Pakistan Studies

By 1845, the British Empire had expanded from Bengal to Sindh, and all that remained free was Punjab.

•The Sikhs were ruling over Punjab and after the Second Sikh War in 1848, the British gained control over the Indus.

•The War of Independence broke out in January and March 1857. •The British army had recruited local Indians in their forces.

•These soldiers were issued cartridges greased with fat from tabooed animals.

  •The soldiers refused to use these cartridges.

•In 1857, starting with an uprising in Meerut, soldiers in the British Army in Bengal launched a full-scale mutiny against the British.

•This mutiny spread swiftly across the Sub-continent. Initially, the Indian soldiers were able to push back the British forces.

•The British army was driven out of Delhi and the Indian soldiers took control of the city.

  •Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal King, was compelled to lead the freedom fighters. In Bahadur Shah Zafar, the rebels found a symbol of freedom, but a mere symbol was all he was. Wanting to spend his days writing poetry, the man was in no way even a remnant of the glory of his forefathers.

 •The initial success of the freedom fighters gave a boost to the War of Independence. •The royal forces were finally defeated.

  •The British quickly regained control of Delhi.

 •They took revenge in the most gruesome manner by killing innocent people indiscriminately. •Bahadur Shah was imprisoned in Rangoon, Myanmar, where he breathed his last. 

  After the War of Independence in 1857

  •The British control over the Sub-continent grew in the next 50 years and culminated in the British Raj. •Queen Victoria’s Indian realm continued to expand, until Hunza, the remote kingdom bordering China, fell into British hands in 1891, bringing the expansion to its zenith.

•The British thus became masters of India, where for nearly 800 years Muslims had ruled

  •According to Hunter, a prominent historian, “The Muslims of India are, and have been for many years, a source of chronic danger to the British power in India”.

 •The British attributed the war of 1857 to the Muslims alone. As a result, property belonging to Muslims was confiscated and they were denied employment opportunities everywhere in the army, revenue department, and judiciary.

•The British administrators deliberately followed a discriminatory policy against the Muslims

  •The British administrators deliberately followed a discriminatory policy against the Muslims.

•Even in filling minor jobs. Advertisements inviting applications for government jobs specifically mentioned that Muslims would not be appointed.

•Hunter admits that the exclusion of the Muslims was so complete that in the government offices of Calcutta they could not accept a post higher than that of a porter, messenger, filler of inkpots and mender of pens

  •By a series of revenue and financial measures, the British smashed the political and social position of the Muslims. •In the province of Bombay, the government appointed “Inam Commission” to inquire into the land grants of the Muslim times.

The Commission took away 20,000 estates from the Muslims and thus ruined many families and institutions of the community.

 •The Company’s commercial policy eliminated the Muslims from internal and foreign trade.

  •The newly introduced English system of education had many drawbacks for the Muslims, mainly because it made no provisions for religious education. As a result, they stayed away from it.

•The Muslims lost all avenues of employment, were dispossessed of their estates and deprived of the benefits of education. •A highly cultured community turned into a backward and poor people.

•In their place British-educated Hindus began to occupy positions in governments offices formerly held by the Muslims In their place British-educated Hindus began to occupy positions in governments offices formerly held by the Muslims 

QUESTION:

In your opinion what are the indicators which God for bid cause internal or external war in Pakistan? and also state the suggestion to avoid war in any case.