When did Muslim League observed “Direct Action Day” ?
16 August 1946
Direct Action Day was observed on 16 August 1946 — option 3.
How it came about. The Cabinet Mission Plan of May 1946 proposed a federal India with grouped provinces and no separate Pakistan. The Muslim League first accepted it and then, on 29 July 1946, withdrew its acceptance, holding that the Congress’s interpretation of the grouping clauses had destroyed the safeguards. The League’s council resolved to bid farewell to constitutional methods and called for Direct Action Day on 16 August 1946 to press the demand for Pakistan.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 16 May 1946 | Cabinet Mission Plan announced |
| 29 July 1946 | Muslim League withdraws its acceptance of the plan |
| 16 August 1946 | Direct Action Day; the Great Calcutta Killings begin |
| 2 September 1946 | Interim Government takes office under Nehru |
| June 1947 | Mountbatten Plan accepts partition |
What followed. The day was declared a public holiday by the League ministry in Bengal under H. S. Suhrawardy. Communal rioting broke out in Calcutta and continued for four days — the Great Calcutta Killings — leaving several thousand dead and many more homeless. The violence spread to Noakhali and Tippera in eastern Bengal in October, then to Bihar in reprisal, then to the United Provinces and the Punjab. Gandhi walked through Noakhali and later through Bihar to restore calm.
Why it mattered. The events of that autumn convinced many in the Congress leadership, and the British government, that a united India could not be governed peaceably, and they are usually treated as the decisive turn towards partition.
The distractors. 15 August 1947 is Independence Day, and 14 August 1946 is simply the day before — both placed to catch a hurried reading.
Hence, the answer is 16 August 1946.
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Important Questions from Freedom to Partition (1939-1947)
The princely states that were unwilling to join the Indian Union until July 1947 included:
a. Baroda
b. Travancore
c. Bikaner
d. Bhopal
The first major nation wide Satyagraha launched by Mahatma Gandhi was against:
Who was the Chairman of the Partition Council?
With reference to 8th August, 1942 in Indian history, which one of the following statements is correct?
- Arrange the following significant events in the history of India's independence struggle in chronological order, from earliest to latest:
1. Cripps Mission
2. Wavell Plan
3. Quit India Movement
4. Cabinet Mission
5. August Offer
6. Royal Indian Navy Mutiny
Which of the following sequences is correct?
