Lord Mountbatten and The Partition of India

History Assignment - 01

Submitted to : Submitted by :
Dr. Aditi Shukla Harsh Diwakar

(Assistant Professor) Roll no. – 2022BA013

IIULER, Goa 2nd Semester

 Abstract
The partition of India in 1947 was a watershed moment in the subcontinent's history, signaling the end
of British colonial control and the birth of two separate nations, India and Pakistan. As the last Viceroy of
India, Lord Louis Mountbatten played a critical role in administering the partition. The purpose of this
abstract is to provide a concise overview of Lord Mountbatten's role in the division and its effects. In
March 1947, Lord Mountbatten was named Viceroy with the mission of transferring power from British
to Indian hands. He faced the difficult task of balancing the interests of the Indian National Congress, led
by Jawaharlal Nehru, and the Muslim League, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Mountbatten believed that
a quick split was required to avoid more carnage and strife. With time running short, Mountbatten
devised a plan to divide British India into two separate nations based on religious demographics – India
with a Hindu majority and Pakistan with a Muslim majority. The plan, known as the Mountbatten Plan,
was agreed upon by the Indian leaders and led to the Indian Independence Act of 1947, which set the
stage for the partition. Pakistan was established on August 14, 1947, and India a day later. Millions of
Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs crossed the newly formed borders to reach their respective countries as a
result of the partition, resulting in one of the greatest migrations in history. The division was
characterized by widespread violence, communal riots, and mass killings, resulting in countless deaths
and tremendous human misery. The partition of India and the subsequent establishment of Pakistan had
far-reaching ramifications. Millions of people were displaced, India-Pakistan relations were strained, and
various confrontations erupted, including the Indo-Pakistani wars and the ongoing Kashmir dispute. The
scars of partition continue to reverberate today, altering the sociopolitical landscapes of both countries.

Keywords :- sociopolitical, separate nations, partition, communal riots, demographics

 INTRODUCTION-
Lord Mountbatten, formally known as Louis Mountbatten, holds a prominent place in the history
of the Indian subcontinent due to his pivotal role in the partition of India in 1947. As the last
British Viceroy of India, his decisions and actions during this critical period significantly shaped
the destiny of the region and its people. Lord Mountbatten his appointment as Viceroy, and his
role in the partition of India, shedding light on the historical context, decision-making process,
and consequences of this monumental event. Lord Mountbatten brought with him an impressive
military and diplomatic career to his role as Viceroy. He had previously served as the Supreme
Allied Commander of the Southeast Asia Command during World War II, displaying his
strategic acumen and leadership abilities. His appointment as Viceroy of India in March 1947
came at a time when British rule in India was facing immense pressure from the rising tide of
Indian nationalism and demands for independence. Mountbatten's primary objective as Viceroy
was to oversee the transfer of power from British hands to Indian leadership. However, he faced
numerous challenges, including a deeply divided Indian political landscape, communal tensions
between Hindus and Muslims, and the daunting task of drawing borders to establish separate
nations. These challenges required careful negotiations and decision-making, as any misstep
could have dire consequences for the region. 1 Lord Mountbatten engaged in extensive
consultations with Indian leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, to understand their visions for the future of India. He played a central
role in formulating the plan for partition, which aimed to divide British India into two separate
countries: India, with a Hindu majority, and Pakistan, with a Muslim majority. The partition of
India in 1947 was accompanied by widespread violence, communal riots, and the mass migration
of millions of people across newly drawn borders. The consequences of this partition have had a
lasting impact on the subcontinent, shaping the political, social, and economic dynamics of India
and Pakistan. This research paper seeks to delve into the complexities of Lord Mountbatten's role
in the partition of India, examining the historical context that led to this momentous event, the
decision-making process undertaken by Mountbatten, and the far-reaching consequences that
continue to shape the region's history to this day. By analyzing primary and secondary sources,

1
Alex Shashkevich,History of India’s Partition and its ongoing effect nowadays, Standford News, 650, 471-4419,
2019, https://news.stanford.edu/2019/03/08/partition-1947-continues-haunt-india-pakistan-stanford-scholar-
says/#:~:text=The%20partition%20created%20the%20independent,throughout%20the%20area%2C%20Satia
%20said.
this paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of Lord Mountbatten's role and the
complexities surrounding the partition of India.

Mountbatten’s Plan

Before taking charge of India, Lord Mountbatten had promised to the emotional British emperor,
his cousin, that he would at least keep India and Pakistan as dominions under the crown, an
entity called Commonwealth Nations - former colonies of the British empire. In 2010, India
proudly hosted the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. The legacy of Commonwealth that
continues till today and is a testimony to the success of the Mountbatten’s plan! Long ago, in
1857, the first revolt was raised by the native Indians against the British. At that time the Indian
colony was an East India Company administered territory. The native soldiers of the company
army revolted and declared Bahadur Shah Jafar, the last Mughal emperor, a Muslim, as their
leader. The revolt or mutiny, also known as India’s first war of independence, was however
brutally suppressed. After this, the Indian colony was directly taken over by the crown. It was
only three decades later, in 1885, that a political process started under the umbrella of the Indian
National Congress.2 The Indian freedom movement is largely known for the nonviolent
campaign led by Mahatma Gandhi. Meanwhile, the Pakistan movement also gained momentum
under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, demanding a separate homeland for Indian
Muslims. And the British policy was to divide and rule.

The 1947 Indian Independence Act

The British lawmakers approved the Indian Independence Act of 1947 through a vote. This
behavior was British. law that would influence the course of colonial India. In actuality, this deed
served as the catalyst for the division of India. This law required the division of the directly
governed British colony into two distinct dominions: India and Pakistan (majority Muslim).
Additionally, the Act gave more than 500 lesser kingdoms (princely states) the opportunity to
choose any of the dominions (India or Pakistan) or to continue to exist independently. Under this
statute, more than 500 possible shards of imperial India were contemplated. Additionally, there
wouldn't be one, , but two Pakistan’s (East, now Bangladesh, and West, thousands of miles
apart), one on each side of India. At the height of the Cold War, Bangladesh attained
2
Sarah Ansari, How the Partition of India happened – and why its effects are still felt today, 23, The Conversation,
65, 2017
independence in 1971. The governments or populations of India and Pakistan did not start the
hostilities between the two countries. Instead, the provisions in this specific British Act that are
referenced are what sparked and continue to simmer antagonism between the two countries. The
act was indeed well-drafted and steered in the desired direction considering the future of
international geopolitics after the Second World war had concluded. The colonized Indians,
having directly fought and laid lives for the Crown, had also borne the financial burden of the
two world wars. Their future generations would still be required as human resources for fighting
the communist super-power the Soviet Union. Pakistan soon became the direct military partner
of the world powers, supporting the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. Simultaneously the continued
military hostility between India and Pakistan kept India off balance for decades in the
development sector. This situation also continued to nudge Pakistan to the economic status of
what it finds itself in today.

1947 and the Partition of India

By the early 20th century, there was considerable outrage against the British empire. Apart from
the direct transfer of wealth, millions of Indians had died during successive famines. The Bengal
famine remains the most infamous one, caused due to deliberate mismanagement by the British
raj. Over two centuries, the East India Company and the British empire siphoned out at least £
9.2 trillion (Prof Utsa Patnaik). At the time when the British left in 1947 the average life span of
an Indian was less than 30 years (Bhore committee). After World War ll, India became
ungovernable and non-profitable for the British Raj. The native Indian soldiers of the British
Army had returned home victorious from the war. The Indian National Army raised by Subhash
Chandra Bose though defeated, had significantly fueled nationalism among common Indians.
The last straw for the British was the naval mutiny by the native Indian soldiers in Bombay. 3 The
British Empire had started to look for an honorable exit plan from India. To everyone’s surprise,
the British prime minister Clement Attlee announced transfer of power to the native Indians in
1947. The British had ruled and exploited India for almost 200 years. Mountbatten was called in
to transfer the power to the Indian leaders. The native freedom-fighter leaders were only leading
civil movements. They had no administrative and military control in 1947. Lord Mountbatten
was in the position of absolute power. He was the person in charge for the implementation of the

3
William Dalrymple, the great divide – the violent legacy of Indian partition, 109, The New Yorker,2015
Independence of India Act, Partition of India and Transfer of Power. Mohammed Ali Jinnah
never believed that he would see Pakistan during his lifetime. Mountbatten negotiated the
partition plan for and to everyone. A date was fixed for the partition of India and transfer of
power. Lord Radcliffe, a gentleman was called from England to draw lines of partition between
India and Pakistan. He had no idea about India, or anything about the history, culture or
geography of India; he was a person who had never lived in India. It is said that he just drew a
line over a map. India and Pakistan were created over a map. The horror began. Mass population
transfer of Hindus and Muslims and vice versa was planned by the Mountbatten administration.
Millions of people were impacted. 4 People of this ancient civilization, who had been living for
thousands of years in their cities, towns and villages were uprooted from their houses and homes
in a blink of a moment.

The Grand Exit of British Empire

A permanent scar and hatred that would not heal even after a century was created by the British
empire. The 200 years of anti-incumbency and hatred against the British was forgotten and used
to build a civil war. Enough hatred was fumed between the native population of India and
Pakistan. This hatred was further institutionalized between the two countries by having separate
militaries. It was a grand exit plan for the empire leaving behind no traces of crime and keeping
their pride intact. Many geopolitical objectives were achieved. The game was also set for the
future. Outwardly maintaining a benevolent image has helped Britain to maintain a friendly
relationship with both India and Pakistan. At the same time, murderers, scammers, ex-dictators
and hoarders of black money from South Asia continue to relocate to Britain.

Future of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

Now lastly, can India and Pakistan solve their problems? Probably not! Because this problem is
embedded within an act of the British Parliament-The Indian Independence Act, 1947, London.
5
It is beyond the reference points and comprehension of the political structures of the two
countries. Additionally, ongoing antagonism helps the current geopolitical objectives of the five
veto powers of the United Nations. Just under two billion people, or a quarter of the earth`s
4
NCERT Class 12, Politics in India Since Independence, 16, 2009
5
Partition Museum, https://www.partitionmuseum.org/partition-of-india/, 13/06/2023
population, live in South Asia. Bangladesh is the world's most densely populated country,
sandwiched between the Bay of Bengal and the international border with India. India is bordered
between a hostile Pakistan and pressing population of Bangladesh. Pakistan is landlocked
between the hostile territories of India and Afghanistan. Afghanistan stands a destroyed country
of Mujahideen and further acts barrier for South Asian population to make any shift. These
waiting for an ultimate catastrophe -natural or man-made. The people of India, Pakistan, and
Bangladesh continue to live in guilt, shame, and self-blame for their ongoing malaise. People
continue to make Gandhi and Jinnah; their heroes or villains. However, Lord Mountbatten as the
representative of the empire was the man responsible. He had the political and military powers as
the absolute administrator. There are enough reasons for not forgetting the atrocities of the
British Empire. Lord Mountbatten was the architect of the future of colonial India (now India,
Pakistan, and Bangladesh) that we live in today. When Bangladeshi citizens are shot down in the
remote land of New Zealand, it is a direct fallout of what happened in 1947 to the formal British
colony called India. The people of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh cannot solve their problems
until they are in the position of altering the world agenda. 6 The people of these countries may not
be in a position to change it in the immediate future. But after seventy years of the Indian
Independence Act, it is at least good to be aware and start thinking about the future and not allow
anyone else to manipulate or set the future agenda! The malnourished children of South Asia are
carrying forward the legacy of their colonized ancestors who suffered extreme hunger, poverty,
and disease burden. The future of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh depends upon pragmatic
collaborations on more serious issues such as nutrition, health, economic development,
population, climate change, and planetary health; instead of military antagonism. The disaster
bomb is already ticking and it need not be the nuclear one. It is time to act, develop synergistic
partnerships and move forward towards everlasting peace, happiness and welfare for the people
of this region. International compartments of landlocked populations have become a black hole
of humanity.

Conclusion
The 200 years of anti-incumbency and hatred against the British was forgotten and used to build
a civil war. Enough hatred was fumed between the native population of India and Pakistan.

6
Drishti IAS, https://www.drishtiias.com/mains-practice-question/question-1632#:~:text=The%20partition%20of
%20India%20led,relationship%20between%20the%20two%20nations., 13/06/2023
These international compartments of landlocked populations have become a black hole of
humanity waiting for an ultimate catastrophe - natural or man-made. The people of India,
Pakistan, and Bangladesh continue to live in guilt, shame, and self-blame for their ongoing
malaise. People continue to make Gandhi and Jinnah; their heroes or villains. He had the
political and military powers as the absolute administrator. There are enough reasons for not
forgetting the atrocities of the British Empire. Lord Mountbatten was the architect of the future
of colonial India (now India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) that we live in today. Mountbatten’s role
in Partition remains highly controversial. Critics blame him for accelerating the British departure
and thereby creating the circumstances for the massacres and migrations which accompanied it.
Although the agreement required no relocation, about 15 million people moved or were forced to
move, and between half a million to 2 million died in the ensuing violence. 7
The imperial state shed its law-and-order capacity and sense of responsibility, offering little
support to administrators trying to deal with routine local politics. The British Army began to
depart just when India’s own army was being divided and could not be relied on to control
violence. In Punjab, confidential instructions insisted that British army units had no operational
functions except in emergency to save British lives. Bureaucracies became dysfunctional as
officers thought of migrating or tried to please new masters or gave into anxiety themselves.
Officials were openly partisan or not at their posts. The evident breakdown of law and order
produced paranoia and fear in everyday life. Whatever religious justifications may have been at
play in the violence, many actions emerged from a sense of desperate need for survival in a
harrowing environment.

Ethnic Cleansing, feeble, polarized police force, absence of troops and an armed and terrified
population. The violence marked the crumbling of an old order and abdication of responsibility
for minorities by all those with any kind of power.

Bibliography

Online source –

7
Vox Dev, https://voxdev.org/topic/institutions-political-economy/drawing-line-short-and-long-term-
consequences-partitioning-india, 13/06/2023
  https://voxdev.org/topic/institutions-political-economy/drawing-line-short-and-long-
term-consequences-partitioning-india
 https://www.drishtiias.com/mains-practice-question/question-1632#:~:text=The
%20partition%20of%20India%20led,relationship%20between%20the%20two
%20nations.
 https://www.partitionmuseum.org/partition-of-india/

Journal –

 History of India’s Partition and its ongoing effect nowadays – by Alex Shashkevich

(https://news.stanford.edu/2019/03/08/partition-1947-continues-haunt-india-pakistan-stanford-
scholar-says/#:~:text=The%20partition%20created%20the%20independent,throughout%20the
%20area%2C%20Satia%20said.)

Article -

 How the Partition of India happened – and why its effects are still felt today – by Sarah
Ansari

Book –
 NCERT class 12, politics in India since Independence
 The great divide – the violent legacy of Indian partition
(https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-great-divide-books-dalrymple)