Pomp and stomp on the Radcliffe Line

When the Border Commissions of Cyril Radcliffe decided on the border between Pakistan and India in 1947, he and his group of lawyers proceeded in true British colonial fashion - without a thought or care for the actual outcome.

The commission was comprised of lawyers, not boundary experts; the commission took no consultation from any previous boundary exercise; the commission had no survey information on which to base their final decision. Radcliffe had never even been to India before and, after finding the climate a bit tough, rushed to a decision in order to scurry back to England. Before he left, he destroyed all papers which might have provided a historical look into the considerations (if there were any) which led to the final lines drawn on the map.

What followed the drawing of the Radcliffe Line was a magnitude 5 human disaster.

In the end, one border crossing existed between Pakistan and India, at Wagah. The Grand Trunk Road passes through the village which is split by the border and is the only road crossing between the two countries.

Hostilities exist between India and Pakistan today. There are frequent border skirmishes and incessant nuclear sabre-rattling.

And there is a ceremony at Wagah. Something which demonstrates the animosity... right until the end, when a small bit of humanity creeps in.