Spectrum Test: Challenges Before The Newborn Nation - UPSC MCQ

1. Jawaharlal Nehru: Prime Minister; Minister of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations; Minister of Scientific Research 

2. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel: Deputy Prime Minister: Minister of Home Affairs and States, Minister of Information and Broadcasting 

3. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: Minister of Education 

4. John Mathai: Minister of Railways and Transport 

5. Sardar Baldev Singh: Minister of Defence 

6. Jairamdas Daulatram: Minister of Food and Agriculture 

7. Jagjivan Ram: Minister of Labour 

8. C.H. Bhabha: Minister of Commerce 

9. Amrit Kaur: Minister of Health, etc

• In an absurd hurry, the British government appointed the Boundary Commission under Sir Cyril Radcliffe's chairmanship. 

• The Boundary Commission consisted of two Muslims and two non-Muslim judges in each case and worked under serious constraints. Radcliffe, with minimal knowledge of India, and with the use of out-of-date maps and census materials, was required to draw the boundaries and decide disputed points within a period of six weeks.

• Although religious demography was the deciding factor, other factors, such as rivers as natural boundaries administrative units, economic viability, railway and roadway connectivity and other infrastructural facilities, such as the canal system, were also considered. 

• The Sikhs, as a third party (Hindus and Muslims being two parties), were demographically scattered throughout Punjab.

• Their demand that all Sikh holy shrines be included in East Punjab (part of India) further complicated the situation. 

• In the face of such legal intricacies, a rational approach gave way to political considerations. The census of 1941, the basis of decisions, was also faulty. So the resultant boundary lines were bound to create several problems and leave many people unhappy.

• To resolve civil government division amicably, a partition council, presided over by the governor-general and two representatives each of India and Pakistan, was set up. The council was helped by a steering committee, Consisting of H.M. Patel and Mohammad Ali, at the operational level. 

• All civil servants were offered to give their option about the Dominion they wanted to serve. Around 1,60,000 employees opted for transfer from India to Pakistan or from Pakistan to India. 

• For the Indian Civil Services personnel, a distinction was made between the Europeans and the Indians. The Indian members were to continue in service in their country of choice (India or Pakistan) on the existing service scale. 

• The European officers could continue in service on their existing pay, leave, pension rights, etc. if they wished to retire, they were entitled to special compensation and early retirement.

• The Indian government was not keen to release the money due to Pakistan as it was angry with Pakistan for having attempted to seize Kashmir by force. 

• Gandhi saw this as being unnecessarily spiteful. He went on a fast and made the ending of the fast conditional on transferring the money owed to Pakistan. He succeeded in pressurizing the Congress leadership to decide to give more cash resources to Pakistan.

• The Indian government established an emergency committee of the cabinet to deal with the crisis in Delhi, and a Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation to look after the refugees. 

• Some refugees were accommodated temporarily in refugee camps, which were run till 1949. For urban refugees, the government started industrial and vocational training schemes and even grants to start small businesses or industries. 

• The rural refugees were given land, agricultural loans and housing subsidies. Although the state government and the central government mobilized massive resources, it was still not adequate and a general trend of differentiated entitlements to such benefits was observed. 

• For example, refugees with social and cultural capital class and caste status and political connections-often got the better deal, while the depressed classes were given little or no consideration.

• Under the pact, minority commissions were to be set up, together with the Commissions of Inquiry to look into the probable causes behind the communal riots on both sides of the border (in Bengal) and recommend steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents. 

• Under the pact, India and Pakistan also agreed to include representatives of the minority community in East Pakistan and West Bengal's cabinets. 

• They decided to depute two central ministers, one from each government, to remain in the affected regions for such a period as might be necessary.

• To resolve refugees' problems and restore communal peace in the two countries, the Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru and the Pakistani prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, signed an agreement on April 8, 1950. 

• The agreement, known as the Delhi Pact on Minorities or LiaquatNehru Pact. The pact provided for creating an agency entrusted with the task of recovering and rehabilitating 'abducted' women (many scholars criticized the idea). 

• The idea to encourage refugees to return to their original homes failed, because the two governments failed to restore confidence among the refugees. Further, the properties of the refugees were declared as enemy property.

• In September 1950, the prominent communists like Ajoy Ghosh, S.A. Dange and S.V. Ghate criticized the organization for its faulty strategies and its failure to notice the true picture of independent India.

• Consequently, in October 1951, at the Third-Party Congress of the CPI held in Calcutta, a significant shift in its policy was endorsed. It decided to withdraw the Telangana movement and forge an inclusive front of the peasants, workers and middle classes. 

• Consequently, the government lifted the ban, and the Indian communists participated in the general election of 1951-52, thus moving from an insurrectionist path to the path of constitutional democracy.