Chapter 1 — Challenges of Nation Building

The chapter identifies three challenges. The first was shaping a united nation that could accommodate India's enormous diversity of language, culture, and religion — a task made urgent by the violence of Partition. The second was establishing genuine democratic practices in accordance with the Constitution. The third was ensuring the development and wellbeing of the entire society, particularly its socially disadvantaged groups, as laid out in the Directive Principles of State Policy.

The two-nation theory was advanced by the Muslim League. It held that India consisted of not one but two 'peoples' — Hindus and Muslims — and on this basis the League demanded Pakistan as a separate country for Muslims. The Congress opposed this theory, but political developments in the 1940s, along with the competition between the Congress and the Muslim League and the role of the British, eventually led to the decision to partition the country.

The Partition of 1947 is described in the chapter as one of the largest, most abrupt, unplanned, and tragic transfers of population in human history. It is estimated that about 80 lakh people were forced to migrate across the new border. Between five and ten lakh people were killed in Partition-related violence. Thousands of women were abducted, and many children were separated from their parents; lakhs of refugees lived in camps for months or even years.

Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan was the undisputed leader of the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) and was known as the 'Frontier Gandhi.' He was staunchly opposed to the two-nation theory. However, his voice was simply ignored and the NWFP was made to merge with Pakistan, even though not all Muslim-majority areas wanted to be part of Pakistan.

Sardar Patel served as India's Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister during the crucial period immediately following Independence. He played a historic role in negotiating with the rulers of princely states firmly but diplomatically, bringing most of them into the Indian Union. The government's approach was guided by three considerations: that the people of most princely states wanted to join India, that the government was prepared to give autonomy to some regions, and that territorial consolidation was of supreme importance after Partition.

Hyderabad, the largest princely state, was ruled by the Nizam who wanted independent status. He signed a Standstill Agreement with India in November 1947 while negotiations continued. Meanwhile, a popular movement against the Nizam's rule grew, especially in the Telangana region. The Nizam responded by unleashing a para-military force called the razakars, who committed atrocities against the population. In September 1948, the Indian army moved in; after a few days of intermittent fighting, the Nizam surrendered, completing Hyderabad's accession to India.

Manipur is notable because it was the first part of India to hold an election based on universal adult franchise. The Maharaja of Manipur, Bodhachandra Singh, had signed the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government before Independence on the assurance that Manipur's internal autonomy would be maintained. Under the pressure of public opinion, the Maharaja held elections in Manipur in June 1948 and the state became a constitutional monarchy, before the Government of India persuaded the Maharaja to sign a Merger Agreement in September 1949.

Potti Sriramulu was a Congress leader and veteran Gandhian who undertook a fast unto death from 19 October 1952 demanding a separate Andhra state for Telugu-speaking people, who were then part of the old Madras province. He died after 56 days on 15 December 1952. His death caused great unrest, violent outbursts in the Andhra region, and resignations of legislators in Madras. This forced the Prime Minister to announce the formation of a separate Andhra state in December 1952, which in turn triggered the demand for linguistic states across the country.

The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 was passed on the basis of the report of the States Reorganisation Commission, which was appointed in 1953 to examine the redrawing of state boundaries. The Commission accepted that state boundaries should reflect linguistic boundaries. The Act led to the creation of 14 states and six union territories. Far from causing disintegration, linguistic reorganisation strengthened national unity and opened the path to politics and power to people beyond the small English-speaking elite.

On 15 August 1947, Mahatma Gandhi did not participate in any Independence Day celebrations. He was in Kolkata in areas torn by communal riots between Hindus and Muslims, working to persuade communities to give up violence. In January 1948 he undertook what turned out to be his last fast in Delhi to reduce communal tension and secure the rights of Muslims; the fast had a dramatic effect. On 30 January 1948, Nathuram Vinayak Godse shot and killed Gandhi during his evening prayer meeting in Delhi.

The Instrument of Accession was a document signed by the rulers of princely states by which their state agreed to become a part of the Union of India. Before 15 August 1947, peaceful negotiations had brought almost all states whose territories were contiguous to the new boundaries of India into the Indian Union through this instrument. The accession of the princely states of Junagadh, Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Manipur proved more difficult than the rest.

The razakars were a para-military force unleashed by the Nizam of Hyderabad against the people who were agitating against his rule. The chapter states that the atrocities and communal nature of the razakars knew no bounds — they murdered, maimed, raped, and looted, targeting particularly the non-Muslims. Their actions compelled the central government to order the Indian army to move into Hyderabad in September 1948 to tackle the situation.

Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911–1984) was born in Sialkot and stayed in Pakistan after Partition. He is regarded as one of the greatest poets of South Asia in the twentieth century. The chapter includes a translated extract from his Urdu poem 'Subh-e-azadi' (Dawn of Freedom), in which he captures the bittersweet nature of Independence — freedom arrived, but not the dawn that had been yearned for, because it came alongside the trauma and violence of Partition.

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