Partition of Bengal (1947)

The Partition of Bengal in 1947, part of the Partition of India, divided the British Indian province of Bengal based on the Radcliffe Line between India and Pakistan. Predominantly Hindu West Bengal became a state of India, and predominantly Muslim East Bengal (now Bangladesh) became a province of Pakistan.

Quotes

• There’s nothing in common between the East Bengalis and the West Bengalis. Between us and the East Bengalis, on the other hand, there’s religion in com­mon. The Partition of 1947 was a very good thing.
  • Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, April 1972 interview to Oriana Fallaci, as quoted in Interviews with History and Conversations with Power (2011).

• “There is a notion among ordinary Muslims in the Eastern Pakistan region that after August 15 the houses and land of the Hindus there will automatically pass into the possession of Muslims, and that the Hindus will be a sort subject race under the Muslims of that area.”
  • Shri Kiron Shankar Roy, the well-known leader of Bengal, in a statement to the press on July 22. as quoted in Talib, S. G. S. (1950). Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus inthe Punjab, 1947. Amritsar: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. [1] [2] [3] [4] p 125