Pakistan was created in 1947 due to religious differences between Hindus and Muslims in colonial India. The independence movement was led by figures such as Mohandas Gandhi, and the partition led to a mass exodus of over 14 million people. The disputed region of Kashmir has caused ongoing conflict and an arms race between India and Pakistan.
There is a lot of history, nuance and complexity to the issue but one of the main reasons Pakistan was created was because of religion. The vast land mass that was colonial India under British rule was divided into three distinct places. Each of these was created because most of its inhabitants worshiped one of two religions, Hinduism and Islam. This happened in 1947.
The independence movement in India began in earnest in the last half of the 19th century. It then gained strength in the early part of the 20th century, as nationalism swept Asia and Africa as it had Europe a century earlier. Crusaders like Mohandas Gandhi began a campaign for independence from Britain. The campaign for independence gained international attention, thanks in large part to the actions of Gandhi and a few other brave people, and the pressure was finally too great for Britain to ignore.
India, however, was not just a country filled with like-minded people when it came to worship. Two fundamentally different religions dominated the soulful landscape of the second most populous country in the world. The conflict between the followers of these two faiths transcended the partition from colonial India to India and Pakistan. Hinduism, one of the world’s oldest religions, had millions of adherents living in India. Islam did too, although its history was much shorter.
The British divided colonial India based on the concerns of the population. India was then and continues to be populated mainly by Hindus. Pakistan, on the other hand, had and continues to have a predominantly Muslim population. However, none of these are homogeneous and the partition has separated many people from their families.
Just as the building of the Berlin Wall did, the partition of India created as many problems as it solved. India was a predominantly Hindu country, yes, but it had a sizable Muslim minority. The same was true, conversely, for Pakistan, which were actually two landscapes to begin with. In 1947, Pakistan was actually West and East Pakistan, with India squarely in the middle. India has divided both countries without a way to connect the two. East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971.
The sudden division of the colony into two separate countries led to a mass exodus. Muslims went to Pakistan and Hindus to India. Some estimates put the “population swap” at more than 14 million. The exoduses have led to mass chaos and hysteria, often accompanied by violence. In many cases, faith-based massacres have occurred behind border lines.
Another huge point of sometimes violent debate between India and Pakistan was the area between the two countries claimed by both countries. Part of this area, known as Kashmir, has been the scene of several conflicts and is one of the most militarized land disputes, with areas controlled by Pakistan, India and China. Conflicts over this region and other serious issues have led to an escalation of the arms race between India and Pakistan, with both sides claiming to possess nuclear weapons.
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