Cyril Radcliffe, chairman of the Boundary Commission submits the Boundary Awards, which set the borders for India and Pakistan, to Viceroy Mountbatten.

This meant that two new nations were given less than 48-hours notice on the actual borders that would determine the extent of their nation’s territory.

Disagreement arose soon after the Boundary Commission Award was published. In a meeting on 16 August attended by Nehru, Mountbatten, and others, “Pandit Nehru said that he had never considered that the allocation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts to East Bengal was possible under the terms of reference of the Boundary Commission”.

Gurdaspur district like other areas along the newly drawn border saw communal violence. Dera Ghazi Khan writing to Muhammad Ali Jinnah relayed, “Qadian, Gurdaspur District, world famous religious Muslim missionary headquarters of Ahmadia Movement with its present leader and thousands of peace loving law-abiding followers while protecting Qadian are dreadfully besieged by formidable armed Sikhs. Only Allah’s mercy and your timely interference can save Qadian from [words illegible] and destruction. Qadian wholly cut from outside world over ten days back.”

Sources:

‘Dissatisfaction with the Boundary Commission Award’ cited in S. Gopal (ed.), Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Series 2, Vol. 4 (Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund: 1986), p. 3-4

‘Ahmadis of Dera Ghazi Khan to M. A. Jinnah’ cited in Z. H. Zaidi (ed.), Quaid-I-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah Papers, Pakistan: Pangs of Birth (Government of Pakistan: 2000), p. 158