now open to former untouchables) – reservation of seats in legislature and jobs
  • Reservation for STs or Adivasis
  • Powers of central govt. versus state govt. were discussed – provinces with greater autonomy and freedom
  • 3 lists – Union (tax, defence, foreign affairs) , State (health) & Concurrent (education, forest & agriculture)
  • Hindi would be the “official language” of India, English would be used in the courts, the services, and communications between one state and another [T. T. Krishnamachari conveyed “a warning on behalf of people of the South” , some of whom threatened to separate from India if Hindi was imposed on them]
  • B. R. Ambedkar – father of Indian Constitution – Chairman of Drafting Committee under whom document was finalized – political democracy along with economic and social democracy

Formation of States

  • In 1920, INC promised after independence each major linguistic group will have its own province
  • Both Prime Minister Nehru and Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel were against the creation of linguistic states – nation must be united to check disruptionist tendencies
  • Strongest Protest form Telugu speaking (Madras presidency) – Nehru was met with black flags in 1952 and demand “We want Andhra” - Potti Sriramulu was Gandhian leader who died fasting for a separate state for Telugu speakers – after his death protest intensified & 1st Oct 1953 – new state of Andhra in name of Andhra Pradesh
  • 1956 – States Reorganization Commission was set up - redrawing of district and provincial boundaries to form compact provinces of Assamese, Bengali, Oriya, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu speakers
Illustration: Formation of States
  • 1960 – bilingual state of Bombay was divided into Marathi & Gujarati
  • 1966 – Punjab divided into Punjab (Sikhs) and Haryana (Haryanvis or Hindi)
Illustration: Formation of States
Illustration: Formation of States

Planning for Development

  • Modern technical and industrial base
  • 1950 – Planning Commission was established to execute policies for economic development
  • Both state & private sector – to increase productivity and create jobs
  • 1956 – 2nd Five Year Plan formulated – focus on iron and steel & heavy industry (Bhilai steel plant with USSR in 1959)
  • Mira Behn in 1949 – with science will come desolation, we must study nature՚s balance

Foreign Policy

  • UN formed in 1945 was in infancy
  • The 1950՚s and 1960՚s saw emergence of the Cold War, that is, power rivalries and ideological conflicts between the USA and the USSR, with both countries creating military alliances
  • Nehru developed India՚s foreign policy – Non-Alignment
  • NAM – not to join any major alliance and remain isolate or neutral – India played major role in mediating b/w Soviet & American alliances
  • Member of NAM- Egypt, Yugoslavia, Indonesia, Ghana and India – many other countries joined by 1970՚s
  • Krishna Menon led the Indian delegation to the UN between 1952 and 1962 and argued for a policy of non-alignment
  • Bandung, Indonesia in 1955: 29 newly independent states participated in this famous conference to discuss how Afro-Asian nations could continue to oppose colonialism and Western domination.

Situation as of Now

  • Free press
  • Independent judiciary
  • Different languages
  • Check violence against Dalits
  • Check discrimination
  • Clashes b/w religious groups to be checked
  • Bridge gap b/w rich and poor (Dharavi – amongst world՚s biggest slum)

Sri Lanka

  • 1956 – Sri Lanka introduced Act recognizing Sinhala as official language
  • For several decades now, a civil war has raged in Sri Lanka, whose roots lie in the imposition of the Sinhala language on the Tamil-speaking minority
  • Had Hindi been imposed on South India, in the way that Urdu was imposed on East Pakistan or Sinhala on northern Sri Lanka, India too might have seen civil war and fragmentation

Manishika