Now Reading: Sir Cyril Radcliffe drew the India-Pakistan border in five weeks
-
01
Sir Cyril Radcliffe drew the India-Pakistan border in five weeks
Sir Cyril Radcliffe drew the India-Pakistan border in five weeks
British lawyer Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who had never visited India, was given just five weeks in 1947 to draw the new border dividing Punjab and Bengal between India and Pakistan. The resulting…
The Story in Brief
British lawyer Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who had never visited India, was given just five weeks in 1947 to draw the new border dividing Punjab and Bengal between India and Pakistan. The resulting Radcliffe Line, announced two days after independence, triggered the largest mass migration in history as millions of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs fled across the new boundaries amid widespread communal violence. The partition cut through villages, farms, and railway networks, separating families who had lived together for generations. The exact death toll remains disputed, but the period is widely regarded as one of the 20th century's greatest humanitarian catastrophes.
The Indian Opinion
The Radcliffe story often fuels a lazy tale: a clueless Englishman drew a line and caused all the bloodshed. That exaggerates one man's power. Partition violence had deep roots in decades of communal politics and the British policy of divide and rule. Radcliffe was a tool, not the architect. The real test is whether today's politicians, in both countries, use the border as a scar to be mourned or a fact to be managed. Will they ever focus on the millions still living in its shadow? That is the question that matters.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
