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The History marking the Independence Day
It is pertinent to recall that at the 1929 Lahore session of the Indian National Congress, the ‘Purna Swaraj’ declaration, or "Declaration of the Independence of India" was promulgated and January 26, 1930 was declared as Independence Day. The Congress called on the people to pledge for ’civil disobedience’ and to carry out the party’s instructions issued from time to time until India attained complete Independence on August 15,1947. Celebration of such an Independence Day was envisioned to stoke nationalistic fervour among Indian citizens, and to force the British Government to consider granting independence. The Congress observed 26 January as the Independence Day between 1930 and 1946 and later it was rechristened as ‘Republic Day’. The celebration was marked by meetings where the attendants took the pledge of Independence.
The then Labour government in Britain realised after the World War II, that it had neither the mandate at home, or the international support, nor the reliability of native forces for continuing to maintain control in an increasingly restless India. On 20 February 1947, Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced that the British government would grant full self-governance to India by June 1948. The new viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, advanced the date for the transfer of power, believing the continuous contention between the Congress and the Muslim League might lead to a collapse of the interim government. Mountbatten preferred the second anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, 15 August, as the date of power transfer.
The British Government announced on June 3, 1947 that it had accepted the idea of partitioning India into two states; the successor governments would be given dominion status and would have an implicit right to secede from the British Commonwealth. Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his speech ‘Tyrst with Destiny’ on the eve of India’s first Independence Day. Millions of refugees belonged to Muslim, Sikh and Hindu communities trekked the newly drawn borders when the Independence was round the corner. In Punjab, where the borders divided the Sikh regions in halves, massive bloodshed followed; in Bengal and Bihar, Mahatma Gandhi's presence assuaged communal tempers, the violence was mitigated. In all, between 250,000 and 1,000,000 people on both sides of the new borders died in the violence, resembling the Jallianwala bagh massacre.
While the entire nation was celebrating the Independence Day, Gandhi stayed in then Calcutta in an attempt to stem the carnage. On August 14, 1947, the Independence Day of Pakistan, the new Dominion of Pakistan came into being; Muhammad Ali Jinnah was sworn in as its first Governor General in Karachi. The Constituent Assembly of India met for its fifth session, chaired by the President Rajendra Prasad at 11 pm on August 14 in the Constitution Hall in New Delhi. Jinnah was firm on insisting for a separate Pakistan for the Muslim community, but a section of Muslims chose to remain with India. The Dominion of India became an independent country as official ceremonies took place in New Delhi. Nehru assumed office as the first Prime Minister and Mountbatten, continued as its first governor general. Gandhi's name was invoked by crowds celebrating the occasion, but he kept a safe distance from the official events.
Gandhi had the mortification of settling the leadership issue to rule the destiny of the nation, as the realisation had dawned on him that though he preferred Sardar Vallabhai Patel to govern the country, Nehru could not have preferred to function under Patel as there was every possibility of him breaking the Congress party, as well as the country, revealed the former Prime Minister Morarji Desai in his informal chat with the late satirist and journalist, Cho Ramaswamy, before adding that Gandhi had the daunting task of convincing Patel to sacrifice the coveted portfolio in the interest of the nation, which he readinly agreed. Meanwhile, Gandhi concentrated on encouraging peace between Hindus and Muslims while addressing a mammoth crowd in Calcutta. Nehru also disowned the idea of the elderly statesman, C. Rajagopalachari, alias, Rajaji, to divide the country into five regions – West, North, South, East and Central, instead of separating it on provincial basis, which would only increase the tension between the states, besides the caste factor that was crippling the nation.
As early as three years after independence, the Naga National Council called for a boycott of the Independence Day in Northeast India as separtist protests in this region intensified in the 1980s; calls for boycotts and terrorist attacks by insurgent organisations such as the United Liberation Front of Assam and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, marred celebrations. The then Congress government had an arduous task of negotiating with the Laldenga, the former Chief Minister of Mizoram on sensitive issues. With increasing insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir from the late 1980s, separatist protesters boycotted Independence Day there with bandh, use of black flags and by flag burning. Subash Ghising, the former National Front Liberation leader also attempted a separate Gorkhaland in Darjeeling in early 1990s.
Terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Hizbul Mukahideen and the Jaishe-e-Mohammed had issued threats, and have carried out attacks around Independence Day. Boycotting of the celebration had also been advocated by insurgent Maoist rebel organisations. Until 1973, the Governor of the State hoisted the National Flag at the state capital. In February 1974, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi took up the issue with then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that the Chief Ministers, like the Prime Minister, should be allowed to hoist the national flag on Independence Day. Madam Gandhi acceded to his requests and from 1974 onwards, Chief Ministers of the respective states have been allowed to hoist the national flag on Independence Day.
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