History of India: Two Bengal Partitions

There were two Bengal partitions; one occurred in1905 and another in 1947. In 1905, Bengal was divided into three provinces, and the official reason provided by the British Raj was that the Bengal Presidency was too big to rule properly. In 1911, fortunately for the Bengalis, the British Raj was forced to withdraw the first Bengal partition, whereas in 1947, India was divided into two countries, India and Pakistan, and Bengal was divided into western and eastern regions. The western part of the Bengal province became the state of West Bengal and remained with India, whereas the eastern part of Bengal became East Pakistan.

The main reason for the partition of India in 1947 was to put a stop to the constant struggles and violent outbursts between Hindus and Muslims. It was assumed by the British Raj, the Indian Congress leaders and the Muslim League leaders that by dividing India into two separate nations and giving each dominant religious sect control over its respective country, the Hindus could live peacefully in India and the Muslims could live peacefully in Pakistan. Unfortunately because of the partition, hundreds of thousands of deaths occurred and the millions of people became refugees. Partition failed to solve the religious problems and left a grave impact on the Indians and Pakistanis. From this suffering arose a mutual hatred, as each religious group blamed the other for its losses.

From that hatred emerged a relentless rivalry and a mutual urge to avenge past sufferings. The tension created in 1947 seemed to have a long-lasting impact on the Bengalis, and stories about the suffering of ancestors who relocated from East Pakistan or West Pakistan are still told among families. Shortly after Pakistan was created, west and east parts of Pakistan started to grow apart based on their cultural and language differences. In 1971, with the help of Indian military, East Pakistan finally declared its independence from Pakistan and became a separate nation-state called Bangladesh. This paper will trace the two Bengal partitions (1905 and 1947) to show why the British Raj was forced to withdraw the first partition, whereas the second one stood firm.

Furthermore, it will analyze whether the partition of 1947 was a result of the British imperial revenge for their ego being crushed in 1911 when they were forced to end the first Bengal partition or there was actual need for the separation of the two quarrelsome religious sects. Finally, the paper will emphasize the impact of the 1947 partition by discussing the current social, political, and economic conditions in West Bengal and Bangladesh, and how the long shadow of the partition is still alive in both regions today.