> What's the name of the boundary demarcation line between India and Pakistan?And the answer: The Radcliffe Line.Photo credit: TheDiplomat.com[https://thediplomat.com/2017/08/70-years-of-the-radcliffe-line-understanding-the-story-of-indian-partition/].The boundary line is named after a British lawyer named Sir Cyril Radcliffe,who was tasked with equitably dividing the territory between India and Pakistan.Radcliffe and his team were given just five weeks to finalize drawing the 3,323kilometer border before India and Pakistan's independence from England in August1947.For nearly 200 years, the British controlled parts of India. But, by 1947,independence movements were swelling throughout the nation, and debt-riddenBritain no longer had the resources to hold on to their colony after World WarII. As such, the British began making plans to leave India. During negotiations,British officials agreed that a proper transfer of power would take about fiveyears. Yet, when Lord Mountbatten (the Viceroy of India) arrived on thesubcontinent, he made the hasty decision to cut that time to just four months. British India was to be split into two independent nations: a mostly MuslimPakistan, and a Hindu-majority (but officially secular) India. To complete thedrawing of the border, British officials brought in lawyer Radcliffe just onemonth before the British were scheduled to leave India. Radcliffe had never beento India before, didn't know much about the region, and had no knowledge aboutIndian politics. Yet, Radcliffe remained in charge of the staggering task. During his visit, Radcliffe studied maps and census data that displayedreligious identity in India. However, based on the maps, people of all religions(whether they be Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, or otherwise) lived in pocketsside-by-side. So, to draw the line, the British lawyer looked to maps thatdisplayed religion by district, putting any district that had a Muslim majoritypopulation in Pakistan, while Hindu and Sikh majority districts would remain inIndia. Based on this method, the lawyer constructed a border (in just about fiveweeks). In fact, Radcliffe later wrote that it would have taken years to agreeon a proper boundary.After the publication of the new border, chaos ensued. Fourteen million peoplewere forced to relocate in one of the most harrowing migrations in history.Leaving behind their belongings, lives and even splitting their families, thenation of Pakistan was formed along uncertain, arbitrary lines. Today, remnantsof this postcolonial past remain pertinent. Learn more about the creation of theborder below.