This haunting image, taken by American photographer
Margaret Bourke-White, is perhaps far more emblematic of 15th August
1947 than any of the other “happy” images that the Government disseminates.
The picture shows a group of fleeing Sikhs making their way across the Punjab,
as Partition throws their province into chaos. The Partition of the Punjab and
the mayhem that ensued is one of the greatest tragedies in all of human history.
Conservatively, half a million people died while more than 14 million were
displaced—the largest forced migration ever.
Given how seminal this event was to the new
states of India and Pakistan as well as the individual Punjabis affected, it’s
surprising how little popular history focuses on the whys and hows of the event.
And of course the minimal thinking that does take place is narrow and
self-serving, placed as it is within the framework of transient political
interest rather than any real attempt at reconciliation and truth. The blame
for the Partition violence passes from the Muslim League to the Congress and
right-wing groups such as the RSS. This is of course, not to say that any of
these groups was blameless, per se. Jinnah’s poisonous Two-Nation Theory, the
Congress’ attempt to grab power by pushing Partition and the direct violence
led by right-wing groups have had their part to play in the eventual
embittering of relations. But in naming these minions, we in India, often miss
out on the real evil villain of Partition—Louis Francis Albert Victor
Nicholas Mountbatten, last Viceroy of British India and first Governor-General
of independent India.
In June 1948, Nehru rose to toast
Mountbatten at a farewell banquet in the latter’s honour. Speaking about
Partition he said:
“It is difficult for me
or anyone to judge of what we have done during the last years or so…Historians
a generation or two hence will perhaps be able to judge what we have done right
or wrong, the test, perhaps the right test, is whether we tried to right, or
did not…I do believe that we did try to do the right thing, and I am
convinced that you [Mountbatten] tried to the right thing by India
and therefore many of our sins will be forgiven us and many of our errors also”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Far
from trying to do the right thing, Mountbatten knew the disastrous impact that
his actions would have but he did them anyway for personal gain.
The first blow that Mountbatten delivered
to India was that he decided to rush Partition. There is a general historical
consensus on the fact that the British Raj’s abrupt departure after two
centuries of rule left a power vacuum which directly engendered the Punjab
violence.
At first, the date for British withdrawal from
India was set for June 1948. Considering that all parties—the British, the
Congress and the League had agreed to Partition—there was no need to rush this
date. Yet, this date was first bought forward to October 1947 and then, on
Mountbatten’s instance, fixed at 15 August. The reason behind this exact date
being chosen is interesting and sheds a lot of light on Mountbatten as a
person. Here’s the man himself on the issue, as quoted from Freedom at
Midnight, a book which accords the same position to Mountbatten as
the New Testament to Christ:
“The date I chose came
out of the blue. I chose it in reply to a question. I was determined to show I
was the master of the whole event. When they asked: had I set a date, I knew it
had to be soon. I hadn’t worked it out exactly then—I thought it had to be
about August or September and then I went to the 15th of August.
Why? Because it was the second anniversary of Japan’s surrender.”
The 15th of August had a
personal and historical appeal for Mountbatten as he had been Supreme Commander
for South-East Asia in the war against Japan and it was on 15 August 1945 that Japan surrendered. It had no relevance for India
whatsoever. The fact that the date of Independence for one-sixth of humanity
was thought up on the spot “in reply to a question” and chosen such as to
flatter the vanity of Mountbatten, shows just how little thought went into
India’s Partition. And (as we shall see) the fact that the Punjab Boundary
Award was published two days after the chosen date of 15th
August, was in itself a major cause of violence. Thus the choosing of this
early date was tragically crucial, since even a delay of a few days could have
helped reduce the violence significantly.
The other great malicious act of
Mountbatten was his deliberate suppression of the Punjab
Boundary Award till after Independence.
On the 15th of August, as the dominions of India
and Pakistan were born, Punjabis found themselves in a rather curious position.
They were independent, all right, but they had no idea which country they
belonged to. The departing British government had yet to publish the boundary
award (even though it was ready on 9 August), delineating the Indo-Pak border.
The tension and violence that had been steadily building up for the past 6
months, exploded. Muslims fled to the west and Sikhs and Hindus to the east to
stop themselves being butchered in the raula, that evocative
Punjabi word for Partition.
The Commander-in-Chief of the British
Indian Army, Field Marshall Sir Claude Auchinleck, notes in his visit to the
Punjab on 14 August:
“The delay in announcing
the award of the Border Commission is having a most disturbing and harmful
effect. It is realized of course that the announcement may add fresh fuel to
the fire, but lacking the announcement, the wildest rumours are
current, and are being spread by mischief makers of whom there is no
lack.”
Unlike what has been often assumed, the
Partition bedlam was not unexpected. It was generally known to the British
authorities, as well as the League and Congress leaders that the Punjab was a
tinderbox which would explode if not handled carefully. The crux of the matter
was the problem of where to draw the boundary. Evan Jenkins, the last British Governor
of the Punjab gave clear and persistent warning as just how delicate the
situation was. Giani Kartar Singh, Akali leader and representative of the Sikhs
during the Partition talks, appealed to Jenkins to solve the border problem
without which Punjab would be abandoned to “blood and tears”. Jenkins agreed
with Kartar Singh and himself strongly urged Mountbatten to publish the Punjab
Boundary Award before the 15th August. Interestingly, on the
face of it, Mountbatten agreed with Jenkins and there are numerous letters,
meeting minutes and notes to show that he was also of the opinion that the
boundary award be published as soon as possible and before
the 15th August in order to control the violence.
Working in record time, Sir Cyril Radcliffe
actually had the Punjab Boundary Award ready by 9th August. In an
amazing volte face, though, Mountbatten refused to
immediately release the award, preferring to hold it till the 14th
of August first and then eventually the 17th. The first reason
given, farcically, was that it would “mar Independence Day”. 15th
August was an important day for Mountbatten, given that he was a central figure
in the celebrations. Huge crowds gathered in Delhi shouting “Mountbatten
ki jai”, unaware of the tragedy the object of their admiration was
crafting in the Punjab. Mountbatten had been invited by the Congress to become
the first Governor-General of independent India and he would swear in the new
government. The boundary award being published before 15 August would have
changed all that, making the occasion into a grim affair. Ridiculous as it may
seem, this was actually a factor in the monstrously vain Mountbatten delaying
the boundary award.
The other equally odious reason for
delaying the award was that this way the British would not have to bear the responsibility
for the disturbances. Divested of all formal power after 15th August,
the departing Raj would be technically blameless. It was the fledgling
dominions of India and Pakistan that would be responsible for maintaining law
and order, hence would take the blame for the violence. In a report to the
Secretary of State for India on 16th August, Mountbatten writes:
“…it had been obvious
all along that the later we postponed publication [of the Punjab boundary
award], the less would be the inevitable odium react upon the British.”
And in these petty considerations of
Independence day celebrations and deflecting blame, Mountbatten ensured that
the boundary between India and Pakistan was published 2 days after
the Raj had ceased to exist (and a full 8 days after it was ready). Unable (and
in some cases unwilling) to control the violence, the two new dominions of
India and Pakistan sat by as the Punjab erupted into civil war and its two
halves were emptied of its minorities.
Today, on 15 August, let us remember the
tragedy that was Partition and the terrible violence that accompanied it. And
most of all, let us remember the man who, abdicating all raj
dharma, was responsible for it.
