“I had given Lahore to India, but then I realised that Pakistan did not have any big city. I had already given Calcutta to India. So I had to give Lahore to Pakistan.”
Cyril Radcliffe, who drew the line of partition between India and Pakistan, said this during an interview. India’s last Viceroy Lord Mountbatten first showed the partition plan to Jawaharlal Nehru in June 1947, about two and a half months before independence.
Nehru had brought the papers related to the plan to his room. He carefully read every word of every page of the document which contained the future of the country. His restlessness was increasing with every sentence. The India of his imagination was appearing in front of him in many pieces.
It was written in the plan that India’s 565 princely states could remain independent if they wanted. There would be no restriction on them joining India or Pakistan. Nehru went straight to his trusted colleague Krishna Menon. He threw the plan on Menon’s bed and shouted – everything is over. After this a new draft was made, which outlined the partition of India.
India and Pakistan were formed in 1947 after the partition of the country and Bangladesh was formed 24 years later in 1971 after separating from Pakistan. This partition was similar to the partition that happens between two brothers. Lands were divided and along with it household goods were also divided. This included everything from money to gold carriages and animals.
But if this partition had not happened, what would India be like today? 10 lakh people would not have died in the partition. Pakistan and Bangladesh would have been a part of India. In this story, we will know what undivided India would have looked like…