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www.GOALias.blogspot.comChallenges of Nation Building 11and assets, or a political division ofthe country and the administrativeapparatus. What also got divided werethe financial assets, and things liketables, chairs, typewriters, paper-clips,books and also musical instrumentsof the police band! The employees ofthe government and the railways werealso ‘divided’. Above all, it was a violentseparation of communities who hadhitherto lived together as neighbours.It is estimated that the Partition forcedabout 80 lakh people to migrate acrossthe new border. Between five to ten lakhpeople were killed in Partition relatedviolence.Beyond the administrative concernsand financial strains, however, thePartition posed another deeper issue.The leaders of the Indian nationalstruggle did not believe in the two-nationtheory. And yet, partition on religiousbasis had taken place. Did that makeIndia a Hindu nation automatically?Even after large scale migration ofMuslims to the newly created Pakistan,the Muslim population in Indiaaccounted for 12 per cent of the totalpopulation in 1951. So, how would thegovernment of India treat its Muslimcitizens and other religious minorities(Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists,Parsis and Jews)? The Partition hadalready created severe conflict betweenthe two communities.There were competing politicalinterests behind these conflicts. TheMuslim League was formed to protectthe interests of the Muslims in colonialIndia. It was in the forefront of thedemand for a separate Muslim nation.Similarly, there were organisations,which were trying to organise theHindus in order to turn India into aHindu nation. But most leaders of thenational movement believed that Indiamust treat persons of all religionsLet’s watch a FilmGARAM HAWASalim Mirza, a shoe manufacturerin Agra, increasingly finds himselfa stranger amid the people hehas lived with all his life. He feelslost in the emerging reality afterPartition. His business suffersand a refugee from the other sideof partitioned India occupies hisancestral dwelling. His daughtertoo has a tragic end. He believesthat things would soon be normalagain.But many of his family membersdecide to move to Pakistan. Salimis torn between an impulse tomove out to Pakistan and an urgeto stay back. A decisive momentcomes when Salim witnesses astudents’ procession demandingfair treatment from the government.His son Sikandar has joined theprocession. Can you imaginewhat Mirza Salim finally did? Whatdo you think you would have donein these circumstances?Year: 1973Director: M.S. SathyuScreenplay: Kaifi AzmiActors: Balraj Sahani, Jalal Aga,Farouque Sheikh, Gita Siddharth