Gandhi also fell victim to violence

Mahatma Gandhi:

On Jan. 30, 1948, while on his way to a prayer meeting in New Delhi, he was assassinated. A Hindu fanatic who hated Gandhi for his tolerance toward Muslims and disagreed with Gandhi's policy of nonviolence shot him to death. Although British India had become partitioned, an agreement also had to be reached with the princely states. Most local rulers agreed to merge their states into India. In return, the Indian government offered them annual payments. A few princely states joined Pakistan. One state that initially merged into neither India nor Pakistan was Kashmir. Its ruler was Hindu, but the majority of its people were Muslims. Pakistani Muslims launched an invasion to take Kashmir by force, and Pakistan laid claim to the state. Kashmir's ruler responded by seeking India's protection and by making Kashmir part of India. The war between India and Pakistan lasted until 1949, when the United Nations (UN) arranged a cease-fire and set up a truce line. See Kashmir.

In India, Jawaharlal Nehru, a close associate of Gandhi, became the first prime minister after independence. A constituent assembly drew up a new constitution. The assembly approved the Constitution in November 1949. The Constitution went into effect on Jan. 26, 1950. January 26 is now celebrated each year in India as a national holiday, Republic Day.

India in the 1950's and early 1960's. India's first general election was held in 1951 and 1952. The Congress Party, under Nehru's leadership, won a huge majority of the seats in India's Parliament. Nehru sought to develop the country and raise the standard of living. Under Nehru, the central government ran the economy and controlled industry.

In 1951, India began its first five-year plan, a program designed to improve the country's standard of living. This plan resulted in some notable achievements. Agricultural and industrial production grew rapidly, and school enrollment rose sharply. A rationing system enabled people to buy essential food items at low prices. New laws made it possible for more poor farmers to own the land they worked on. Women gained the right to divorce and to inherit property. Malaria was brought under control.

Nehru also sought to achieve the political unity of India. France gave up the last of its Indian territories in 1954, but Portugal refused to do so. It still had three small colonies in India--Damao (now Daman), Diu, and Goa. In 1961, Indian troops invaded these areas and defeated the Portuguese forces there. Goa became a state in 1987. Daman and Diu remained a territory.

Regional, language, and ethnic differences among Indians created difficulties for national unity. In 1953, after much pressure on the Indian government, the state of Andhra (now Andhra Pradesh) was created for Telugu speakers. In 1955, the States Reorganization Commission recommended the creation of other states based on language. At that time, the state boundaries were those that the British had drawn up. In 1956, most of India's major language groups were given their own states. Additional states based on language were created later.

In foreign affairs, Nehru adopted a position of nonalignment. During the Cold War, a period of intense rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, most nations were allied with one side or the other. Nehru, however, refused to support either side. He chose to use the UN to resolve international conflicts and strongly supported UN peacekeeping operations.

Border disputes between India and China erupted into armed violence in October 1962, when Chinese forces swept into northeastern India. In November, the Chinese pulled back, and a cease-fire took effect. Nehru, who had been surprised by the Chinese invasion, decided that military spending should increase. As a result, more of the budget went to the armed forces and less to education, health, and social reform.

India under Indira Gandhi. Nehru died in office in 1964. He was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri, a member of his cabinet. In early 1965, fighting broke out along the Pakistan-India border, but Shastri and President Muhammad Ayub Khan of Pakistan quickly agreed to a cease-fire under UN supervision. There were many violations of the cease-fire, and later that year, Pakistan and India fought over Kashmir. Once again, a UN-sponsored cease-fire took effect.

In 1966, Shastri and Ayub Khan signed a peace treaty. Shastri died shortly after signing. A brief leadership struggle within the Congress Party followed Shastri's death. Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, eventually became the prime minister in 1966.

In 1971, civil war broke out in Pakistan, and millions of East Pakistani refugees fled into India. India assisted East Pakistan in the fight against West Pakistan. West Pakistan was defeated , and East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh.

Gandhi had taken office during widespread unrest because of severe food shortages, unemployment, and other problems. The economic situation remained poor in the early 1970's, and there were many stations urging her removal. In June 1975, a high court found Gandhi guilty of using illegal practices in her 1971 election campaign. Rather than resign, Gandhi had the president declare a state of emergency. She claimed that external enemies and internal forces of disorder were trying to break India apart. She had her opponents jailed and imposed strict censorship. In November 1975, the Supreme Court of India overturned her conviction.

In 1977, Gandhi declared the state of emergency over. Political prisoners were released, and preparations were made for elections that year. For the first time, the Congress Party lost, and the newly formed Janata Party came into office. But the Janata Party, which was a coalition of several parties, could not hold itself together. By 1980, elections had to be held. Gandhi's party, Congress-I (the I stood for Indira), won back power, and Gandhi once again became prime minister. In the early 1980's, a militant Sikh movement grew in the Punjab. The leaders of this movement claimed that the Sikhs suffered from widespread discrimination. They wanted a separate state only for Sikhs. Some Sikhs carried out acts of terrorism and violence against people who opposed the movement. Sikh militants occupied the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the most sacred Sikh shrine. In 1984, government troops attacked the temple. The leaders of the militants died in the fighting. Many Sikhs were angry that their shrine had been attacked, and two Sikh members of Gandhi's security force assasinated her on Oct. 31, 1984. The assassination touched off riots in which several thousand Sikhs were killed. Gandhi's elder son, Rajiv, succeeded her as head of the Congress-I Party and as prime minister.