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First Person Singluar

August 15, 1947 When British Heels Over Indian Heads Was Hospitality

SME WORLD Bureau
Aug 2010

How could Khushwant Singh -- the country's most lauded, most read columnist, or, as I often say, the country's only columnist – go wrong ? And yet he has ! Unless, of course, he has got his time wrong or I am getting his time wrong ?

In his book: “Truth, Love & A Little Malice” ( Viking ), page 114-115, he maintains that soon after the Union Jack was lowered by Lord Louis Mountbatten, the band in attendance played the National Anthem and the Tricolour was hoisted on the ramparts of Red Fort by Jawahar Lal Nehru….

He claims he stood 50 yards away from the ramparts. He is such a pre-eminent columnist that I should not be doubting his version of the morning of August 15, 1947. But how come all other records point towards the Princess Park to the left of India Gate's outer hexagonal periphery, where the Tricolour was hoisted that day ?

Katherine Frank in her book: “Indira” subtitled 'The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi', HarperCollin ), page 212, is categorical that the “The Saffron, White and Green flag of a free India was raised in Princess Park before a tumultuous crowd of nearly half a million. (The Nehru Memorial and Museum Library too says Princess Park!)

The most re-readable account of the hoisting is by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre in their book “Freedom at Midnight” ( Tarang Paperbacks ), page 275 record the time as late afternoon. “It was the official raising of the Indian flag at five o clock in the afternoon in an open space ( Princess Park ) near India Gate.”

(Some years back, a DAVP ( Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity ) calendar in government offices had a photograph captioned Jawahar Lal Nehru addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 1947. Was it of hoisting at some other time on some other date ? Or was the photograph digitally altered?)

As I came back to the Page of “Freedom at Midnight”, I had dog-eared, I chanced upon a Nehru-Pamela interaction on August 15, 1947 which I had never read before. The authors had based it on interviews with Lord Mountbatten's daughter Pamela Hicks and her “Oral History Transcript' of the incident, accessible at the NMML !

I share herewith: “Pamela Mountbatten, the 17-year-old younger daughter…..arrived with two of her father's staff…..with enormous difficulty they worked their way……a hundred yards away they came on an impassable barrier of people, all seated, squeezed so tightly together that there was barely a breath of air between them”…..

……“Spotting her……Nehru shouted at her to cross over the people to the platform……'How can I ?', she shouted back. 'I have got high heels on.'…… 'Take them off,' replied Nehru……Pamela couldn't dream of doing something as undignified on such an historic occasion. 'Oh,' she gasped, 'I couldn't do that'……

'Then leave them on,' said Nehru. 'Jusy walk over people. They won't mind. 'Oh,' replied Pamela, 'the heels will hurt them.'…… 'Don't be a silly, snapped Nehru, 'take them off and come across.”……With a sigh, the daughter of India's last Viceroy kicked off her shoes, picked them up and set off across the carpet of human beings…..

……. 'Laughing gleefully, the Indians, over whom she was treading, helped her along, steadying her shaking legs, guiding her elbow, pointing with delight to her shiny high heels……(A few photographs of the flag hoisting at the Princess Park are at the National Archives, photographers missed this one of 'Heels over Heads' )…….

Back to hoisting, “He (Lord Mountbatten) could not get out of the carriage…Let's just hoist the flag,' he shouted to Nehru……'the band's swamped. They can't play. The guards can't move'……The men on the platform heard his call…..The Saffron, White and Green banner of free India climbed up the flagpole while, tautly erect……

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