The fourth volume in the series of Jinnah Papers covers the period from 26 July to 14 August 1947. It describes the final days of the Raj, climaxed by the dawn of independence and the emergence of Pakistan. It contains 262 documents from the Quaid-i-Azam Papers and the Governor-General Papers.
Between 1946 and 1952, the British Raj, the world's largest colony, was transformed into the Republic of India, the world's largest democracy. Independence, the Constituent Assembly Debates, the founding of the Republic, and India's first universal franchise general election occurred amidst the violence and displacement of the Partition, the uncertain and contested integration of the princely states, and the forceful quelling of internal dissent. This book investigates the ways in which these violent conjunctures constituted a postcolonial regime of sovereignty and shaped the historical development of democracy in India at the foundational moment of decolonization and national independence. From Raj to Republic presents a multifaceted history of sovereignty and democracy in India by linking together the princely state of Hyderabad's attempt to establish itself as an independent sovereign state, the partitioning of Punjab, and the communist-led revolutionary movement in the southern Indian region of Telangana. A national, territorial, republican, and liberal polity in India emerged out of a violent and contested process that forged new power relations and opened up historical trajectories with lasting consequences for modern India.
The Vietnam War and Indian independence devastated British policy towards Asia. The Labour Government failed to understand its commitments. Yet some senior British officers were prepared to work alongside Asian nationalism in order to secure British interests. This created a radical local fusion of imperial, diplomatic and humanitarian policies.
The partition of India was a traumatic event. Apart from destroying the unity of India, the two-nation theory created a divided between the Muslims and non-Muslims which has not been easy to bridge. But, more important was its tremendous human cost-loss of about a million people. This holocaust, which Nehru described as a man-made Greek tragedy, is the focus of this book. Based on extensive and in-depth research, it sheds new light on several important issuses. The book surveys the critical eighteen-month period preceding the transfer of power which saw widespread communal hatred and violence. The poison of communalism had seeped so deep that it should have been evident to anyone that transfer of power was not going to be peaceful. But, the British and the leaders of the two would be dominions India and Pakistan failed to see this writing on the wall. The book vividly brings out the holocaust, makes a clinical and thorough inquest, and concludes that, with foresight and planning, its extent and severity could have been reduced substantially.Analysis of such a monumental tragedy inevitable leads to a critical appraisal of the role played by the authors of the tragedy, and the actors who played a part in it-on stage, backstage and in the wings.
The security relationship between India and Pakistan is generally viewed through a neo-realist approach of International Relations.. Treading on a different path, this book explains the rivalry of these countries by looking at the socio-cultural norms found at two levels, elites versus popular. Furthermore, it also conceptualizes a hypothetical India-Pakistan security community that could result in peace in the region. The book describes how the rivalry between India and Pakistan is mostly centred on the elites of the two countries. It highlights the presence of a unique normative structure through social practices found at the popular level, and looks at how the common people of both India and Pakistan share many socio-cultural norms. Employing the theoretical framework of social constructivist approach of International Relations as well as the methodology of critical discourse analysis, the book discusses how an effort can be made to develop the concept of a bottom-up security community, from the popular to the elite level, and the impact this would potentially have for India and Pakistan. An interesting and valuable approach for analysing these issues of security through the socio-cultural lens, this book is of interest to academics and scholars of South Asian Politics, Security Studies and International Relations.