A nation split into two

On June 2, 1947, India’s top leaders gathered for one of the most consequential meetings in the country’s history at the house of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India. Mountbatten, who had arrived in India just three months ago, was assigned the task to oversee the smooth withdrawal of the British regime. But by then, violence among Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs had escalated, and political negotiations between the Congress and the Muslim League had broken down. Convinced that a united India was no longer workable, Mountbatten drafted a proposal for the Partition. On the fateful day, as Mountbatten presented the plan, he was joined by leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Baldev Singh. The proposal called for the immediate division of British India into two dominions. It proposed the division of Punjab and Bengal, both home to mixed populations, and allowed princely states to accede to either dominion. The plan also set out principles of partition, granted sovereignty to both nations as well as the right to make their own constitution. Although the Congress was initially resisted the idea, communal riots forced it to accept Pakistan as a necessary compromise. After intense but brief deliberation, all parties consented to the proposal. The plan was announced to the public a day later, setting in motion a rapid process of division. The British brought in Sir Cyril Radcliffe, a British lawyer, who had never been to India. With no understanding of local realities and merely five weeks in India, Radcliffe was set to divide perhaps the most diverse subcontinent. The resulting Radcliffe Line would end up splitting communities and run through villages. In the coming months, as the Partition became a heart-wrenching reality, the impact was immediate and immense. Nearly 15 million people were displaced and an estimated two million lost their lives in the violence that ensued. The provinces of Punjab and Bengal — split along religious lines — were the worst-affected. Both regions had long histories of cultural and religious coexistence, but under the Partition plan, they became flashpoints of fear and violence. Mountbatten would later describe the Partition as a “tragedy”, while Radcliffe quietly returned to England, deeply disturbed by the violence, and never visited India again. The quiet decision of June 2 not only marked the beginning of two nations, but the end of an undivided India. It remains a day of deep reflection — a lesson in leadership, haste and the cost of freedom paid in blood and memory.

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