Question

Assertion (A): There were killings and atrocities on both sides of the border of India in 1947.
Reason (R): The planned transfer of the population had failed.

• A. Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true and Reason (R) is the correct explanation of the Assertion (A).
• B. Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, but Reason (R) is not the correct explanation of the Assertion (A).
• C. Assertion (A) is true, but Reason (R) is false.
• D. Assertion (A) is false, but Reason (R) is true.

Hint:

In CBSE Political Science exams, the failure to manage the physical partition and the migration process is structurally equated with the “failure of peaceful population management.” Hence, Option (A) remains the safest, most comprehensive choice for scoring points.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Evaluating the Assertion (A):
The partition of British India in August 1947 was accompanied by unprecedented violence, sectarian clashes, and brutal atrocities. Millions of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims were displaced, and mass killings took place on both sides of the newly established borders in Punjab and Bengal. Thus, Assertion (A) is indisputably True.

Step 2: Evaluating the Reason (R) and its Interpretations:

• Interpretation I (Standard Examination Board Key): The administrative plan to divide the country peacefully collapsed because political leadership and colonial planners completely underestimated the scale, speed, and communal frenzy associated with the population movement. Hence, any assumptions or plans for a structured, peaceful transition failed. In this context, both statements are true, and the failure of administrative control explains why the killings occurred.
• Interpretation II (Strict Academic/NCERT Textual Interpretation): In NCERT Class 12, Chapter 1, it is explicitly stated: “It was a chaotic, unplanned transfer of population. People themselves had to flee...” If the transfer of population was fundamentally unplanned and spontaneous rather than a formal policy-directed plan that went wrong, one could technically argue that the Reason (R) statement contains a conceptual error, making Option (C) a common alternative academic choice.

Step 3: Determining the Safest Examination Answer:
In most standard board keys, (A) is selected because the historical consensus highlights that the British and national leaderships' expectations of maintaining law and order during the transfer of power failed completely. This failure of administrative security allowed the communal killings to occur. Therefore, we present (A) as the standard answer while highlighting the historical nuance.