British Perspective Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 and Pakistan Independence of 1947

August 25, 1947

The bloody hell we are going to leave Pakistan so easily but due to the fact that we have protestors on our heels and the all so “peaceful” U.N to help the underdeveloped nation. I, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, disagree with this sudden haste of leaving. After all these years in Pakistan and commuting around in India I knew that once the British step out that borderline chaos would arise. Not only chaos but anarchy will arise amongst the dispute between where the line should be made. I of course was useless due to the fact that I was so concentrated in making the borderline I failed to see that my all work would be in vain and I would be forced to leave that country.

After World War II, I have known for a long time since the beginning of that horrible war that Britain although victorious will come out battered, beaten, and worn out. She will be so unstable that the colonies all around the world will soon rebel. Of course during that time I was the viceroy of India and I saw the changes as the political leaders Gandhi and Ali Jinnah took the stand to liberate the Muslims and Hindus from the paws of the imperialists.

As of now I reflect upon what I have done. I still believed it was impossible to unify India under one flag. Due to the fact that the two religious groups hated each other and also be cause I saw the segregation that they had for each other. I quickly confronted my peers back in my motherland and voiced my opinion. They agreed to my opinion and hastily decided to break the two religions apart. I was partly relieved to see no more civil wars going on but soon I was branded as a traitor. This seemed unexpected for me because I never would have known that by helping another country be content that I would have been branded as a hypocrite and disillusioned.

The date was, I believe, August 14th of 1947 when I was appointed governor-general of India. Although I was appointed to a high position in India rather than in Pakistan I saw more potential in Pakistan through the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. “If it could be said that any single man held the future of India in the palm of his hand in 1947, that man was Mohammad Ali Jinnah.”. Through his leadership I hoped to see the day when the two countries to get along. After all he is a very good peace activist but not as good as Gandhi. However I still believe that he can pull through, but my hope was soon dashed as I saw numerous anarchies along the borderline that I have drawn on that treacherous day. Even though there were guards patrolling the area and also keeping the immigration in check as Hindus went to India and Muslims went to Pakistan, anarchy was present and caused too many casualties. Even Richard Symonds says “at the lowest estimate, half a million people perished and twelve million became homeless”.

Not few months later a war broke between these two nations. I happen to be governor general as I said before. The intensity of these two nations accumulates each day as their dispute between the borderline continues. Because of this war, I feel a great pain inside me. The thought that this war started because of me pains me deeply. The war progressed rapidly as each side suffered heavy losses. Pakistan lost 1500 people in total.