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<\/picture><\/div>\nThe evening of August 14, 1947, a crowd was gathering at Bungalow No. 17, York Road, in Lutyens’ New Delhi. This was the residence of Jawaharlal Nehru, who was to become the first Prime Minister of independent India in just a few hours.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Sanyasis (ascetics) dressed him in a yellow robe (pitambar) and applied ash-tilak on his forehead. As soon as he wiped the ash from his forehead, Nehru began preparing for his night speech. Just then, the phone rang.<\/p>\n It was a trunk call from Lahore. As soon as the conversation ended, Nehru’s face fell. Not a word escaped his lips. As he put down the receiver, he placed both hands on his face. When his hands moved, there were tears in his eyes.<\/p>\n In the famous book ‘Freedom at Midnight’, Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre write that Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi, was nearby at the time. When asked, Nehru said, ‘The water supply to Hindu-Sikh areas in Lahore has been cut off, children are suffering from thirst, anyone who goes out to get water is being killed, the city is burning.’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With a choked voice, Nehru said, ‘How will I address the nation now? Lahore, a piece of my heart, is burning.’<\/strong><\/em> Indira consoled her father. Nehru composed himself and reached the Central Hall of Parliament exactly at 11:55 PM. Nehru, with a rose tucked into the buttonhole of his cotton jacket, delivered the historic speech – Tryst with Destiny<\/strong>.<\/p>\n As soon as the clock hands reached 12, the conch shell sounded. Thousands of people had surrounded the Parliament House. It was raining heavily, and amidst that rain, slogans of ‘Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai’ (Victory to Mahatma Gandhi) echoed.<\/p>\n But the person whose name was being cheered in Delhi was at that time sleeping in a dark, closed room of a dilapidated building in a foul-smelling neighborhood of Calcutta, hundreds of kilometers away from Delhi.<\/p>\n 33 hours before India’s independence, that is, around 3 PM on August 13, 1947. In the narrow lanes of Calcutta’s largest slum, an old, dilapidated Chevrolet car was slowly moving forward. Inside was 77-year-old Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. In this settlement of over 4 lakh people, there was no end to the dirt and stench.<\/p>\n As soon as the car reached the neighborhood, an angry mob started pelting stones and bottles. The crowd consisted only of Hindus. The car door opened. Gandhi got out, holding his shawl with one hand and raising the other hand in a gesture of peace.<\/p>\n Someone from the crowd shouted A year ago, Muslims committed a massacre in Noakhali, raped daughters-in-law and daughters. Where were you then?<\/p>\n Gandhi walked directly into the crowd. He said, You want to kill me? All right, I am here. Kill me.<\/em><\/p>\n Gandhi further said Not a single Hindu will be killed in Noakhali now, this promise has been given by Muslim League leader Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy himself. If any Hindu still loses their life, he will give his own life. The crowd fell silent in an instant.<\/p>\n Gandhi stayed in a dilapidated house called ‘Haidari Manzil’ in the same neighborhood. Once the home of a rich Muslim, it was now a dwelling for rats and cockroaches, which had been cleaned before his arrival. From here, Gandhi began his efforts to save both the Muslims of Calcutta and the Hindus of Noakhali.<\/p>\n The next day, on August 14, about 10,000 people gathered for the prayer meeting. Gandhi said, Tomorrow we will be free, but tonight at midnight, the country will also be divided. Tomorrow will be a day of joy, but also of sorrow. This freedom entrusts us with a great responsibility. Do not abandon your conscience and brotherhood. If it survives in Calcutta, then understand that it has survived in the entire country.<\/p>\n At 12 midnight, when Nehru was delivering his historic speech on India’s independence, no bulb, no lantern, no candle was lit in Hydari Manzil. Only darkness and silence. Gandhi had gone to sleep a little early that day.<\/p>\n On August 15, more than 30,000 people attended Gandhi’s prayer meeting. Gandhi spent the entire day fasting, reciting the Gita, and spinning the charkha. He neither hoisted the flag nor gave any political speech. When the Information and Broadcasting Department asked for a message on independence, he flatly refused, saying, I have no message for the country. My heart has dried up.<\/p>\n That day, in Gandhiji’s prayer meeting, Suhrawardy, the leader of Calcutta’s Muslims, said, ‘Now I will say, ‘Jai Hind’! After me, you all will also say it!’ In response, ‘Jai Hind’ erupted from the throats of 30 thousand people.<\/p>\n The entire country was burning in the fire of communal riots, except for Calcutta. After the prayer meeting, Gandhiji set out on a tour of the city in the same old Chevrolet car. This time, the crowd in Calcutta welcomed the Mahatma’s car not with stones and bottles, but with rose water. With tears of gratitude in its eyes, the city seemed to be saying, ‘Gandhiji! You saved us.’<\/p>\n While Gandhi was risking his life in Calcutta to stop Hindus and Muslims from slaughtering each other, Mohammed Ali Jinnah was preparing for the celebration of Pakistan’s formation in Karachi. One of Jinnah’s many programs that day was to hold a salutation parade in an open car through the streets of Karachi.<\/p>\n In ‘Freedom at Midnight’, Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre write – A few hours before the parade, the C.I.D. had informed Viceroy Mountbatten that some RSS members were plotting to drop a bomb on Jinnah’s open car, and the conspirators had not yet been identified.<\/p>\n Mountbatten requested Jinnah to travel in a closed car. Jinnah flatly refused. It was not possible for the Quaid-e-Azam to leave hiding his face at the very first event of the nation for which he had dedicated his life.<\/p>\n A day before India’s independence, that is, on the morning of August 14, the celebration of Pakistan’s formation began in the Karachi Assembly Hall. Mountbatten, adorned with medals, sat next to Jinnah. According to ‘Freedom at Midnight’, both leaders finished their speeches and moved towards the black open Rolls-Royce, which Mountbatten had already started to feel resembled a hearse.<\/p>\n The car started, cannon salutes echoed, and a sea of people surged onto the three-mile-long road. The crowd continuously chanted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, ‘Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad’.<\/p>\n As soon as they reached Elphinstone Street, the slogans suddenly stopped. A terrifying silence spread. Most of the shops here belonged to Hindus. Mountbatten mentally prepared himself for death. But nothing happened. The car safely reached Government House.<\/p>\n Jinnah’s face remained pale with tension throughout the journey, but as soon as the car stopped, it lit up for the first time. He held Mountbatten’s knees with his weak hands and said, ‘Thank God, I brought you back alive!’ Mountbatten replied, ‘My God. Who saved whom? You me, or I you?’<\/em><\/p>\n According to ‘Freedom at Midnight’, it was later revealed in the investigation that RSS members had indeed reached Karachi. However, the leader who was supposed to give the signal to throw the bomb lost his nerve at that very moment.<\/p>\n That terrifying car journey of August 14 concluded safely. On August 15, Jinnah took all state powers into his hands. The leader who always championed democracy, upon taking command of the new nation, almost became a dictator.<\/p>\n August 15 also happened to be the last Friday of Ramadan. Enthusiasm doubled across Pakistan. Jinnah’s picture hung in every street, every corner, every shop window. Independence Day became like a personal celebration for Quaid-e-Azam.<\/p>\n The ‘Pakistan Times’ newspaper even wrote that the animals of Lahore Zoo were sending congratulations to Jinnah through their keepers and were engrossed in ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans.<\/p>\n Jinnah’s only child, Dina, was not present at this celebration. She was in a dilemma in a flat in the Colaba area of Bombay, hundreds of kilometers away from Karachi. She had hung both Indian and Pakistani flags from her balcony.<\/p>\n She couldn’t decide which country to call her own? India, where she was born, or Pakistan, which her father had forged? The two flags hanging on the balcony were a picture of that unresolved question.<\/p>\n Only a few hours were left until independence, and Sardar Patel was continuously working to integrate the princely states into India.<\/p>\n August 13, 8:30 AM. Home Secretary V.P. Menon arrived at Patel’s with bad news. Chittagong Hill, with over 97% Buddhist and non-Muslim population, was going to be part of Pakistan. On the same day, two people from Chittagong came to meet Patel.<\/p>\n It is written in daughter Maniben Patel’s diary, ‘Inside Story of Sardar Patel’, ‘Bapu (Patel) was astonished to hear it. When Menon returned at 12 PM, he had a letter written to the Viceroy.’<\/p>\n From 5:30 AM on the morning of August 14, a queue formed – the Diwan of Kutch, another Diwan, then another visitor. Throughout the day, Menon, Morarji Desai, and Jawaharlal kept coming and going. At quarter to three in the afternoon, the rulers of Dholpur, Nabha, and Jhabua handed over their signed Instruments of Accession to Patel.<\/p>\n At 7:30 PM, Menon informed that Pakistan’s Liaquat Ali Khan would come to meet the day after tomorrow, and the Nawab of Bhopal would also send his signature soon.<\/p>\n At 10 PM, Patel went to Rajendra Babu’s house, where a religious ceremony was underway on the lawn. The entire lawn was filled with a crowd of women. The road was jammed with cars.<\/p>\n At 8 AM on the morning of August 15, Patel went to Viceroy’s House, where he witnessed the swearing-in of ministers and the Governor-General. At quarter to ten, he went directly to the Assembly, where the session began in the presence of Lord and Lady Mountbatten. The session ended at eleven, followed by an informal Cabinet meeting.<\/p>\n In the evening, the historic flag-hoisting took place at India Gate, but amidst the celebrations, two phone calls came regarding disturbances in Lahore.<\/p>\n On August 16, Patel participated in the flag-hoisting ceremony at the Red Fort, performed by Jawaharlal. At 10:30 AM, he went for a meeting of the Defence Council, but the meeting ended within half an hour as Liaquat Ali Khan’s plane did not arrive.<\/p>\n After this, a long discussion began with Syama Prasad, Jawaharlal, Rajendra Babu, Baldev Singh, and some officers, which continued until 5 PM. The topic was the Radcliffe Line of partition. Even a day after independence, the country’s borders were still being decided on paper.<\/p>\n This means that while other leaders were giving speeches, hoisting flags, and shedding tears, Patel was doing the unseen work amidst files, signatures, and maps, without which the map of independent India would not have been complete.<\/p>\n New Delhi, August 15, 1947, five in the evening.<\/p>\n The British had built India Gate in memory of 10,000 Indian soldiers killed in the World War. It was here that Nehru was officially going to hoist the tricolor of independent India for the first time.<\/p>\n Mountbatten’s advisors had estimated that about 30,000 people would come. The entire arrangement, including rope galleries and pathways, was made accordingly. The estimate turned out to be wrong. Not by a few thousand, but by a margin of a full five hundred thousand (five lakh).<\/p>\n Delhi had never seen such a sea of humanity before. The ropes and galleries, built to accommodate 30,000, were lost somewhere in that crowd. Chairs were breaking like dry twigs. Many villagers, who had brought food packed from home, remained hungry. They were so squeezed in the crowd that they couldn’t even move their hands to open their food bundles.<\/p>\n Mountbatten’s 17-year-old daughter Pamela had arrived on time with her father’s staff, but when she was only a hundred yards from the stage, it became impossible to move forward. The crowd was so dense that there was no room to even place a needle.<\/p>\n Nehru, standing on the stage, sensed her difficulty. According to the book ‘Freedom at Midnight’, Nehru shouted, “Come walking over the people!”<\/p>\n Pamela said, “But I’m wearing high heels.”<\/p>\n Nehru said, “Take them off.” For a girl from a prominent family like Pamela, walking barefoot on such a grand occasion did not seem appropriate. She refused. Nehru then said, “Then keep them on, climb over the people, move forward, no one will mind.”<\/p>\n Pamela finally picked up her shoes and started walking on that living carpet of humans. The crowd enjoyed the spectacle. They helped her move forward, laughing.<\/p>\n As soon as the shining turbans of the bodyguards walking ahead of Mountbatten’s carriage were seen from a distance, the crowd began to surge forward like a rising wave.<\/p>\n Mountbatten, sitting in the carriage, quickly understood that the grand ceremony envisioned was no longer possible. The band was stuck in the crowd, the guards couldn’t even move. Mountbatten himself was not in a position to get out of his carriage. He shouted to Nehru, “Just hoist the flag, let’s stop everything else here.”<\/p>\n That saffron, white, and green flag slowly ascended the pole. Mountbatten, Queen Victoria’s great-grandson, stood in his carriage and saluted it. As soon as the flag fully unfurled, a cheer erupted from the throats of over five lakh people.<\/p>\n Just then, a rainbow appeared in the sky. For that crowd, which believed in good and bad omens, it was nothing less than a divine sign. People started saying to each other, ‘This rainbow has been sent by God. Now let’s see who can stand against us.’<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The evening of August 14, 1947, a crowd was gathering at Bungalow No. 17, York Road, in Lutyens’ New Delhi. This was the residence of Jawaharlal Nehru, who was to become the first Prime Minister of independent India in just a few hours. 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