Viceroy's House Page #5

I should leave.

This better be good, Pug.

Anything but good.

There's been a massacre in Punjab.

Half of Rawalpindi is on fire.

Muslims burned down

Sikh and Hindu houses.

Brutal reprisals have spread

through Muslim streets.

Order the Punjab police out in force.

- We have.

- If this is replicated...

With respect, there are

18,000 towns like this in Punjab.

We don't have the men.

Then call in the Army.

There are barely any

English soldiers left.

The Indians have divided loyalties.

How can we ask Sikhs to fire on

Sikhs, Muslims on Muslims?

I'm telling you, Dickie,

India is a ship on fire.

Daddy, guess what?

- A telegram has come...

- Pamela, do not interrupt!

- From the King.

- Get them round the table.

All the leaders.

Pammy!

I'm sorry.

Please tell me what it is.

Princess Lilibet is going to marry

Philip.

But that's wonderful.

They want me for a bridesmaid.

That's splendid, Pammy.

Come on, now. Let's not have this.

Can't let the side down, not in public.

Following the bad news

of communal fighting in India,

with his wife and daughter, the

Viceroy has been paying a visit

to the north-west frontier and Punjab.

He visited many of the places where

the worst clashes had occurred

and saw for himself the serious extent

of the rioting

and the vast amount of damage done.

Let Jinnah be Prime Minister

of independent India.

Bapuji, it won't work.

Why not?

With the best will in the world,

Jinnah will never agree.

He wouldn't even come to this table.

He said the time for talking is over.

I think it's a very daring idea.

Daring, yes, but feasible?

Jinnah's not a fool, Dickie.

He knows that you can't place

300 million Hindus

under the rule of the Muslim League.

They won't have it.

But if you leaders give him

your support?

This is a democracy.

At the first opportunity,

the people will vote him out.

Which brings us back to square one:

- The Muslim minority and Pakistan.

- I agree.

Why do you all not see,

if we oppose partition,

India remains united.

How many towns

descending into slaughter?

We've tried too long to break

this deadlock.

Singh, Kumar.

The world moves on.

Not as we like it, but it moves.

We will have our independence.

Let Jinnah have his Pakistan.

In five years' time, he will be knocking

at our door

and begging to be part of India again.

It is not possible to divide the heart

and expect it to work.

Gandhiji, how can we reach

an agreement with Jinnah

if you can't agree with Jawahar?

Every moment we debate

brings more violence.

We can concede the provinces

with a clear Muslim majority,

but Jinnah cannot have Punjab

and Bengal.

They have large Hindu and

Sikh populations.

Then we must divide the two provinces

between the two countries.

Half of the Punjab and

Bengal to India,

the other half to Pakistan.

Partition.

And which god among you

decides where the border falls?

You've spoken yourself about

the beauty of compromise.

This compromise will have

beauty, Bapu...

because it will bring peace.

The callouses on my feet,

the years in prison...

the hopes and dreams of our people

were for independence,

not partition.

No one is listening to Gandhiji.

Mountbatten sahib and Nehru

seem to agree.

Pakistan will come to be.

Ah, Allah be praised.

- Pakistan Zindabad.

- Our Pakistan.

Mohsin, our sisters are all in hiding

because of you animals.

You're the animals,

destroying the peace.

All religions are true.

We are brothers with one soul.

To divide us on religious grounds...

is against the will of God.

Division does not create peace.

It creates havoc.

Partition unleashes passions.

It does not dampen them.

We shall tear ourselves asunder

in the womb of the mother

who bears us.

The Viceroy's house is not

for the likes of this.

You are dismissed, both of you.

- Mohsin, no.

- Mohsin.

Get your things.

The guards will escort you

from your quarters.

We are guards.

Us leave? It is you who have

no place here.

One more word,

I'll have you both arrested.

Get them out of here!

Back to work!

Come, let's go, please. Jaldi!

Come on!

It's worse than Glasgow

on a Saturday night.

Thank you, my friend.

Thank you.

What happened with Ewart and the staff?

You were there, were you?

Yes, sir. It was terrible.

I've just seen Pug.

You're going to London with him?

We have to make the best possible

case to the government,

get it to endorse partition and shock

the leaders out of their intransigence

by accelerating the process.

Otherwise the bloodshed will

continue.

So when were you intending to tell me

you'd made your decision on partition?

It's the only way forward.

We've barely been here two months.

And the country is burning.

Dickie, there's no going back

on this decision.

There is no time for indecision.

I must act.

You cannot change tack so hastily.

You are a statesman, not a sailor.

Edwina, people are dying every day!

Murders, rapes, reprisals,

from Calcutta to Bombay,

Amritsar to Kahuta.

Imagine that repeated in every city

and village across India.

How much longer

do you want me to wait?

How can it be getting worse

under us?

Precisely my point.

We have no control.

But a solution is in sight.

But partition?

It may seem a good solution now,

but in the long term...

It's hard enough negotiating

with them, Edwina.

You have my support.

But not your approval.

You don't need my approval.

I have to persuade the prime minister,

Churchill, and the opposition.

Heaven help me if I can't

persuade you.

We came to give India back

her freedom.

Not to tear her apart.

We have no choice.

If we don't transfer power soon,

there may be nothing left to transfer.

The Viceroy arrives in Britain by air,

having returned for consultations

of the utmost importance regarding

the British withdrawal from India.

He can only hope that the Viceroy will

find a solution.

With communal fighting increasing in

violence, especially in the Punjab,

the task of handing over is obviously

a tremendous problem.

Curfews have been imposed

in Lahore and Calcutta,

and large areas of Bengal

and the Punjab remain unsafe.

Rawalpindi and its surrounding

villages are in a critical state.

We know that some of you

have families in these areas.

They may come to you here.

Basic accommodation

will be found

and food will be rationed

to meet demand.

A hardship fund has been

made available.

- Pamela?

- I'm here, Aalia.

This child has a very high fever.

Yes, he's dehydrated.

In certain cases,

permission will be given

for you to go and bring

your people back.

I need to get back to our village.

The refugees have told me terrible

things. I need to get home.

Wait.

The violence is caused by uncertainty.

If the British do what Mountbatten says,

he says the violence will stop.

And you believe him?

What country will our village be in?

What if it's Pakistan?

There is a madness taking hold here,

a hatred.

It's soldiers deserting the army,

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