ICSE Class 10 Answered

The British advocated that Bengal was divided in order to efficiently administer the province. However, the British government had the following sinister plans behind the partition of the province:

• Bengal was an important center of Indian nationalism. The British hoped that by dividing the province on the communal lines, they would be able to stop the rising wave of nationalism.
• The partition also aimed at curbing the influence of Bengal by reducing Bengalis to minority in their own home state.
• Bengal was divided in lines with the policy of divide and rule followed by the British. East Bengal was to be a Muslim majority area while West Bengal was to be a Hindu majority region.