Road To Freedom

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• For God and Country
• The Empire Builders
• Tribal Uprisings
• Sepoys on the Move
• British Authority Collapses
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Roll of Honour
• The Trial of the Last Emperor
• English Education
• The Blue Mutiny
• Perishing in Peace
• ‘Rani Ka Hookum’
• Barbarous Britannia
• Return to Swadeshi
• The Delhi Durbar
• Hunger Deaths
• The One-Man Army
• Mamool Raj
• The British Raj in Black and White
• Europeans Take To The Street!
• Pressing On !
• The Battle For A Free Press
• The Battle Lines are Drawn
• Women : Crossing the Threshold
• An Old Man's Dream
• Father of Indian Unrest
• The Monk Who Shook The Nation
• The Battle is Taken to the Legislature!
• Partition of Bengal
• The Great Divide
• The New Spirit of India
• Swadeshi Enterprise
• From Swadeshi to Swaraj
• Gandhi in South Africa
• Heroes and Martyrs
• Revolutionaries Outside India
• Carrot and Stick
• Gandhi in Champaran
• The Gentle Satyagrahi
• Massacre at Jallianwala Bagh
• Jallianwala — The Aftermath
• A People Reject Their Rulers
• The Himalayan Blunder
• Gandhiji Withdraws from Political Activities
• Bardoli
• Saga of Indian Revolutionaries
• A Pinch of Salt!
• Gandhi and Ambedkar
• Leave India to God… or to Anarchy
• Quit India
• The Last War of Independence
• Apostle of Peace
• India Wins Freedom
• The Light Has Gone Out
• Under One Flag

The Light Has Gone Out

"The Light Has Gone Out"

Lord Mountbatten was a man in a hurry. He wanted to get Britain out of India in double-quick time. The decision to partition the country was taken on 3rd June, 1947 and the division of assets between India and the new country that was to be formed, was done in just 72 days. In contrast, when the British had decided to separate Burma from India (it was done in 1937) they had given themselves 11 years to accomplish the task. The army top brass had expected that Muslim soldiers would opt for Pakistan. They were surprised when many Muslim soldiers said they would stay on in India. The transfer of the bureaucracy and railway employees posed a big problem. A hundred thousand railway employees had to be shifted from India to the newly-formed Pakistan and nearly an equal number had to be brought back to India. This threw railway services into disarray at a most crucial time. The Boundary Commission entrusted with the task of establishing the boundaries of the two countries had its report ready well before 15th August, 1947 but Mountbatten wanted its decisions to be announced only after the transfer of power so that Britain would not be held responsible for the consequences. As a result the people in some areas in the northwest did not know to which country they belonged. Those who wanted to be part of the new country raised the Pakistan flag on Independence Day and those who wanted to stay with India raised the Indian tricolour. When the Boundary Commission award was announced all hell broke loose. In western Punjab, Muslims killed their Hindu brethren or drove them out of their homes which they then occupied. In eastern Punjab and further down up to Delhi and beyond, Hindus and Sikhs retaliated in equal measure, rendering lakhs of Muslims, homeless. Thus began the great exodus — Hindus moving from Pakistan to India and Muslims, from India to Pakistan. Millions crossed the Indo-Pak border — by train, truck, cart or on foot. Two lines of refugees moving in opposite directions would sometimes cross paths and then both sides would give vent to their fury by attacking each other. Gandhiji wanted to go to Pakistan on a mission of peace but first he wanted to restore law and order in Delhi. Refugees who were pouring into Delhi were forcing their way into Muslim houses and throwing out the owners as they themselves had been thrown out in Karachi and Lahore.

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To bring the people of Delhi to their senses, Gandhiji began a fast, his last, on 13th January, 1948.
"Purify yourselves. Do not bother about what others are doing," urged the Mahatma, at the prayer meetings every evening. "Each of us should turn the searchlight inward and purify his or her heart as much as possible."
Gandhiji wanted Hindu refugees to vacate the hundred or so mosques they had occupied in Delhi and the Government of India to release £ 40 million to Pakistan as part of the division of assets. Both conditions were met and Gandhiji broke his fast on 18th January, 1948. He, however, incurred the wrath of Hindu fundamentalists. They thought he was soft on Muslims. They were furious because he had forced the government to part with the £ 40 million to Pakistan. Some men who regarded Gandhiji as a traitor to Hinduism decided to kill him.
One of them, Madanlal Pahwa exploded a bomb on 14th January close to the place where Gandhiji used to hold his daily evening prayer meetings. Gandhiji remained unhurt and Pahwa was caught. Gandhiji urged the government to deal leniently with him.
On 30th January 1948, Gandhiji hurried to his prayer meeting as he was ten minutes late. A young man, Nathuram Godse, pushed himself through the crowd and knelt before him, with hands joined. Then as the Mahatma raised his hand in blessing, the man fired — once, twice, thrice. Gandhiji murmured 'Hey, Ram' and collapsed.
Later that night while breaking the news of Gandhiji's assassination over All India Radio, Pandit Nehru his voice choked with emotion, said:
"The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere... Our beloved leader, Bapu as we call him, the father of our nation, is no more...
"The light has gone out I said yet I was wrong. For the light that has illumined this country for these many years will illumine this country for many more years, and a thousand years later that light will still be seen in this country and the world will see it and will give solace to innumerable hearts..."