Independence heralds a new dawn for India

NEW DELHI, AUG 14: Great enthusiasm and scenes which could hardly be forgotten were witnessed when the Constituent Assembly held its midnight session for the assumption of power. Members attended in full strength. The hall was brilliantly flood-lit and the empty panels of the portraits on the walls were covered with bright national flags. All the members were in dhoti-kurta or achkans.

While the members exchanged cordial compliments, crowds streamed to the vicinity of the Council Hall where arrangements had been made for them to hear the leaders’ speeches, carried by loudspeakers.

There were traffic jams in Parliament Street and other main roads leading to the Council long before the House met at 11 p.m.

At 11, the President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, dressed in white khadi, took the chair. There was a hushed silence and members took their seats.

The galleries above were crowded, while on either side of the President sat members of the Diplomatic Corps with their wives and members of the Government, who will be sworn in tomorrow morning.

The lobbies of the House were crammed with distinguished visitors and a battery of cameramen moved about. The House proceedings were filmed. Mrs Sucheta Kripalani and Mrs Nandita Kripalani sang Vande Mataram. The House members and the visitors stood to attention.

The Constituent Assembly held an hour-and-a-quarter-long session tonight at which it passed Pandit Nehru’s resolution prescribing the oath. All the members took the oath, as prescribed in the resolution, after which Dr Rajendra Prasad and Pandit Nehru left for the Viceroy’s House.

Over 50,000 people proudly cheered Pandit Nehru as he, along with Dr Prasad, left the Council Hall for the Government House.

As the clock chimed twelve, conches blew and thunderous cries of “Mahatma Gandhi ki jai” greeted the birth of freedom.

“Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially,” declared India’s Premier, Pandit Nehru. “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance...,” he said.

Mountbatten addresses Pak Constituent Assembly

KARACHI: Amidst unprecedented scenes of splendour and colour in this festive capital city of the new dominion, the Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, addressed this morning the Constituent Assembly of the Pakistan Dominion, the fifth largest dominion in the world with 70 million inhabitants, on the eve of its attaining complete freedom.

With numerous jewelled war declarations and orders glittering under the flashlights, Lord Mountbatten, who was in his Admiral’s uniform, delivered his historic speech lasting 15 minutes in a dignified and measured tone.

Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, President of the Constituent Assembly, led the Viceroy on his arrival to the throne placed along with his presidential chair. His Excellency Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief of India, Hon’ble Pamela Mountbatten and Begum Liaquat Ali Khan occupied the front row in the distinguished gallery, while Lady Mountbatten and Miss Fatima Jinnah sat together in the next row near the viceregal throne.

Lord Mountbatten, in the course of his address, said: “I have a message from His Majesty the King to deliver to you today. This is His Majesty’s message: ‘I send you my greetings and warmest wishes on this great occasion when the new Dominion of Pakistan is about to take its place in the British Commonwealth of Nations. In thus achieving your independence by agreement, you have set an example to all freedom-loving people throughout the world.’”

Lord Mountbatten further said: “The birth of Pakistan is an event in history. We, who are part of history, and are helping to make it, are not well placed even if we wished to moralise on the event and survey the sequence of the past that led to it. History seems sometimes to move with the infinite slowness of a glacier, and sometimes to run forward in a current. Just now, in this part of the world, our united efforts have melted the ice and removed some impediments. I would like to express my tribute to Mr Jinnah. Our close personal contact, and the mutual trust and understanding that have grown out of it, are, I feel, the best of omens for future good relations. He has my sincere good wishes as your Governor-General.”

His Excellency was loudly cheered when he resumed his seat at the conclusion of the address.

Standing erect and dignified, Mr Jinnah replied in a measured voice. He said: “Your Excellency, I thank His Majesty the King on behalf of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly and myself for his gracious message. I know great responsibilities lie ahead. I naturally reciprocate his sentiments and we really appreciate his assurance of sympathy and support.”

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