By Usman Khan

14 – 15 August, is a national holiday in Pakistan. It remembers with fervor the day when Pakistan attained independence and was professed a sovereign state following the end of the British Raj in 1947. Pakistan came into existence as a result of the hectic Pakistan Movement, which aimed for the creation of an independent Muslim state in the north-western regions of British India.

The movement was led by the All-India Muslim League under the dynamic leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The event was brought forth by the Indian Independence Act 1947 under which the British Raj gave independence to the Territory of Pakistan which consist of West Pakistan the present-day Pakistan and East Pakistan now Bangladesh. In the Islamic calendar, the day of independence matched with 27 Ramadan, the eve of which, being Laylat al-Qadr, is regarded as holy by Muslims.

The main Independence Day ceremony takes place in Islamabad, where the national flag become held at the Presidential and Parliament buildings followed by the national anthem and live speeches by leaders. Usual celebratory events and festivities for the day include flag-raising ceremonies, parades, cultural events, and the playing of patriotic songs. A number of award ceremonies are often held on this day, and Pakistanis hoist the national flag atop their homes and also to display it prominently on their vehicles and to the traditional dress.

The area constituting Pakistan was historically a part of the British Indian Empire throughout much of the nineteenth century. The East India Company initiated their commerce in colonial India in the 17th century, and the company rule started from 1757 when they won the Battle of Plassey.

After the uprising of 1857, the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown supposing direct control over much of the Indian subcontinent. All-India Muslim League was founded by the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference at Dhaka, in 1906, in the background of the circumstances over the partition of Bengal in 1905 and the party aimed at creation of a separate Muslim state.

The period after World War I was marked by British transformations such as the Montagu-ford Reforms, but it also saw the enactment of the repressive Rowlatt Act and vociferous calls for self-rule by Indian activists. The widespread discontent of this period crystallized into nationwide non-violent movements of non-cooperation and civil disobedience.

The idea for a separate Muslim state in the northwest regions of South Asia was introduced by Allama Iqbal in his speech as the President of the Muslim League in December 1930. After three years the name of "Pakistan" as an independent state was offered in a declaration made by Chaudhary Rahmat Ali, in the form of an abbreviation. It comprised the five "northern units" of Punjab, the erstwhile North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan.

In the 1940s, as the Indian independence movement intensified, an upsurge of Muslim nationalism by the All-India Muslim League took place, of which Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the most prominent leader.  Since a long time ideological differences between Hindus and Muslims were escalating. Being a Muslim political party to secure the interests of the Muslim diaspora in British India, the Muslim League played a decisive and key role during the 1940s in the Indian independence movement and worked as driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state in South Asia.

On 22–24 March 1940 during a three-day general session of All-India Muslim League a political declaration was presented, known as the Lahore Resolution, which called on the necessity of creation of an independent state for Muslims. In 1956, 23 March also became the date on which Pakistan transitioned from a dominion to a republic, and is known as Pakistan Day.

In 1946, the Labor government in Britain, tired by events such as World War II and many riots, realized that it had neither the ability at home and internationally, nor the reliability of the British Indian Army for continuing to control an increasingly volatile British India. The reliability of the native forces for continuing their control over an increasingly insubordinate India reduced, and so the government decided to end the British rule of the Indian Subcontinent.

In 1946, the Indian National Congress, being a secular party, demanded a single state. The All India Muslim League, who disagreed with the idea of single state, stressed the idea of a separate Pakistan as an alternative. The 1946 Cabinet Mission to India was sent to reach a compromise between Congress and the Muslim League, suggesting a regionalized state with more power given to local governments, but it was disallowed by both of the parties and resulted in a number of insurrections in South Asia.

Finally, in February 1947, UK Prime Minister announced that the British government would grant full self-governance to British India at the latest. On 3 June 1947, the British government declared that the division of British India into two independent states was accepted.

The successor governments would be given dominion status and would have an implicit right to secede from the British Commonwealth. The then Viceroy chose 15 August, the second anniversary of Japan's surrender in the World War II, as the date of power transfer. He chose 14 – 15 August as the date of the ceremony of power transfer to Pakistan because he wanted to attend the ceremonies in both India and Pakistan.

The Indian Independence Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo 6 c. 30) passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom divided British India into the two new independent dominions; the dominion of India (later to become the Republic of India) and the Dominion of Pakistan (later to become the Islamic Republic of Pakistan).

The act provided a mechanism for division of the Bengal and Punjab provinces between the two nation’s establishment of the office of the Governor-General, conferral of comprehensive legislative authority upon the respective Constituent Assemblies, and separation of joint property between the two new countries.

The act later received royal assent on 18 July 1947.The partition was convoyed by violent riots and mass fatalities, and the displacement of nearly 15 million people due to religious violence across the subcontinent; millions of Muslim, Sikh and Hindu refugees shifted the newly drawn borders to Pakistan and India respectively in the months surrounding independence.

On 14 – 15 August 1947, the new Territory of Pakistan became independent and Muhammad Ali Jinnah was sworn in as its first governor general in Karachi. Independence was marked with widespread celebration, but the atmosphere remained heated given the communal riots prevalent during independence in 1947.