Main research question
Reasons and consequences of the Indian Independence Act 1947 failure will be examined.
Theoretical Framework
The paper will start with an overview of the prerequisites for Indian liberation following the role of the Indian Independence Act (Venkatraman, 2019) (White-Spunner, 2017). Different perspectives on the liberation movement will be examined, among those, the one by Mahatma Gandhi will be especially scrutinized (Khan, 2021).
The research will include a literature overview to provide an academic vision of the events.
The paper will analyze why the Indian Independence Act was set this way (Roland, 2019). The act’s role will be studied, along with the events that led to the partition of India (Qadir, 2021).
The article will examine the consequences of the act’s formation and the reasons for its failure to ensure peace after the partition (Ali, 2017) (Sardesai, 2019). The conclusions will be drawn regarding the effectiveness of the Indian Independence Act 1947. Additionally, the paper will investigate the Act in the light of nationalism, liberalism, foreign policy, social constructivism, and realism (Sharma, 2021).
Thesis Argument
The specific form of the act led to controversies in the regional division and, consequently, to conflicts.
Supporting evidence
The main principle of this plan was the self-determination of each region by the majority of the local population, which had to decide which country it would eventually enter. As a result, the “mixed” provinces of Punjab and Bengal were divided and today belong in part to India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) (Sharma, 2021) (Mathur, 2021).
Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, said: “Our goal is peace inside and outside the country. We want to live peacefully and in sincere friendship with our neighbors.” Later, however, this concept tragically crashed against reality (Rizvi, 2019).
References
Ali, R. U. (2017). Partition of India 1947: Unknown Boundaries, Uncertain Future and the Birth of Unfriendly Nation States. Pakistan Historical Society. Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society, 65(3), 57-75.
Khan, R. (2021). Sovereignty After the Empire and the Search for a New Order: India’s Attempt to Negotiate a Common Citizenship in the Commonwealth (1947–1949). The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 1-34.
Mathur, A. S. (2021). 6 Statutory Dispute Settlement in India. In The Challenge of Industrial Relations in the Pacific-Asian Countries (pp. 81-101). University of Hawaii Press.
Qadir, A. (2021). Making of New Province in Punjab–Constitutional and Legal Challenges and Opportunities. Ilkogretim Online, 20(5).
Rizvi, G. (2019). India, Pakistan, and the Kashmir Problem, 1947-1972. In Perspectives on Kashmir (pp. 47-79). Routledge.
Roland, J. G. (2019). Negotiating identity in a changing world: From British colonialism to Indian independence. In The Baghdadi Jews in India (pp. 21-36). Routledge.
Sardesai, D. R. (2019). The Origins of Kashmir’s International and Legal Status. In Perspectives on Kashmir (pp. 80-92). Routledge.
Sharma, S. (2021). Partition of India: The Gurdaspur Dispute.
Venkatraman, V. (2019). March To Freedom: Indian Press and Public Opinion Towards Indian Independence in Madras Presidency 1942-1947.
White-Spunner, B. (2017). Partition: The story of Indian independence and the creation of Pakistan in 1947. Simon and Schuster.