Brief History of Conflict Between India and Pakistan

I would like to give you some basic background on India and Pakistan. Before South Asia was taken under British rule, it was full of turmoil. That led to complete British control in the 1840's (Roundtree, Lewis, & Associates, 2006). The people of South Asia were increasing pressure for independence by the early twentieth century. They decided that if they were to gain independence that they would divide into two countries. The British were no longer capable of maintaining their rule. In 1947, the British withdrew and South Asia had independence. They did exactly what they planned to do, and India and Pakistan became independent of each other. India was of Hindu-majority and Pakistan was of Muslim-majority (Roundtree & Associates, 2006).

The division was horrific in that millions of citizens were displaced and hundreds of thousands were massacred. The new Pakistan was a "two-part" country for several decades. Indus Valley was the western area and Ganges Delta was the eastern area. In 1971, the eastern section along with India launched a rebellion and won. Bangladesh emerged as a new country (Roundtree & Associates, 2006). India committed to democracy and organized itself into a federal state, in which each state held a large amount of power. The Indians used the majority language to organize a state. That led to the smaller groups or minority groups feeling excluded from politics and ethnic tensions were and still are high (Roundtree & Associates, 2006).