CBSE Class 12 · Challenges of Nation Building

Partition: Displacement, Rehabilitation and the Challenges of 1947 (Class 12 Political Science)

Updated 16 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Partition divided British India into India and Pakistan on 14-15 August 1947 by the principle of religious majorities. It caused one of the largest, most abrupt and unplanned population transfers in history: about 80 lakh people migrated and five to ten lakh were killed. Despite it, India chose to remain a secular state with equal citizens.

Understand Partition: Displacement and Rehabilitation

Why this topic matters. The first chapter of Politics in India since Independence is worth 6 marks, and Partition is its most-tested part: the three challenges, problems in the process of partition, its consequences, Gandhi's role and refugees. NCERT sections: 'Challenges for the new nation-state' and 'Partition: displacement and rehabilitation', with the Gandhi box and literary extracts.

1. The setting. India became independent at midnight on 14-15 August 1947; Nehru gave the 'tryst with destiny' speech to a special session of the Constituent Assembly. Two goals had near-universal support: democratic government, and government for the good of all, especially the poor and socially disadvantaged.

2. Three challenges.

Challenge	What it meant
Shaping a nation	Unity that accommodates diversity of languages, cultures and religions; integrating territory, at a time when many doubted India could hold together
Establishing democracy	The Constitution gave rights and the vote to all, but democratic practices had to be developed; a democratic constitution is necessary but not sufficient
Development of the whole society	Equality, protection for disadvantaged groups, Directive Principles; the real task was effective policies for economic development and ending poverty

This chapter is about the first challenge; the next two chapters cover democracy and development.

3. Why Partition happened. The Muslim League's 'two-nation theory' said India had two 'peoples', Hindus and Muslims, and demanded Pakistan. The Congress opposed it, but political developments of the 1940s, Congress-League competition and the British role led to the decision.

4. Problems in the process. The principle was religious majorities: Muslim-majority areas to Pakistan, the rest to India. Four difficulties:

Problem	Detail
No single Muslim-majority belt	Two areas, west and east, could not be joined: West and East Pakistan, separated by a long stretch of India
Not all Muslim-majority areas wanted Pakistan	Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan ('Frontier Gandhi') of the NWFP opposed the two-nation theory, but was ignored and the NWFP merged with Pakistan
Punjab and Bengal	Muslim-majority provinces with large non-Muslim areas, divided at district level or lower; not settled by midnight of 14-15 August, so many did not know which country they were in; the deepest trauma
Minorities on both sides (most intractable)	Lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan and Muslims in Indian Punjab and Bengal (and partly Delhi) were trapped, suddenly undesirable aliens in their own homes

5. Consequences.

1947 saw one of the largest, most abrupt, unplanned and tragic population transfers in history.
About 80 lakh people migrated; five to ten lakh were killed.
Lahore, Amritsar and Kolkata were split into 'communal zones'.
Refugees often had a few hours' notice, travelled on foot, were attacked on the way and lived for months or years in refugee camps, often facing unhelpful local administration.
Thousands of women were abducted, forcibly converted and married; some were killed by their own families for 'family honour'; children were separated from parents.
Division of assets: financial assets, furniture, typewriters, even the police band's instruments; government and railway employees were 'divided'.
Survivors called it a 'division of hearts': above all, a violent separation of neighbours.
Writers recorded it: Faiz Ahmed Faiz ('Subh-e-Azadi'), Amrita Pritam ('Aaj Akhan Waris Shah Nun'), Saadat Hasan Manto, and the film Garam Hawa (1973, M.S. Sathyu).

6. Gandhi's last fight.

When	What he did
15 August 1947	Skipped the celebrations; stayed in riot-torn Kolkata; his presence brought calm, and a fast when riots returned
Next month	Moved to Delhi; wanted Muslims to stay with dignity as equal citizens; unhappy that India was not honouring financial commitments to Pakistan
January 1948	Last fast: violence fell, Muslims returned home, India agreed to pay Pakistan its dues
30 January 1948	Shot by Nathuram Vinayak Godse at his evening prayer in Delhi

7. The secular choice. Even after migration, Muslims were 10-12 per cent of India's population in 1951. Partition did not make India a Hindu nation: most national leaders held that all religions must be treated equally and that belief would not be a test of citizenship; this secular ideal was written into the Constitution. Nehru's letter to Chief Ministers (15 October 1947) warned that failing to give minorities security and citizens' rights would create a 'festering sore' poisoning the body politic.

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

a 'division of hearts'
Phrase used by Partition survivors, cited in NCERT Chapter 1: How survivors and writers described Partition.
Shows Partition was more than a division of territory and assets.
Tomorrow will thus be a day of rejoicing as well as of mourning
Mahatma Gandhi, Kolkata, 14 August 1947: On the eve of independence and partition.
Captures the double meaning of 15 August 1947.
Being religious or a believer would not be a test of citizenship
NCERT, Politics in India since Independence, Chapter 1: The secular ideal adopted after Partition.
Key line for questions on India's response to Partition.

Partition: Displacement and Rehabilitation: key facts

Three challenges: Shape a united yet accommodative nation
Establish democracy
Ensure development and well-being of the whole society; Chapter 1 deals with the first.
Four problems of partition: No single Muslim-majority belt: West and East Pakistan
NWFP and Frontier Gandhi ignored
Punjab and Bengal divided at district level
Minorities on both sides (most intractable); Principle used: religious majorities.
Consequences in figures: About 80 lakh migrated
5 to 10 lakh killed
Communal zones: Lahore, Amritsar, Kolkata
Muslims 10-12% of India's population in 1951; 1947: largest, most abrupt, unplanned transfer.
Gandhi's last months: 15 Aug 1947 Kolkata
Next month Delhi
January 1948 last fast; Pakistan paid dues
30 January 1948 assassinated by Nathuram Vinayak Godse; Goal: Muslims to stay as equal citizens.

15 Aug 1947	Kolkata
Next month	Delhi
January 1948	last fast; Pakistan paid dues
30 January 1948	assassinated by Nathuram Vinayak Godse

How to answer Partition: Displacement and Rehabilitation questions

Partition questions ask for the three challenges, the problems of the process, the consequences, Gandhi's role or refugees. Each has a fixed set of points; precise figures and named examples raise the answer above general description.

1Identify which list the question wants: challenges, problems, consequences or Gandhi.
2Open with one line of context: 14-15 August 1947, two-nation theory, religious majorities.
3Write each point as a headed sentence with one example or figure.
4For consequences, cover human (migration, killings, women), administrative (assets) and political (secular choice) sides.
5For Gandhi, follow the sequence Kolkata, Delhi, last fast, assassination.
6End with how India responded: the secular ideal in the Constitution.

Partition: Displacement and Rehabilitation in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Minorities trapped by a new border

Suppose a housing society is split overnight into two separate societies by a wall, and the rule is that each block goes to whichever group is the majority there. A family whose community is a minority in its block wakes up to find its neighbours now see it as outsiders.

Which problem of Partition does this mirror?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

The wall follows majorities block by block, like Punjab and Bengal at district level.
The family has done nothing but is now on the 'wrong' side.
Fear makes it leave its home, like refugees in 1947.

Answer: It mirrors the most intractable problem of Partition: minorities on both sides suddenly treated as aliens in their own homes.

Memory hook: Same home, new border, now an outsider.

Dividing assets

Imagine two roommates who split up overnight and must divide everything: the fridge, the books, even the guitar strings, while arguing over who keeps the shared bank balance.

Which aspect of Partition does this resemble?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

The fridge and books mirror office furniture, typewriters and books.
The guitar strings mirror the police band's musical instruments.
The bank balance mirrors financial assets; and Gandhi objected to the government's decision not to honour its financial commitments to Pakistan.

Answer: It resembles the administrative division of 1947, when financial assets, furniture, typewriters, paper-clips, books and even police band instruments were divided, along with government and railway employees.

Memory hook: Even the paper-clips were partitioned.

Tricks to remember Partition: Displacement and Rehabilitation

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

Nation, Democracy, Development
N-D-D: the three challenges in NCERT's order, covered by Chapters 1, 2 and 3.
Use it when: Three challenges questions.
Belt, Frontier, Provinces, People
No single belt; Frontier Gandhi ignored; Punjab and Bengal provinces split; people (minorities) trapped.
Use it when: Four problems of partition.
80 lakh moved, up to 10 lakh died
Eighty moved, five to ten killed.
Use it when: Consequence figures.

Partition: Displacement and Rehabilitation: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: A film about 1947 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

Which film, discussed in NCERT, tells the story of Salim Mirza, a shoe manufacturer in Agra who finds himself a stranger among his own people after Partition?
(a) Garam Hawa
(b) Tamas
(c) Pinjar
(d) Earth

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

NCERT's film box: Garam Hawa (1973), directed by M.S. Sathyu (1 mark).

Answer: (a) Garam Hawa

Example 2: Rejoicing and mourning · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

Why did Mahatma Gandhi say on 14 August 1947 that the next day would be 'a day of rejoicing as well as of mourning'? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Rejoicing: freedom from British domination (1 mark).
Mourning: India partitioned at the same midnight (1 mark).

Answer: It would be a day of rejoicing because India would be free from the slavery of British domination. It would also be a day of mourning because at the same midnight India would be partitioned, with the violence and suffering that division was already bringing.

Example 3: Assertion and reason: Punjab and Bengal · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

Assertion (A): On the day of independence, many people in Punjab and Bengal did not know whether they were in India or Pakistan.
Reason (R): The division of these provinces at the district level or below could not be completed by the midnight of 14-15 August 1947.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

The unfinished boundary decision directly explains the uncertainty (1 mark).

Answer: (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Example 4: Would India become a Hindu nation? · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level

Why did Partition raise the question of whether India would become a Hindu nation, and how did India's leaders answer it? (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Why the question arose: division on religious lines (1 mark).
Fact: Muslims still 10-12 per cent in 1951 (1 mark).
Leaders' answer: equal citizenship, secular ideal in the Constitution (1 mark).
Nehru's warning and Gandhi's work (1 mark).

Answer: Because Pakistan was created on the basis of religious majorities, some asked whether India should then become a nation of Hindus. But even after large-scale migration, Muslims made up 10-12 per cent of India's population in 1951, and there were other religious minorities too. Most leaders of the national movement held that India must treat persons of all religions equally and must not be a country that gave superior status to one faith; being religious or a believer would not be a test of citizenship. This secular ideal was enshrined in the Constitution. Nehru warned Chief Ministers on 15 October 1947 that failing to give the Muslim minority security and the rights of citizens would create a festering sore that could poison the whole body politic, and Gandhi worked until his death for Muslims to live in India with dignity as equal citizens.

Example 5: Source-based: a grandfather's story · 4 marks · Source-basedHarder board level

Read the passage (written for this page) and choose the most appropriate answer for each question.

An old man in Jalandhar recalls leaving his village near Lahore in 1947 with a few hours' warning. He walked for days, saw a train attacked, and lived in a tent camp for a year. He survived only because a neighbouring family of the other faith hid him for a week.

(i) The province through which he travelled was divided at the district level or below. It was:
(A) Punjab (B) Assam (C) Sindh (D) Bihar
(ii) According to NCERT, about how many people were forced to migrate across the new border?
(A) 8 lakh (B) 80 lakh (C) 8 crore (D) 80 crore
(iii) The man had no choice but to flee violence. He is best described as a:
(A) migrant (B) refugee (C) tourist (D) settler
(iv) The neighbouring family's help shows that:
(A) all communities were hostile to one another (B) compassion across communities survived even amid the violence (C) the government organised all migration (D) Partition was peaceful

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(i) (A): Punjab, like Bengal, was divided at district level or below (1 mark).
(ii) (B): about 80 lakh (1 mark).
(iii) (B): forced flight makes him a refugee (1 mark).
(iv) (B): NCERT's box describes a neighbouring family sheltering a boy of the other community (1 mark).

Answer: (i) (A) Punjab; (ii) (B) 80 lakh; (iii) (B) refugee; (iv) (B) compassion across communities survived even amid the violence.

Example 6: Long answer: the principle of religious majorities · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

How far did the principle of religious majorities work as a basis for dividing British India? Evaluate with reference to the problems it created and the choice India made afterwards. (6 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

The principle and its source (1 mark).
Problems: two wings; NWFP (1 mark).
Problems: Punjab and Bengal; minorities (2 marks).
Human cost (1 mark).
Judgement, with India's secular choice (1 mark).

Answer: The Muslim League's two-nation theory held that India consisted of two peoples, Hindus and Muslims, and the Partition plan followed the principle of religious majorities: Muslim-majority areas would form Pakistan and the rest would remain with India. Applying it proved far harder than stating it.

There was no single belt of Muslim-majority areas, so Pakistan had to consist of two territories, West and East, separated by a long stretch of India. Not all Muslim-majority areas wanted Pakistan: Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, the 'Frontier Gandhi' of the NWFP, opposed the two-nation theory, but his voice was ignored. Punjab and Bengal were Muslim-majority provinces with very large non-Muslim populations, so they had to be divided at the district level or below; the decision was not ready by the midnight of 14-15 August, and many did not know which country they were in. Above all, minorities on both sides were trapped and became undesirable aliens in lands where their ancestors had lived for centuries.

The human cost was immense: about 80 lakh people migrated, five to ten lakh were killed, women were abducted and cities were split into communal zones.

Judgement: the principle produced a boundary, but it could not produce communities that matched it, and it was imposed on people who had not asked for it. India's response showed the limits of the principle: it refused to define itself by religion, chose equal citizenship and a secular Constitution, and kept a large Muslim population as equal citizens.

Where students lose marks in Partition: Displacement and Rehabilitation

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Mixing up the challenges
Listing Partition violence as one of the three challenges.
Wrong working
The three challenges were Partition, refugees and princely states.
Right working
Shaping a united nation, establishing democracy, development for all; Partition and princely states fall under the first.
Do this: Nation, Democracy, Development.
Usually costs: 2-3 marks.
Mistake: Wrong figures
Guessing casualty numbers.
Wrong working
About 80 lakh people were killed.
Right working
About 80 lakh migrated; five to ten lakh were killed.
Do this: Eighty moved, up to ten killed.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Ignoring the human side
Writing only about territory and assets.
Wrong working
Partition divided land, armies and money between India and Pakistan.
Right working
Add refugees, abducted women, separated children, communal zones, 'division of hearts'.
Do this: Cover human, administrative and political consequences.
Usually costs: 1-2 marks.
Mistake: Confusing refugees and migrants
Using the words as synonyms.
Wrong working
All people who moved in 1947 were migrants.
Right working
Refugees are forced to flee, often by violence; migrants move by choice, usually for work.
Do this: Force vs choice.
Usually costs: 1 mark.

Exam tips

Asked in: 2023 board paper 59/1/1 Q28(a), 2024 board paper 59/1/1 Q29(a) and 2024 board paper 59/3/1 Q30(a) (6 marks, three challenges after independence); 2024 board paper 59/3/1 Q30(b) and 2026 board paper 59/2/1 Q30(b) (6 marks, difficulties or problems in the process of partition); 2025 board paper 59/4/1 Q29(a) (6 marks) and 2026 board paper 59/4/1 Q22 (4 marks) on consequences of partition; 2024 board paper 59/1/1 Q29(b) (6 marks) and 2025 board paper 59/6/1 Q20 (4 marks) on Gandhi's role; 2026 board paper 59/2/1 Q16 (2 marks, refugees and migrants); 2026 board paper 59/5/1 Q7 (1 mark, who advanced the two-nation theory). Answers here are our own.
Learn the four problems of partition in NCERT's order.
Give the 80 lakh and five-to-ten lakh figures in consequence answers.
Gandhi answers need dates: 15 August 1947, January 1948, 30 January 1948.
Kashmir belongs to Chapter 7; Junagadh, Hyderabad and Manipur to the princely states topic.

Practice questions on Partition: Displacement and Rehabilitation

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Which cities did NCERT say became divided into 'communal zones' during Partition?
(a) Lahore, Amritsar and Kolkata
(b) Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai
(c) Karachi, Dhaka and Patna
(d) Lucknow, Hyderabad and Agra
Hint
Two are in the divided provinces.
Answer
(a) Lahore, Amritsar and Kolkata.
Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level
Besides territory, what did India and Pakistan have to divide at Partition? Give two examples from NCERT. (2 marks)
Hint
Offices, money, people on the payroll.
Answer
Any two: financial assets; office items such as tables, chairs, typewriters, paper-clips and books; even the musical instruments of the police band; and the employees of the government and the railways, who were also "divided".
Q3 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level
What did Nehru warn the Chief Ministers in his letter of 15 October 1947? (2 marks)
Hint
The Muslim minority; a festering sore.
Answer
He wrote that India had a large Muslim minority who could not go anywhere else even if they wanted to, so they must be treated in a civilised manner and given security and the rights of citizens in a democratic state. If India failed, it would have a festering sore that would eventually poison the whole body politic and probably destroy it.
Q4 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Partition made India a Hindu nation.
Reason (R): Even after migration, Muslims formed 10-12 per cent of India's population in 1951.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
Hint
What ideal did the Constitution adopt?
Answer
(d) A is false but R is true: India chose to be a secular state with equal citizenship.
Q5 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Using NCERT's account, explain how Partition divided cities and communities, with reference to communal zones, Manto's story and the experience of refugees. (4 marks)
Hint
Zones; the halted train; hours of notice; camps.
Answer
Communal zones: cities such as Lahore, Amritsar and Kolkata became divided into zones; Muslims avoided areas where mainly Hindus or Sikhs lived, and Hindus and Sikhs avoided Muslim areas. Manto's story 'Hospitality Delayed' captures the brutality: rioters stop a train, pull out and kill people of the other community, and then serve the remaining passengers halwa, fruit and milk. Refugees: minorities were forced to leave their homes, often at a few hours' notice, travelled on foot and were attacked on the way, and many lived for months or years in refugee camps. Together these show that Partition was a violent separation of communities who had lived together as neighbours.
Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
Suppose you are a journalist in Delhi in January 1948 writing about Gandhi's fast. Explain why he fasted and what it achieved, and why some people opposed him. (4 marks)
Hint
Muslims' dignity; dues to Pakistan; extremists.
Answer
Gandhi fasted because communal violence had erupted in Delhi and he wanted Muslims to be able to stay in India with dignity as equal citizens; he was also unhappy that the Indian government had decided not to honour its financial commitments to Pakistan. The fast had a dramatic effect: communal tension and violence fell, Muslims of Delhi and nearby areas could return home safely, and the government agreed to give Pakistan its dues. But extremists in both communities blamed him for their condition, and on 30 January 1948 one of them, Nathuram Vinayak Godse, assassinated him at his evening prayer.
Q7 · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
NCERT presents Partition through many voices: Faiz Ahmed Faiz's 'bitten-by-night dawn', Amrita Pritam's call to Waris Shah, Manto's story of a halted train and the film Garam Hawa. Using these and the facts of 1947, explain what Partition meant for ordinary people. (6 marks)
Hint
Freedom without joy; violence; loss of home; strangers in one's own land.
Answer
For millions, freedom and grief arrived together. Faiz Ahmed Faiz wrote that this 'scarred, marred brightness, this bitten-by-night dawn' was not the dawn that had been awaited: independence did not feel like liberation to those who lost homes and families. Gandhi himself called 15 August a day of rejoicing as well as mourning.
The facts explain the grief. About 80 lakh people migrated across the new border and between five and ten lakh were killed. Thousands of women were abducted, forced to convert and marry, and some were killed by their own families in the name of honour. Amrita Pritam's poem, calling on the poet Waris Shah to speak from his grave for the daughters of Punjab, gives voice to this suffering.
Violence became ordinary. Manto's story of rioters halting a train, killing passengers of the other community and then offering halwa and milk to the rest shows how cruelty and normal life sat side by side. Lahore, Amritsar and Kolkata were split into communal zones.
Even those who stayed lost their sense of belonging. In Garam Hawa, Salim Mirza, a shoe manufacturer in Agra, increasingly finds himself a stranger amid people he has lived with all his life.
Together these voices show why survivors called Partition a 'division of hearts': for ordinary people it meant loss of home, safety, family and identity, not just a new boundary.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.Where did Gandhi spend 15 August 1947?Show answer
In riot-torn Kolkata, away from the celebrations.
2.What principle decided the division of territory?Show answer
Religious majorities.
3.Which poet wrote "Today I call Waris Shah"?Show answer
Amrita Pritam.
4.Who wrote the story 'Hospitality Delayed'?Show answer
Saadat Hasan Manto.
5.When was Gandhi assassinated, and by whom?Show answer
30 January 1948, by Nathuram Vinayak Godse.
6.Which poet wrote 'The Dawn of Freedom'?Show answer
Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

Partition: Displacement and Rehabilitation: frequently asked questions

Did all Muslim-majority areas want to join Pakistan?

No. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, the 'Frontier Gandhi' of the NWFP, opposed the two-nation theory, but his voice was ignored and the NWFP was merged with Pakistan.

How many people died in Partition violence?

Between five and ten lakh, according to NCERT; about 80 lakh were forced to migrate.

Were government employees affected by Partition?

Yes. Employees of the government and the railways were "divided" between the two countries, along with financial assets and office property.

How did India respond to Partition politically?

It chose to be a secular state where all citizens are equal and religion is not a test of citizenship.