POST-INDEPENDENCE INDIA- PRADHANMANTRI TV SERIES

Episode 1: Integration of 565 Princely States with India

Mountbatten Plan: The idea of dividing India into two halves. This
was announced in June 1947 on AIR by Mountbatten, and Nehru had
also given his confirmation to this on AIR the same day.
As against previous announcements that transfer of power will be
done by June 1948, a few days after the announcement,
Mountbatten announced that British would instead leave India by
15August 1947. At this time, there was no clarity on how many
nations were getting independence- 2, or 565?
In British India, including Kingdoms of all sizes, there were 565
entitites over which British had paramountcy. These Kings used
to maintain their own police, administrative laws, and in some
cases, even their own currencies! When British were leaving, they
initially said that once they leave, paramountcy will lapse, and
the Kings would be free to define their relationship with British India.
Indian leaders were worried that this would obviously lead to
Balkanization. Jinnah further stoked the affair by saying that this
Lapse of Paramountcy meant that each Kingdom would have the
right to ally with Pakistan, with India, or remain independent,
irrespective of geographical contiguity. Thus, he started kingdoms
lying within India to rebel, and ask for independence.
VP Menon told Mountbatten that the kind of riots that were being
witnessed in Punjab and Bengal would also be witnessed in the
princely states if the option of independence was left open to them.
Mountbatten knew that history would judge him, and he started
batting for integration.
Patel, Nehru, and Mountbatten charged VP Menon with preparing
the Instrument of Accession. Travancore, Hyderabad etc. quickly
declared their independence. An independent Hyderabad wouldve
meant that the entire Southern Indiawould be segregated from the
north. Under these circumstances, even some of the other Kings
whod given their approval for integration before started reneging.
Situation was worsening.
In view of this, in July 1947, Mountbatten called a meeting of the
Chamber of Princes. Here. he announced: lets face the facts- you
cannot run away from the Dominion Government, neither can you
run away from your constituents. Most princes agreed after this. But
Hyderabad still wanted to be independent; Bhopaland Junagarh,
although geographically incontiguous, wanted to be a part of

Pakistan, while Jodhpur was also acting up (and was contiguous

with Pakistan). Jammu and Kashmir also similar.
These states wanted special concession before accession. These
were refused by GoI. Jodhpur was convinced that Jaisalmer and
Bikaner, being fellow desert kingdoms would support Jodhpur, and
decide not to accede to India. Leaders of Bhopal, Jaisalmer, and
Jodhpur had a series of meetings with Muslim League and Jinnah.
Jinnah offered them a hoard of concessions, anything they wanted,
in exchange for joining Pakistan. Jodhpur wanted use of Karachi port,
free import of weapons, and a railway line from Sindh to Jodhpur
(Pradhanmantri series says Jinnah agreed to all this; no veracity).
Had leader of Jodhpur agreed, it is very likely that under their
leadership, Jaisalmer and Bikaner might have also revolted. This
wouldve been dangerously close to Hyderabad, which was anyway
showing strong separatist sentiment (Pakistan army wouldve been
very close geographically to Hyderabad, ready for support, and
getting Hyderabad integrated wouldve been near impossible).
While meetings between Raja of Jodhpur and Jinnah had been held
secretively, Patel got wind of this. Patel made it clear that if people
of Jodhpur revolted, Indian government would not help in any way.
After this, Jodhpur acceded on August 11.
Episode 2: Story of Hyderabad and Junagarh
On August 15, Junagarh, Bhopal, and Hyderabad were not a part of
India.
Junagarh, in southern Gujarat (not contiguous with Pakistan),
was a majority Hindu state. But it announced in its local
newspapers that it was a part of Pakistan. Thus, as of August 15,
Junagarh was technically independent! The leader was Nawab
Mohabbat Khan, who was a rangeela aadmi; liked to dance
(himself), loved animals (got two of his dogs married and announced
a state holiday on the occasion).
News spread that Pakistan had promised the building of a port, 8
crores in cash, and 25,000 troops to Junagarh. Patel and Nehru
urged Mountbatten to take a strong stand, and take military action
against Junagarh. Mountbatten, though, thought that this was
exactly the instigation that Jinnah was looking for. In reality,
Paksitans eyes were on Kashmir- if India made the argument that
Junagarh couldnt accede to Pakistan because it had majority Hindu
population, that the same argument would also apply to Pakistan,
which would then go to Pakistan (Muslim majority, but Hindu ruler in
Kashmir).

In September, India decided it would start blockading Junagarh.

Junagarh started rallying troops, and also tried to instigate
insurrection againt India in neighbouring states. Alongside the
blockade, revolts by the local population also started against the
Nawab in Junagarh. Scared, the Nawab fled to Karachi. The Diwan,
left behind, announced that Junagarh would sign the instrument of
accession with India. A plebiscite was conducted, with overwhelming
favour for India.
Travancoresleaders (Diwan Ramaswami Aiyar) wanted to keep
it independence, not allying with either India of Pakistan. They
thought that given that they were a coastal region, they could have
global links and a strong economy, and that they didnt need India.
However, local population started revolting, that included an
attempt on the Diwans life. Following these, Travancore signed the
instrument 3 days before independence.
Hyderabad wanted either to remain independent, or merge with
Pakistan. It was ruled by Nizam Mir Ali Bahadur, and his advisor,
Qasim Razvi. Hyderabad was then as big as the UK (and much
bigger than it is today).
Hyderabad was 75% Hindu population, but the Muslim rulers had
ensured that they lived as second class citizens. Most official
positions were Muslim occupied. Qasim Rizvi, evenmuch before
independence, had been accused of various atrocities against the
Hindu community. He had organized an armed force called the
Razakars, that openly perpetrated violence, rapes, and arson in
Hyderabad, primarily targeted against the Hindu community. It was
made clear that if Hyderabad became independent, Hindus would
have no political power/ civil rights.
Despite all this, given problems all around, India had signed a
stand-still agreement with Hyderabad; when India became
independent, for a year, all of Hyderabads and Indian mainland
relations (economic, border etc.) would go on per usual for one year.
As late as November 1947, Hyderabad had maintained its stand on
independence, and had steadfastly refused to sign the instrument.
In addition, Hyderabad loaned Pakistan 20 crore rupees, and there
were reports of arms infiltration into Hyderabad from Pakistan.
Hyderabad also knew that Indian army was busy in Jammu and
Kashmir, and would be hard pressed to respond to Hyderabads
actions.
As late as September 1948, there was a stalemate. Hyderabad had
the status of an independent kingdom with India. Even at this stage,
the Indian government was ready to give unprecedented
concessions to Hyderabad, the likes of which had not been given to

any other state. Under those terms, Hyderabad wouldve been

allowed to make its own laws, and Indian army would be allowed
inside Hyderabad only in times of internal disturbance. But the
Nizam remaind steadfast that nothing was negotiable, but complete
independence of Hyderabad.
This left Indian government with absolutely no options- in Septmber
1948, the Indian army launched Operation Caterpillar (aka
Operation Polo/ Police Action). Hyderabads armies collapsed
within 4 days, and Hyderabad was merged with India.
Episode 3: Story of Kashmir
Upon Lapse of Paramountcy, the Hindu ruler of Kashmir (Raja Hari
Singh) wanted to remain independent. It was made clear to him by
Mountbatten that he would have to accede to either India or
Pakistan- independence wasnt an option. However, the Raja
avoided a final decision, in the hope of remaining independent.
In this situation, there were rumors of Paksitans plans to send in
tribal warriors in Kashmir to raise an insurrection, which would look
like an organic, domestic revolt in Kashmir. Pakistan hoped that such
a perceived revolt would galvanize the international community into
helping it acquire Pakistan.
October 1947: Pakistani infiltration into Kashmir, moving towards
Srinagar. Soon, Muslim soldiers in Kashmir revolted and joined
hands with infiltrators. Maharaja now panicked, and asked for
military help from India. Mountbatten said that India couldnt help
with the military, because Kashmirs current status was that of an
independent state. Kashmir would need to sign the Instrument of
Accession before India helped militarily. Tribal warriors were at the
gates of Kashmir- theyd looted and arsoned in Baramullah, about
40-50 kilometres from Srinagar. The Raja finally relented, and signed
the Instrument of Accession.
With this, the security of Kashmir was now Indias responsibility.
Mountbatten agreed to send in forces, on the condition that a
plebiscite be conducted once the operation was over. Nehru and
Patel agreed to this.
In response, Pakistan tried to mobilize forces to attack Srinagar.
However, at this time (around independence, and actually till
January 26 1948) India and Pakistan were both dominion states.
Their armies were controlled by Mountbatten. Jinnah threw tantrums
and asked for military mobilization, but British officer (Ockinlake or
some such, who was the head of both nations armies) refused to do
so without Mountbattens orders. Pakistan, thus, couldnt send in
armies.

Soon after, with Indian army still against invaders, Nehru announced
publicly that once peace was established, the Kashmir matter
would be taken to the UN, and a plebiscite conducted. In the UNSC,
USA and UK started playing geopolitics, and internationalized the
issue by denying Pakistans involvement in Kashmir attacks. They
thus treated India and Pakistan equally, and here began the long
drawn mess than Kashmir still remains in.
Now, Nehrus Kashmir policy shifted. He stopped all negotiations,
and banked heavily on the secular Kashmiri Muslim leader Sheikh
Abdullah. Sheikh Abdullah was a much loved leader in Kashmir,
supported by all sides, and he wanted to be a part of India, and not
Pakistan. In 1948, Hari Singh made Abdullah his PM. In January
1949, Indian and Pakistani armies announced ceasefire- PoK was,
and still remains, with Pakistan.
Three major wars have been fought between India and Pakistan
since then. No solution is in sight.
Episode 4: Story of Madras and Bombay
British rule had left a hotchpotch of states, which were usually
multilingual. For example, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
and Kerala, used to be part of one state (Madras) till 1951.
However, Nehru, in 1947, had already said in the Constituent
Assembly that the creation of AP out of Madras was a legitimate
demand. However, Maharashtra and Karnataka werent legitimate
demands, according to Nehru. This was, for now, just a statement.
Nehru said that the nation had other pressing issues to deal with at
the time, such as drafting of the constitution, and this could wait.
In 1948, Nehru established a commission under SK Dhar. It
recommended that reorganization of states along linguistic lines
could be harmful to the unity of India, as it would stoke linguistic
nationalism. Due to protests, Nehru established another committeeJVP committee (members were Nehru, Patel, and Sitabhai
Pattaramiyya). They placed their report in 1949, recommending that
the linguistic reorganization agenda be postponed for atleast ten
years. The report also said that demand for a separate AP was
legitimate, but that the centre would accede to this only if the
Telugu leaders demanding a separate AP would agree to let go of
the demand for Madras city (now Chennai) to also be included in AP.
This wasnt acceptable to T. Prakasham, the Telugu Congress
leader most prominently leading the AP agitation. He resigned from
the Congress, and said that wthout Madras there would be no AP.

In 1951, when Nehru reached Andhra for election campaigning, he

was greeted with increasingly angry protestors, and wasnt even
allowed to finished his speech on the podium. In the 1952 elections,
Congress swept the elections overall, but performed rather badly in
the Telugu speaking areas, winning only about a third of the total
seats. Still, Nehru refused to give in to the demand of a separate
Andhra.
So far, so good. Now, Potti Sriramalu, a Telugu leader of the AP
agitation, went onto a fast-unto-death, saying that he would
continue this until a separate AP, with Madras as its capital, was
granted. This led to a cascading effect, leading to protests and
hartals all across the Telugu-speaking areas. 57 days later,
Sriramalu passes away. Violence broke out across the state. 7
people died in police firing. Nehru had no option but to relent. To
avoid a civil war like state, in December 1952, Nehru announced
that a separate Andhra would be created.
Wherever agitations were on in the country for linguistic states, aag
mein ghee dal gaya. Especially, around Bombay, conditions were
somewhat similar to AP. Marathis and Gujaratis wanted separate
states, but both wanted Bombay city, which was very metropolitan.
To divide Bombay was unthinkable. Also, there was another,
powerful group called Bombay Citizens Association, comprised of
big industrialists like JRD Tata. They wanted that Bombay city remain
independent, a Bombay state.
In 1955, the State Reorganization Commission submitted its report.
It said that it was possible to organize states linguistically. But it said
that Bombay should remain bilingual (both Marathi and Gujarati). It
also said that other factors besides language, such as economic
sustainability, geographical contiguity etc. were also hugely
important, and couldnt be ignored. This led to widespread, violent
protests in the country, as it was perceived as hand-waiving the
demand for linguistic reorganization. The protests were especially
strong in Bombay, and there were riots that led to 40 deaths.
Neither the Marathis nor the Gujaratis were ready to let their
demand for Bombay go.
After all this, in 1956, the State Reorganization Bill was passed in
the central assembly, creating 14 states and 6 UTs. Maharashtra and
Gujarat were created in 1960.
Episode 5: Hindu Code Bill
In traditional Hindu customs, widows are not allowed to remarry,
and there in no provision of divorces. Men, however, could marry as
many times as possible. Also, daughters had no rights of inheriting
property.

The issue of the Hindu Code Bill, that would deal with affair such
as divorce, property rights, succession, legality of marriages etc.
was discussed fervidly during the Counstituent Assembly debates.
However, this was seen by funadamentalists as an attack on Hindu
religion. An additional challenge at that stage was the
representativeness of the Constituent Assembly- allegations were
made that the CA was not elected by universal adult franchise, and
hence such a drastic bill should not be passed by people who
werent the true representatives of the population.
Also, questions were raised about why only a Hindu Code Bill? Why
not a Uniform Civil Code? Over this question, Shyama Prasad
Mukherji resigned from the Congress, and founded the Jan
Sangh. Proponents claimed that given that Hindus were the
majority, they needed to pave the way. Once they agreed to adopt a
Hindu Code, then it would in the future be easier to convince the
minorities to adopt a UCC.
There was also debate on who exactly a Hindu was- the bill said
that aside from Muslim, Parsi, Christians, and Jews, everyone else
was to be included in Hindus- Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists etc. Sikhs
especially thought that this was an underhanded attempt to
homogenize their religion and make it a part of Hinduism. RSS
started a large scale mobilization across the country in opposition to
the Hindu Code Bill. Even within the Congress, there was intense
opposition, even from the President Rajendra Prasad. He pointed out
that a majority of the population was against the bill, and if such a
bill was passed, he might have to use his powers as the President to
do something about this. Still, Nehru was adamant on the bill.
In this atmosphere, the first general elections were looming large.
Despite fears of electoral losses, Nehru was steadfast on getting the
Hindu Code Bill through the Constituent Assembly. Again, demands
were raised in the assembly that if such a bill were to be brought, it
must be brought in for the entire country, including Muslims, and
not solely for Hindus. Given the general opposition from within and
outside the Congress, and primarily because of the looming
elections, Nehru said that for the time being, the bill was being
withdrawn. Official reason cited was lack of time remaining in the
session. In protest, Dr. Ambedkar resigned.
In the elections, Congress won an absolute majority in the elections.
Ambedkar, fighting as an independent, lost his seat. In the newly
elected Lok Sabha, there were 23 female MPs. Nehru appealed to
them for support. Also, to blunt the opposition, he broke the bill into
many parts, and introduced them as separate bills- main among
which were Hindu Marriage Act (gave rights to people from
different castes to marry each other, polygamy was declared
illegal); Hindu Succession Act, Hindu Adoption and

Maintenance Act, and Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act.

Females got property rights for the first time, and focus was put on
adoption of female children.
Despite losing his seat in the election and hence not being a part of
the legislative process for these bills, there is no denying the huge
role of Dr. Ambedkar in ensuring equal rights for Indian women.
Episode 6: India-China War
Only 15 years after independence, in 1962, China launched a war on
India. Indian forces were hugely underprepared. Within a few days of
the beginning of the war, it was clear that there was no way that
India could counter Chinese forces. China quickly occupied parts of
Ladakh (Rezang La, Bomdila), Tawang etc. Having demonstrated
their might, China unilaterally declared ceasefire. India had lost its
pride, and a lot of soldiers and resources- 42,000 square kilomtres
were occupied by China (equal to 30 Delhis).
The modern-day history of both India and China starts around the
same time- India won its independence in 1947, and China had its
revolution in 1949 and became the communist PRC. India was one of
the first countries to recognize the government of China, and fought
diligently in international for a such as UN for it to be recognized
globally.
As early as 1950, China started showing its expansionist tendancies,
and occupied Tibet. Till this time, there had always been a
geographical barrier between India and China. This was removed by
occupation of Tibet. This created new challenges for Indias defence
forces. However, Nehru didnt want to take the lead in talking about
the boundary issues with China till China brought up the issue first.
Nehru made a statement in the Parliament that the boundary
between Arunachal Pradesh and China had been decised in the
1914 Shimla Convention, and thus, MacMahon Line was the official
border between the two nations. The communist government in
China had previously claimed that Macmahen line had been forced
upon China under duress. India then sent its officials to Tawang in
Sikkim. China gave no official reaction to either of these two actions
by India.
China was completely quiet, and wasnt belying its intentions. In this
atmosphere, India signed the Panchsheel agreement in 1954 (five
principles of peaceful coexistence). The slogans of Hindi-ChiniBhai-Bhai became commonplace. However, nowhere in the
agreement had China agreed to Indias claims on MacMahen line.
India, however, had recognized Tibet as a part of China and had
surrendered its rights in China.

In 1959, there was a revolution in Tibet, and the Dalai Lama seeked
refuge in India. This was granted. China ofcourse didnt like this.
In view of increasing hostilities, India started preparing for
impending war. The border areas with China were then guarded by
CRPF; now, proposals were made to mobilize the armed forces on
that border (Forward Policy). China claims that this was a big
cause of the war.
In this tense atmosphere, China gave India a way out- the said that
if India were willing to retreat its forces 20km behind Line of Actual
Control in Aksai Chin (which was under Chinas control anyway),
then Chinese forces would retreat 20km behind Macmahen lineeffectively, this meant that Aksai Chin would remain under China,
and Arunachal under India. Nehru knew that if he agreed to this, his
head would roll, and he couldnt possibly continue being the PM. He
decided against acceding to this demand.
Zhou En Lai came to Delhi in 1960. This gave the perfect
opportunity for political opposition parties to sternly demand from
Nehru that India not give up even a square inch of Indian territory.
Again, during the talks, Zhou proposed that status quo be
maintained. This wasnt granted. War was imminent. In 1962, China
attacked NEFA and Tawang. Although India had started the Forward
Policy, it was far from over. Indian army was badly supplied, and
quickly suffered massive losses all the way till Ladakh. India
accepted defeat in a month.
Episode 7: Lal Bahadur Shastri
In the yearly years of Shastris premiership, he was still being seen
as a weak PM. Amidst high inflation, he suggested one day of
fasting a week and that everyone should have a kitchen garden. It
had only been three years since the war with China; in 1965, now
Pakistan attacked Gujarats Katchh area. Under extreme
international pressure, India had to surrender 75 square kilometer to
Pakistan. For this Shastri faced a lot of flack.
Paksitans President Ayub Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto were under
the impression that the war with China had left Indian forces limp,
and that this was the best time to strike and capture Kashmir.
Operation Grand Slam was launched, with heavy bombarding on
Jammu Kashmirs supply routes. India launched air strikes. This
helped the ground forces, but Pakistan had supplied all its strength
to fight in Kashmir, and it seemed as if even air strikes wont be
enough.
India then opened another front in Punjab.