Independence Day: No, India did not get complete independence in 1947. Here's why
Poorna Swaraj, as was the goal of the Indian National Congress, on August 15, 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru's famous uttering in his Independence Day speech, «At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom», was only partially accurate in describing the occasion.
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Instead of Poorna Swaraj, India got the dominion status which did not mean an independent country as most of us believe India to have become in 1947. Though India became a self-governing entity, it was still under British control in several ways. Interestingly, the Congress had been against the dominion status yet accepted it, ostensibly because it was to lead to complete independence later but also because the dominion status could have helped the first government, which was not directly elected, take hold of society and economy with the help of prevailing British laws which gave it more power of people.
What the Dominion status meant
The Indian Independence Act was passed in 1947 in the British parliament. The act created two new independent dominions; India and Pakistan. Pakistan was split into Pakistan and East Pakistan which is now Bangladesh. The Bengal and Punjab provinces were partitioned between the two new countries. These dominions separated the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh population and caused the biggest forced migration which has ever happened that was not the result of war or famine. The Act repealed the use of ‘Emperor
