What is the difference between the holocaust experienced in India at the time of partition and the holocaust in Nazi Germany?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option 2 - In India, it was carried out by self-styled representatives of religious communities rather than by state agencies.
The term “holocaust” in a sense captures the gravity of what happened in the subcontinent in 1947, something that the mild term “partition” hides. It also helps to focus on why Partition, like the Holocaust in Germany, is remembered and referred to in our contemporary concerns so much. Yet, the differences between the two events should not be overlooked. In 1947-48, the subcontinent did not witness any state-driven extermination as was the case with Nazi Germany where various modern techniques of control and organisation had been used. The “ethnic cleansing” that characterised the partition of India was carried out by self-styled representatives of religious communities rather than by state agencies.