They've divided the country into three on the basis of religion,
and expect us to believe, "India shall remain united"!
Dividing on the basis of religion is the British way.
We want an independent, sovereign Pakistan
and we will settle for nothing less.
Give Jinnah the groupings, Jawahar...
Once we are in power, we will get rid of the groupings as soon as possible.
We are soldiers of truth...
when did we start fighting for power, Sardar?
Even if it is out of the fear of more violence...
The Congress will be forced to comply with our demand for Pakistan eventually.
Call for a total general strike on Friday.
The largest protests will happen in Calcutta.
We cannot sit on the sidelines
and watch more innocents lose their lives!
Get the Indians to agree
so we can get the hell out of that blasted place!
You must invite Jinnah to join the government.
Absolutely not!
We will fight, Fatti!
Until our dying breath!
Your brother has TB.
M.A., if you don't cut down on your workload then...
Then?
Then you won't have more than a year left.
My rivals must not find out.
This is against everything
Congress has ever stood for.
Once this border is drawn,
it can never be erased.
The circumstances are such, Bapu,
they have left no room for truth or non-violence.
We will fight for Pakistan...
[typewriter clacking]
I am afraid, Bapu... that the Congress might cave before Jinnah's demands...
The people that I entrusted with this responsibility were unable to handle it...
it is time to take matters into my own hands.
All roads lead to one solution...
Partition.
Make Jinnah the Prime Minister.
Jinnah is being petulant, so you will hand him the country?!
[voice breaks] Bapu...
All my life, I have followed in your footsteps.
Forgive me...
I will not be able to today.
[angrily] The sacrifices of so many cannot be,
will not be forgotten in the face of the ambition of one man!
We don't have to defeat the enemy...
we have to win him over...
India and Pakistan must accept dominion status.
But the Congress will never accept this plan.
Our final list of demands...
Poorna swaraj is non-negotiable.
After three centuries of divide and rule,
you will leave us at fragment and quit?!
Dickie is working on a revised plan.
Of course, you're here to do your husband's bidding.
It is our intention to transfer power into responsible Indian hands
by a date no later than June, 1948.
Perhaps for the first time in history,
a handful of people will decide the fate of millions.
Don't let India be divided...
If amputating a finger can save the hand...
Hindustan will be partitioned into two independent nations,
India
and Pakistan.
I hope we will not need to remind Nehru
our guns can hunt more than animals.
When a tree is severed at the root,
it ceases to be conscious of where it is falling.
We are severing people from their roots, Maulana!
They will cease to be conscious too.
[flag rustles]
I present to you.. the national flag of independent India!
And the charkha?
Look, the charkha is the Congress party symbol.
The national flag cannot represent a single party.
It belongs to the nation.
The charkha has been replaced with the Ashok chakra.
The wheel of time, to propel India into the future!
Saffron for courage, white for peace,
and green for prosperity.
And I thought it was green for Muslims,
saffron for Hindus, and white for other faiths.
In our new India, religion will not influence any decision.
The identity of this independent, secular India
will be humanity.
[rapid ticking]
[car engine rattles]
With all due respect, sir,
I do not believe myself qualified...
My expertise is in the law;
not geography, let alone cartography.
I know virtually nothing about India.
I've never studied its rather complex legal problems.
The subcontinent is really not something I'm familiar with.
In fact, I haven't been further East than Paris.
Which is precisely why I have chosen you.
Look. Anyone who knows this country is certain to be prejudiced,
be it one side or the other.
What you bring is impartiality.
Every resource at my disposal will be made available to you.
It's quite simple.
All you have got to do is draw a line.
One that cuts through the Punjab and Bengal!
[opening title music plays]
-Focus on cleaning your own... -Oh please, I'm focused...
[radio news plays] Munshi Dil's film Do Bhai has become a national sensation in a matter of days...
What's wrong, sir? You have been very quiet.
Is everything okay?
Keshav won a gold at his school debate.
Mashallah! That is wonderful news.
A boy in his class grabbed his medal
and said that
all the Hindus in Sialkot will be robbed of their gold and chased out.
And he's just the first one.
They're kids, sir, don't know what they're saying.
Harpal. Kids repeat what they hear at home.
Until now, everyone was a Hindustani.
Now someone's a Sikh or a Hindu
or a Muslim.
The poison has seeped into the army too.
[raises voice] Hashmi, stop stirring the pot!
An army man's religion is his duty! Got it?
Hey. As if a line drawn by a white man could ever divide us!
Yes, I would like to see them try!
[rifle chamber clicks]
They have tried and won, Qureshi!
Don't you remember how that Sikh officer shot his Muslim senior?
Could you even have imagined such a thing happening in the army?
[radio news continues] Preparations for partition are in full swing.
Deliberations upon the army and administration are underway.
I thought we would live together and die together.
Death itself couldn't separate us... but these politicians have done it.
But who will be given the monumental responsibility
of drawing these divisive lines?
[birds chirp faintly]
...and this man will be the Prime Minister!
[swinging door creaks]
Gentlemen, good afternoon.
The Viceroy is on his way.
In the meantime, allow me to introduce you to Sir Cyril Radcliffe.
Gentlemen.
[heavy exhale]
[clears throat]
[coughs]
[slow clock ticking]
Menon sahab,
we need to know where our borders will fall.
Vallabhbhai, Sir Cyril will begin his work shortly.
But we all must remember that he is not
simply drawing a line on paper, he is dividing a nation.
He will need time.
While we wait for the Viceroy,
I suggest we go over some important matters.
First things first. There will be two nations,
therefore, obviously, there will have to be two names.
-Um, I was saying-- -Well...
Christenings are for newborns.
Kindly tell Jinnah sahab to name his newborn.
India is centuries old. We will keep our name.
[voice rises] NO!
The two new nations must be called Hindustan and Pakistan.
And together, they will constitute India!
You have given your nation a religious identity.
We have not.
These are all procedural matters, Jinnah bhai.
Pakistan is separating from India.
[chuckles]
Why should India change her name?
There can be no India without the Muslim provinces.
You can name your country Bharat for all I care.
[loud clapping on desks]
-Just a minute-- -Vallabhbhai, it's unnecessary, just stop this-
No, let me speak, Jawahar!
Jinnah sahab, you have left this country behind!
Please leave behind your worries about it as well!
You have your own nation to build, focus on that.
We will take care of ours.
You're better than this, Vallabhbhai.
Just because
I asked for a share of power,
don't rob me of my identity, my history...
No! No! Just a minute! It is you who is robbing!
Was robbing part of our country not enough?
The least you can do is stop playing the victim!
And remember what they say...
Be careful what you wish for.
-You should have thought of that earlier! -Exactly! Exactly!
-Well, you did not! -But you only think of yourself.
[shouts angrily] Why is he quiet?! Ask him!
[voices arguing]
He is educated, ask him!
You refuse to understand! If it is a matter of wants and needs--
[shouts] Gentlemen! Gentlemen--
Please! Let's remain civil, shall we?
[coughs]
I have got the governors breathing down my neck and the Maharajas
in Delhi waiting upon an urgent audience with yours truly.
I think we can all agree that time is of the essence,
so please, let us make it quick.
You have all met Sir Cyril?
Good. Now before we get started today
I want assurances from each and every one of you...
Wherever Sir Cyril draws the line,
the decision is final, and binding.
Otherwise we'll be bickering till the end of time!
-Your Excellency, are you certain, because this- -Jawa.
Please.
Agreed?
Hm.
Well.
Good.
Thank you, gentlemen, thank you.
Now that we are all agreed, let's get to it, shall we?
Mr. Menon, where were we?
Naming of the dominions, sir.
Ah, yes... As an objective arbiter, I feel that both states
have the right to name themselves whatever they wish.
Your Excellency, we were just debating about this before you walked in--
Jinnah.
Now is not the time.
For us, it will always be Hindustan.
Next, some advice which I would ask you all to heed.
Leave the army as it is for one year.
Under a British Supreme Commander.
Absolutely not!
If you insist on throwing me out of India,
the least I can do is depart with my own troops!
Mr. Jinnah, an impartial army, owing its allegiance to both India
and Pakistan, I'd like to remind you,
is probably the best guarantor of peace we have.
An army is an integral part of a state's sovereignty.
I cannot agree to this.
Fine.
But be it on your head.
Now please.
Thank you.
The army shall be divided.
Two thirds to India. One third to Pakistan.
A division of assets will be formulated in due course.
Well, gentlemen.
That's that.
-Menon, take the room. -Thank you, sir.
- You see, it's that simple! -The next thing on the agenda
will be the division of financial assets.
The auditors have made a comprehensive and exhaustive list--
Right, Jinnah sahab, where were we?
When I made this suggestion, you dismissed me.
-Mr. Menon, please... -When Mountbatten did, you agreed!
But you just want to be stubborn.
-Look, Vallabhbhai--
[bell rings loudly]
Gentlemen, as per orders, all serving officers of this regiment
must choose between
India and Pakistan.
You all have 48 hours to decide.
Geography has decided for me.
I am from Udaipur,
and the Rajput states will likely merge into India.
Does geography belong to you alone?!
Qureshi and I are from Harmandir Sahib,
Ambarsar, the land of the Guru.
So India for us too! Right?
[tiredly] Alright, I am off.
Wait, I'll come too. I want to meet Keshav.
Are you listening?
Hm.
This name of yours. Ahmed Qureshi.
It is going to hold you back.
I am from Lucknow myself,
but I am choosing to leave behind my home, my culture,
to live in an unknown land.
Do you want your family
to live as second class citizens here for the rest of their lives?
We are running out of time.
The Brit drawing the borders has arrived.
Sir Cyril - Shafi, Janak, Khemchand.
They will be assisting you in the task at hand.
What is so special about Radcliffe?!
Why has Mountbatten chosen him to draw the borders?
He's a lawyer - he knows the law, not geography!
If the requirement was being a lawyer, we could have drawn the borders!
Alright, alright!
Menon has assured me that Radcliffe will be given competent advisors!
And four veteran judges have been assigned to oversee his work.
So what if two of them are Muslim!
These men will tell Radcliffe the basis for drawing the borders?
These men?!
-[angrily] Liaquat! -Hm-
On what basis will the borders be drawn?!
[stammers] Uh, the majority po-population principle!
Muslim-majority districts will merge into Pakistan.
And Hindu-majority ones into India.
The problem, Vallabhbhai, is that
there are several districts that don't have a clear majority.
The last time a census was conducted was 1941!
We don't even have an ordnance map with which to make the master map!
We don't have a single accurate map at all.
And what we do have has a scale of 1 is to 1 million.
So a one-centimetre error on paper...
...is a ten-kilometre blunder in practice!
We'll have to tell the Brit tomorrow.
Right. Where there is no clear-cut majority, we will use special factors.
So now ordinary people are talking about special factors!
Where there is no clear religious majority,
the border should be drawn based on geography, not special factors!
One of Punjab's five rivers should act as a border.
These pawns of the Congress will stake a claim up to the Ravi.
But we must claim the land up to the Satluj!
You're right, Quaid.
The issue is...
Punjab has five rivers...but each river has countless tributaries.
Like the veins on one's hand...
If you think Punjab's five rivers are our biggest problem,
you have not considered Bengal!
The largest delta in the world.
I have told Menon clearly, we will not give up Calcutta!
With its mills, factories, and ports, Calcutta should remain in India!
If India gets the cloth mills of Calcutta,
what will become of the jute fields in East Pakistan?
Congress will never use the majority population principle for Calcutta.
They know that if they do,
we will use the same principle...
for Lahore.
Lahore, gentlemen, Lahore!
The city has art, culture,
goods for export.
It may have a Muslim majority,
but nearly all its businesses are owned by Hindus and Sikhs!
And how will they run their businesses if they are murdered?!
Even homes are built with blueprints,
and here we are, off to build a nation without a map!
Until we know our borders, nothing can be done!
Dickie was one of us! He is royalty!
Now, he has signed our death sentence.
We are kings!
Our fates will not be decided by the likes of Dickie, Nehru, or Patel.
We will write our own destiny! Are we all in agreement?
Your Excellency, the Chamber of Princes.
[music intensifies]
This is absolutely unacceptable.
[angrily] Well, it is!
We can't cede our power to the Indian government after independence!
[furiously] I can't hear what you're saying! Yes, I've heard what you're saying...
[shouting and arguing]
[glass shatters loudly]
It was not a bomb, sir.
A gift
from the Sikhs to the Muslims.
The...
[soft cough]
appendages of castrated men.
Christ.
Hundreds.
Your Excellency,
the violence will continue
unless a decision can be made regarding Lahore.
India or Pakistan.
[tense music swells]
We still have to decide what to do with the respective capitals,
Lahore and Calcutta.
What the hell is this?!
The Ferozepur Arms Depot is in a Muslim-majority district,
[yells] this should be in Pakistan!
Absolutely not.
Ferozepur Headworks delivers water from the Satluj to Jodhpur and Bikaner.
And both are Hindu states.
Ferozepur belongs to India.
Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Ferozepur! India wants everything!
Why don't you take Lahore and Karachi too?!
-[screaming] How dare you touch me?! -Say that again! Are you crazy?!
Please, please!
[tense music builds]
We are sat atop a volcano and I can hear the rumblings...
Our best option is to divide and quit at the earliest.
[tired breathing]
[door bangs loudly]
The Viceroy is giving a press conference!
About the boundary award!
Bugger!
Rest assured--
Your Excellency!
[speaks loudly] As for the Boundary Commission, rest assured
a deadline has been set, and it will--
One at a time! Let's remain civil gentlemen, one at a time!
Gentlemen! Be civil!
The Viceroy will answer one question at a time, thank you!
The gentleman at the back! Brown suit.
Your Excellency. Jan Bostock, BBC.
The deadline that you speak of.
Are you suggesting that the British have a specific date in mind?
We wouldn't have come this far, old chap, without a plan.
[chuckles]
Very good, sir.
Well, what is that date?
Sir, I wouldn't commit to a date--
Mr. Menon, please sit down. It's alright.
[footsteps]
Bapu, have you heard? 15th August!
Only six weeks until independence!
[uplifting patriotic music]
15th August.
What is so special about 15th August?
It's his lucky date!
15th August was the date Dickie defeated the Japanese in Burma.
1948 will also have a 15th August!
We would have celebrated surrender in his name just as well next year!
[group laughter]
I don't think this is a trivial matter.
Six months, four months, anything would be better than this!
Why is he in such a tearing hurry?!
Are we even ready for this kind of hurry?
For years we have fought to be free of the British.
Now that they're leaving, should we say,
hey, wait a minute?!
Best to keep the Viceroy in our corner.
[telephone ringing]
It appears a lot of our data is inaccurate, to say the least.
Your Excellency, I need to have feet on the ground.
My own preferably, to carry out the surveys myself.
It may take time,
but time and due diligence are exactly
what are warranted at this stage if one is to even hope of averting disaster.
Your Excellency, I ask that you extend the deadline.
Ten months were improbable. Six weeks is simply impossible.
[breathes heavily]
Menon,
could you ask this gentleman where he wishes to reside after independence?
India or Pakistan?
Please.
[clears throat]
Your name?
Akbar Ali, sir!
Where are you from?
Azamgarh.
The Viceroy wants to know...
You must have heard the country is being partitioned.
He wants to know where you would like to reside after independence,
India or Pakistan?
You can be honest, don't be afraid.
Sahab,
I want to spend what little time I have left with my daughter.
She lives with her in-laws in Kasur.
Wherever the wind blows Kasur, sir, that's where I will go as well.
Please tell me
whether Kasur will be in India or Pakistan, sahab...
Thank you.
Your Excellency, sir, he presently resides in Azamgarh,
United Provinces.
But he has a daughter who is married and settled in a place called Kasur.
And he would desperately like to know where Kasur will end up.
After the partition.
In Hindustan or Pakistan.
You see Sir Cyril,
further delays will only prolong this confusion.
And further bloodshed.
Time is a luxury we simply do not have.
Besides, a degree of urgency works in our favour.
It keeps the right parties from second guessing us.
Now. Are we in agreement?
Good.
Any news on Congress?
-Sir, he should be here any minute -Alright--
Hello.
Speak of the devil. How are you, Jawa?
-Good, Dickie, how are you? -Good.
I can read your mind! The date, now.
I know you think it might be hasty,
but I'm certain, the quicker we wrap this up, the better it'll be for all parties involved.
I have been offered the Governor-Generalship. By Jawa, no less.
The last Viceroy of British India will now become
the first Governor-General of independent India!
What.
[speaks hesitantly]
Well, the words "get out while you're ahead" do spring to mind.
I would have thought you'd want to stay.
Given the friendships you've made.
I suggest you accept Jawa's offer only if Jinnah makes a similar one.
Wouldn't want to appear biased.
No.
[coughs]
Hanif bhai!
Hanif!
[continues coughing]
[yells] Hanif bhai!
Hanif!
[loudly] Fatti!
Where is everybody?
Fatti! Yakub!
Hanif! Have you all dropped dead?
What is all this? What are you doing with my things?
Put it down! Why are my books all out here?
What's all this?! Who allowed this?! Put it down!
Do you know how expensive it is?
Who messed with all my photographs?!
Calm down, everything's fine!
I asked them to pack everything.
But why?
For Pakistan!
Alright, get to work!
I thought we would have until June next year.
But now we only have five weeks to pack everything up!
Five weeks...?
Now, I haven't touched any of your things.
So you need to sort this out, alright?
But do we have to take everything?
Wha-- What is this, Jin?! What use is this!
Yakub, we need more boxes!
Did you pack all that?
Careful, it's glass!
But why are you packing everything?
Because the home of the Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan will not be in Bombay.
It will be in Karachi!
Yes...
in Karachi...
[telephone ringing]
You're right, who wants to come back to this dump...
[angrily] Can somebody please answer the goddamn phone!
Of course, right away.
Yakub, answer the phone!
Yes. Yes.
Sir, there is a summons from the Viceroy's home.
[piano melody plays]
You look out of sorts.
What's wrong?
You.
Is what's wrong. Complicating things unnecessarily!
Why would you say that?
[door opens loudly]
Your Excellency,
Mr. Jinnah!
[mocking chuckle]
Thank you for coming at such short notice.
How can I disobey the Viceroy's summons?
Your Excellency.
My days as Viceroy are numbered!
You see, nothing lasts forever.
How about a clean slate?
You and I.
Leave any grudges in the past.
None on my end, I assure you.
Good!
Now if you could break the suspense,
why have I been summoned?
Well,
I think you should know that India has asked me to be its first Governor-General.
It is a diplomatic decision.
He's done more for India than any of his predecessors!
This is our gesture of gratitude. That is all.
[piano melody plays]
In Pakistan, I will be the Governor-General
and the Prime Minister will do as I say.
You would weaken the democracy.
Only the rank of Governor-General is worthy of the Quaid-e-Azam.
Are the temptations of high office so great
that you would sacrifice your own nation's best interests for them?
Is Your Excellency, perhaps, finding it hard to digest
that as Governor-Generals,
you and I would be ceremonial equals?
[muffled laughter]
Oh, Mr. Jinnah.
You and I will never be equals.
Ah!
The mask is finally off!
Poof!
[piano grows louder]
[insects buzzing]
Mountbatten has agreed...
When a storm is brewing over the sea,
the helmsman is our best ally.
Let the borders fall where they may.
What we have to be ready for is...
what comes next.
I have this niggling feeling...
the cost of this partition will be far steeper than we have anticipated.
Perhaps we should have listened to Bapu...
[vehicle engine approaches]
Bapu, Vallabhbhai and Panditji are here.
Namaste, Bapu.
On the morning of August 15th,
there will be an independence celebration here in Delhi.
Hm.
You must come, Bapu.
Pyarelal and I will be visiting a settlement for the disabled that morning.
Bapu, if you don't come, then--
Then what, Sardar?
The government didn't stop without me.
This celebration won't stop either.
[low, melancholic music swells]
You have left behind the principles I taught you.
It will be best that I stay behind as well.
-Bapu, we know you are upset... -I am not.
but you are breaking our hearts.
Breaking a heart is a lesser crime
than breaking apart the country.
Have you even considered...
all of the things that will have to be divided?
A stamped document may declare a land divided.
But how will you divide lives without tearing them apart?
Or separate friends, distribute memories, without destroying them?
[somber music plays]
Will the seas and the winds be divided too?
Radcliffe may draw as deep a border as he likes...
but there is much more to a nation than government property.
Culture, history, how will you divide those?
When packing up their lives, how will they decide
which memories to carry
and which to leave behind?
Our land itself has wept, how will you divide those tears, Sardar?
The remorse that will follow this terrible mistake,
how will you divide that, Jawahar?
One man can demand a partition,
but all men will suffer it...
and all men must grieve it.
Finally!
We are going home!
We will pay for this singular mistake,
made in the name of politics, for centuries.
This decision of ours will be paid for by millions,
for generations.
Well done, Radcliffe!
Right on time.
2000 pounds, as agreed.
For your troubles.
Your Excellency, I was raised to believe that duty is above all else.
Consequences,
blame,
penance, yes, these I will accept.
But compensation...
There I draw the line.
Good luck, sir.
Have these locked away.
Of course, sir.
Let the Indians enjoy their Day of Independence.
The fallout can wait...
[metal clicks shut]
[footsteps]
[thunder rumbling]
Attention, Hindus!
Flee this neighbourhood, if you want to live.
Every second wasted will cost you.
Leave while you have the chance!
Don't say we didn't warn you.
We have run out of patience.
Now, we are the majority here.
[aircraft roars overhead]
[axe scraping]
Come out, cowards!
Allah, forgive me-- ALLAH!
[screams] They've killed Aftab bhai! Catch those sardars!
[knife stabbing repeatedly]
[heavy axe strike]