Self-determination
In 1947, India gained independence from the British Empire. The empire was in decline but adapted to these circumstances by creating the British Commonwealth—since 1949 the Commonwealth of Nations—which is a free association of equal states. As India obtained its independence, multiple ethnic conflicts emerged in relation to the formation of a statehood during the Partition of India which resulted in Islamic Pakistan and Secular India. Before the advent of the British, no empire based in mainland India had controlled any part of what now makes up the country's Northeast, part of the reason for the ongoing insurgency in Northeast India. In 1971 Bangladesh obtained independence from Pakistan.
Parkala Massacre
India became independent from the British Raj on August 15, 1947. Immediately after, the people of Hyderabad State began a civil revolt, agitating for a merger with India and against the authoritarian rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Farmers in the town of Parkala also took part in the resistance. Upon receiving the news of Indian independence, the farmers decided to celebrate the occasion by hoisting the national flag. They were prevented from doing so by the Nizam's police and the Razakars, a private militia organized to support the Nizam.