Wars in India after

Independence

Contents
 Context, Reason, Result and
Effects of war
 Which wars took place after
the independence
 The reason for the wars after
the independence
 Result of the wars after
independence
 Effects of those wars on India
in the fields of Education,
Economy and Medical etc.

Introduction

Context, Reason, Result and Effects of

war :

Problems faced after independence

15th August 1947 marked the end of colonial rule

in India and the country found itself standing on
the threshold of a new era wherein the task was
to build a strong nation. While India found itself
independent from the British, it was still to find
independence from social, economic and
political problems that had started to become a
rock in the way of its growth. The problems that
India faced right after independence can be
divided into three phases:

Phase 1: 1947-1967
Phase 2: 1967-1977
Phase3: 1977-1984.

Phase 1:1947-1967

India primarily these issues during this phase:

The division of assets: Tensions stretched

to a breaking point with Pakistan over the
division of assets. According to the Indo-
Pakistan financial settlement of 1947 India
had to pay rupees 55 crores as the latter’s
share of the assets.

The Refugee Problem: The partition of

India gave way to the refugee problem. By
mid-1948 about 5.5 million non-Muslims
had moved into India and a very large
number of Muslims had left India for
Pakistan. According to the Indian
government, the non-Muslims left behind
property worth 500 crores in west Pakistan
whereas the Muslim losses in India are put
to 100 crores.

Origin of the Kashmir Problem: The

Maharaja Hari Singh was a Hindu while
75% of the population was that of Muslims.
Kashmir was strategically important for
both India and Pakistan, however, the
famous movement lead by Sheik Abdullah
waned integration with India. The
Maharaja, on the other hand, feared
democracy in India and communalism in
Pakistan, thus hoping to stay independent.

Foundation of the Indian Democracy: The

first general elections in India which were
held in 1952 was a landmark event in the
history of the state which marked the
establishment of the Indian democracy. It
was held over a period of 4 months from
October 1951 to February 1952. Congress
got more than 70% of the votes polled.

Linguistic Reorganization: Boundaries of

the British Indian provinces had been
drawn and redrawn in a haphazard manner
without any thought to cultural and
linguistic cohesion. Most provinces were
multilingual and multicultural and after
independence, many former princely states
were absorbed into them. There was a
demand for linguistically homogeneous
provinces.

The Indus Water Dispute: The dispute

started in 1960. The dispute arose because
Indus and its tributaries flow through both
India and Pakistan. West Pakistan and
West India were both dependent on Indus
and its tributaries for water, power supply,
and irrigation. These rivers rise in India
and the canal system is also in India.
Partition cut through a complex and
unified system of canals.
Phase 2:1967-1977

The problems that India faced after

independence in this phase were as follows:

The elections of 1967:

In 1967 elections were held in February.

This time the popularity of the Indian
National Congress had declined
considerably although the INC did win for
the fourth time. The number of seats won
was less. The reason behind the dismissal
show of the Congress was the death of two
prominent leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru, and
Lal Bahadur Shastri. There were also
internal problems in the party. The most
important feature of the elections of 1967
was the coming together of the opposition
parties.

Naxal movement:
The Naxalite Movement was a revolutionary
movement that was started by the
Naxalbari in Bengal another group of
Maoist themed activities in Andra Pradesh
the AndraNaxalitess were mainly active in
two regions Telangana and Srikakulam
bordering Odisha in both the regions the
area of dispute was land and forest.

The main victims were the tribals and the

peasants. The movement was violent. In
Srikakulam, the struggle was led by a
school teacher. He led the tribals in a series
of labour strikes, seized grains from the
rich farmers and redistributed it to the
needy. In Telangana, the struggle was led
by a veteran of the communist movement.
The Naxalites formed a new party called
the – CPI Maonist.

Jp movement:

From 1973 there was a sharp recession,

growing unemployment, rampant inflation
and scarcity of basic food. The oil crisis of
the mid 70’s had also contributed to the
crisis and all of these developments
together led to riots and large-scale unrest
and strikes and erosion of support for the
Congress from the poor and the middle
class.

The students asked Jay Prakash Narayan,

an elderly man who was in political
retirement, to take over the leadership of
the movement. JP, as he was popularly
known as he agreed to take on the
leadership of the movement, provided it
was non-violent and not restricted to Bihar.

He had made a public criticism of the

central government. His entry gave the
movement a great morale boost. It came to
be known as the JP movement. He asked
students to boycott their classes and the
people to raise their consciousness against
the corruption of the government. The
result was constant clashes between the
students and the police.

On 5th June 1974, at a mammoth meeting in

Patna, he called for “total revolution”
against the government. He called for the
state legislatures to resign, for the
assembly to be dissolved. JP called for the
agitators to paralyze the government. He
wanted to set up a parallel “People’s
Government”.

Emergency:

The government responded to the JP

Movement by declaring National Emergency
which was the greatest threat to India’s
democratic foundation. From 1973 there
was a sharp decline in the economic
situation, a combination of growing
unemployment, rampant inflation, and
scarcity of basic food and essential
commodities created a serious crisis.

Phase3:1977-1984

India primarily these issues during this

phase after independence:

The Janata government:

On 18th January 1977, Mrs. Gandhi suddenly

announced that elections to the Lok Sabha
will be held in March. The election was seen
by the people as a referendum on the
emergency. JP also campaigned against the
Congress. The Janta party and its allies won
with a huge majority. The Congress did not
do well. It was virtually wiped out from the
north. Sanjay Gandhi and Mrs. Gandhi were
both defeated however they continued
doing well in the south.

Return of the congress to power :

Even though the Janta Government had

won with a huge majority, it was not able to
retain power for a very long period of time.
Soon after the elections, there was a tussle
for the position of the Prime Minister. Their
non-performance in administration, lack of
implementation of policies and a non-
united socio-economic programme declined
support among the masses by the end of
1977.
There was violence between Hindus and
Muslims. The difference in ideologies
paralyzed the government both at the
center and the states. In the 1980’s
elections, the Congress capitalized on the
infighting of the Janta Government and
returned to power with a 2/3rd majority.

The Punjab crisis:

During the 80’s the separatist movement in

Punjab constituted the greatest threat to
the unity and integrity of India, the more so
as Punjab bordered Pakistan. After
partition, the eastern part of the old Punjab
province was now predominantly Sikh and
Hindu. Until this time, there had been a
little conflict between the Hindus and the
Sikhs, but now the Akali Dal began to
agitate for a “Punjabi Suba”- or a state for
the Sikh in Punjab.

In the elections, the Akali Dal was unable to

get a majority to form a government in
Punjab even after the formation of a
Punjabi State. Having lost the elections of
1980, and to widen their base among the
Sikhs the Akali dal began to escalate its
demands. The failure of agitations led the
Akali Dal to resort to violence and
established the beginning of militancy in
Punjab.

In 1980, the Congress came to power. From

1980, the Akali Dal under the leadership of
Harcharan Singh Longowal decided to
choose the path of confrontation. He
installed in the Golden temple and began to
preach his separatist message.

Parallel to his movement a new charismatic

leader emerged among the Sikhs- Jarnail
Singh Bhindranwale a fundamentalist
preacher, who preached violence and
attracted a lot of support. In 1978 his
sermons had incited a riot in the golden
temple between the Sikhs and the followers
of the Nirankari sect. The terrorist
movement led by Bhindranwale and Amrik
Singh was started by the murder of the
head of the Nirankari sect.

Operation Blue Star :

In June 1984, Mrs. Gandhi and her advisors
decided to take some drastic action against
the militants in the Golden temple. The
Akali leadership was becoming very
militant and there was a fear of rebellion in
the countryside.

On 3rd June the Indian army led by General

K S Brar surrounded the golden temple and
on 5th June they were entered. Many temple
employees and devotees died in the
crossfire. The Akal Takht was destroyed
and even the temple itself was damaged.
Among the dead were Bhindranwale (the
terrorist leader of the Akali Dal) and his
followers.

Which wars took place after the

independence:

 The First Kashmir War of 1947-1948

 The Sino – Indian War of 1962

 The Indo – Pak War of 1965

 The Sino – Indian War of 1967

 The Indo – Pak War of 1971

 The Kargil war of 1999

The First Kashmir War of 1947-1948:

 A result of the territorial claims of India

and Pakistan over Jammu & Kashmir.
 The Indian Independence Act of 1947 –
Any Princely State that was formerly a
part of the British Raj has complete choice
of being independent or join any of the
Dominions of either India or Pakistan .
 Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu ruler of
the Dogra dynasty, ruled the Muslim
majority (3/5th) of the then Kashmir.
 Hari Singh chose to remain
independent and away from both
Dominions of India and Pakistan until
Pakistan aggressively entered his territory
in a bid to capture it. Unable to retaliate,
he sought the help of India.
 Nehru made it clear that Indian troops
would fight the war only if Kashmir can be
declared an Indian territory.
 The Maharaja made his ultimate choice
that he would join India on October 2,
1948, so that his people will be saved.
 A “Document of Accession” was signed
on the day and whole Kashmir was
officially transferred to India based on few
conditions posed by Hari Singh.
 Respecting the views of the King,
Nehru and his cabinet planned for special
Articles to be kept under Indian
Constitution & Kashmir be declared a
State of India with Autonomous status

The view of Pakistan – two theory:

 The two-nation theory maintained that

if two ethnic groups existed in British India
under British rule, namely, Hindus and
Muslims, then it was logical that two
nations be created.
 A multi-ethnic nation like Pakistan
needed a principle to unify the people.
Otherwise, there was a risk of the new
nation splitting up.

The view of India-ethnic homogeneity:

 Secularism is our principle. It simply

means, governance has nothing to do with
religion.
 Indian diplomacy maintains the respect
of individual dignity coupled with patriotic
fervour.
 Above all, Kashmir is OUR territory
since WE HAVE the Document of Accession.

Details of war
 Period: October 1947 to December
1948 (1 year 2 months).
 This war was terminated by a ceasefire
resolution of the United Nations (UN)
Security Council on January 1, 1949.
 The ceasefire established
the “ceasefire line” to divide Kashmir into
areas controlled by India and Pakistan,
rest
 The second indo-pak war of 1965

Period: April 8 to September 23, 1965 (5

months 15 days).

Although the UN’s strong calls (in the form

of resolutions) for a ceasefire put an end
to the military clashes between India and
Pakistan, no measures were taken for a
lasting ceasefire.

It was then that the Soviet Union served as

an intermediary.

The Tashkent agreement:

After further complications, an India-

Pakistan summit meeting was held in
Tashkent (the present capital of
Uzbekistan) in the southern part of the
Soviet Union from January 4, 1966.

Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and

President Ayub Khan attended from India
and Pakistan, respectively, and Premier
Kosygin acted as the mediator. The
meeting concluded on January 10, and
the Tashkent Declaration was adopted on
January 11.

In the Declaration, the leaders agreed to,

among other things:

Settle the disputes between the two

countries peacefully without recourse to
force in accordance with the UN Charter.

Withdraw the military forces of the two

countries no later than February 25, 1966
to the positions they held at the outbreak
of war on August 5, 1965; and Hold
discussions between the two countries for
the settlement of the disputes.
Why Tashkent declaration failed:

One of the features of the Tashkent

Declaration is that it makes no reference
to the Kashmir dispute, the cause of the
Indo-Pakistani War.

Measures to realize a permanent peace

were not taken under the Declaration.
Declaration was no more than a temporary
compromise is clearly proven by the fact
that the third Indo-Pakistani War broke
out just five years later.

A global diplomatic victory of Russia due

to this war :

The United States was completely

occupied by the Vietnam War, and,
furthermore, faced with worsening
relations with Pakistan.

Britain no longer had the capabilities to

exercise influence in South Asia.

Through the adoption of the Tashkent

Declaration, the Soviet Union not only
succeeded in expanding its influence in
South Asia, but also simultaneously
weakened the influence on Pakistan of
China
 The third indo-pak war of 1971:

Duration: 3 December to 16 December

1971 (14 days).

Known as the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was

considering the ejection of the Pakistani
Army and Air Force from southern Azad
Kashmir and liberating it.

United States deployed the Seventh Fleet

to the Bay of Bengal to prevent India’s
attack against West Pakistan.

International sources consider the

beginning of the war to have
been Operation Chenghiz Khan when
Pakistan launched pre-emptive air strikes
on 11 Indian airbases on 3 December 1971.

16 December 1971 – “Document of

Surrender” was signed by Pakistan and
93000 Paki soldiers were made Prisoners
of War.

Mukti Vahini along with the armed forces

of India crushed Pakistan.
India successfully destroyed much of
Karachi base along with PNS Ghazni, PNS
Khyber, PNS Muhafiz, PNS Shah Jahan and
7 gunboats as Operation
Python and Operation Trident were
launched.

INS Vikrant played an important role in the

war along with some frigates, destroyers
and submarines.

The Indian Air Force soon took control

over Dhaka as it destroyed the Air base
controlled by Pakistan.

The Pakistani military suffered further

humiliation by having their 90,000 (POWs)
released by India only after the
negotiation and signing of the Simla
Agreement on 2 July 1972.

Pakistan lost half its navy, a quarter of its

air force and a third of its army.

Both China and USA supported Pakistan

politically and materially but our old ally,
USSR openly supported India and vetoed
the resolution of USA to draw a cease fire
between India and Pakistan in UNSC.

The Sino-Indian wars:

Duration of Sino-Indian war 1962: October

20 to November 21, 1962.

The dispute traces back to the drawing of

the “McMahon Line.” This border was
demarcated by Britain and Tibet at the
Simla Convention held from 1913 to 1914
between Britain (represented by Sir Henry
McMahon), China, and Tibet in Simla.

China has not acknowledged the McMahon

Line on the grounds that the Chinese
Kuomintang government, which was
China’s government at the time, did not
sign the treaty, India claims it to be the
border.
Consequently, Arunachal Pradesh State
(which is administered by India and has an
area of 83,743 km2) and Aksai Chin
(administered by China; 37,555 km2) in
north-western Kashmir have become
disputed areas.
The McMahon Line is said to have
expanded the part of British India in this
area (the current area of AP State)
northward and pushed its frontier out 60
miles (some 100 km) towards Tibet. As a
result of this expansion, Tawang was
incorporated into British India.

Furthermore, the adjacent Trans-

Karakoram Tract (5,800 km2) in northern
Kashmir is a disputed area between India
and China. In other words, under the Sino-
Pakistan Agreement signed on March 2,
1963, Pakistan transferred control over
this area to China, with the condition that
the transfer would be effective only until
the settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
India lodged protests with both countries
on the same day, and still claims the area
as Indian territory.
 The role of the Cuban missile crisis:

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of

the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a
tense, 13-day political and military
standoff in October 1962 over the
installation of nuclear-armed Soviet
missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S.
shores. In a TV address on October 22,
1962, President John F. Kennedy (1917-63)
notified Americans about the presence of
the missiles, explained his decision to
enact a naval blockade around Cuba and
made it clear the U.S. was prepared to use
military force if necessary to neutralize
this perceived threat to national security.
Following this news, many people feared
the world was on the brink of nuclear war.
However, disaster was avoided when the
U.S. agreed to Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev’s (1894-1971) offer to remove
the Cuban missiles in exchange for the
U.S. promising not to invade Cuba.
Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove
U.S. missiles from Turkey.
The India-China War is closely interrelated
with the “Cuban Missile Crisis” (October
14-28, 1962). At the risk of
oversimplification, it could even be
suggested that the India-China War would
not have occurred had the Cuban Missile
Crisis not taken place. It can also be said
that the termination of the Cuban Missile
Crisis led to the termination of the war.

A detailed view of wars:

In the first half of the 1950s, shortly after

their founding, India-China relations were
referred to in India as “Indians and
Chinese are brothers” (Hindi-Chini bhai-
bhai). In 1954, India’s first Prime Minister,
Jawaharlal Nehru, and Premier Zhou Enlai
confirmed the Five Principles of Peaceful
Coexistence in a bilateral agreement,8
including mutual respect for each other’s
territorial integrity and sovereignty. Prime
Minister Nehru felt that the agreement
recognized China’s sovereignty over Tibet.
In return, China would grant considerable
autonomy to Tibet. India took pride in the
fact that it was one of the earliest to
endorse China’s return to the international
community, being the first country outside
of the Communist bloc to recognize China
(December 1949) and having invited China
to the Bandung Conference (1955).

Nonetheless, the India-China border

dispute began to surface from around this
time, and the bilateral relationship started
to deteriorate following the 1959 Tibet
Uprising and the 14th Dalai Lama’s exile to
India. When Premier Zhou Enlai visited
India in 1960, he informally proposed a
barter deal to India in which India would
possess AP State in return for China’s
possession of Aksai Chin. The barter deal
fell through, however, because India
claimed sovereignty over both regions.
Additionally, from November 1961, India
began to carry out its “forwarding policy,”
a policy of establishing forward military
posts across the McMahon Line on the
Chinese side.
In light of these developments, China
waged the India-China War, anticipating
that the world’s attention would be fixed
on Cuba as a result of the worsening of
U.S.-Soviet relations due to the Soviet
Union’s construction of missile sites in
Cuba. China registered a strong protest
against India because the latter
recognized the Dalai Lama’s domestic exile
in India after the Tibet Uprising. Further
still, with Prime Minister Nehru’s Non-
Alignment Movement garnering worldwide
praise, it is possible that China attempted
to seize this opportunity to deal a blow
against this development.

The Soviet Union notified China about its

missile site construction, partly to secure
Chinese support before the United States
and the Soviet Union clashed and possibly
even went to war over the Cuban dispute.
While there were signs that the China-
Soviet relationship was deteriorating
around this time, the Soviet Union
attached importance to gaining China’s
endorsement. Pravda, the newspaper of
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,
referred to China at the time as a
“brother” and a “friend,” in stark contrast
to its descriptions of the United States.

In India, on the other hand, Prime Minister

Nehru and other government leaders had
absolute faith in friendly India-China
relations, despite their awareness that the
bilateral relationship was gradually
worsening following the Tibet Uprising.
Not even in their wildest dreams did they
think that China would invade India.
Neither did India ever envision that the
“forwarding policy” it was undertaking on
this basis would invite Chinese retaliation.
While Prime Minister Nehru acknowledged
Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, he
expected a Chinese policy that would grant
a degree of autonomy to Tibet.

The difference in views between India and

China over their border cannot be
overlooked. China regarded its border with
India as an issue involving Tibet and
viewed AP State and Aksai Chin through
the prism of Tibet. In contrast, while India
discerned that the Tibet issue was
intertwined with the bilateral border
conflict, all India wished for was for Tibet
to serve as a buffer area between the two
countries, similar to the period when the
British ruled India.

India’s stand and the global

scenarios:

As regards the termination of any future

war in which India may be involved, two
new factors need to be considered.

The first of these is the development of

India into a major power.

Second, China or Pakistan will likely be the

potential adversary in any future war
involving India.

In any war against either China or

Pakistan, it is sure that India will have to
constantly calculate the moves of both
countries, both in the early and the last
stages of the war.
The fourth indo-pak war [Kargil war]
of 1999:

Initial infiltrations were noticed in Kargil.

It was a common practice for Indian and

Pakistani Forces to abandon the forward
posts during this time due to the extreme
weather conditions. These posts would be
reoccupied in Spring. Coming Spring,
Pakistan Army occupied Indian posts too in
a bid to capture Kashmir.

Army launched Operation Vijay as a

response to the Pakistan’s Operation Badr.
Indian Air Force, as a support to the
ground forces, launched Operation Safed
Sagar. This war saw the first large scale
use of air power in the history of the
Indian Armed Forces.

Planned by various commanders headed

by the Army Chief General Ved Prakash
Malik, our Army mobilized 2,00,000 Indian
Troops along with several thousand from
the Paramilitary Forces of India.

Intruders were found to be well

entrenched and while artillery attacks had
produced results in only few areas.

Remote areas needed the help of the Air

Force.

30 May 1999 – Mirage 2000 aircrafts were

taken into action by No. 7 Squadron of IAF.
Armed with many bombs, No. 7 Squadron
of IAF flew over 3 days and struck
infiltrators in Muntho Dhalo, Tiger Hill,
Points 4388 and 5140.

These strikes destroyed logistics and re-

supply capabilities of the enemy in Batalik
sector. Tiger Hill was heavily protected
and defended by IAF.

Israelis provided 100 Laser-guided bomb

kits to Indian Military – Air Force chose to
make maximum use of these and
retaliated the Pakistani Bunkers.
Aircrafts operated 10000 feet AGL, well
out of MANPADs (Man-portable air-defence
systems) range leading to increased
accuracy in bomb droppings.

11 July 1999 – Indian troops recapture key

points in Batalik.

14 July 1999 – Prime Minister Atal Bihari

Vajpayee declares Operation Vijay and
Safed Sagar a success. Indian government
sets conditions for talks with Pakistan.

26 July 1999 – Kargil conflict officially

comes to an END. Indian Army announces
complete withdrawal of Pakistani regular
and irregular troops.

Conclusion
India today perceives itself completely
differently from the way it did in the Cold
War period and is beginning to seek a
different positioning by other countries. As
a result, the start and termination of a
future war will likely take a different form
than during the Cold War period. In other
words, it is very much possible that, as
India develops into a major power, the
termination of any war in which India may
be involved will have aspects considerably
different from those of the Cold War
period.
Second, China or Pakistan will likely be the
potential adversary in any future war
involving India. If India were to engage in
a war with China or Pakistan, either of the
two countries will likely take moves that
will be disadvantageous to India. Since the
1960s, China and Pakistan have rapidly
deepened their relationship, which has
come to be called an “all weather
relationship.” In any war against either
China or Pakistan, it is expected that India
will have to constantly calculate the moves
of both countries, both in the early and the
last stages of the war.
The reasons for the wars after
independence:
There are 8 main reasons for the wars they
are:

1. Economic Gain
2. Territorial Gain
3. Religion
4. Nationalism
5. Revenge
6. Civil War
7. Revolutionary War
8. Defensive War

Result of the wars after

independence

The problems that India faced right after

independence can be divided into three
phases: Phase3: 1977-1984. India primarily
these issues during this phase: The
division of assets: Tensions stretched to a
breaking point with Pakistan over the
division of assets.
Effects of those wars on India in the fields
of Education, Economy and Medical etc.

the following economic impact on India:

(i) In order to meet a huge rise in defence
expenditure, the government increased
taxes on individual incomes and business
profits.
(ii) Increased military expenditure and the
demands for war supplies led to a sharp rise
in prices which created great difficulties for
the common people.
(iii) The war created a demand for industrial
goods like jute bags, cloth, rail, etc. and
caused a decline in imports from other
countries into India.
(iv) Indian industries expanded during the
war and Indian business groups began to
demand greater opportunities for
development.
(v) Business groups reaped fabulous profits
from the war.