Question

Explain the challenges that the newly independent India had to face.

Answer 1

Instructions:

• Influx of refugees
• Communal riots
• Integration of princely states
• Making of the Indian constitution

Solution:

• During the time of partition there was an influx of refugees from India to Pakistan and vice versa. Around ten million people traveled as refugees on foot, trains and bullock carts. Rehabilitation efforts and affirmative actions of the government provided a solution to the problem.
• Communal riots broke out across the country. Places like Calcutta, Bihar, Noakhali, Delhi, Punjab and Kashmir experienced bloody riots.
• There were around six hundred princely states in pre-independent India. At the time of independence, British gave these princely states the options to join either India or Pakistan or to be independent. This mammoth task of the integration of these princely states was entrusted to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. But states like Hyderabad, Kashmir and Junagarh resented. Finally, they were also integrated into the Indian Union through diplomatic talks and military interventions.
• Another challenge was a political one. This involved the framing of the Indian Constitution. The Constitution of India is the foundation of our nation's making. The Constituent Assembly was formed in 1946, under the Chairmanship of Dr Rajendra Prasad. The committee drafted the constitution after a series of discussions and debates.
• The constitution came into effect on 26 January 1950, and India was declared a Republic.