Practicing Success
What was the difference between the nature of partition in Punjab and Bengal? |
The process of partition was peaceful in Bengal. There were no killings in Bengal at the time of partition. The exchange of population in Bengal was not near-total, unlike Punjab. None of the above. |
The exchange of population in Bengal was not near-total, unlike Punjab. |
In Bengal the migration was even more protracted, with people moving across a porous border. This also meant that the Bengali division produced a process of suffering that may have been less concentrated but was as agonising. Furthermore, unlike the Punjab, the exchange of population in Bengal was not near-total. Many Bengali Hindus remained in East Pakistan while many Bengali Muslims continued to live in West Bengal. Finally, Bengali Muslims (East Pakistanis) rejected Jinnah’s two-nation theory through political action, breaking away from Pakistan and creating Bangladesh in 1971-72. A common religion could not hold East and West Pakistan together. |