In 1947, 300 years after British colonisation began, Cyril John Radcliffe was assigned the task of drawing the borders to define two newly independent nation states: India and Pakistan. On 9 August 1947, he submitted the partition, separating the two nations based upon religious majorities. Put into effect on 17 August 1947 – two days after India became independent of the United Kingdom and three days after Pakistan’s independence – pandemonium broke out as millions soon found themselves on the “wrong side” of the new border, creating a lasting legacy of displacement, division and bloodshed.

My guest for this episode of What Matters Today is Gopalan Balachandran, Co-Director of the Albert Hirschman Centre On Democracy and Professor of International History and Politics at the Geneva Graduate Institute.