As with most aspects of the British Raj, their views of the Indian population were just as harsh as their treatment. For the previous two hundred years since 1947, citizens of the indian subcontinent were all treated as simply Indians, that meaning lower than the british. When it came time to grant independence after world war two due to British financial troubles as well as the Brits making India no longer profitable, the same amount of care was taken to divide power as every other major decision regarding Indian governance: absolutely none.
India is home to perhaps one of the most diverse landscapes in beliefs and cultures, but the two major groups that the British were concerned with were the Hindus and Muslims. The british instituted a system of government where citizens could only vote for representatives of their respective religions, creating divides in communities that had previously coexisted.
Mahatma Gandhi and his hindu counterpart Jawaharlal Nehru argued a united India could exist, but Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah believed the cracks from colonialism were far too deep to maintain a peaceful and religiously coexisting India. Jinnah argued for the partition of India, with a muslim region in the northwest called Pakistan, and a region in the northeast called east Pakistan.
Following riots in 1946 and 1947, the British sped up their retreat from India, and announced they would be dividing India into Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India. The British used incorrect, outdated maps, minimal knowledge of the lands and their traditions, and far from accurate census numbers to draw practically arbitrary lines over a measly period of five weeks.
People began mass migrations to areas that they believed would be part of the majority. Those whose family’s had resided in villages for hundreds of years were forced to move in order to maintain religious freedom. In the midst of the power vacuum left behind, violent militia groups committed horrific atrocities to immigrants of different religions. Punjab bore the majority of the violence, with countless atrocities committed towards women. In total, around 100,000 women were kidnapped and forced to marry.
In 1971, East pakistan seceded and became known as bangladesh. The area in North Pakistan known as Kashmir decided to secede and join India. A referendum was supposed to be signed, but Pakistan refused. The area is still being fought over to this day. It is debated how many have died in the fight for Kashmir, but the estimate is from 40,000-70,000.
Kashmir is home to the highest rates of sexual violence in the world Violence in Kashmir is mainly coming from various muslim extremist militia groups. Indi and Pakistan are not officially at war, but it does seem like it based on the views of the people. Dozens of Bollywood actors, directors, and producers, have refused to work with Pakistani performers over the last thirty years.