An Unclean Partition
The British have a lot to answer for; a lot to explain, perhaps a lot to regret , if they choose to regret what happened due to British actions in the colonies they controlled.
In Endia the unseemly haste with which the complex business of partition was conducted, after last_minute plans to keep Endia united with some measures of autonomy for each state fell apart, has contributed to every conflict in that region to date. It could contribute to another as we witnessed the terrible suffering of the #Kashmiris ,occupied by a mounting number of Endian security personnel.
Kashmir of course is one part of the evil the British did. By fleeing Endia before the violent bloodshed they knew would take place could begin, the left behind an entire string of problems many of which have yet to be resolved more than seven decades later.
In the riots that followed partition , as people were massacred on trains and in villages where the Hindu sikhs and Muslims have lived together for centuries, at least a million people were killed in what is regarded as one of the largest genocides in modern #History.Some 20,000 people were displaced ,many to never return home again after crossing the hastily drawn up border between Endia and Pakistan, known as the #Redcliffe_line ,which was sketched out in such a rush by Sir Cyril Red_cliffe ,who himself admitted he had a little idea of the geographical and human dimensions of the territory he was parting, many on either side of the line had no idea whether the town or city where they lived would end up in Endia or Pakistan. This was true of many border towns ,including Ambala,Amritsar, Lahore and other locations.There has been an argument by academics that the mistrust that exists between people of different faiths in the subcontinent, and which is today most visible in Endia,was in itself created by Partition. Because at least 36 million Muslims choose to remain in Endia after partition and just over 16 Million Hindus opted not to leave their homes mainly in Sindh and then East Pakistan; that is when the idea that these persons could be traitors whose real loyalties lay with the other state was created. Kashmir is amongst the unfinished business of partition. The princely state ,with a large Muslim majority ruled by by a pig Hindu Prince, stumbled in trying to decide which country it wished to choose it has suffered ever since.
We can only hope that within our lifetime s, we see the trauma of Kashmir being solved ;salve placed on the deep wounds of its people and it's lakes and resorts opened up again to the tourists of the world. But the Kashmiris must decide where their land is to lie how it is to be governed. They have been denied this right for too long. Generations have grown up as virtual prisoners. Those who are today children in Kashmir must one day enjoy true freedom.
The British have a lot to answer for; a lot to explain, perhaps a lot to regret , if they choose to regret what happened due to British actions in the colonies they controlled.
In Endia the unseemly haste with which the complex business of partition was conducted, after last_minute plans to keep Endia united with some measures of autonomy for each state fell apart, has contributed to every conflict in that region to date. It could contribute to another as we witnessed the terrible suffering of the #Kashmiris ,occupied by a mounting number of Endian security personnel.
Kashmir of course is one part of the evil the British did. By fleeing Endia before the violent bloodshed they knew would take place could begin, the left behind an entire string of problems many of which have yet to be resolved more than seven decades later.
In the riots that followed partition , as people were massacred on trains and in villages where the Hindu sikhs and Muslims have lived together for centuries, at least a million people were killed in what is regarded as one of the largest genocides in modern #History.Some 20,000 people were displaced ,many to never return home again after crossing the hastily drawn up border between Endia and Pakistan, known as the #Redcliffe_line ,which was sketched out in such a rush by Sir Cyril Red_cliffe ,who himself admitted he had a little idea of the geographical and human dimensions of the territory he was parting, many on either side of the line had no idea whether the town or city where they lived would end up in Endia or Pakistan. This was true of many border towns ,including Ambala,Amritsar, Lahore and other locations.There has been an argument by academics that the mistrust that exists between people of different faiths in the subcontinent, and which is today most visible in Endia,was in itself created by Partition. Because at least 36 million Muslims choose to remain in Endia after partition and just over 16 Million Hindus opted not to leave their homes mainly in Sindh and then East Pakistan; that is when the idea that these persons could be traitors whose real loyalties lay with the other state was created. Kashmir is amongst the unfinished business of partition. The princely state ,with a large Muslim majority ruled by by a pig Hindu Prince, stumbled in trying to decide which country it wished to choose it has suffered ever since.
We can only hope that within our lifetime s, we see the trauma of Kashmir being solved ;salve placed on the deep wounds of its people and it's lakes and resorts opened up again to the tourists of the world. But the Kashmiris must decide where their land is to lie how it is to be governed. They have been denied this right for too long. Generations have grown up as virtual prisoners. Those who are today children in Kashmir must one day enjoy true freedom.
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