Ans.

Refugee Problem:- India achieved its independence on August 15, 1947.  Happiness was being celebrated in the country.  The patriots’ sacrifice and the martyrs’ blood had brought color.  But, mourning was also there.  The dream of Akhand Bharat had been shattered.  Many parts of the country were burning in the fire of communalism.  The problem of refugees stood at the forefront.  There was a shortage of food and other essential materials in the country and there was a danger of the breakdown of the administrative machinery.  After August 15, 1947, violence broke out on both sides of the border, and thousands of people were exiled and wandered here and there.  It is difficult to say how it got started.  It probably started from Calcutta, which was the result of the direct action of August 1946 AD.  Sikhs blamed Muslims and Muslims, and Sikhs and Hindus soon started burning the whole of Punjab.  Muslim officers of Lahore set Hindu markets on fire in June 1947 by imposing a curfew in the city.  Armed contingents of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims were moving around and committing atrocities on each other’s unarmed people.  In Bengal’s Noakhali also, communal riots took a formidable form.  Gradually, riots in Gujarat, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab also worsened the situation.  Although Sardar Baldev Singh was the defense minister in the interim government, he had no control over the army and the police.  Apart from this, the Border Security Force used to refuse to shoot at their co-religionists.  On both sides, (Hindustan and Pakistan) people were forced to leave their homes and lead the life of helpless exiles.  Muslims left India and went to Pakistan and Hindus started coming to India.  Many Hindus and Muslims were exiled to their own country.