Explained: Why the 1947 Boundary Commission awards for Punjab, Bengal irked India | Explained News,The Indian Express
On August 17, 1947, two days after Independence, the award of the Boundary Commissions for the partition of Punjab and Bengal was announced. What were the main objections to the awards, and what was the reaction of political leaders in India and Pakistan?
It was on August 17, 1947, two days after Independence, that the award of the Boundary Commissions for the partition of Punjab and Bengal was announced. The award caused much anguish to the people of the two provinces and also to the governments of India and Pakistan. Documents accessed from National Archives of India reveal that the then Law minister of India, B R Ambedkar, and Minister of Industry and Supply, Syama Prasad Mukherjee, proposed to take the matter of the Chittagong Hill Tracts to the UN (the UNO). What were the main objections to the awards and what was the reaction of the political leaders of India and Pakistan?
In June 1947, Sir Cyril John Radcliffe, a British lawyer, was made the Chairman of two boundary commissions of Punjab and Bengal and given the task to draw up the new borders of India and Pakistan. He was given a period of five weeks to complete this task and arrived in India in July 1947. The boundary commissions of Punjab and Bengal also included two nominees each of the Indian National Congress and Muslim League respectively. The Punjab commission had Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan, Justice Teja Singh, Justice Din Mohammad and Justice Muhammad Munir as members. The Bengal commission comprised Justice CC Biswas, Justice BK Mukherjee, Justice Abu Saleh Akram and Justice SA Rehman. The Boundary Commissions award was made public on August 17, 1947.
When was the award discussed by the top political leaders of India and Pakistan?
The documents in national archives include minutes of a meeting held at Government house, New Delhi at 5 pm on August 16, 1947, a day before the public announcement of award, where the Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten, Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan, Home Minister of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Interior Minister of Pakistan Fazal-ur-Rahman, Defence Minister of India Sardar Baldev Singh, Secretary of the States Department of India, VP Menon and Cabinet Secretary of Pakistan Mohammad Ali were present. Copies of the award had been distributed to them earlier that day.
What discussion took place with regard to the awards?
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