India

toc ** India: the Hindu Homeland ** 

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=PRE-INDEPENDENCE = Before India gained its independence, it was divided into many separate states, which varied in terms of freedom and size.

= INDEPENDENCE = The British government first granted India its independence on August 15, 1947, when the Partition of India was created (bbc.co.uk). This was a contract that stated that the former country of India would be split into two sectors that were based upon religious values, India and Pakistan. India would be a section with a majority of Hindus, while Pakistan would be mainly a Muslim population. With the separation of states, family and friends were split up and people were devastated. The British managed to back out of their control of the two new territories due to the fact that they were bankrupt from war and could not manage to continue their control over India. In doing so they avoided taking responsibility for the split. Ever since Pakistan was created by the British, they have been enemies with India (Bates).

When the Indian Congress Party took control of India, the citizens were very grateful, even if it meant that their economy would only grow about 3% a year. The Indian government worked hard to attempt to centralize the country's government, and their main focus was to eliminate the poverty that was sweeping the nation (Sharma).

[|Primary source -Nehru's broadcast about the Partition]

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= WAR WITH PAKISTAN = Wars and extreme tension have always been present between India and Pakistan because of the terrible relationship between the neighboring countries.

INDO-PAKISTAN WAR OF 1947
Just two months after the formation of Pakistan, the countries got in their first dispute, the Indo-Pakistan War of 1947. This started on October 1947 and lasted through December 1948. The war was over the territory of Kashmir, a piece of land that was geographically located in a spot that could fall under either country's leadership. Both countries were interested in attaining the land, and this caused a lot of tension, because the Indian and Pakistani governments were both trying to persuade the people of Kashmir to join their country. After over a year of conflict and fighting, the solution was that Pakistan maintained 2/5 of the land, and India got the rest. There were about 1,500 casualties on each side ([|peacekashmir.org]).

INDO-PAKISTAN WAR OF 1965
Years after the 1947 war ended, India and Pakistan engulfed in another conflict. The 1965 Indo-Pakistan War was the second major controversy between the countries, and again, it was based on the position of Kashmir as well as another piece of land called Jammu. Throughout this war, the tension that was brought on by the Cold War impacted the affairs. The United States and the United Kingdom supplied necessities and arms to the Pakistanis, who were not strong militarily. The Indians received no help, leaving them to fight against major powers on their own. When Pakistan invaded the territories, India quickly followed, not willing to lose the land that they rightfully owned. Then, in order to create peace, the Security Counsel passed Resolution 211 which entailed that the US and the UK would back down, and both countries would cease fire ([|peacemaker.un.org]). In the end, the dispute over Kashmir was not resolved; it was just merely put to the side ([|history.state.gov]).

INDO-PAKISTAN WAR OF 1971
A short time after the conclusion of the war in 1965, a third war broke out between India and Pakistan. However, this dispute was for a different cause; this time the Pakistanis had broken out into a civil war, East vs. West. During their fighting, India made a Peace Treaty with the Soviets to ensure that they would have qualified back-up if a war with Pakistan ever began again. Simultaneously, the Indians were also training the East Pakistani military, which was composed of defectors and people going against the government. When the remainder of Pakistan found out, they launched air and ground attacks. This concluded in another Indian victory on December 3, 1971, and it resulted in many Pakistanis fleeing their country for a better life in India. This was only a 13 day war ( [|globalsecurity.org]).

= INDIAN CONSTITUTION = In 1950, India developed a constitution, which ultimately named them the most populous democracy worldwide ( [|history.com]). In this constitution, there were certain guidelines that were to be followed by the Indian civilians. The new Indian Republic was going to try to focus on gender equality, mainly to ensure that women were being treated fairly. Another clause of the new constitution was that elections would be held approximately every 5 years, and India would take on the approach of the British Parliamentary System ( parliament.uk). . The first president that was elected in India was Rajendra Prasad, and the first prime minister was.

= HOW IS INDIA AFFECTED BY GLOBALIZATION? =

The Cold War
During the Cold War, India was a very independent country. They could have become stronger by simply siding with America or Russia. Instead Nehru chose to stick to a more independent route, which ended up benefitting the country by allowing them to stand on their own feet, not becoming reliant on larger powers. Overall, this strengthened India a lot.

Economic
After the Great Depression, India was left in a very poverty inflicted state. There were major problems with mass unemployment because many companies could not pay their workers anymore. As a result, there was a lot of inflation within the country, and there was a large food shortage which eventually developed into a famine in 1942 (Bates). The Great Depression impacted India in an extreme way, and it took them many years to be able to come out of the economic depression that they were in.

In 1952, India made its first bold move to attempt to fix their deteriorated economic system. Nehru devised a 5-Year Plan to help reach the country meet their economic goals. In order to do this, they planned to budget seven large areas within India based on their use of energy and irrigation, agricultural development, industry, and communications. The rest of the budget would be assigned to other services and areas within the country. The government played an active role in the economic aspect of life for 5 years, and this method clearly worked. The initial goal was to raise the economy 2.1% each year for 5 years, but it ended up working very well, and they managed to raise the economy about 3.6% yearly which put the country in a mindset that they were capable of making a change (matimop.org).

Social
The Caste System is a social ranking system for the people of India. Dating back to 1200BC, people have been categorized into groups, or jatis. The groups include [|Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, and the untouchables] ( [|mtholyoke.edu]). The fact that this system is still utilized in India after this much time just shows that the country is outdated, and more interactions with other countries would have benefitted them at this point to help them get rid of their old ways. Also, without these social restrictions, it is possible that poverty would not be as much of an issue in India.

Culture
Gender discrimination is a large cultural aspect in India. Interdependence had greatly affected the way that women thought; it made them believe that there was hope for an equal society between genders. However, globalization did not help them the way that they expected and wanted. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, there were multiple movements that women participated in nationwide. This was the first form of rebellion that the women of India took part in, and everything escalated from there ([|twnside.org]). Women in India are treated awfully, and there are often cases of sexual assault that are taken too lightly by the government. To have one gender be undermined so much by the opposite gender is insulting, and with more attention from the western world perhaps the Indian men would have more respect to the women.

Political
Before India was an independent country, they were dependent on Britain because they controlled and aided them.

WORKS CITED:

Bates, Crispin. “The Hidden Story of Partition and its Legacies.” BBC History. BBC, 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 13 May 2014. . I utilized this page to get information about India’s economic status after the Great Depression, as well as when they were first granted independence. This was a very useful article for my research.

“History of the Caste System in India.” Mtholyoke. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. . This website provided me with information on the caste system, a social aspect of life in India.

“The India-Pakistan War of 1965.” Office of the Historian. United States Department of State, n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. . This website was useful in finding information on the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. It taught me about the war and its outcome.

“India Profile.” BBC News Asia. BBC News, 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 13 May 2014. . This website was not used or cited directly in my wiki, however I think it is important to include it in my works cited because I used it to initially find out about the events that I used for my wikipage. It was a timeline that told me what happened in India from 1945-1990.

“India’s 5-Year Plan for Economic Growth.” Matimop. Israeli Industry Center for R&D, n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. . This website was important to my research because it provided me with information about the economic aspect of my country, and changes that the Indians made in order to enhance their economic system.

“Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.” Global Security. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. . This website gave me information on the third war with Pakistan, in 1971.

“Indo-Pakistan War of 1947.” Peace Kashmir. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. . This website gave me information on the Indo-Pakistan war of 1947, India’s first war with the Pakistanis.

“The Momen’s Movement in India: Action and Reflection.” Third World Network. N.p., July 1997. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/india1-cn.htm>. I used this website to get information about women and gender inequality in India.

“Parliament or Government.” Parliament. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/parliament-government/>. I used this site as a hyperlink in my Wiki to let users know what I meant when I said that the Indian government was based off of the British Parliament System.

“Republic of India born.” 2014. The History Channel website. May 13 2014, 6:35 <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/republic-of-india-born>. This website gave me information on the Indian constitution, and I also used it has a hyperactive link in my Wiki.

“Security Council Resolution 211: The India-Pakistan Question.” United States Peacemaker. United Nations, n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. <http://peacemaker.un.org/indiapakistan-resolution211>. I used this as a hyperlink to help describe what Resolution 211 was.

Sharma, Ruchir. “The Rise Of The Rest Of India.” Foreign Affairs 92.5 (2013): 75-85. History Reference Center. Web. 13 May 2014. <http://web.a.ebscohost.com/hrc/detail?sid=5a09d871-afcb-42ba-bcfc7b6ee60233d340sessionmgr 4001&vid=1&hid=4206&bdata=JnNpdGU9aHJjLWxpdmU%3d#db=khh&AN=89749154> This website gave me information about independence in India, and what it took for them to gain independence.

By: Emily Abrams Sophomore, Weston High School