ASHOK OGRA
Lord Mountbatten announced the Partition plan on All-India Radio on 3 June 1947. He was followed on the microphone by Nehru, Jinnah and Baldev Singh (speaking for the Sikhs). The next morning, the Viceroy addressed a press conference. It was here that he suggested, for the first time, that the British would leave not by June 1948 (as originally planned) but by the middle of August 1947, that is, in less than ten weeks. There were many interesting moments leading to Independence that are not talked about as often. Here are a few of them.
DEMARCATING BORDERS
The task of partitioning Bengal and the Punjab was entrusted to a British judge named Sir Cyril Radcliffe. He was given just 35 days to divide colonial India into two nations. He had no prior knowledge of India (this was deemed an advantage). He was assigned four advisers: two Muslims, one Hindu, and one Sikh. But since they fought on every point, he soon dispensed with them. He did not bother to visit the areas that were to be demarcated.
Journalist Jayanta Kalita writes that Radcliffe submitted his final boundary maps on August 12, 1947. But Mountbatten decided not to make them public immediately. So, when Pakistan became independent on August 14 and India on August 15, people did not know exactly where the border would run. The Radcliffe Line was announced only on August 17. The confusion that followed was enormous. Families suddenly discovered that their homes were in one country and their fields in another.
In Punjab, Muslim-majority areas of Gurdaspur district went to India, giving it an important land route to Kashmir. Pakistan strongly opposed the decision. In the east, the mainly Buddhist Chittagong Hill Tracts went to East Pakistan, leading to tensions and displacement.
Radcliffe left India on August 18. Disturbed by the bloodshed, he reportedly burned his notes, refused his £3,000 fee and never returned to the subcontinent. The story of integrating the princely states presented a greater challenge.
RECALCITRANT PRINCELY STATES
India became independent on August 15, 1947, but the India we know today had not yet fully taken shape. More than 560 princely states had to decide their future. Most had acceded to India, but some important states were still holding out.
Kashmir had not joined either India or Pakistan. Maharaja Hari Singh remained ambivalent. Hyderabad wanted to remain independent, while Hindu-majority Junagadh opted for Pakistan, creating a serious problem. Bhopal, Travancore and some other states had also shown reluctance to join India.
There were other smaller princely states across central, northern and western India that had their own doubts and concerns. Jodhpur and Indore, too, hesitated at different stages. The possibility of India ending up as a patchwork of separate territories was not entirely out of the question.
Writer-journalist Josy Joseph, in his well-researched book ‘Birth of a Nation: Twenty-One Days That Made India’, gives a fascinating account of those anxious days leading up to Independence. He writes about the pressure being put on the princes as their hopes of remaining independent began to fade. Nehru was firm. Patel and his ministry were prepared to go beyond persuasion if necessary.
One of the first princes to come over to Patel’s side was the Maharaja of Bikaner. His Dewan was K. M. Panikkar, a widely respected historian who, more clearly than other people, could see that the ‘Vasco da Gama epoch of Asian history. This encouraged other princely states in the region to voluntarily join the Dominion of India.
A number of people worked behind the scenes. One of the most important was V. P. Menon. He had started his career as a typist and rose through the administrative system to become Patel’s key aide in dealing with the princes. Officials, activists and intelligence operatives also played their part.
In one of his books, Menon describes in some detail the tortuous negotiations with the rulers. The process of give and take involved much massaging of egos: one ruler claimed descent from Lord Rama, another from Sri Krishna, while a third said his lineage was immortal, as it had been blessed by the Sikh Gurus.
I have a personal memory connected with the late V. P. Menon. Capt. C. P. Nair, founder of the Leela group of hotels, was a dear friend. Whenever I was in Mumbai, I would often stay at the Leela. He was a nephew of V. P. Menon and would regale me with stories about his uncle-his pragmatism, his practical approach and the way he could be soft and firm at the same time while dealing with the princely states and their Dewans.
Manipur and Tripura had their own stories. They acceded to India in 1947 but retained considerable internal autonomy before their complete merger with India in 1949.
The major unresolved cases were settled later, and in different ways. Junagadh eventually became part of India after a hectic parleys and pressure. Hyderabad was integrated in September 1948 through Operation Polo. Kashmir acceded to India in October 1947 after tribal forces from Pakistan entered the state and the Maharaja sought India’s military assistance.
This was the uncertain political situation when the Constituent Assembly met in Delhi on the night of August 14-15 to mark India’s freedom.
THE MIDNIGHT SESSION
The Constituent Assembly met at 11 pm, with Dr Rajendra Prasad presiding. Sucheta Kripalani opened the proceedings by singing Vande Mataram. Rajendra Prasad paid tribute to Gandhi and reassured minorities about their rights.
Then came Nehru’s “Tryst with Destiny” speech: “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.” Nehru also reminded the country that Independence was not just an occasion for celebration. It carried a responsibility to serve India and its people.
There were other important voices that night. Muslim League leader Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman, who was still a member of the Indian Constituent Assembly, supported Nehru’s pledge and spoke of governing without favour. S. Radhakrishnan spoke about India’s largely peaceful transfer of political power and contrasted it with the violence that had often accompanied such changes elsewhere.
At midnight, the members stood and took a solemn pledge, dedicating themselves to the service of India and its people and to world peace and human welfare.
Then came another memorable moment. Hansa Mehta presented the national flag to the Assembly on behalf of the women of India. Sucheta Kripalani later sang ‘Sare Jahan Se Achha’ and the first verse of ‘Jana Gana Mana’.
In the early hours of August 15, Rajendra Prasad and Nehru went to Viceroy’s House to formally inform Mountbatten that the Constituent Assembly had approved his appointment as independent India’s first Governor-General.
There is a delightful little story from that night. Nehru handed Mountbatten an envelope that was supposed to contain the list of portfolios of his new Cabinet. Mountbatten opened it and found only a blank sheet of paper. The correct list was soon recovered.
Yet, amid all the uncertainty, a new country had been born. Millions of people were now beginning the difficult task of building a democratic India and deciding what kind of nation it would become. What followed was an experiment in democracy that often looked untidy and chaotic, but proved remarkably resilient.
The economist John Kenneth Galbraith memorably called India a “functioning anarchy.” The phrase sounds dismissive, but its more interesting word may be “functioning.” India argues, protests, quarrels and frequently appears chaotic, yet the democratic machinery somehow keeps moving.
(The Author works as Advisor with Apeejay Education, New Delhi)
