Independence Day 2022: India is set to celebrate its 75th Independence Day on August 15 and arrangements across the country are underway to celebrate the historic day. Independence Day marks the day when India became free from British rule, and it is also a reminder to the citizens of the many freedom fighters who fought to liberate the country. India has come a long way since gaining its independence and has made much headway in various fields, including education and space.
The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, had raised the Indian national flag above the Lahori Gate of the Red Fort in Delhi on August 15, 1947. It is a tradition that has since then been followed by the prime ministers every year, accompanied with an address to the nation. The tri-colour flag flies highest in the sky, signifying that we now live in a Swatantra Bharath (Independent India).
So why exactly was August 15 chosen as the Independence Day for India? After several years and months of the struggle, the hardship and the non-violence campaigns during the freedom movement, the British parliament had finally given a mandate to Lord Mountbatten to transfer the power by June 30, 1948. But, Mountbatten preponed the date and set August 15, 1947 as the date to transfer power. C Rajagopalachari – independent India’s first Indian Governor General – said the decision to prepone the day was made as Mountbatten wanted to ensure there would be no bloodshed or riot.
“If he (Lord Mountbatten) had waited till June 1948, there would have been no power left to transfer,” Rajagopalachari had said.
So, Indian Independence Bill was passed in the British Parliament’s House of Commons on July 4, 1947. The bill, which ensured end of British rule in India and also called for dividing the then country into India and Pakistan, was passed in a fortnight.
The provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947, which transferred legislative sovereignty to the Indian Constituent Assembly, came into effect on August 15, 1947.
Lord Mountbatten Freedom, as quoted in Freedom at Midnight, had explained why he chose August 15 as the date for India’s Independence Day.
“The date I chose came out of the blue. I chose it in reply to a question. I was determined to show I was master of the whole event. When they asked had we set a date, I knew it had to be soon. I hadn’t worked it out exactly then — I thought it had to be about August or September and I then went out to the 15th August. Why? Because it was the second anniversary of Japan’s surrender [in World War II],” Lord Mountbatten Freedom said.
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