At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps ...

... India will awake to life and freedom ...

This is part of the speech given by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India at its independence on 15th August 1947, sixty years ago today:



Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi (as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was known), together with Muhammad Ali Jinnah for Pakistan (whom I wrote about yesterday), were the two principal architects of and intellects behind the struggle for Indian independence:

Celebrating sixty years of Indian independence 15th August 1947 - 15th August 2007 Mahatma Gandhi 'Father of the Nation' Jawaharlal Nehru First Prime Minister of independent India Click here to see larger images.

India is probably destined to be one of the major economies, with commensurate influence, in Asia and the wider world in coming decades. Its development since it gained independence has not been entirely even, but in recent years its economy has grown steadily and whilst there remain huge numbers of very poor people, the economic progress has percolated down to a significant proportion of the population already. The country is generally reckoned to be the world's largest genuine democracy. In a message to the nation ahead of the anniversary of independence, President Pratibha Patil, the country's first woman president, declared:

"Growth, when unevenly spread, dwarfs overall prosperity. "We have to ensure equitable growth for all. The fruits of economic development must necessarily touch, especially, the living and working conditions of our toiling masses and people below the poverty line. "For our nation to rise and claim its glorious destiny, we must realise that it is our billion hands that can shape it."

Happy independence day!

Pakistan celebrates 60 years of independence from Britain

Pakistan came into being sixty years ago tomorrow. Formed out of the provinces of Balochistan, East Bengal, the North-west Frontier Province, West Punjab and Sindh of the former 'British India'. The new country was a geographic curiosity in that it comprised two separate 'wings' called West Pakistan [the current territory of Pakistan) and East Pakistan, separated by the country formed a day later, India. The 'partition' of India was a product of religious difference, with Pakistan being established for its mainly Moslem inhabitants and India for its mainly Hindu population; the process of partition caused much bloodshed in both communities accompanied by huge population movements in both directions. The man regarded as the 'Father of the Nation' or 'Great Leader' was Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Since then East Pakistan (i.e. East Bengal) has separated from the rest of Pakistan and in 1971 became the new country we know today as Bangladesh; the separation was not peaceful and was a product of the difficulty of managing a country consisting of two separate parts, with a generally hostile country in-between; the hostility was of course mutual.

In any case, tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of Pakistani independence (those who still call themselves Pakistani and those who now call themselves Bangladeshi); I wish them all a Happy Birthday!



The BBC has an interesting historical essay on Pakistan here, which concludes: "It is the story of a society that has been going round in circles for the last 60 years"; it's a sober assessment. Her Majesty the Queen and Prime Minister Gordon Brown send their tributes celebrating the country's birthday.