Despite the Kashmir issue, the Government of India adopted towards Pakistan a policy of fair dealing and of promoting conciliation and reducing mutual tensions.
The state of Kashmir bordered on both India and Pakistan. Its ruler Hari Singh did not accede either to India or Pakistan. Fearing democracy in India and communalism in Pakistan, he hoped to stay out of both and to continue to wield power as an independent ruler.
A few days before Independence, the Maharaja of Manipur, Bodhachandra Singh, signed the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government on the assurance that the internal autonomy of Manipur would be maintained.
Just before Independence it was announced by the British that with the end of their rule over India, paramountcy of the British crown over Princely States would also lapse. This meant that all these states, as many as 565 in all, would become legally independent.
The first and the immediate challenge was to shape a nation that was united, yet accommodative of the diversity in our society. The second challenge was to establish democracy. The third challenge was to ensure the development and wellbeing of the entire society and not only of some sections.
The MeToo hashtag gained currency a year ago in the U.S. when women came out one after another to first corroborate allegations of sexual assault against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
China faced various problems in 1949 when Mao came to power. The country was devastated after the long civil war and the war with Japan; industry was backward, agriculture was inefficient , inflation seemed out of control.
Could Russian communism have survived if Gorbachev had followed different policies? Many believe that it could and that if the USSR had followed the same path as China, it would still be communist today.
Stalin hijacked the revolution and betrayed the idealism of Marx and Lenin. Instead of a new, classless society in which everybody was free and equal, ordinary workers and peasants were just as exploited as they had been under Tsars. Read More..
Although Russian industry was recovering from the First World War, production from heavy industry was very low. However, foreigners were unwilling to invest in a communist state.
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