Maia Ramnath - Decolonizing Anarchism.pdf - Libcom

208 I Ramnath
eye accustomed to applying the stereoscopic lenses of
anarchism and anticolonialism. Whether the two views
intersect remains to be seen.
The Postcolonial State
Even on purely nationalist terms, the handover of power
on August 15, 1947, wasn't an unambiguous victory.
Not all who aspired to inclusion in the nation were incorporated
on equal terms; while some who didn't want
to be included were strong-armed into joining. Some
other areas might have been included-Afghanistan and
Nepal-if the British had ever succeeded in conquering
them. Partition broke the colonial unit into three pieces­
India, West Pakistan, and the former East Pakistan, now
Bangladesh-igniting a traumatic multidirectional transfer
of populations tantamount to ethnic cleansing in some
areas. By some estimates, between 500,000 and 1 million
people died, and 14.5 million were made refugees during
this crisis.
The unitary nature of these states proved no less precarious
over time. When writing their constitutions, both
the Indian and Pakistani government-forming bodies debated
whether to enshrine a more centralized locus of power
or a looser federal model with greater regional autonomy.
Some argue that had a more decentralized federal structure
been adopted from the start, the bloody plunge to partition
might have been averted, as would the repeated pattern of
separatist movements.