Partition 1947 – Learning, Unlearning and Relearning
India is celebrating its 75 years of freedom from the British rule under the title, “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”. Freedom, from the imperialist rule and establishing a system of democratic self-governance is indeed an important achievement in the history of modern India. But as we know it, Indians got freedom but along with it, came the partition of India, which was a decision of the British rule. As if a person lost its limbs, India lost its parts on the right as well as on the left, as the freedom dawned on us at the midnight, on August 15th 1947. By June 1946 it was clear that partition of India is unavoidable. Lord Mountbatten announced a plan, the Mountbatten Plan, which was accepted by the Indian nationalist movement as well as the Muslim League. Radcliffe commission drew the boundaries of the two nations. Respective governments of the newly born two nations, which were, effectively three different parts of India under British rule, were left to deal with issues related to partit