History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c96.s2.12

v7.c96.s2.12

It is not necessary to go into the freedom struggle from 1919 to 1947 which culminated in the British leaving India but after dividing it into Pakistan and the present India. The partition of India into two parts based on merely communal considerations let loose the most hideous conflicts, massacres and flights of millions of refugees which India had ever witnessed during its long history. The giving up of a large empire with mutual consent and without war or bloodshed is a unique and unparalleled event in the whole history of the world. The message of the King of Great Britain read by Lord Mountbatten as Viceroy to the members of the Constituent Assembly was nobly and graciously worded "With this transfer of power by consent comes the fulfilment of a great democratic ideal to which the British and Indian people alike are firmly dedicated.' Dr. Rajendra Prasad's reply to the message of the King was couched in equally noble and just language 'While our achievement is in no small measure due to our sufferings and sacrifices, it is also the result of world forces and events, and last, though not least, it is the consummation and fulfilment of the historic traditions and democratic ideals of the British race" (vide 'Transfer of power in India" by Shri V. P. Menon, published by Orient Longmans, 1957, p. 415).