Colonial History of India

[acharya]

Three fateful days of partition — I

Col (Retd) Riaz Jafri

Soon after World War-II, Winston Churchill — who had won the war for the British — was defeated in the general elections and Mr Atlee became the new Prime Minister of England. The Independence Movement in India under the stalwarts like Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and many others had gained such a momentum that it made the British realize that they could no longer hold India in bondage to the crown. India had to be liberated sooner or later.

However, in their heart of hearts they also knew that they could not afford to leave India as a unified nation which could with its immense human and economic resources soon become a superpower challenging their (British) and other Western countries’ authority in deciding the world affairs. Atlee decided to act sooner rather than later and announced Independence for India in less than two years’ time — by June 1948. Such haste in the transfer of power, though viewed by some gullible Indians as a mark of victory for them was actually to serve the British sinister designs. They took 7 long years to transfer the tiny territory of Hong Kong to the Chinese and the transfer was so smooth, methodical and in order that not a leave stirred when it took place. Whereas in case of India, the largest exodus of the human populace in the entire history of the mankind took place and millions lost their life in the process.

Not only that, at least Pakistan if not Bharat was not ready or trained for the self-governance. Churchill is on record in the House of Commons as the Leader of Opposition to warn, “Not to throw millions of teeming wretched to the vultures”, for, in his opinion India was not ready by then for the Independence.

On the home front, despite Jinnah’s Two-Nation Theory, The Pakistan Resolution of March 1940 and the Muslim League’s demand for separate home land for the Muslims, their leaders had agreed to the Cabinet Mission Plan of Three Zone Formula — Zones A, B & C under One India. Zone ‘A’ was to constitute Assam & Bengal, ‘B’ the present Pakistan with undivided Punjab and Kashmir and the C the Central (remaining) India. The Federal Government was to have the portfolios of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Currency, and the confederating units were to have the rest. Every thing seemed to be working amicably and the semblance of the Unity of India was not threatened, probably much to the dismay of the British rulers. Then, around July 1946, Pandit Nehru became the President of All India Congress (AIC) Party. Till then Maulana Abul Kalam Azad had been holding the office of the President of the AIC for the last seven years. God alone knows, why did Pandit Nehru in his very first Press conference on July 10th, 1946 in Bombay within a few days of becoming the President of the AIC, in reply to a journalist’s question, “ So, after all Congress has agreed to the partitioning of India?”, declare, “ It will be for the future Constituent Assembly of India to decide what form of Government it will have, a Federation or a Confederation ?” That sent a big shock down the spine of the Muslims whose reaction was unanimous and spontaneous. Constituent Assembly of India — to be — will certainly have Hindu majority and could bulldoze any bill they wanted. The very concept of the Autonomous Confederating Units was at stake. With the British gone, Muslims felt unsafe and totally at the mercy of the Hindus.

Therefore, henceforth nothing short of full-fledged Pakistan was acceptable to them. That was the end of any hope of United Independent India. Atlee’s Government, as if waiting for the opportunity pounced upon it. Now, not only will it grant independence to India but also bifurcate it into two not-so-friendly a neighbours for all time to come. Lord Wavell the Viceroy of India was replaced by the Earl of Burma — Lord Louis Mountbatten, and entrusted with the task of, ostensibly, transferring power to India but actually dividing it into two countries. The speed with which he set off is most surprising if not intriguing. February 47 or so he takes over as Viceroy of India. March 47 he makes a dash to London to get the Independence date advanced by almost a year (from June 1948 to August 1947). June 3rd 47 an announcement is made that Pakistan had been accepted and that India will become independent. Night 14/15 August — less than two and a half months later - India is divided!

The only logical thing he did was to create or carve out Pakistan at 2359 hours on 14th August out of united India before grant of independence to it at 2400 hours the same night. Had India been made independent before the creation of Pakistan then it would have been up to the Government of Independent India to let Pakistan come into being or not. Chances are Pakistan would not have been there. Pakistan, though it came into being only a minute before India became independent, celebrates its National Day on 14th August whereas India does it on the 15th. One, however, wonders as to why does Pakistan celebrate the Independence Day ? It was born sovereign, free and independent and was never a slave country under the British rule like India.

Pakistan should, therefore, celebrate its Birthday or Creation Day instead of the Independence Day! Mountbatten, an uncle of the then Phillips Mountbatten and now the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Phillips - husband of the Queen Elizabeth II, was an egocentric royalty and wanted to go down the history as the last Viceroy of undivided India and the first and the only Governor General of the two dominions of both India and Pakistan. Whereas Pandit Nehru had agreed to his ambition, Muhammad Ali Jinnah declined to accept it on the grounds that how could he justify the independence or the self-rule to the common man when they saw the British Governor General still at the top. It is a common knowledge now that Lady Mountbatten - who had found the charming person of handsome Kashmiri Pandit irresistible was greatly instrumental in influencing her paramour’s decision of accepting Mountbatten as the first GG of India. She not only paid Pandit Jee back gladly and willingly bodily, but also by getting many a decision changed in favour of India against Pakistan from her husband. (A love letter from her to Pandit Jee fell into the hands of Liaquat Ali Khan, who went excitedly to Muhammad Ali Jinnah and suggested its publication to gain political mileage. Quaid admonished Liaquat Ali Khan sternly saying, “we are fighting on principles and not prying on the private lives of our opponents”. Tear it down, he ordered and torn it was.) Mountbatten in any case had not much love lost for Jinnah or Jinnah’s Pakistan, whom he rated though highly principled yet an arrogant and unbendingly rigid politician.

This made the task of the AIC further easy. One Mr Menon (not Krishana Menon) — then a Secretary in the Viceroyalty — is purported to have disclosed many a crucial content of important documents to Mr Nehru who armed with such beforehand inside knowledge could manoeuvre the negotiations with the British to his advantage. It was in these surroundings that Pakistan came into being on the night of 14/15 August 1947 but most surprisingly without its boundaries demarcated or drawn by the Boundary Commission. However, from the revenue and other records of the Government of the undivided Punjab which were in its Provincial Capital Lahore, it was fairly evident that which Districts and their parts would go to India and what parts would accede to Pakistan. In fact such an exercise had been going on for quite sometime and the population on both sides of the expected boundary line was mentally prepared to either migrate or stay behind. Much of the District Ferozepur and most of the District Gurdaspur were believed to become part of Pakistan. As such almost none from here crossed over to the other side.

The entire city of Gurdaspur including the Government buildings like District Headquarters, Municipal Office, District Hospital, all were flying Pakistan Flags. Little did they know of the horrendous fate awaiting them resulting from the sinister plans being hatched behind the closed doors of the Viceragal Lodge in New Delhi. The map demarcating the boundary in Punjab between India and Pakistan was laid on a table and being scrutinized. “Strategically important Head Sulemanki must come to India, irrespective of the fact that the canals emanating from it irrigate only lands in Pakistan”, said some one. So, a line was moved 7 miles further away in order to keep it in India. Never mind if most of Ferozepur comes to India this way! “How would one go to Srinagar from India by road, asks some one else there ?” “There is no land contiguity”. Only a road from Pathan Kot can connect the way to Sri Nagar.

E-Mail: Jafri@rifiela.com