Muslims and Hindus in Rajasthan, India by Joshua Mcdonald / SOPA Images
The partition of India accompanied the creation of two independent states, India and East and West Pakistan (East Pakistan now known as Bangladesh). India was formed out of the majority Hindu regions, while Pakistan from the majority Muslim regions. The partition saw many people displaced and overwhelming inter communal violence. By 1948, as the great migration drew to a close, almost two million people from both sides, were dead. The violence was particularly bad in the states straddling the new borders, including Punjab, Kashmir, Bengal, and Sindh.
However, despite Rajasthan being the largest state along the border, it saw relatively little violence compared to its neighbor states. Today, around 7% of Rajasthan’s population are Muslim, often living in small, isolated villages scattered along Pakistan’s border in the Thar Desert. Muslims and Hindus are still co - existing here as they were during one of the wider regions most violent past times. Muslims in Thar avoid eating cow meat out of respect for Hindus, and during the month of Ramadan Hindus do not eat in front of their fasting Muslim neighbors.
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