Independence Day 2017: Why we celebrate Independence Day on 15 August in India

Independence Day in India is celebrated annually on August 15. It is a national holiday that marks India’s independence from British rule. On August 15, 1947, United Kingdom Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act 1947 and thus transferred the legislative sovereignty to the Indian Constituent Assembly. Queen Elizabeth II’s father King George VI remained the head of the state till the transition of India to a full Republican Constitution was completed. The country attained freedom following the struggle for independence that was marked by its non-violent character and helmed by the father of the nation Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
India was ruled by the British for two centuries. The struggle against foreign rule had its beginnings from as far back as in 1857 when the first movement for Independence took place against the rule of the British East India Company. It began in the form of a mutiny by sepoys and the movement was later called by various names including – India’s First War of Independence, Indian Mutiny, Great Rebellion, and Revolt of 1857. The rebellion was unsuccessful and it came to an end soon. The suppression of this struggle marked a formal end of the Mughal empire in India.
Mahatma Gandhi played a big role in helping the country attain freedom from British Raj. A series of nationwide people’s movements of non-violent resistance and civil disobedience led by him along with the leaders of the Indian National Congress (INC) started in 1920 and it was called the non-cooperation movement.

Following the conclusion of the World War II in the year 1946, Prime Minister Clement Attlee in 1947 announced that the British government would grant full self-governance to British India by June 1948 at the latest. India attained Independence on August 15, 1947 and Jawaharlal Nehru became its first Prime Minister. The date of Indian independence also coincides with the partition of the country, after which British India was divided into India and Pakistan.