India since Independence - A Brief History

Consider this a brief history of India since independence until 1998.

Independence and Partition

India became an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth on 15 August, 1947. Independence was accompanied by the partition of British India into Hindu majority India and Muslim majority Pakistan. Over 20 million people were displaced in the process and it is estimated that upto 1 million people may have died.

At the time of partition, the rulers of the princely states were given the choice between joining India or Pakistan or remaining independent. Kashmir had a Muslim majority, but was ruled by a Hindu king who chose to stay independent. In 1947, Pakistan backed guerrillas invaded Kashmir with the aim of incorporating it into Pakistan. The King then acceded to India and India promptly sent troops to Kashmir. The war concluded with a UN sponsored ceasefire that left India in control of about two-thirds of Kashmir. The region of Kashmir held by Pakistan is referred to as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in India and Azad (Free) Kashmir in Pakistan.

Constitution and Republic

The Constitution of India, drafted by a Constituent Assembly came into effect on 26 January, 1950 when India became a Republic. The Constitution provided for a Westminster style Parliamentary democracy with the President as the ceremonial head of state taking over the role of the Governor General. It also gave citizens a set of fundamental rights of which the right to property was later repealed.

Nehru years (1952-64)

In the first general election under the Constitution in 1952, the Congress Party won an overwhelming majority and Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister.

The government passed extensive progressive reforms extending the rights of women and outlawing caste discrimination.

In 1944, Indian industrialists and the Congress Party had together drafted a fifteen year 'Bombay Plan' which envisaged a mixed economy. The state would finance and run capital intensive heavy industries which had large investment needs and where the gestation period was long. The private sector would manufacture consumer goods. The government set up a Planning Commission which made five year plans in consultation with the 'captains of industry' along the lines of the Bombay Plan. Policy tended towards protectionism and import substitution. Steel, aviation, shipping, electricity and mining industries were nationalised. An extensive public works and industrialisation campaign resulted in the construction of major dams, irrigation canals, roads, thermal and hydroelectric power stations.

Nehru's foreign policy was based on non-alignment in the Cold War and maintaining friendly relations with the Soviet Union and the USA. India is a founder member of the Non-Aligned movement. In 1961, India annexed the former Portuguese colony of Goa. In 1962, war broke out between China and India over border disputes. The Indian army was routed and the war ended with a unilateral withdrawal by Chinese troops, although they continue to occupy Aksai Chin which is claimed by India.

Second Indo-Pakistan War

Upon Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri succeeded him. In 1965, Pakistani troops invaded Kashmir having observed the poor performance of the Indian army against China three years ago. The war did not result in any definitive outcome and peace was established by the Soviet brokered Tashkent Agreement. Shastri died of a heart attack on the night after signing the peace treaty.

Indira Gandhi and the turn to the left

Successive wars had placed a great strain on the economy which resulted in a stagnation of demand for consumer goods. The rapid expansion of heavy capital goods industry under government control was now faced with a lack of demand. Moreover, the drought of 1965-66 resulted in a sharp increase in food prices. Upon Shastri's death in 1966, the Congress was divided between right and left in the face of formidable economic problems. Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi was the candidate of the left. She defeated Morarji Desai in a closely fought leadership election.

The Congress Party faced it's first serious challenge in the 1967 general election. It was returned with a thin majority thanks to divisions within the opposition that split the anti-Congress vote. In 1969, the Congress Party split when Indira Gandhi's intention to nationalise banks alarmed the Congress right and Indian industrialists.

Indira Gandhi returned to power with a large majority in 1971 promising to abolish poverty. All large banks were nationalised. Further nationalisation of oil refineries, manufacturing industries etc were undertaken. However, rather than increasing output, extensive nationalisation only promoted inefficiency in the public sector. But the long standing food shortage was resolved with the 'Green Revolution'. The government sponsored high yielding seeds, agricultural implements and provided greater financial assistance to farmers which raised agricultural productivity substantially putting an end to two decades of food imports.

In foreign policy, non-alignment was set aside as India signed a twenty year treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union. In 1974, India tested its first nuclear weapon. In 1971, India intervened in the civil war between West and East Pakistan which resulted in independence for Bangladesh. Pakistan surrendered and India returned 13000 km² of land that Indian troops had occupied in West Pakistan as a gesture of goodwill.

Emergency and the Janata

In 1974, the Allahabad High Court ruled that Indira Gandhi had misused government machinery to assist her election campaign. In response, there were massive strikes and protests across the nation led by the opposition demanding her resignation. Indira Gandhi responded by declaring a National Emergency. Civil liberties were suspended, strikes and protests were outlawed, elections were suspended, state governments ruled by opposition parties were dismissed and opposition leaders were imprisoned. The government undertook a programme of forced sterilization in an attempt to control population growth.

The state of emergency finally came to an end in 1977 when Indira Gandhi called general elections. The opposition of both right and left had come together to form the Janata Party (People's Party) in an effort to defeat the Congress 'dictatorship'. The Janata Party won a majority forming a non-Congress government for the first time. However, once in government they collapsed under the weight of their internal contradictions. The Congress Party and Indira Gandhi were returned to government in 1980.

Years of economic downturn and political recession had taken their toll. Insurgencies sprang up in Punjab in the west and Assam in the east. In Punjab, the Indian government used the army to raid the hideout of Sikh militants in the Golden Temple. The civilian casualties that resulted from this and the perception that a Sikh shrine had been desecrated upset many in the Sikh community. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by a Sikh guard in 1984.

Rajiv Gandhi (1984-89)

Indira Gandhi was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi who won an overwhelming majority in a general election in 1984. He set about introducing liberal reforms. Capital controls and foreign exchange controls were loosened. Relations with the USA were improved. There was a major expansion of the telecommunications industry and the space programme. However, Rajiv Gandhi's economic strategy was based on tax reductions at home, loosening of import controls and borrowing overseas to fund domestic expansion which was to store up problems for later.

In 1987, India sent a peace keeping force to Sri Lanka upon the request of the Sri Lankan government which was facing an insurgency from Sri Lankan Tamil LTTE organisation. Hundreds of Indian soldiers died. Ultimately, this was to lead to Rajiv Gandhi's assassination by a LTTE suicide bomber in 1991.

Janata Dal (1989-91)

Towards the end of Rajiv Gandhi's term, the Bofors scandal broke, revealing that senior government officials had taken bribes over defence contracts by a Swedish guns producer. This severely damaged his reputation and led to his loss in the 1989 general election.

In 1989, the Janata Dal, a socialist party led a 'National Front' government consisting of like minded regional parties. They had to rely on the Communists on the left and the BJP on the right to keep them in power. The Prime Minister, V.P.Singh presented himself as the champion of the lower castes, he increased job reservations for lower caste Hindus, a move which proved highly controversial and divisive.

Meanwhile, the BJP in an attempt to consolidate the Hindu vote began a campaign for the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya on the site of a 15th century Mosque that had been constructed by the Mughal Emperor Babur after demolishing a pre-existing Hindu Temple.

Narasimha Rao and reforms

During the general election campaign of 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a LTTE suicide bomber. The Congress Party now led by Narasimha Rao came to power, but with only a plurality of seats. Faced with a balance of payments crisis, Rao and his Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh began a process of liberalisation. They opened up the Indian economy to foreign investment and foreign trade, lowered taxes and government spending and ended many public sector monopolies and ended capital controls. The urban middle class benefited greatly from liberalisation. But the poverty rate increased as government spending came down although that trend was reversed soon after.

In 1992, Hindu nationalist mobs demolished the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. This was followed by a period of intense communal violence that killed upto 10,000 people.

United Front

The BJP won a plurality of seats in the 1996 general election, but they were unable to form a stable government as they were well short of a majority. A government was eventually formed by a coalition of socialist, communist and regional parties led by the Janata Dal called the United Front with support from the Congress Party. The United Front government had two prime ministers in under two years and failed to accomplish much. A general election was called in 1998 when the Congress withdrew its support.

BJP government and nuclear tests

The election in 1998 resulted in a hung parliament. But the BJP led coalition was able to bring in additional smaller parties to form a government with a small majority. In May 1998, the government conducted a serious of nuclear tests following which the USA and Japan imposed economic sanctions.

The Game

The game begins in August, 1998. The nuclear tests have resulted in an increase in patriotic fervour. Many Indians consider it to be a great technological accomplishment. The insurgency in Kashmir is worsening. The government remains popular, however, if for no other reason than the lack of a credible alternative.