In 1947, India gained independence from Great Britain, with the help and strong leadership of Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi fueled the revolution through the organization of peaceful protests against Britain’s oppressive rule in India. Britain had promised India self-government after World War II, but they were not delivering on their promise, so Gandhi and other India nationalists organized the nonviolent “Quit India” campaign to speed up Britain's departure. Britain didn't like that however, and instead put Gandhi and hundreds of others in jail. However, they finally relented after anti-British demonstrations accelerated. This also caused the Indian National Congress to reluctantly accept the creation of Pakistan in order to appease the Muslim League and conclude the independence negotiations. 

However, after the Indian Independence Bill took effect, it spearheaded a period of religious turmoil in both India and Pakistan resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, including Gandhi, who was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic in January 1948 during a prayer vigil to an area of Muslim-Hindu violence.