See how it looked in 1947

India Embarks on Free Path; World Congratulations Pour In

Hindus, Moslems Take Up Duties

By Staff Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

New Delhi, India

India is on its own now: a colossal experiment in self-government for 400,000,000 persons, launched by high-principled men against a backdrop of vast illiteracy, communal strife, and myriad unsolved problems.

A night of Oriental celebrating has given way to a day of Kipling-esque ceremonies as the capitals of twin Dominions – at New Delhi here in Hindu India and at dusty, new Karachi in Pakistan – swore in solemnly their new Governor Generals:

For Hindu India – Viscount Mountbatten, chief architect of India’s quick freedom, who has been made an Earl by King George VI in recognition of great service.

For Pakistan – Mahomed Ali Jinnah, astute Moslem leader who by his insistence and strategies succeeded in carving a separate Dominion from the vast subcontinent for those of Moslem faith.

World Plaudits

Well-wishes from world leaders rang in the ears of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, cultured leader of the Hindus and their new Prime Minister and Mr. Jinnah as amid the salutes of many guns they convened constituent assemblies and began their duties.

They can well use these good wishes, which have come from President Truman of the United States, Prime Minister Clement R. Attlee of Great Britain, Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts of South Africa, Vincent Auriol, President of the French Republic, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of China, the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand, and a host of others.

A colorful procession – a state coach drawn by six horses and preceded by traditional Bengal Lancers in snow-white uniforms – bore Lord Mountbatten, last of the British Viceroys, to New Delhi’s Constituent Assembly Hall for the swearing-in as Governor General.

Commonwealth Ties

Significantly, this representative of the British Crown to the new Dominion sought to keep the silken cords of Commonwealth union inobtrusive by announcing that he planned to retire at the end of March, 1948, and suggesting that India might wish then to choose one of its own people as Governor General.

The Dominion status which India and Pakistan have assumed is by no means necessarily permanent. Each now has its own Constituent Assembly, will draw its own constitution, and is free to decide whether to remain within the Commonwealth or become a republic.

Britain hopes both Dominions will remain within the Commonwealth. There is some belief here that India might decide to declare itself a republic, while Pakistan might retain Dominion status.

“India stands forth again after a long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent,” said Mr. Nehru in his first message as Prime Minister to Hindu India’s 300,000,000 citizens.

Nehru – ‘New Star Rises’

“A new star rises – the star of freedom in the East; a new hope comes into being and a vision long cherished materializes,” declared this man who had gone to jail nine times for his agitations for independence.

As the tumult and the shouting dimmed – save for the distant sound of rioting in flame-ringed Lahore in Pakistan where communal violence has killed more than 150 – the business of governing these millions of humanity, ranging from scholars and industrial barons to the most benighted, superstition-ridden illiterates, began.

About 40,000 Moslems, many officials of the new Pakistan regime – have moved into Karachi since June, and the sound of carpenters’ hammers rings loud there and in New Delhi. Transfer of functions – the civil service and military contingents – from Britain to the twin Dominions has been underway for weeks. At London the India Office and the Secretaryship of State for India have passed out of existence.

Global Links Defined

One of the last orders issued by Lord Mountbatten as Viceroy disclosed that all rights regarding India’s membership in international groups would devolve to the new Hindu Dominion; Pakistan would have to apply for membership in the United Nations or other international organizations.

Mohandas K. Gandhi – recipient, in India’s independence speeches, of deepest respect and gratitude for his nonviolent methods of seeking India’s freedom – meanwhile was facing down a group of young demonstrators in the slums of East Calcutta, whence he courageously had gone to live in an effort to end India’s communal violence.