Independence Day 2022: What Transpired On August 14,1947, Eve Of India’s Independence; Check Important Events

Here is an account of major events that took place on the eve of India's independence, August 14, 1947.

Independence Day 2022: India will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day on August 15, the major turning point in the history of the subcontinent. On August 14, after 200 years of subjugation, the country was both jubilant and threatened at the very prospect of freedom. While on one hand the country was still recovering from the shadows of the brutal partition violence, making space for the refugees that were crossing newly formed borders, on the other, there were tears of joy.

Here is an account of the events that happened one day before our Independence, i.e. August 14, 1947:

• Pakistan got its first Governor General Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Liaqat Ali Khan was declared the first Prime Minister of Pakistan.
• Hansa Mehta, on behalf of the Women of India, presented the National Flag to the Constituent Assembly of India. She stated in her speech, “We have donned the saffron colour, we have fought, suffered and sacrificed in the cause of our country’s freedom. We have today attained our goal. In presenting this symbol of our freedom, we once more offer our services to the nation.”
• This was the last day when the Union Jack flag inscribed with the Star of India, was lowered from the flagstaff at the Viceroy’s residence.
• The Constituent Assembly met in the evening at the constitutional hall as it was getting prepared to become the Legislative Assembly of an Independent India.
• People stormed out in the streets before midnight to breathe in the air of Independence after 200 years of British rule.
• India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru gave the famous “Tryst with Destiny” speech on the midnight of August 14-15, 1947.

Last year, Prime Minister had called for marking this day as a remembrance day for the horrors of partition. Today,  PM Modi tweeted:

Today, on #PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay, I pay homage to all those who lost their lives during Partition , and applaud the resilience as well as grit of all those who suffered during that tragic period of our history.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 14, 2022

However, on August 10, Pakistan’s Foreign Office had criticised India’s announcement as a “mischievous” way to “hypocritically and one-sidedly invoke the tragic events and mass migration that occurred in the wake of Independence in 1947”, and said that “If the Indian leaders genuinely care about agony, suffering, and pain, they must work to improve the conditions of the Muslims and other minorities in India”.