The Indian National Congress agreed to the partition of the country in 1947. What was the main reason for this?
By 1947, the “Direct Action Day” and subsequent violence had pushed India toward a civil war. Congress leaders like Nehru and Patel realized that a unified India with a weak center and hostile communal pockets was unsustainable. They accepted partition as a “necessary evil” to secure immediate peace, avoid further bloodshed and establish a strong, stable government in the remaining territory. ANSWER: (D) The Congress wanted to avoid large-scale communal riots
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The decision to accept partition was driven by the grim reality of escalating communal violence. Following the failure of the Cabinet Mission and the Muslim League’s “Direct Action,” riots spread across Bengal, Punjab and Bihar. The Congress leadership concluded that forcing a reluctant Muslim League into a single state would lead to perpetual internal conflict and administrative paralysis. Sardar Patel famously remarked that if the “body” had a diseased limb (communalism), it was better to amputate it to save the rest of the organism. Partition was thus chosen to ensure a peaceful, democratic future for India.