ReadWithMe IAG Series Part 2: In order to aid the book reading journey below you would find the summary and vocabulary included in each section of the book. It is advised to read the portion provided for each section before proceeding with the read for a wholesome experience. All credits are reserved with the author Ramchandra Guha, this is merely an effort to ease the reading process for the development of literary appreciation.
Chapter 1
Section I
India got independence on 15 August 1947 decided by Lord Mountbatten(last viceroy and 1st governor general) since it was the 2nd anniversary of the day when the Japanese surrendered in WW2 but celebrations started on 14th at midnight since the 15th was regarded by astrologers as inauspicious.
Nehru gave the famous speech “Tryst of truth” at the former Legislative council hall i.e. parliament house and became 1st PM in 13 member cabinet. Vande Mataram was sung, and Chaudhary Khaliquzamman (Muslim rep) and Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan(reconciled east and west) gave speeches.
Country-wide celebrations took place expressing decades of suppression in ways disliked by the British: Bengal's outgoing governor Fredrick hated the white Gandhi hat placed on his head, and Calcutta also saw no ties n jacked but a cotton loincloth.
Vocabulary Trail
Copious / प्रचुर: abundant
Toil/ कड़ा परिश्रम
Protégée: young person who is helped or trained for their career or personal development by an older, more experienced person, usually somebody who is powerful and famous
Vie/होड़
stalwart/पक्का समर्थक
Ecumenical: of, relating to, or representing the whole of a body of churches - promoting or tending toward worldwide Christian unity or cooperation - worldwide or general in extent, influence, or application
Sullen/ चिड़चिड़ा और उदासी भरा: looking bad-tempered and not wanting to speak to people
Section II
Everyone celebrated but Gandhi was saddened seeing the misery, famines and widespread rioting between Hindus and Muslims. The violence began from 16th august 1946 in Calcutta(Present day Kolkata), moved to Bengal-united provinces (Present day Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh) - Bihar and finally Punjab with maximum horrors playing in.
Everyone celebrated but Gandhi was saddened seeing the misery, famines and widespread rioting between Hindus and Muslims. Violence began from 16th august 1946 in Calcutta(Present day Kolkata), moved to Bengal-united provinces (Present day Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh) - Bihar and finally Punjab with maximum horrors playing in.
On the day of independence, Calcutta became peaceful, and Bengal was cut up. For Lahore, deadly days were with no conclusion of going to Lahore or India having had both Badshahi Mosque(built by the last Mughal emperor Aurangzeb) and the center of Arya Samaj.
VocabTrail
Emissary: person who is sent somewhere, especially to another country, in order to give somebody an official message or to perform a special task. Ex. The emissary was sent back by Gandhi
Austere/आडंबरहीन: without decoration; very strict and serious
Carnage/नरसंहार: the violent killing of a large number of people
Ramshackle/जर्जर: old and needing repair
Image source: www.mapsofindia.com
Section III
1946, the riots became severe as border divisions were being declared. Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims were the three major sections wherein the first two had the shared common injustice at the hands of the Mughals, unlike the Muslim minority. While Delhi saw Muslims running to mosques for life, Lahore did the same to Sikhs and Hindus. Partition was much harder than Bengal willing to relocate to Calcutta since it had been happening for decades when Hindus wanted to move to the west with their majority. It was not the same with Punjab which was the land of the Sikhs unwilling to leave their belongings forever.
The task of partition was given to Cyril Radcliff with a multi-religion 4 people advisory which he dispensed due to internal clashes. Meanwhile, the Punjab Boundry Force was set up to curtail violence but 16 August made things worse, boundary awards were declared with Gurdaspur to India and Nanak Sahib in Pakistan, West Punjab to Muslims, and East to Sikhs and Hindus. PBF was disbanded in September due to its inefficiency caused by dual authority (civilian authority due to lack of martial i.e. military law) hence a riot and red-filled mass exodus was being witnessed ranging from the most medieval to modern arm-filled retaliation.
Gandhi again went on a fast, things did improve. He met RSS headed by M.S. Golwarkar working on demolishing caste discrimination and strengthening Hinduism. They were being blamed for a lot of the violence while Gandhi gave them the benefit of doubt JL Nehru did not buy it. People were enraged with Gandhi for not caring about Pakistani Sikhs and Hindus but he was saddened at the inability to help Delhi, Pakistan became out of the picture. He fasted again and addressed it to:
Govt of India
Govt of Pakistan
People of India
Central Peace Committee was formed under Rajendra Prasad (1st President) to satisfy Gandhi and his last fast ended on 17 Jan.
Began the attacks on Gandhi one bomb he got lucky with at GD Birla’s house and was shot dead on 30th 1948 January by Nathuram Godse a brahmin against his said pro-Muslim attitude. Nehru and Vallabh had some differences due to power dynamic Gandhi's deaths shared pain mended it.
Informative!