Why Pakistan Celebrates Independence Day Before India: A Look At Their 77th Anniversary

India and Pakistan have celebrated their Independence Day this year with the utmost zeal and enthusiasm. However, one interesting fact about both countries is that their Independence Day falls subsequently, one after the other. The question arises what events lead to this interesting phenomenon with the countries? Nevertheless, the answer can be found if we visit the pre-partition history of the subcontinent, which has engraved some interesting details about this phenomenon.

As we know that both India and Pakistan came into being in August 1947, when British rulers adopted the policy of divide and rule. The Indian Independence Act of 1947 gave birth to India and Pakistan, and it was promulgated on July 18, 1947. The Indian Independence Act states, “As from the fifteenth day of August, nineteen hundred and forty-seven, two independent dominions shall be set up in India, to be known respectively as India and Pakistan.”

However, it is pertinent to mention here that Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s address before partition clearly demonstrated that Aug 15 deemed to be the Independence Day of Pakistan. The founding father of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, addressed the nation, saying, “August 15 is the birthday of the independent and sovereign state of Pakistan. It marks the fulfillment of the destiny of the Muslim nation which made great sacrifices in the past few years to have its homeland.”

It should also be noted that Pakistan’s first postage stamps also delegated Aug 15, 1947 as the Independence Day of Pakistan. Reported by Dawn, the former Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Chaudhary Rehmat Ali, in his book, “The Emergence of Pakistan”, wrote, “Fifteenth August 1947 was the last Friday of Ramadan-ul-Mubarak, one of the holiest days in Islam. On that auspicious day, Quaid-i-Azam [Jinnah] became the Governor-General of Pakistan, the cabinet was sworn in, the star-and-crescent flag was hoisted, and Pakistan emerged on the world map.”

But, the twist happened when Viceroy Lord Mountbatten addressed to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. He said that he will transfer power to both India and Pakistan at midnight on Aug 15. At the same time, it was mandatory for him to be present in person in both countries, India and Pakistan. However, it was impossible to be present in both countries simultaneously.

Therefore, he first went to Karachi to transfer power to Pakistan on Aug 14 and then went to New Delhi on Aug 15 to transfer power to India consequently. On that note, depicting the entire situation, Khursheed Kamaal Aziz, a well-known historian, wrote in his book, Murder of History, that it says:

“The power had to be personally transferred to the new countries by the Viceroy, who was the British King’s sole representative in India. Lord Mountbatten could not be present in person in Karachi and New Delhi at the same moment. Nor could he transfer power to India on the morning of August 15th and then rush to Karachi, because by that time, he would have become the Governor General of the new Indian Dominion. So, the only practicable thing was for him to transfer power to Pakistan on 14th August when he was still the Viceroy of India. But that does not mean that Pakistan gained its independence on August 14. The Indian Independence Act did not provide for it.”