After Independence

As independence approached, Muslims feared that their rights would not be protected in a land where Hindus were the majority. Fighting erupted as demands arose for a state (nation) where Muslims would be the majority. In 1947 this led to the partition, or division, of the subcontinent into three nations: East Pakistan, West Pakistan and India. Muslims would be the majority in Pakistan. Hindus would be the majority in India.

This partition did not stop the fighting. About one million people were killed! Gandhi himself was murdered by a Hindu fanatic who was angered at Gandhi's concern for Muslims.

CONFLICT IN SOUTH ASIA

Conflict between India and Pakistan continued throughout the 1900s. In 1971, Indian troops helped East Pakistan break away from Pakistan to form the nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan and India have fought over the question of which country controls Kashmir, an area on the border of India and Pakistan. In 1998, both nations tested nuclear weapons. The continuing threat of conflict that might involve nuclear weapons in the region concerns the United States and other countries.

Since independence, the Indian political landscape has been dominated by the Gandhi-Nehru family. India's first prime minister, Nehru, died in 1966. Eventually, his daughter, Indira Gandhi (pictured above), was elected prime minister and she ruled the country on and off between 1966 - 1984. On Wednesday, October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was gunned down by her own bodyguards. Her son, Rajiv Gandhi (below), succeeded her, but he too was assassinated by a member of the Liberation Tigers and Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a terrorist group.