Viceroy's House Page #6

men from other towns

forming into gangs and militias.

They want our land.

- Well, then, I must go with you.

- No.

I need you to stay here.

What if they've left already?

What if they arrive here and we are gone?

You stay, I'll go.

Have you seen this, sir?

- Ah.

- Welcome home, Daddy.

Thank you, darling.

- How was Westminster?

- Deliciously cool.

The cabinet passed the plan

in the blink of an eye.

We got the green light

to speed up independence.

What about Churchill?

He was quite sanguine.

Accepted the plan.

He was very complimentary.

He pointed out that Dickie has,

in a matter of weeks,

achieved what Wavell and

all the previous Viceroys

failed to achieve in years.

The government and the press

are calling it the Mountbatten Plan.

Well done.

The Mountbatten Plan?

Mr Jinnah, what is your solution

to end the violence?

- Is partition the only way?

- Is Pakistan the answer?

Mr Jinnah, what will you be doing

to stop the escalating violence?

Mr Nehru, a moment, please.

Mr Nehru, do you have the support

of the Indian National Congress?

What is your answer for freedom

in India, please, Mr Nehru?

Now... Why has Gandhi not attended?

He apologises but he cannot assent

to the Mountbatten Plan.

But will he go against it?

- Will he try to speak out, to sabotage...

- Bapuji has informed me

that today is his day of silence.

Why must everything now be rushed?

I wanted all of the Punjab and Bengal.

You expect me to accept

a moth-eaten Pakistan?

You should be grateful.

You've held us to ransom

for long enough.

- Mr Nehru, it is you...

- I am chairing this meeting

and I demand that we respect

one another.

The British cabinet has formally

approved the partition of India.

By the end of this meeting,

it is my intention

that all parties will accept the plan

and our new timeline.

Impossible.

We'll need a week at least

to get formal approval from

the Muslim League.

I can't hold this position for a week.

You've got your Pakistan,

which at one time no one in the world

thought you'd get.

If I don't have your agreement,

this plan will collapse,

and the country that you have conjured

out of thin air will disappear.

What about the borders?

Who decides?

And where exactly is this Pakistan

we are signing for?

The cabinet has appointed

Sir Cyril Radcliffe, a barrister,

to chair the border commission.

He will be assisted by members of

the Muslim League and by Congress.

It will be a wholly impartial process.

They say, don't they, that tea is

actually cooling in the hot weather?

- Would you like it cool, sir?

- No, no. No, thank you.

- Sir Cyril, welcome.

- Your Excellency.

Good to see you.

- You know Lord Ismay.

- Everyone knows Pug, sir.

You've come in the hottest summer

for 75 years,

114 degrees in the shade.

- I'll adjust, I'm sure.

- You don't mind if I...

Now, Atlee's told you of the task.

Yes, you want a fair decision

on a boundary line

dividing 90 million Muslims, Sikhs

and Hindus.

Quite so.

Tea with milk.

And you want it by August 15th.

Actually, that's one day shy.

I've agreed to move the date up to

midnight of August 14th

to satisfy the astrologers.

That's less than five weeks.

You'll have a small team working

with you.

They'll be representing

all the parties concerned.

We'll provide you with maps,

census figures, geographical data,

and any other information you require.

You're asking me to draw a line

through people's houses,

rice paddies, jute fields...

Look, I understand.

It's a daunting proposition, yes.

And we all accept that some anomalies

will be inevitable.

Radcliffe, how well do you know

Bengal and the Punjab?

I assumed Pug would have

told you, sir.

I've never set foot in India in my life.

What I don't understand is 15 August.

That's just a few weeks away.

Why so soon, huh? They were

supposed to leave next year.

They don't want to be accountable

for the carnage.

Mountbatten sahib is trying

to prevent carnage.

That is why he moved the date.

You listen to his faithful serving boy.

People need certainty.

That is his intention.

Jeet, intentions are one thing.

Actions another.

The British are like rats

leaving a sinking ship.

They say the gutters in Lahore

are flowing like rivers of blood.

People killing each other when

we've lived together for centuries.

- The army is deserting.

- Listen to me...

Soldiers keeping their weapons,

groups of militia running wild.

Listen to me, this is nothing

but a lawless land grab.

How is Mountbatten sahib

going to stop all the violence?

Vast mobs have been out

in the streets of Bombay

during six days of violence that have

included murder,

as well as wrecking, burning

and looting,

a question of state boundaries.

Curfew was one of the methods

adopted in Delhi

in an attempt to get the communal

fighting under control.

So one part of the picture shows

empty streets and locked doors.

The other picture of Delhi shows

mob violence, the looting of shops,

and the consequent loss of life

and destruction of property.

Ubba?

Ubba!

Aalia! Wait, wait, wait.

What happened? Where is Ubba?

Where are you, sir? Aalia?

Cowards!

Don't you know me?

Don't you know my father?

Where's Ubba?

No violence will be

tolerated in Viceroy's House.

Perpetrators will be dismissed and

jailed, their families told to leave.

Ubba? Ubba!

The harshest measures will be taken.

There will be no riot here!

It's time for us

to come together now.

What we face is the most significant

moment

in the history of this sub-continent.

Our children and our grandchildren

may one day ask us how we served.

We must ensure we can be proud

of what we say.

In less than 30 days now,

India will be divided.

The partition council has agreed

that the national assets and debt

will be apportioned 80% to India

and 20% to Pakistan.

We will be following that same

formula in this great house.

Finally...

and I am sorry to say this...

each one of you must choose which

country will have your allegiance,

India...

or Pakistan.

Suhara Kapur, India.

Next.

I, too. Pakistan.

Next.

Sanjit Gupta.

India.

Next.

Mr Ali.

Sir, I want to go to Pakistan.

I wish you well.

Jeet, what's going to happen to us?

Come.

- I'm so scared.

- Come.

Soup spoons, Fifteen cases for India,

three cases for Pakistan.

Teaspoons, Forty cases for India,

ten cases for Pakistan.

Butter knives, Twenty cases for India,

five cases for Pakistan.

Tuba, India.

French horn, Pakistan.

Right, what do the latest reports say?

Ah, well, that we know about.

India. Pakistan.

- India.

- Next!

Pakistan.

India. Pakistan.

India. Pakistan.

I don't know what to do.

Your father's a good man.

He'll understand.

Aalia.

We belong together.

Take this kara.

It shows our unity.

I'm scared.

Wuthering Heights must come to

Pakistan.

Then Jane Eyre stays here

and all of the Jane Austen.

India. Pakistan.

But we can't break the encyclopaedias.

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