Cartographic error makes West Bengal villages mark August 18 as Independence Day

While the whole country celebrates Independence Day on August 15, this Bangladesh-adjacent village marks the joyous occasion on August 18. Yes, located in Nadia district of West Bengal, Shibnibas village is a quaint town of people who celebrate Independence Day three days after entire India does due to a cartographic error in Sir Cyril Radcliffe's map. The residents of Shibnibas celebrate Independence Day three days after the official date because of their late inclusion into the Indian territory. When Viceroy Louis Mountbatten signed the papers of Indian Independence to be declared on August 15, 1947, Bengal remained in the fit of tyranny following the trisection of the subcontinent. The demarcations drawn by Cyril Radcliffe left out several districts with Hindu faith populations like Malda, Nadia in Bangladesh (former East Pakistan). When All India Radio announced Nadia's expulsion from Indian statehood as per Mountbatten's decision, several uprisings in the Indo-Bangladesh border villages left the British in a pit of woes. The protests against the exiting British government, launched on August 15, 1947, were headed by the 38th Maharaja of Nadia's Royal family and political leaders like Shayama Prasad Mukherjee. The Maharaja met Mountbatten, who directed him to meet the head of the Boundary Commission, Sir Cyril Radcliffe. The demonstrations and appeals by the bereft villagers and the Maharaja forced hot-footed Mountbatten to redraw Radcliffe's Line that later included the protesting Hindu-dominated villages into India and pushed the Muslim majority to Bangladesh. The protests stopped on August 17 following the revised declaration. This event was logged in the history of the residents of the villages along the Indo-Bangladesh border. The Pakistani flag was brought down, and the Indian flag was furled in Krishnanagar State Library, Anjan Sukul, a resident and grandson of revolutionary Pramanath Sukul told IndianExpress. The history since then has been passed down over generations, following which, the villages commemorate August 18 as their Independence Day from British and East Pakistan. Bongaon follows Nadia's footsteps The lesser-known history could have been long forgotten, but for Anjan Sukul, who discovered the moth-eaten page from 'Nadiar Swadhinota' that authenticates the story of Shibnibas' hard-won freedom. Meanwhile, not just Nadia villages, some Indo-Bangladesh border villages in West Bengal North 24 Pargana District's Bongaon area also celebrates Independence Day on August 18 along with August 15. The villagers generally mark August 15 to comply with the official rules and separately mark August 18 for more personal and emotional satisfaction. Image Credit: PTI/ representative

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Cartographic error makes West Bengal villages mark August 18 as Independence Day

Located in West Bengal's Nadia, Shibnibas village is a quaint town of people who celebrate Independence Day three days after entire India does. Here's why.

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