Demarcation of boundaries of India in 1947

The Indian Independence Act 1947 is an Act of the parliament of United Kingdom that partitioned British India two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan.  The Act received Royal assent on 18th July 1947 and thus, India and Pakistan, comprising West (modern day Pakistan) and East (modern day Bangladesh) regions, came into being on 14th August. The legislature representatives of Indian National Congress, the Muslim League and the Sikh Community came to an agreement with Lord Mountbatten on what has come to be known as 3rd June plan or Mountbatten plan - last plan for independence.  

Lord Mountbatten ( a cousin of the king of England) created Boundary Commission in July 1947, about five weeks before were scheduled to depart from Indian subcontinent. Sir Cyril Radcliffe, a British lawyer was commissioned to recommend how the Punjab and Bengal regions of Indian subcontinent were to be divided between India and Pakistan before each was to become independent from Britain. The commission consisted of four members each from Indian National Congress and Muslim League and was chaired by Sir Cyril Radcliffe.  

This was Radcliffe's first trip to India and was asked to base his lines on the population of Hindus and Muslims in addition to "other factors". These "other factors" were never defined officially defined but believed to include economic and communication resources like irrigation, railways. The Radcliffe team had no advisers to inform them of the well- established procedures and information needed to draw a boundary. Both Indian National Congress and Muslim League had put forward their demand before the boundary division was finalized. However, both countries have lost some, won some.  

The Radcliffe line was officially announced on 17th August, 1947, few days after the independence of India and Pakistan. The newly demarcated borders resulted into one of the biggest human migrations in modern history, with roughly 14 million people displaced with killing of more than one million people.  

Since the representatives from the League and the Congress could not see eye to eye on many issues, it was left to the Chairman to make all the final decisions. Some areas were especially hard to place on either side of the border with an unclear majority of people and also factors like cultural references and irrigation lines to consider. 

Sir Cyril Radcliffe left India even before the line was published and did not accept his payment of Rs. 40,000/- for the job. 


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