I wrote a post about something called "Kursi Nashin," . In that post, I talked about my father-in-law, who would have been 100 years old if he were alive today. He used to tell me stories about how life was for regular people in India before it became independent.
One interesting story he told me was about something called "Hindu Paani" (water for Hindus) and "Muslim Paani" (water for Muslims). Back in those days, they kept water for Hindus and Muslims separately in the office, and they called it "Hindu Paani" and "Muslim Paani." I'm not sure why they did that, but I have a couple of ideas.
One idea is that the British, who were in charge at the time, may have realized that the people in India were divided by religion and wanted to prevent conflicts. So, they kept the water separate to keep the peace.
Another idea is that the British might have done this on purpose to create divisions among the people and make it easier to control them.
Luckily, after India became independent, all of this nonsense stopped. But it's not surprising to hear about it, considering that in some places in India, certain castes couldn't get water from wells that were meant for other castes.
The story of "Hindu Paani" and "Muslim Paani" seems believable because my father-in-law actually experienced it. He used to work in a government office, and his boss was a British officer for a while in the years before 1947.
Also Read- What was the "Kursi Nashin" certificate during the British rule in India?