On 15th August 1947, two separate Dominions – India and Pakistan – were created from the territories of British India through an act of the British Parliament.
(The Dominion status is in between a colony and a sovereign state).
Other erstwhile colonies of the British Empire like Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa etc. were also accorded the Dominion status at different points of time, and were granted the freedom to self-govern but were still bound by their allegiance to the crown. Some of them still have the British monarch as their head of state, and some others like India, Pakistan, South Africa, etc. adopted a Constitution and declared themselves to be Republics – where the head of State is not a monarch but a representative of people of the Republic.
BUT NONE OF THESE COUNTRIES OTHER THAN INDIA AND PAKISTAN, celebrate the day on which they became Dominions as ‘Independence Day’.
Canada, for eg., used to call it ‘Dominion Day’ and later renamed it to ‘Canada Day’. Countries such as New Zealand, Australia, South Africa etc. don’t even commemorate the day on which they became Dominions of the British Empire. South Africa celebrates its ‘Freedom Day’ on the day on which the first post-Apartheid elections were held.
Hopefully sooner rather than later, when the masses realise this, the Independence day for the republic of India, would be celebrated on the day when India became an Independent Sovereign Republic with its constitution enacted, espousing egalitarian ideals, even if at the time only on paper.
For more on Dominion status, see –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Day
15th August 1947 was the APPOINTED DAY for British India to be made into two separate Dominions.
The Appointed Day (15th Aug1947) was the Dominion Day and..
The Republic Day (26th Jan 1950) is the Independence Day.
On 25 Nov 1949, Dr Ambedkar, in his last Parliamentary speech says,
“On 26th January 1950 India *WILL BE* an independent country”
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Celebrating the birth of India on 15th August, instead of 26th January is akin to celebrating birth of a child on the day it was conceived instead of the day it was born.
The map of India and Pakistan on 15th August, 1947 is on the left. The brown part is India, green Pakistan, and white the princely states which were given the option to join either India or Pakistan.
On 15th August, 1947, India and Pakistan were but a collection of non-contiguous stretches of land that previously was part of British India – like a formless zygote. It was only later when the 565-odd princely states, ruled by local rulers, acceded to either India or Pakistan the whites in the map gradually disappeared and India took shape.
And on 26th January, 1950, it was born.
To celebrate the birth of India on 15th August, 1947 instead of 26th January, 1950 is akin to celebrating the day on which a child is conceived instead of the day on which it’s born. (Thanks Goutham Maiyalagan for enlightening on Dominion status).
