But have you ever wondered why this particular date, August 15, was chosen to declare India independent? The reason was quite specific, and ironic too, but very few Indians know it.
Why was August 15 chosen as India’s Independence Day?
In 1946, the Labour government in Britain found itself struggling. The country was exhausted from the recently concluded World War II, and it no longer had the resources or support to maintain control over India, which was growing increasingly restless. On February 20, 1947, Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced that Britain would grant full self-governance to India by June 1948 at the latest.
Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, recognised that waiting until June 1948 might be too late. As Indian leader C. Rajagopalachari explained, if Mountbatten had waited until then, there might not have been any power left to transfer. Mountbatten feared that the ongoing tensions between the Congress and the Muslim League could lead to the collapse of the interim government.
Understanding the urgency of the situation, Mountbatten moved the date for India’s independence to August 1947, hoping to prevent further unrest and violence.
Mountbatten also believed that by moving the date forward, he could avoid widespread bloodshed and riots. However, this hope turned out to be unrealistic. As he later admitted, “Wherever colonial rule has ended, there has been bloodshed. That is the price you pay.”
But why did Mountbatten choose the date August 15 specifically? Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre explain in their book ‘Freedom at Midnight’ that this date was deeply personal to him. It was “a date linked in his memory to the most triumphant hours of his own existence” —the day when his campaign through the jungles of Burma ended with the unconditional surrender of the Japanese Empire during World War II. For Mountbatten, this was a fitting date for the birth of a new democratic Asia. However, drawing a parallel between a belligerant country that surrendered and a country that got free from the British rule was ironic.
Collins and Lapierre write that Mountabettenw as asked about he date as a press conference. “Sir, the voice said, if all agree that there is most urgent need for speed between today and the Transfer of Power, surely you should have a date in mind?” a journalist asked.”He stared at the packed assembly hall. Every face in the room was turned to his. A hushed, expectant silence broken only by the whirr of the wooden blades of the fans revolving overhead stilled the room. ‘I was determined to show I was the master of the whole event,’ he would remember.”
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I have selected a date for the Transfer of Power.’
“As he was uttering those words, the possible dates were still whizzing through his mind like the numbers on a spinning roulette wheel. Early September? Mid-September? Mid- August? Suddenly the wheel stopped with a jar and the little ball popped into a slot so overwhelmingly appropriate that Mountbatten’s decision was instantaneous. It was a date linked in his memory to the most triumphant hours of his own
existence, the day in which his long crusade through the jungles of Burma had ended with the unconditional surrender of the Japanese Empire. What more appropriate date for the birth of the new democratic Asia than the second anniversary of Japan’s surrender?
“His voice constricted with sudden emotion, the victor of the jungles of Burma about to become the liberator of India announced: The final Transfer of Power to Indian hands will take place on 15 August 1947.”
Explained his choice of date, Mountbatten told the writers, “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.”
The Indian Independence Bill, based on Mountbatten’s recommendations, was quickly passed in the British House of Commons. On July 4, 1947, the bill was approved, setting the end of British rule in India into motion.
