Annulment of Bengal Partition
Annulment of Bengal Partition in the backdrop of intense dissatisfaction of the Bangali Hindu community regarding the partition of bengal (1905-11) manifested through the ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Revolutionary Terrorist’ Movements as well as the sustained campaign waged against it by the Indian National Congress, the British colonial government of India led by the Viceroy cum Governor General Lord Charles Hardinge ultimately decided to revoke it in 1911. By then, the British administrators believed they had successfully destroyed the nationalistic tendencies of building a political movement in which the Muslims could join the Hindus through their ‘divide and rule’ policy.
Prior to the annulment, the British administrators had assured the Muslims that they would be the majority in the newly constituted province of Bengal. Besides, the interests of the Muslims were protected through representations in the legislative and local government councils through separate electorates under the Morley-Minto Reforms (The Indian Councils Act 1909). Lord Hardinge envisaged that Bengal province would comprise the territories of East and West Bengal where Bengali-speaking people lived, ie the then divisions of Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Presidency and Bardhaman. Assam was to revert back to its chief commissionership status of the past (1874-1905) from the province of East Bengal and Assam. On the other hand, a new province was to be created by separating Bihar, Orissa and Chhota Nagpur from the Bengal Division of the Presidency of Fort William. Besides, Calcutta was to become the provincial capital of Bengal, while the capital of British India was to be transferred to Delhi from Calcutta.
When Lord Hardinge disclosed his plans to his council members, they all supported the move. Lord Hardinge then sent the detailed proposals to the British Secretary of State for India on 19 July 1911, and the secretary swiftly conveyed his agreement through a telegram sent on 7 August. As the matter was related to the visit of the British King George V to India, he expressed his desire to make the announcement himself while in Delhi. The Viceroy was asked to keep the matter a secret until that happened. Then following the Durbar held in Delhi on 11 December 1911, the King made the announcement on the annulment of the partition of Bengal and the shifting of the Indian capital from Calcutta to Delhi on 12 December. The new arrangement was implemented with effect from January 1912.
Although the Bengali Hindus were satisfied with this annulment of partition, they were a bit upset about Calcutta losing the status of the Indian capital. But it created resentment among the Muslims in general, and they became convinced that the interests of the Muslims were not safe in the hands of the Congress as it had all along opposed the partition of Bengal. A distinct communal nationalistic aspiration was therefore generated among the Muslims through this episode, and they started to identify more with the Muslim League than the Congress party. It can therefore be safely said that Muslim Nationalism in British India was born centring on the partition of Bengal and its subsequent annulment. [Helal Uddin Ahmed]
References John R. McLane, ‘Partition of Bengal 1905: A Political Analysis’. Sirajul Islam (ed.), History of Bangladesh 17041971, Vol. 1 (Political History), Second Edition. Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, 1997’ মো. মাহবুবর রহমান, বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাস: ১৯০৫-৪৭ ঢাকা: তাম্রলিপি, ২০০৮; এ.বি.এম মাহমুদ, 'বঙ্গভঙ্গ ও তৎকালীন রাজনীতি: হিন্দু-মুসলিম প্রতিক্রিয়া ও স্বদেশী আন্দোলন' বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাস, ষষ্ঠ সংস্করণ। ঢাকা: নওরোজ কিতাবিস্তান, ১৯৯৭.
