India’s midnight tryst

On August 15, India became independent from British rule. A look at the events that led up to this moment.

August 12, 2020 09:59 am | Updated 09:59 am IST

The national flag was hoisted over the Red Fort on August 15, 1947 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

The national flag was hoisted over the Red Fort on August 15, 1947 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge... At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.”

Thus said Jawaharlal Nehru at the Constituent Assembly on August 15, as India became free from British colonial rule. We celebrate the day as Independence Day but, remember, it was also the day India was partitioned. As Mahatma Gandhi said on August 14, “…we shall be delivered from the bondage of the British rule. But from midnight today, India will be partitioned too. While, therefore, tomorrow will be a day of rejoicing, it will be a day of sorrow as well.” Let’s take a look at the immediate events that led to this day.

By the time World War II ended in 1945, the British government had lost support — both at home and internationally — for its rule in India, where the movement for independence had also gained strength. On February 20, Clement Atlee, the British Prime Minister, announced that India would be granted full self-governance by June 1948. But given the struggle between the Congress and the Muslim League, Lord Mountbatten, the Viceroy of India, felt that any interim government would collapse. So he decided to bring forward the date and chose August 15, 1947, for the transfer of power. Why August 15, 1947? Because it was the second anniversary of the Japanese surrender that finally ended World War II.

On June 3, 1947, the idea of dividing British India into two countries was accepted and the Indian Independence Act 1947 received the Queen’s approval on July 18. The boundaries between India and Pakistan was the Radcliffe Line, named after Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the joint chairman of the two commissions that decided which districts of Punjab and Bengal went to India and which to Pakistan. The details of the Radcliffe Line were published on August 17, after India and Pakistan had come into being and still serves as the Indo-Pakistan border in the west and the Indo-Bangladesh border in the east.

Independence and partition went in hand in hand and both countries saw a great deal of violence and bloodshed as Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs crossed the newly created borders.

Pandit Jawaharalal Nehru being sworn in Prime Minister of India on midnight of August 14/15 by Lord Mountbatten , the Viceroy.

Pandit Jawaharalal Nehru being sworn in Prime Minister of India on midnight of August 14/15 by Lord Mountbatten , the Viceroy.

Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of independent India and Lord Mountbatten stayed on to be the first Governor General. Gandhi did not participate in the official celebrations. He undertook a 24-hour fast on the day to encourage peace between Hindus and Muslims.

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