Major Events Pre-1950

Editor's note: The source is SPEECHES &amp\; DOCUMENTS ON INDIAN POLICY 1750-1921, ed. A. Berriedale Keith, Vol. I

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Editor's note: In  April 1919, under order of General Dyer, troops opened fire on a crowd at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, killing 379 unarmed civilians and wounding over a thousand. The Commander-in-Chief in India recommended that Dyer should be ordered to retire, and the matter came before the Army Council for review. The Council accepted the recommendation, as did the British Cabinet.

Winston Churchill  defended the Cabinet's decision in Parliament, though he called the firing "a monstrous event." The editor has highlighted certain passages.

This is taken from http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/churchill/am-text.htm

Following extracts taken from
Hansard House of Commons (U.K.) Proceedings
July 8th, 1920, Supply-Committee, Punjab Disturbances, pp 1719 - 1734

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1920/jul/08/army-council-and-general-dyer

This includes Churchill's complete speech.

The SECRETARY of STATE for WAR

Source:  A. Berriedale Keith, ed. Speeches and Documents on Indian Policy, 1750-1921. Vol. I. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1922, 266-274.

Editor's note: This Act created the post of Governor-General of India, which continued in India until the adoption of the Indian constitution in 1950. The Act also created a 4-member Council to work with the Governor-General.

III.          Provided always, and be it enacted, that from and after the said twenty-second day of April one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four the exclusive right of trading with the Dominions of the Emperor of China, and of trading in tea [53 Geo. 3, c. 155], continued to the said Company by the said Act of the fifty-third year of King George the Third, shall cease.

Editor's note: The following is an extract from the prologue of Shahdaynama, a book written by GBK Hooja. The book is currently out of print. A new edition is expected to be published in 2020.

Bhupi (my younger brother Bhupendra Hooja) also desired that I should write a note on how Bhagat Singh became Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

As I sat mulling over the question, old memories appeared on my mind's screen. The painful memories of the manhoos (inauspicious) night of 23 March, 1931 comes back to me, as I type these lines. I was a resident student of D.A.V. College, Lahore, and a member of Naujawan Bharat Sabha. As the news of the execution of the three heroes came in, the D.A.V. College Hostel was plunged in hushed silence and grief. The boarders decided to march or cycle to the Central Jail. On the way, they were met by several other such columns. The mansions and multi storied buildings of Lahore appeared to be quivering as though hit by an earthquake.

Editor's note: This is a listing of personal stories and articles related to the partition of India, 1947.

On this website

Indira Kumar Born in Lahore in 1929, she remembers life in pre-Independence Lahore, and how it changed before partition.   My Memories of Lahore and the Partition

Bimla Goulatia Remembers the family's move from Meghiana to India.  A Child's Horrifying Memories of India's Partition

Pran Bhatla Bimla Goulatia's older brother's account of the family's move.  From Meghiana to Hoshiarpur, 1947

Veena Sharma Memories of a seven year old girl.  From Balloki to Shimla - August 1947

R P Bhatla

A young boy's memories of life in a Punjab village A Prosperous and Peaceful Village Life - Pre-Partition

His account of the move.  From Kot Khan Pakistan to India 1947

Editor's note: This is a listing of stories and articles related to India's First Independence Day, 15 August 1947. In order to be comprehensive, the period actually covered is 14-16 August 1947

On this website

Prime Minister Nehru Tryst with Destiny

Munir Kadri There Were A Million Revellers That Night - First Independence Day

R C Mody Independence Day 1947, Delhi

Arvind Kolhatkar Memories of August 15, 1947

Jayant S. Kalotra  First Independence Day in Delhi

Fauji Akhbar First Independence Day in Delhi

T.S. Nagarajan Remembering (?) the Day India Became Free

M. P. V. Shenoi Memories of Independence Day and Grandfather

R C Mody is a postgraduate in Economics and a Certificated Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers. He studied at Raj Rishi College (Alwar), Agra College (Agra), and Forman Christian College (Lahore). For over 35 years, he worked for the Reserve Bank of India, where he headed several all-India departments, and was also Principal of the Staff College. Now (in 2010) 84 years old, he is busy in social work, reading, writing, and travelling. He lives in New Delhi with his wife. His email address is rmody@airtelmail.in.

As a young man growing up in pre-Independence India, I do have personal memories of most public persona of that time.

I was born in a family that, like many others educated families, was heavily involved emotionally in India's freedom struggle, without actually participating in it.

Born in Lahore on 5th January, 1930, to Savitri Devi and Shanti Sarup and brought up in an open environment, without any mental conditioning by a denominational commitment. He imbibed a deep commitment to democracy and freedom because his family participated actively in the freedom struggle. In 1947, together with his family, he went through the trauma of losing all, and then participating in rebuilding a new status and identity. He Joined the IAS in 1954 and retired in 1988 as Education Secretary, Government of India. Later, he became Chairman, National Book Trust. Also co-authored, with Sulabha Brahme, Planning for the Millions.

Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a three-part story. Part 1 describes the the family’s decision to leave Pakistan,while Part 3 is the story of their rehabilitation in Ludhiana.

Was it the 10^th or 11^th of September 1947? I am not sure.

Finally, in spite of the regrets expressed by our Muslim friends, my family realized that we had to move out of Okara, Pakistan, because of, as we then saw it, the gory events occurring in India. We felt that, if the Hindus across the border had not raped, killed and pushed out so many Muslim families into Pakistan, we might have managed to stay on in our homes even though we were not Muslims.

Born in Lahore on 5th January, 1930, to Savitri Devi and Shanti Sarup and brought up in an open environment, without any mental conditioning by a denominational commitment. He imbibed a deep commitment to democracy and freedom because his family participated actively in the freedom struggle. In 1947, together with his family, he went through the trauma of losing all, and then participating in rebuilding a new status and identity. He Joined the IAS in 1954 and retired in 1988 as Education Secretary, Government of India. Later, he became Chairman, National Book Trust. Also co-authored, with Sulabha Brahme, Planning for the Millions.

Editor’s note: This is Part 3 of a three-part story. Part 1 describes the family’s decision to leave Pakistan, and Part 2 deals with the family’s move to India.

After being driven out of Pakistan in September 1947, by February 1948, we had settled into some kind of a routine in an ill-equipped house on Hazoori Road, Ludhiana.

Life in our ill equipped house on Hazoori Road wasn't altogether dull. Even in financially difficult times, we found ways to liven up our existence. I had made many friends who were willing to ignore our lack of resources. We could and we did invite our friends to join us for a meal and we could always persuade our mother to liven it up with her delectable Kheer - an Indian rice pudding, immensely tastier than the dull western version.

Pran graduated in civil engineering from IIT, Kharagpur. After serving in the Indian Defence Service of Engineers for some years, he joined the firm Stein, Doshi and Bhalla, and retired as their Chief of Projects. He is now a freelance consultant.

Editor's note: Mr. M. P. V. Shenoi has written this story, based on conversations with his friend, Pran Bhatla.

I was 11 years old only when India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947. I am not sure whether it was 14^th August (Pakistan) or 15^th August (India) because we were in West Punjab, which became a part of Pakistan, but moved soon after to India.

My parents and their four children - two brothers and two sisters - were in Meghiana in our ancestral bungalow. My father, H.R. Bhatla, was a Professor of Physics in Government College, Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), a commercial town about 140 km from Lahore. He was spending the summer vacations in Meghiana. My grandfather, Raisahib Bishan Das had retired as a Garrison Engineer in the Military Engineer Service in 1938. Since he was one of the few Indians who had risen to that rank, he was widely respected in Meghiana and official circles.