While Clear Light of Day deals mostly with the Das family and their private relationships, fears, and dreams, it is also set against the backdrop of one of the most momentous events in the 20th century: the independence of India from Britain and the separating of India and Pakistan.
India and Pakistan were some of the British Empire’s most lucrative and politically significant holdings. The Indian independence movement began as early as the 1850s and gained some ground in the 1880s with the formation of the Indian National Congress, but it began to achieve prominence from the 1920s onward when Mahatma Gandhi became its leader.
During the Second World War, the INC pushed for Britain to “Quit India,” but Gandhi worried about asking for self-rule while Britain was being devastated by the Nazis. Nevertheless, when the war ended, it was clear that the demand for independence was widespread. Congress and the Muslim League dominated elections and the new British prime minister, Clement Atlee, favored independence.
The leader of the Muslim League, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, argued that Muslims should have their own state. In response to this, the Mountbatten Plan would divide British India along religious lines; however, this was flawed because many Muslims lived in Hindu-majority India and Hindus and Sikhs lived in what would be Pakistan. Sir Cyril Radcliffe proposed a line that would divide the country on simple district majorities, and this “Radcliffe Line” was put into effect only five days after it was proposed. The line was later deemed “a failure in terms of boundary-making, but a striking success in terms of providing political cover to all sides.” Independence day for Pakistan was August 14th, 1947, and India’s was the following day because Lord Mountbatten had to travel from the former to the latter; it took two more days for Pakistan’s official borders, the Radcliffe Line, to be established. Jawaharlal Nehru became India’s first prime minister, and Jinnah became Pakistan’s Governor-General for the interim.
British withdrawal was hasty, and, despite the elation over independence, troubles began immediately. Over 15 million Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs moved from one country to another because they feared persecution, making this the largest movement of peoples in human history. Over a million people died in this massive upheaval, and many spent time in horrific camps near cities afflicted by violence and looting. New Delhi saw the breakdown of law and order and Muslims waited for succor in the walls of Humayan’s Tomb. A Hindu nationalist assassinated Gandhi in January of 1948 due to his perceived tolerance for Muslims.
After Gandhi’s assassination, secular politicians began to exercise a greater hold over the country, and the first democratic elections were held in 1951.
India and Pakistan fought, and continue to fight, over Kashmir, a majority-Muslim border region whose ruler felt it was in his best interest to stay a part of India. India continues to possess about 2/3 of the area, but final boundaries are still disputed. In 1971 both India and Pakistan fought over East Pakistan, which seceded and became Bangladesh.
