Freedom Spiel

British rule in India ended at midnight last night after 163 years. Today the new Dominions of India and Pakistan are in being. At midnight in Delhi, capital of India, Lord Mountbatten ceased to be the Viceroy and became Governor General of India8230;The Indian Constituent Assembly held an 8220;independence meeting8221; at midnight; the hour, said Mr. Nehru, the Indian Premier, when the world sleeps and India wakes to life and freedom8230;

Pakistan is a recent concept and perhaps it has not yet reached the masses of the people. There are peasants in the country districts who have never read of it. Certain delegates to the Constituent Assembly from East Bengal are positively depressed and seem to fear that Eastern Bengal8230;Certainly the centre of gravity of the new Dominion will be in the West.

Excerpts from the Guardian of August 15, 1947, 12:38 BST