Radcliffe’s Line Submerged: Floods Erase Borders After 78 Years

This time, the floods completely submerged the division lines established by Radcliffe 78 years ago. It appeared as though the turbulent waters were outright rejecting that separation. There was no 'LOC' and no 'LAC'. Storms, hurricanes, and floods have their own paths. If those hungry for 'loot', blood, and power caused chaos 78 years ago, then why shouldn't storms, hurricanes, and floods act chaotically? This time, the floods washed away the stages of the 'Retreat Ceremony' of simplicity located at the Hussainiwala border, Ferozepur, and Fazilka border. Currently, the fields of hundreds of villages in India and Pakistan are submerged under floodwaters. If Radcliffe were alive today, he would be 113 years old. If spirits truly wander around graves, then Radcliffe's spirit would also be compelled to scratch his head. Nearly all the villages across the Indo-Pak border that were being used by terrorist organizations to establish their training centers and create 'launching pads' are underwater. The entire area of 700 square kilometers is affected, and 3.3 million people are severely impacted.

Radcliffe was perhaps the most talked about and cursed character of the horror of India's partition. His last days were not good. He was always sad. He felt that he was the culprit of 'the world's largest migration'. These were days of accidents. Almost every incident of the entire sequence of events was happening like an accident. There were inconsistencies and contradictions all around. It was a historical paradox that the date on which Pakistan came into existence, the boundaries of that country had not been decided till this day. An area of ​​about four and a half lakh square kilometers was to be allotted for about eight crore people. Independent Pakistan came into existence on 14 August. The tricolor was hoisted on the Red Fort on 15 August. But the border line between the two countries could be drawn only a day later on 16 August. That is, independence was achieved first and the borders were decided later. The border commission which drew these border lines was headed by an architect, Sir Cyril Radcliffe. This was perhaps the biggest anomaly of that time that the task of this historical marking was entrusted to a person who had never visited India even as a tourist before. Whatever he learnt about the culture, geography, religion and castes of this place, he learnt it after coming here.

Let's take a step back. On July 15, 1947, the British Parliament enacted the 'Indian Independence Act 1947'. According to this legislation, just a month later, on August 15, 1947, the 'Provinces of British India' were to be split into two independent nations. One was to be called the 'Union of India' and the other the 'Dominion of Pakistan'. Prior to the partition, around 40 percent of India was governed by various kings, Maharajas, and Nawabs. Drawing any boundary was impossible without disrupting the road, rail, communication, irrigation, and electricity systems. The condition of the agricultural fields was similar. However, arguments, logic, and technical, historical, and geographical necessities were largely ignored. The borders were simply delineated. Two boundary commissions were established for this task, one for Bengal and the other for Punjab. Sir Cyril Radcliffe was appointed as the chairman of both commissions. Radcliffe arrived in India for the first time on July 8, 1947, and was given a five-week deadline to complete his work.

Both the commissions had two representatives each from the Congress and the Muslim League, but in case of any disagreement between the two sides on any point, the final decision was Radcliffe's. Radcliffe found the time to be insufficient. But the Viceroy, the Congress and the Muslim League leaders were adamant about this. They were not in favour of extending the time limit at all. Apart from Radcliffe, all the other members of this commission were lawyers by profession. Jinnah and Nehru were also related to law. No member had any such experience. No one knew how the partition boundary was drawn. Radcliffe was satisfied only with the fact that his private secretary Christopher Beaumant was fully aware of every situation in Punjab. He had almost complete information about the administrative system of Punjab and the life there. Now historians and experts accept that if a little caution and vigilance had been used, the unimaginable horror of partition could have been avoided. Many such scenes came to light when a village had to be divided in the middle. A part of a village went to Pakistan, the rest to India. Radcliffe was in favour of a dividing line between densely populated areas. But this also led to the division of many houses, some of whose rooms went to India and some to Pakistan.

Radcliffe repeatedly argued that 'whatever we do, people will suffer destruction.' It may not be clear why Radcliffe said this, because before leaving India he had destroyed all the notes (except the final report) so that controversies would not arise later. Anyway, he was not liking the atmosphere of India. He wanted to return to his country as soon as possible. The entire partition proceedings were kept as secret as possible. The final report (award) was ready on 9 August 1947, but it was made public only on 17 August, two days after the partition. Radcliffe was only 48 years old at that time. In those days, from 8 July 1947 to 9 August, he did not participate in any social function or activity. He remained busy only in his work. It was not easy to complete such a huge task in a short period. Most Muslims still believed that even after the formation of Pakistan, the ease of movement in India would continue. Many rich Muslims continued to retain their properties in Bombay and Delhi. Jinnah did not sell his bungalow in Malabar Hill Bombay (now Mumbai), although he had sold the bungalow in Delhi. Jinnah was connected to Bombay in many matters. One of these reasons was the memories of his wife Ratti.

Radcliffe was a novice in practical matters in the division of property. Before his appointment, he got even small conditions like salary allowances, family expenses, free travel, free living agreed to in writing by his government. Obviously, he was neither a politician nor a bureaucrat. He was appointed only in view of his professional abilities. But everyone realized his importance when the top leaders of the Congress and the Muslim League had to personally go to give him their respective demand letters. He was given a Punjabi bodyguard who always carried two pistols on his waist. He had a gun in one hand but he was not in police uniform. He used to stick to Radcliffe like a shadow.

Radcliffe returned on 17 August itself. He knew that he would be held responsible for many tragic incidents. On his return to India, he was given the post of 'Law-Lord'. Once a journalist had asked him if he would like to go to India again? His answer was, 'Not even if I get a government order. I feel that if I go, people from both sides will shoot me dead.' According to people close to Radcliffe, he was going through a lot of stress due to the news of bloodshed during partition. But he kept receiving government and state honors. In the year 1977, he breathed his last as a 'Viscount'. He probably did not realize in his lifetime that just six weeks of service would give him a stained page in the history of the Indian subcontinent.