Ever wondered why we Indians celebrate our Independence Day on August 15 and why the British selected this day to hand over the power to Indians?
Well, wrecked by WWII, the Brits wanted to get out of India after ruling India anyway they could. While they had to make an exit as early as possible, it is interesting to see why the last Viceroy of British India and first Governor-General of India, Lord Mountbatten cherry-picked the date August 15 for Indian Independence.
Image Source: By The Hindustan Times [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
August 15, 1947, marked the Second Anniversary of Japan’s Surrender
The decision to choose the date for Indian Independence fell upon Lord Mountbatten. Determined to prove that he is the master of the entire event, he chose August 15 because it was the same day when Japan surrendered to him 2 years ago at the end of World War II.
Well, prior to his post as the Viceroy of British India, Lord Mountbatten was a naval officer and Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in South East Asia. The date August 15 had a personal charm to Mountbatten as being the Supreme Commander of South East Asia, Japan had surrendered to him in Singapore.
South Korea (Colonised by Japan at that Time) too celebrated Independence Day on August 15
Besides, the day of Japan’s surrender, August 15 also marked South Korea’s independence from Japan. What better strategy to impede any potential Indo-Japanese association in future than to make India rejoice while Japan recollects its humiliation!
Moreover, back in 1947, the story of Japanese support to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s INA (Indian National Army) was household news in India. This is the reason why the British carefully picked August 15 to hand over power to the Indians.
Why August 15 Midnight for Indian Independence?
The date of Independence was declared in a plan (June 3) and was shared with the Indian public. However, the day and date was considered inauspicious and unfortunate according to the astrological predictions and calculations. This created an outrage among all the Indian astrologers across the nation. Alternative dates were suggested to mark the historic date of Indian Independence. But, now that 15th August was quite a historic date for Lord Mountbatten, he was adamant on August 15.
This is when, the Indian astrologers suggested the midnight hour as although according to the English, the day starts at 12 AM, as per Hindu calendar and customary, the day starts at sunrise.
This is how India had to comprise with the British even for locking up the date for its Independence!
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