Pakistan and Partition

The idea of a separate Muslim state in British India first emerged in the 1930s. On March 23, 1940, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, formally endorsed the "Lahore Resolution," calling for the creation of an independent state in regions where Muslims constituted a majority. At the end of World War II, the United Kingdom moved with increasing urgency to grant India independence. The Congress Party and the Muslim League, however, could not agree on the terms for a Constitution or establishing an interim government. In June 1947, the British Government declared that it would bestow full dominion status upon two successor states--India and Pakistan, formed from areas in the subcontinent in which Muslims were the majority population. Under this arrangement, the various princely states could freely join either India or Pakistan. On August 14, 1947, Pakistan, comprising West Pakistan with the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and the North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa), and East Pakistan with the province of Bengal, became independent. East Pakistan later became the nation of Bangladesh in 1971.
The Maharaja of Kashmir was reluctant to make a decision on accession to either Pakistan or India. However, armed incursions into the state by tribesmen from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa led him to sign accession papers in 1947 and allow Indian troops into the state. The Government of Pakistan, however, refused to recognize the accession and campaigned to reverse the decision. The status of Kashmir remains in dispute to this day.