The Radcliffe Award Grant of Gurdaspur

Abstract

This article will present a sweeping new interpretation of the complex and seemingly contradictory nature of modern South Asian history regarding the Partition Award formulated by the Radcliffe Commission in 1947. The Commission, adhering to the mandates of the Indian Independence Act 1947, decided that Ferozepore and Gurdaspur were to be granted to the newly created dominion of West Punjab. However, due to a sudden amendment in the Partition Plan, Gurdaspur was granted to India despite having a manifest Muslim majority, which ultimately furnished India with a strategic lifeline to Jammu and Kashmir. It is pertinent to note that Gurdaspur was commercially and strategically important for both India and Pakistan. Its topographical position on the banks of river Ravi re-emphasised its viability in the sphere of irrigation for both East and West Punjab. The attempt of the article is to critically access some fundamental dimensions of the Partition Award from a historical perspective within the ambit of three specific parameters. The economic geography of Gurdaspur and its importance to the newly created dominions, the legal complexities associated with the Award and the leakage of the contents of the Award before it was made public.