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www.GOALias.blogspot.com14 Politics in India since Independenceequally and that India should not be a country that gave superiorstatus to adherents of one faith and inferior to those who practicedanother religion. All citizens would be equal irrespective of theirreligious affiliation. Being religious or a believer would not be a testof citizenship. They cherished therefore the ideal of a secular nation.This ideal was enshrined in the Indian Constitution.Shweta noticed that her Nana (maternal grandfather) would get veryquiet whenever anyone mentioned Pakistan. One day she decided toask him about it. Her Nana told her about how he moved from Lahore toLudhiana during Partition. Both his parents were killed. Even he wouldnot have survived, but a neighbouring Muslim family gave him shelterand kept him in hiding for several days. They helped him find somerelatives and that is how he managed to cross the border and start anew life.Have you heard a similar story? Ask your grandparents or anyone ofthat generation about their memories of Independence Day, about thecelebration, about the trauma of Partition, about the expectations theyhad from independence.Write down at least two of these stories.Let’s re-searchIntegration of Princely StatesBritish India was divided into what were called the British IndianProvinces and the Princely States. The British Indian Provinces weredirectly under the control of the British government. On the other hand,several large and small states ruled by princes, called the PrincelyStates, enjoyed some form of control over their internal affairs as longas they accepted British supremacy. This was called paramountcy orsuzerainty of the British crown. Princely States covered one-third ofthe land area of the British Indian Empire and one out of four Indianslived under princely rule.The problemJust before Independence it was announced by the British that withthe end of their rule over India, paramountcy of the British crownover Princely States would also lapse. This meant that all thesestates, as many as 565 in all, would become legally independent. TheBritish government took the view that all these states were free to joineither India or Pakistan or remain independent if they so wished. Thisdecision was left not to the people but to the princely rulers of thesestates. This was a very serious problem and could threaten the veryexistence of a united India.The problems started very soon. First of all, the ruler of Travancoreannounced that the state had decided on Independence. The Nizam