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Partition of Bengal’s implications for Bangladesh & Pakistan then and now

Map of Bengal 1906: THe partition of Bengal and the riots

THEN: In 1874 Assam (along with Sylhet) was severed from Bengal to form a Chief-Commissionership and in 1898 Lushai Hills were added to it. Proposals for partitioning Bengal were first considered in 1903

THEN: The partition of Bengal on 24th October 1906 had profound and deep implications for the Mussalmans of the Subcontinent. It forced the segregationist Muslims to begin asserting their rights–which they did by forming the All India Muslim League in 1906. The cancellation of the Partition of Bengal was not an isolated event–it was part of the grand scheme to disenfranchise the Muslim Bengalis and keep them subservient to the Calcutta Hindus.

THEN: The cancellation of the partition of Bengal proved the following:

1) Hindu Bengali nationalism wanted to keep the Muslim Bengalis subservient to Calcutta and would not allow them an incubator to build themselves. It was ironic that the Hindu Bengalis did not agitate against the separation of Assam in 1974 or the partitioning of Lushai Hills from Bengal.

2) It showed the elite and the common man in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Nawakhali that the Hindus Bengalis were not sincere to the Muslim Bengalis.

THE PARTITION OF BENGAL

THEN: Following on from the partition of Bengal in 1905 two critical events took place in 1906. A large delegation of Muslim leaders – the SimlaDeputation – had a meeting with Lord Minto in October. They got what they had demanded: separate electorates to safeguard their interests. And, secondly, the All-India Muslim League was founded in Dacca on December 30

THEN: ….The partition of the Bengal – the precursor to The Partition of 1947 – had become effective the year before. Viceroy Lord Curzon was behind the move to re-organise the large and unwieldy Bengal presidency. The creation, in October 16,1905, of the Muslim-majority province of Eastern Bengal and Assam had certainly helped the Muslims and aided their journey to independence.

THEN:However, there was immense Hindu agitation against the partition. The Hindu reaction was as anti-British as it was anti-Muslim. Historian Khalid B Sayeed has noted that Hindu revivalist movements such as the Swadeshi movement, “took a clear anti-Muslim turn and was run and organised on Hindu lines… It was well-known that partition would benefit Muslims of East Bengal”.

I had travelled back to October 24, 1906 to witness a huge, pro-partition Muslim rally in Dacca. The crowd welcomed the partition and resented the Hindu agitation. A resolution was passed at the meeting that as a result of the division of the Bengal Muslims “would be spared many oppressions which they had hitherto had to endure from the Hindus”.

THEN:Commenting on the Hindu reaction against the partition, IH Qureshi, the renowned historian, has written, “The net result was that the Hindu agitation definitely estranged the Muslims from the Congress” and convinced them “of the futility of expecting justice and fairplay from the Hindu majority“. This was a crucial development in the struggle for Pakistan.

THEN:Following on from the partition of Bengal in 1905 (it was annulled in 1911), two critical events took place in 1906. A large delegation of Muslim leaders – the SimlaDeputation – had a meeting with Lord Minto at the Viceroy’s house in Simla in October. They got what they had demanded: separate electorates to safeguard their interests. And, secondly, the All-India Muslim League was founded in Dacca on December 30.

Ihsan Aslam is exploring public history at Ruskin College, Oxford. He can be contacted at: timeshistoryman@yahoo.co.uk or visited at: http://www.pakistanhistory.com

THEN:The RSS agitation against the partition of Bengal morphed into the Hindu mahasaba show of force against the Muslims The Hindu Mahasaba movement was successful in getting the partition of Bengal cancelled in 1911. The Bengali Muslims were infuriated–and that anger was supported by Muslims all from Lucknow, to Delhi, to Srinagar, to Lahore to Quetta. –Gandhi later used the RSS it to build his own image and to take the focus away from the rioting in Punjab and Bengal.

NOW: Today Muslim Bengal in the shape of Bangladesh is fighting for its identity again. Having led the struggle for the independence from the British, it sought to find its own secular way in 1971. Hoping to form Sonar Bengla with all the Bengalis of the Subcontinent, the new Bangladeshis were shocked to find that the Hindu Bengalis did not join the new nation formed on the basis of Bengali nationalism and linguistic unity.

The partition of Bengal from Pakistan proved the following:

1) Hindu Bengali nationalism wanted to keep the Muslim Bengalis subservient to Calcutta and would not allow them an incubator to build themselves. It was ironic that the Hindu Bengalis did not agitate for the inclusion of Western Bengal, Assam, Lushai Hills, Orisa and Bihar into a secular Brohit Sonar Bengal.

2) It showed the elite and the common man in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Nawakhali that the Hindus Bengalis were not sincere to the Muslim Bengalis.

NOW: On 14thAugust 1975 Bengali nationalists rejected the treaty of friendship with India–which would have reduced Bangladesh’s status to that of a Sikkim at worst or Bhutan at best. Bengali nationalists did not wage a 100 year struggle to give it up to New Delhi. On 14th August the Bengali patriots assassinated the Indian agent Mujib Ur Rehman and raised the flag of Independence again. On that fateful night, Bengali patriots buried secularism deep into the Bay of Bengal and informed the world that they were an independent nation and would not become a Sikkim or Bhutan.

NOW: Since 14th August 1975 Bangladesh has been slowly moving towards a non-Indian entity. Khondkar Mushtaque actually declared a confederation between Pakistan and Bangladesh. He was over ruled by the Indian lobby. In 2008 a major section of Bangladeshis are questioning the Bengali nationalism and moving towards an Islamic state. Bangladeshi true patriots like Malik, Munshi and Isha Khan are working to build a strong Brohit Bengal.

Greater Brihot Bangladesh Plassey to Muslim Bengal to Bangistan to Bangladesh to Brihot Bangal 

Beyond the bloody coup in Bangladesh can Hasina Mujib survive 

Partition of Bengal: Implications for Benagaldesh & Pakistan, then and now