Radcliffe Line -Division between India and Pakistan
On 17 August 1947, the borderline that separated India from Pakistan, known as the Radcliffe Line was revealed.
The Radcliffe line is spread through the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat to the international border in Jammu in Jammu & Kashmir, dividing India and Pakistan into two different countries. Radcliffe divided India into three halves:
- West Pakistan
- East Pakistan and
- India
International Border between India and Pakistan
On August 17, 1947, the Radcliffe Line was officially designated as the demarcation between India and Pakistan, marking a significant outcome of the Partition of India. The line’s name honors Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who was tasked with the equitable division of 450,000 square kilometers of land inhabited by 88 million people. On this historical day, India and Pakistan were conceptually separated through the implementation of the Radcliffe Line. Unfortunately, this separation led to widespread displacement and loss of life due to ethnic riots.
Background to Radcliffe Line (Border Line between India & Pakistan)
- On this day, the line demarcating India from the newly formed Pakistan after partition was published.
- It was named after the chairman of the Border Commission, Sir Cyril Radcliffe. He was a lawyer from England who had no previous knowledge or experience with cartography.
- This borderline is today the international boundary between India and Pakistan on the western side and between India and Bangladesh on the eastern side.
- Before independence, it was decided to partition India into India and Pakistan for the Hindu and Muslim communities respectively. (Read about the partition of India in the linked article.)
- The provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan with an overwhelming majority of Muslims (more than 70% and 90% respectively) were granted to Pakistan.
- However, the provinces of Punjab and Bengal only had a marginal majority of Muslims. Punjab had 55.7% of Muslims and Bengal had 54.4% of Muslims. Even though Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted these provinces to go to Pakistan in their entirety, the Congress Party did not agree considering the feelings of the Hindu and Sikh populations.
- So it was decided to cut through these provinces and give portions to both countries.
- This was an arduous task especially in the Punjab province since the population was by and large scattered, and it was impossible to have a neat line that divided the populations according to religion.
- Sir Cyril Radcliffe was made the Chairman of the two Border Commissions (one each for Bengal and Punjab) in June 1947.
- Each commission had 5 members – Sir Cyril, 2 members nominated by the Muslim League, and 2 members nominated by the Congress Party.
- Sir Cyril was asked to complete the demarcation by 15 August but the final result was published only on the 17th.
- Sir Cyril was a neutral man in the eyes of the British and he could not be partial to either India or Pakistan as he had no prior knowledge about India or the conditions here. This was one of the reasons behind his appointment.
- Not only the population, but the border commissions had also to take care of roadways and railway lines, power systems, irrigation schemes, and also individual landholdings. They intended to avoid or minimize the separation of farmers from their fields, and also reduce the number of people who would have to migrate to the ‘right side’.
- The total area of land they were charged with dividing totalled 450000 sq. km. with a population of 88 million people.
- Since the representatives from the League and the Congress could not see eye to eye on many issues, it was left to the chairman to make all the final decisions.
- Some areas were especially hard to place on either side of the border with an unclear majority of people and also factors like cultural references and irrigation lines to consider. Some Muslim majority areas (marginal majority) were awarded to India like the Gurdaspur district’s Muslim majority tehsils, Ajnala in Amritsar, Zira and Ferozpur in Ferozpur, etc. Chittagong Hill Tracts (with 97% non-Muslim, mostly Buddhist) were awarded to East Pakistan because of inaccessibility to India. The Khulna district with a marginal Hindu majority of 51% was awarded to East Pakistan. Murshidabad with 70% Muslims was given to India.
- The partition of the country saw more than a million deaths and about 12 million people were displaced.
- Sir Cyril Radcliffe left India even before the line was published and did not accept his payment of Rs.40000 for the job.