Tuesday, November 20, 2018

If India wasn't partitioned

National
1. India might have still lost the 1962 war
2. The civilian democracy would have still survived
3. The nation would have become strongly federal

International
1. The USA would have found it difficult to support Afghan Mujahideen
2. The communist dictatorship in Afghanistan would have survived
3. The Soviet Union would have lingered bit longer
4. The Taliban would have never been created
5. The 9/11 might not have happened
6. The ISIS wouldn't have been there

Social
1. Hindutva wouldn't have grown so strong
2. The Babri Masjid would have survived
3. Linguistic faultlines would have been exacerbated
4. The Muslim birthrate would have come down quicker. The present-day Pakistan region  would have had a smaller population than present-day Bangladesh region
5. Conversions to Christianity and Islam from the caste system would have been higher
6. Many regions with 30% Muslim population would have been close to 50% because of migrations and conversions
7. There would have been stronger OBC and Dalit movements

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

US would've found a way to meddle into Afghan anyway. Kashmir would've been peaceful but populated and spoilt like any other place? And can we speculate if Indira Gandhi would've lived longer and all the subsequent events involving Congress rule may have been different?

Manju Edangam said...

Bhindranwale, at the end of the day, was Indira's own creation. So, the events around that were internal and not directly related to the partition. However, the question is whether there would have been a demand for Khalistan if there was no partition. But the experience with the North-East -with smaller ethnic groups- shows, such demands would have been there irrespective of anything.