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6 India’s dilemmas of pragmatism v. principles

Nehru’s preference for a partitioned India but a federal Palestine
  • P. R. Kumaraswamy
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The breakup of India and Palestine
This chapter is in the book The breakup of India and Palestine

Abstract

While the acceptance of a communal partition in the Indian subcontinent was a collective majority decision of the Indian National Congress Party, Jawaharlal Nehru (prime minister of the interim government since September 1946 and of free India from 15 August 1947) was the architect of the federal plan for Palestine. His approach towards colonial situations and partition as a possible solution to communal problems in India and Palestine highlighted his dichotomy between pragmatism necessitated by the politico-territorial immediacy of the Indian condition, and moral posturing facilitated by geographical distance. Having achieved independence through communal partition, he was urging the Jews and Arabs of Palestine to coexist under one political authority through accommodation and cooperation. The federal plan was not only a sign of Indian naivety regarding international diplomacy, but also a reflection of its duality; political pragmatism was confined to the subcontinent while moral eloquence was visible and useful elsewhere. The duality towards the two partitions was compounded by the uncritical adulation of the federal plan by various Indian scholars and writers.

Abstract

While the acceptance of a communal partition in the Indian subcontinent was a collective majority decision of the Indian National Congress Party, Jawaharlal Nehru (prime minister of the interim government since September 1946 and of free India from 15 August 1947) was the architect of the federal plan for Palestine. His approach towards colonial situations and partition as a possible solution to communal problems in India and Palestine highlighted his dichotomy between pragmatism necessitated by the politico-territorial immediacy of the Indian condition, and moral posturing facilitated by geographical distance. Having achieved independence through communal partition, he was urging the Jews and Arabs of Palestine to coexist under one political authority through accommodation and cooperation. The federal plan was not only a sign of Indian naivety regarding international diplomacy, but also a reflection of its duality; political pragmatism was confined to the subcontinent while moral eloquence was visible and useful elsewhere. The duality towards the two partitions was compounded by the uncritical adulation of the federal plan by various Indian scholars and writers.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Dedication v
  3. Contents vii
  4. List of contributors ix
  5. Foreword by Lucy Chester xiii
  6. Acknowledgements xvi
  7. Introduction - Connecting the partitions of India and Palestine 1
  8. Part I: The partition of British India
  9. 1 The Mountbatten Viceroyalty reconsidered 35
  10. 2 The paradigmatic partition? The Pakistan demand revisited 57
  11. Part II: The partition of Palestine
  12. 3 Partition and the question of international governance 75
  13. 4 Fighting for Palestine as a holy duty? The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the partition of Palestine in 1947 91
  14. Part III: The partitions of India and Palestine compared
  15. 5 The communal question and partition in British India and mandate Palestine 113
  16. 6 India’s dilemmas of pragmatism v. principles 138
  17. Part IV: The consequences of partition for South Asia, the Middle East and beyond
  18. 7 The partitions of India and Palestine and the dawn of majority rule in Africa and Asia 159
  19. 8 ‘Unfinished’ partition 193
  20. 9 Civil war, total war or a war of partition? Reassessing the 1948 War in Palestine from a global perspective 222
  21. 10 Partitioned identities? Regional, caste and national identity in Pakistan 259
  22. Afterword 278
  23. Index 289
https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526170323.00016

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Dedication v
  3. Contents vii
  4. List of contributors ix
  5. Foreword by Lucy Chester xiii
  6. Acknowledgements xvi
  7. Introduction - Connecting the partitions of India and Palestine 1
  8. Part I: The partition of British India
  9. 1 The Mountbatten Viceroyalty reconsidered 35
  10. 2 The paradigmatic partition? The Pakistan demand revisited 57
  11. Part II: The partition of Palestine
  12. 3 Partition and the question of international governance 75
  13. 4 Fighting for Palestine as a holy duty? The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the partition of Palestine in 1947 91
  14. Part III: The partitions of India and Palestine compared
  15. 5 The communal question and partition in British India and mandate Palestine 113
  16. 6 India’s dilemmas of pragmatism v. principles 138
  17. Part IV: The consequences of partition for South Asia, the Middle East and beyond
  18. 7 The partitions of India and Palestine and the dawn of majority rule in Africa and Asia 159
  19. 8 ‘Unfinished’ partition 193
  20. 9 Civil war, total war or a war of partition? Reassessing the 1948 War in Palestine from a global perspective 222
  21. 10 Partitioned identities? Regional, caste and national identity in Pakistan 259
  22. Afterword 278
  23. Index 289
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