Today marks the 74th anniversary of India gaining its independence from Great Britain, which happened in 1947. At the same time, the day also marks the splitting of what is now India and Pakistan - and Bangladesh, which used to be a part of Pakistan, but that is a different story - into separate countries, which took place at midnight on August 14-15 1947. The Pakistani celebrate the Independence on August 14th.

Celebration of Independence Day
The Independence Day is one of only three national holidays in India, and is celebrated widely throughout the country. On the original day of independence, the first ever Prime Minister of India raised the Indian national flag at the Red Fort in Old Delhi, something all prime ministers since have done on Independence Day. The Prime minister then holds a speech about the main accomplishments of the past year, as well as future challenges and goals. This is followed by a parade with members of the armed forces and police. Similar events take place in state capitals.

But it is not only in governmental institutions that things happen; institutions of all kinds decorate buildings with lights, ballons and portraits of freedom fighters. Schools often hold their own flag-raising ceremonies too. People often wear the flag on clothes that day, and kite flying has become another popular tradition.

India's Independence Day is also celebrated worldwide with parades and pageants, especially in regions with a high concentration of Indian immigrants.

The independence movement
Before India gained its independence, the British had been ruling the country for almost 200 years. It all started in 1757, when the English East India Company began to have control over the country, after a victory at the Battle of Plassey. The East India Company was originally a monopolistic trading company, but it gained political autonomy and in many ways acted as a representation of the British monarchy. The East India Company ruled India for 100 years until it was replaced after an unsuccessful rebellion in 1857-59.

This rebellion was a major turning point, because while Britain still had the military and political power, it led to a big change in how India was controlled. A council was made, and the British stopped seizing land, decreed religious tolerance, and led Indians into the civil services - however, the British still held all important positions.

In 1885, 72 Indian nationals met in Bombay and formed the Indian National Congress. While it claimed to represent all of India, especially in the beginning it was only the Hindu elites' interests that was represented; understandably enough as the council itself was made up of higher-class people who were well-educated in Western ways. However, it still represented the first political mobilization of Indians and the idea of India as one nation, instead of a collection of independent princely states as it had previously been.

The Indians contributed a lot to the war effort in WW1, and the Congress argued that their effort to the British empire during the war should be rewarded with self-rule. The British did respond by increasing the amount of power the Indians had, however, matters such as finance, taxation and law and order were kept with the British.

From 1920-22, Mahatma Gandhi started the Non-Cooperation Movement, based on ideas of nonviolent civil disobedience as a protest. It urged people to not pay taxes, use Indian materials, and generally discard everything British, be it education or titles. The movement was very popular and created a serious challenge to foreign rule. However, Gandhi called it off after an incident where a mob killed 22 policemen, as he was afraid it would lead to anarchy. However, he still continued to try and get reforms through that would change the system.

In 1929, the Indian National Congress adopted the goal of complete self-rule, as the public had started to support that as well. The Muslim League - who generally had been in heavy opposition to Congress as they believed Congress was only for Hindus - wanted this as well, but the conflict between them and Congress was large enough that they wanted their own Muslim state. The British eventually decided that splitting the country when granting independence would be best, thus creating what is now India for the Hindus and Pakistan (including Bangladesh) for the Muslims. However, this meant that millions of people suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of the border on Independence Day in 1947 and were forced to move. Up to a million people were killed in a series of massacres in the border regions, which horribly clearly shows how bitter the conflict between Muslims and Hindus was. It was an absolute bloodbath on both sides, where many people even committed honour killings on their female family members to avoid them getting raped or kidnapped!

All the terrible events weren't helped by the fact that the British had completely withdrawn on Independence Day, leaving an entirely new organisatiorial system to deal with the fallout. And the troubles between the two countries haven't stopped: Multiple full-out wars have broken out between Pakistan and India since then, mainly about which country the border state Kashmir should belong to or due to cross-border terrorism.