Parallels between Modern India's History and Midnight's Chidren

Quite recently, I began reading the novel Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. My interest in this book was spurred by my interest in Indian history, which plays a significant role in the plot of the story.
Midnight's Children is set in modern India, and the time period of the book ranges from 1915 to the 1970s. The book is the life story of the main character and narrator of the novel, Saleem Sinai. The book starts with the story of Aadam Aziz, Saleem's grandfather, and his transformation into an atheist in 1915 in Kashmir, India. Aadam Aziz has 5 kids, one of them being Mumtaz - Saleem's mom. Mumtaz first marries the refugee Nadir Khan but after her father finds out that she's a virgin two years after marrying him, she divorces him and marries Ahmed Sinai, who changes Mumtaz's name to Amina Sinai. Time passes by and in 1945, the Sinais move to Bombay, which is on the West Coast of India. In late 1946, Amina Sinai becomes pregnant with Saleem, and a couple of months later, it is announced that the British will be leaving India in August, 1947 and the British Raj will be divided into two independent states - India and Pakistan. India gains independence on the midnight of August 15, 1947 and at that exact moment, Saleem is born. In fact, 1,000 other children across India are born within that hour of India gaining independence and all of these 1,001 children are endowed with special powers. Saleem has the power of telepathy and his enemy in the book, Shiva, is endowed with a gift for war and an extremely strong pair of knees. The rest of the book is Saleem's life, which reflect the struggle of India which takes place in the background of the book.
Because the plot of Midnight's Children comes from the story of India's independence, there are many parallels between the struggle in the first couple of decades of independent India and the struggles of Saleem and the other characters of the book. For one, Saleem represents India himself - he united the other Midnight's Children to form the Midnight's Children conference, representing India being a country of many people of different backgrounds and religions. When Saleem dies, he crumbles to thousands of pieces, representing India being made of millions of inhabitants. Most of the major events in his life have to do with the history of India and Pakistan, such as his birth and him fighting in the Indo Pakistan War of 1971.
There are many parallels between events in Midnight's Children and actual events that were taking place in both the British Raj (pre-independence India and Pakistan) and post-independence India. One of the first examples in the book is that of Aadam Aziz, Saleem's grandfather who's a doctor, treating patients who were injured in the Amritsar Massacre in April, 1919. This was an actual event that happened in Punjab, India on the Punjabi festival of Baisakhi. Reginal Dyer, a British colonel, who was stationed in Punjab at the time, open fired at civilians who were celebrating Baisakhi inside a closed compound. Around 379 civilians were killed and four times as many were injured.
Another example of the book and the history of modern India being connected is Saleem's experiences during the period of Emergency in the 1970's. The Emergency was a 21-month period in which Indira Gandhi, India's first female Prime Minister, imposed strict government control over the lives of all Indian citizens. She enforced forced sterilizations to control the population and her own son, Sanjay Gandhi, took many Muslims inside mosques and forcely sterilized them. In the book, Indira Gandhi, who is referred to as 'The Widow', sterilizes all of the Midnight's Children, thus making sure their type is wiped out. Many people in India who were alive during The Emergency, still remember the curfews and strict controlled that were imposed during this period of time. In fact, Indira Gandhi filed a law suit against Salman Rushdie for writing about the forced sterilizations in this novel.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I would strongly suggest this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. The book also has a component of magic realism, as many of the characters have special powers, making it an ideal book for people who also enjoy reading books with magic in them. This book also gives a lot of information about the British Raj and post colonial India, so it's the perfect book if you're a big history buff like me. I went down many Wikipedia rabbit holes while reading this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.