1947 Sylhet referendum


The Sylhet referendum was a referendum held in Sylhet to decide whether Sylhet would remain in Assam and join the new country of India or would join the province of East Bengal and the new country of Pakistan. The referendum decided in favor of joining Pakistan; however, Karimganj remained in India.

History

Originally, the Greater Sylhet region, erstwhile Sylhet Sarkar, was part of the Bengal Subah of the Mughal Empire until it came under British administration in 1765. Initially, the region became part of the Bengal Presidency. Despite protests to the Viceroy from its Bengali-majority population, on 16 February 1874 the region became part of the non-regulation Chief Commissioner's Province of Assam in order to facilitate Assam's commercial development. After the first partition of Bengal in 1905 it became re-incorporated into Eastern Bengal and Assam. Sylhet became separated from Bengal again in 1912 when Assam was reconstituted into a chief commissioners' province.

Background

The partition of India was to happen along religious lines. The Muslim-majority areas would form Pakistan while the Hindu-majority areas would form India. Sylhet was a Muslim-majority Bengali-speaking district in Assam which was a Hindu-majority Assanese-speaking province. The Government of Assam believed removing Sylhet would make the state more homogeneous and stronger as a result. Assam's Prime Minister Gopinath Bordoloi said in 1946 that his wish was to "hand over Sylhet to East Bengal". The Government of British Raj declared on 3 July 1947 that a referendum would be held to decide the future of Sylhet on 7 July 1947. H. C. Stock was appointed the commissioner of the referendum.

Result

The majority of the population voted in favour of joining Pakistan. It was implemented in the Article 3 of the India Independence Act of 18 July 1947. The Radcliffe line published on 12 August 1947 gave some areas of Sylhet mainly the Karimganj, to India, while the rest of Sylhet joined East Bengal. Even though there was a majority vote across Sylhet to join East Bengal, the published Radcliffe line gave some areas of Sylhet to India like Karimganj, while the rest of Sylhet joined East Pakistan. It had a majority Muslim population which had opted for Pakistan unlike some other areas in Sylhet like Moulvibazar which had not. India received three and a half thanas from Sylhet. However, the result of the referendum was welcomed in Assam. Thus, most of the Sylhet district of British Indian province of Assam joined East Pakistan, which subsequently became independent Bangladesh in 1971.