Scholar’s Voice: A New Way of Thinking Centre for Defence Sciences

Vol. 2, No. 1, January-June 2011, 22-28 Research & Development

The Radcliffe Award

Col. Nirmal Siwach*
Abstract
Ever since that flawed independence, both siblings have been at
loggerheads and have fought three wars. Some think that these wars are
over the boundary issue. But they are mistaken. Boundary between the
new dominions was well settled at the time of partition by the Radcliffe
Award.

India and Pakistan became independent from British rule on 15th and 14th
August 1947, respectively. They are both the result of a freedom struggle, fought
by Hindus and Muslims together, at least since 1857. However, towards the
culmination of this freedom struggle, Muslims of India demanded a separate
homeland for themselves, and got it. India was divided into two dominions,
Pakistan for Muslims and; India for Hindus and Muslims (for that matter, everybody
who didn’t want to stay on in proposed Pakistan).
Ever since that flawed independence, both siblings have been at loggerheads
and have fought three wars. Some think that these wars are over the boundary
issue. But they are mistaken. Boundary between the new dominions was well
settled at the time of partition by the Radcliffe Award.
The Changing face of the Indian Sub Continent
Pakistan was intended as a Muslim homeland while India was secular with a
Hindu majority. Muslim-majority regions; provinces of Baluchistan (9% Muslim
before partition) and Sindh (71%) were granted entirely to Pakistan. North-West
1
Frontier Province (NWFP) voted in favour of Pakistan in a referendum held after
the partition. However, two provinces did not have a uniform majority - Bengal
(53%) in the northeast and Punjab (56%) in the northwest. The western part of
Punjab became part of West Pakistan and the eastern part became the Indian
state of Punjab. Bengal was similarly divided into East Bengal (in Pakistan) and
West Bengal (in India).
The border between India and Pakistan was determined by a British
Government Commission Report usually referred to as The Radcliffe Award named
after Sir Cyril Radcliffe. Both, in Punjab and Bengal, the Boundary Commission
consisted of two Muslim and two Non-Muslim High Court judges, two nominated
2
by Congress and two by Muslim League with Sir Cyril Radcliffe as a common
3
chairman. A crude border had already been drawn up by Lord Wavell.

* Colonnel in Indian Army

ISSN 0974-6501
© 2011 Centre for Defence Sciences Research & Development
The Radcliffe Award Vol. 2, No. 1, Jan-June 2011 23

The Border Commission chaired by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, was to divide

175,000 square miles of territory. Pakistan came into being with two non-
contiguous enclaves, East Pakistan (today Bangladesh) and West Pakistan,
separated geographically by India. India was formed out of the majority Hindu
regions of the colony, and Pakistan from the majority Muslim areas.
Any division was going to entail cutting through road and rail
communications, irrigation schemes, electric power systems and even individual
landholdings. However, a well-drawn line would have minimised the cases of
separating farmers from their fields, and minimize the millions of people who
would have to relocate.
Radcliffe and the other commissioners had no specialized knowledge needed
for the task. He went on to make all the difficult decisions himself. Perhaps, the
thinking of Radcliffe was that no amount of knowledge could produce a line that
would completely avoid conflict. The justification behind this may never be known
since He destroyed all his papers before he left India. He departed on
Independence Day itself, before even the boundary awards were distributed.
The Key People
The Punjab's division was such that there was no line that could neatly divide
Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. Likewise, no line could appease the Muslim League
headed by Jinnah, and
the Indian National
Congress led by Pt Nehru
and Sardar Patel, as well
as the British.
Most of the Congress
leaders were secularists
and resolutely opposed
the division of India on the
lines of religion.
Mahatama Gandhi
opposed the partition
saying,
“My whole soul
rebels against the idea
that Hinduism and
Islam represent two
antagonistic cultures
and doctrines. To
assent to such a
doctrine is for me a
denial of God.”
Source: Wikipedia, the Partition of India (Source: Wikipedia)
free encyclopedia
 24 Scholar’s Voice: A New Way of Thinking Col. Nirmal Siwach

Maps Depicting Comparison between Pre And

Post Partition India

Source: BBC News Service

The Process
The Commission was instructed to "demarcate the boundaries of the two parts
of the Punjab on the basis of ascertaining the contiguous majority areas of
Muslims and non-Muslims. In doing so, it will also take into account other factors."
But other factors were undefined, giving Radcliffe leeway on decisions regarding
natural boundaries, communications, watercourses and irrigation systems, as well
as socio-political considerations.
Political Representation
The equal representation given to the politicians from the Indian National
Congress and the Muslim League appeared to provide balance, but instead
created deadlock. The relationships between the members in the commission
were strained.
Last of all, were the communities without any representation. The Buddhist
4
tribes in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bengal had no official representation and
were left totally without information to prepare for their situation until two days
after the partition.
Local Knowledge
Before his appointment, Radcliffe had never visited India and knew no one
there. To the British and the feuding politicians alike, this liability was looked upon
as an asset. He was considered to be unbiased toward any of the parties, except,
The Radcliffe Award Vol. 2, No. 1, Jan-June 2011 25

of course, Britain. Wanting to preserve the appearance of impartiality, he also kept

his distance from Viceroy Mountbatten.
No amount of knowledge could produce a line that would completely avoid
conflict. Already, sectarian riots in Punjab and Bengal dimmed hopes for a quick
and dignified British withdrawal. Many of the seeds of post colonial disorder in
South Asia were sown much earlier, in two centuries of direct and indirect British
rule which have taken their toll on the relations of both the countries.
Haste and Indifference
Had the Commission been more careful, many problems in the division could
have been avoided. For example, there were instances where the border was
drawn leaving some parts of a village in India and some in Pakistan. Since he had
just a month, Radcliffe saw little point in being careful to skirt villages thus his
border was drawn right through thickly populated areas instead of between them
by the help of aerial survey. There were even instances where the dividing line
passed through a single house with some rooms in one country and others in the
other.
As the division was done during peak summer months, Radcliffe was not
comfortable with harsh weather. The heat was appalling. After a few days of it, he
seriously began to wonder whether he would come out of it alive.
Implementation
The implementation was no less hasty than the process of drawing the border.
On 16 August 1947 at 5:00pm, the Indian and Pakistani representatives were
given two hours to study copies, before the Radcliffe
th
award was published on the 17 . There were two
After the partition, the fledgling governments of major disputes
India and Pakistan were left with all responsibility to regarding the
implement the border. 50,000 men were deployed to Radcliffe Line, the
prevent thousands of killings. Given the size of the Chittagong Hill
territory, the force amounted to less than 1 soldier per Tracts and the
square mile. This was not enough to protect the cities Gurdaspur District.
much less the caravans of the hundreds of thousands of
Minor disputes
refugees who were fleeing their homes in what would
evolved around the
become Pakistan.
districts of Malda,
Both India and Pakistan were loath to violate the
Khulna, and
agreement by supporting the rebellions of villages drawn
Murshidabad of
on the wrong side of the border, as this could prompt a
Bengal and the
loss of face on the international stage and require the
British or the UN to intervene. This did not prevent them sub-division of
from getting into immediate conflict over the former Karimganj of
princely state of Kashmir, as this territory was not a part Assam.
of the Radcliffe agreement. Ultimately, border conflicts
led to three wars, in 1947, 1965, and 1971, as well as the May 1998 dual tests of
nuclear weapons and the Kargil conflict of 1999.
 26 Scholar’s Voice: A New Way of Thinking Col. Nirmal Siwach

An attempt to show the population transfers in August 1947

(The pie chart applies to post-1947 India)
Source: http://cla.calpoly.edu/~lcall/partition_india.jpg
Disputes about the Radcliffe Line
There were two major disputes regarding the Radcliffe Line, the Chittagong
Hill Tracts and the Gurdaspur District. Minor disputes evolved around the districts
of Malda, Khulna, and Murshidabad of Bengal and the sub-division of Karimganj of
Assam.
Chittagong Hill Tracts
Chittagong Hill Tracts had a majority non-Muslim population of 98% (most of
them Buddhists). On 17 August, the publication of the Radcliffe Award put
Chittagong Hill Tracts to Pakistan. The rationale of giving the Chittagong Hill
Tracts to Pakistan was that they were inaccessible to India and to provide some
buffer area to Chittagong (now in Bangladesh), a major city and port.
Gurdaspur District
Gurdaspur District had a slight Muslim majority (50.6 Muslim) because the
5
Ahmadiyya community was counted as Muslim, even though they had been
declared non-Muslim by Muslim clergy, was given to India. The proportion of the
Muslim to non-Muslim population in the district as a whole was 50.6 and 49.4,
respectively. The tehsils of Shakargarh and Gurdaspur had a Muslim majority of
51% each. In the end, only Shakargarh tehsil (which was separated from the rest
The Radcliffe Award Vol. 2, No. 1, Jan-June 2011 27

of the district by the Ravi River) was awarded to Pakistan, leaving the rest of the
district with a slight majority of non-Muslims).
Malda District
The district overall had a slight Muslim majority, but was divided and most of it,
including Malda town, went to India. The district remained under East Pakistan
administration for 3–4 days after 15 August 1947. It was only when the award
was made public that the Pakistani flag was replaced by the Indian flag in Malda.
Khulna & Murshidabad Districts
The entire Khulna District with a slight Hindu majority of 52% was also given
to East Pakistan in lieu of the much smaller Murshidabad district with a 70%
Muslim majority, came to India.
Karimganj
Sylhet district of Assam joined Pakistan in accordance with a plebiscite.
However, Karimganj the sub-division of sylhet, with a Muslim majority was severed
from Sylhet and given to India. As of the 2001 Indian Census, Karimganj has a
Muslim majority of 52.3%.
Still Paying the Price
One accusation that has been made since 1947 is that the British were to
blame for a hasty partition and also for inadequate preparation for what would
follow and administrative operation was poorly planned. The British were primarily
concerned about getting out and getting out quickly.
6
Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal , opine, "The decisions of expediency taken in
1947 cast a very long shadow on the subcontinent, and we are still paying the
price for the kind of partition that took place. Partition may have been a question
of conflict management, but it was certainly not conflict resolution" Jalal adds.
"What was required was a power-sharing arrangement, which was not possible in
'47, but the creation of a false international border meant that the two countries
have not only fought wars but internationalised their grievances."
Conclusion
The Partition was a highly controversial arrangement, and remains a cause of
much tension on the subcontinent even today. The British Viceroy, Lord
Mountbatten of Burma has not only been accused of rushing the process through,
but also is alleged to have influenced the Radcliffe Line. However, the commission
took so long to decide on a final boundary that the two nations were granted
their independence even before there was a defined boundary between them.
Some critics allege that British haste led to the cruelties of the Partition.
Because independence was declared prior to the actual Partition, it was up to the
new governments of India and Pakistan to keep public order. It was a task at
which both states failed. There was a complete breakdown of law and order;
many died in riots, massacre, or just from the hardships of their flight to safety.
What ensued was one of the largest population movements in recorded history.
 28 Scholar’s Voice: A New Way of Thinking Col. Nirmal Siwach

Over ten million people both Hindus and Muslims were trekking from east to
west, in the opposite directions. Many of them never made it to their destinations.
The partition was promulgated in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and resulted
in the dissolution of the British Indian Empire. The violent nature of the partition
created an atmosphere of mutual hostility and suspicion between India and
Pakistan that plagues their relationship till this day.
Let us be optimistic over the future relations between the two countries as the
subcontinent has always lived with difference but it has also known how to
negotiate these differences and transcend them.

References
1. North-West Frontier Province is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-
west of the country. It borders Afghanistan to the north-west, Gilgit-Baltistan to the north-
east, Pakistan occupied Kashmir to the east, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)
to the west and south and Punjab and the Islamabad Capital Territory to the south-east.
2. The Muslim League was founded by the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference at
Dhaka, now Bangladesh), in 1906 and played a decisive role during the 1940s in the Indian
independence movement.
3. Viceroy of India prior to his replacement as Viceroy, in February 1947by Lord MountBatton.
4. The Chittagong Hill Tracts comprise an area of 13,180 km2 in south-eastern Bangladesh, and
borders India and Myanmar (Burma).
5. Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious movement founded in India near the end of the 19th
century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who
claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer.
6. Sugata Bose, Gardiner professor of Oceanic history and affairs at Harvard University, Ayesha
Jalal, professor of history at Tufts University, are co-authors of Modern South Asia: History,
Culture, Political Economy).
_________________________

“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men
stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
- George Orwell