Why in news?

Actor Kangana Ranaut kicked off a firestorm for declaring that India attained freedom in 2014, when the Modi-led government came to power, and describing the country’s Independence in 1947 as “bheek”, or alms.

Background

• Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy and the Governor-General of India, announced a plan to tear up India into two nations – India and Pakistan.
• The day June 3 will always be remembered in the country as the day when Indian National Congress-led by Jawaharlal Nehru, lost large Indian territories to yet-to-be-created Islamic nation – Pakistan.
• On this day in 1947, Lord Mountbatten announced that British India would be free from the shackles of the Britishers and would become a free country.
• However, the independence for India also came at a huge cost as it was decided that British India would be partitioned on the religious lines – Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Indian independence act

• The Indian Independence Act was passed in 1947.
• The act created two new independent dominions; India and Pakistan.
• Pakistan was split into Pakistan and East Pakistan which is now Bangladesh. The Bengal and Punjab provinces were partitioned between the two new countries.
• These dominions separated the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh population and caused the biggest forced migration which has ever happened that was not the result of war or famine.
• The Act repealed the use of ‘Emperor of India' as a title for the British Crown and ended all existing treaties with the princely states.
• Lord Mountbatten continued as Governor-General and Jawaharlal Nehru was appointed India's first Prime Minister.
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah became Pakistan's Governor-General and Liaquat Ali Khan its Prime Minster.
• The 15th August 1947 has since become celebrated as India' and Pakistan's Independence Day.

Key facts

• On July 22, 1947, the free India National Flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly.

• The National Anthem of India Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Kolkata Session of the Indian National Congress.
• Republic Day of India is celebrated on January 26 to mark the day when the Constitution of India came into effect. The Constitution of India, which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949, came into effect on January 26, 1950.

Source-Indian express,Parliament.uk.