The partition of India and Pakistan was a period of great unrest. There was an overwhelming amount of violence and confusion at the time, in 1947, when two new countries were born: Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-dominated Pakistan. Although there had not been many violent altercations between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs before this time, Partition led to a myriad of difficulties between the three groups. Due to violence and tensions between different religious groups in India and Pakistan, many people (up to eleven million) have been forced to leave their homes and settle in their respective countries. This meant that Muslims would have to migrate to Pakistan and Hindus to India. India and Pakistan gained their independence in August 1947, following a very long nationalist struggle. In fact, this struggle lasted almost three decades. Thus, this sets an important example for European empires ending elsewhere. Unfortunately, the independence of both countries triggered the largest mass migration in history – around 10 million people. Worse still, around a million civilians lost their lives in the riots and fighting that accompanied the migration. These altercations occurred mainly in the western Punjab region, which had been divided into two because of the border. The consensus to divide India into two different countries – Pakistan (for Muslims) and India (for Hindus) – is often considered to be the result of conflicts between the elites of each nation. However, this assumption does not justify the ridiculous amount of violence that accompanied migration. There is a probable justification for the disorder resulting from the division of the two nations: Britain's rapid evacuation of India following their sudden disappearance...... middle of paper ...... urn led Muslims to be convinced that it will not be possible for them to prosper in an undivided nation after being freed from British colonial rule. They believed that their interests and goals would not be heard, but rather suppressed. For example, one of the Hindu policies that surprised Muslims was the attempt to impose "Bande Matram", a national anthem which in the past had been linked to anti-Islamic sentiment, notably in Indian schools where Muslim students were forced to attend classes. sing it against their will. Support for Britain was banned by Hindus in the midst of World War II, and conversely, Muslims promised full support for the British. Obviously, the British ended up favoring the Muslims because of their support: their Muslim army was very large and it would provide substantial aid..