Which one among the following districts of Eastern India held a referendum in 1947 to decide whether or not to join Pakistan?
- (a)Sylhet
- (b)Goalpara
- (c)Cachar
- (d)Jalpaiguri
Correct — A, Sylhet. At Partition in 1947 the Assam district of Sylhet held a referendum (6-7 July 1947) to decide whether to join East Pakistan or remain in India. The vote favoured joining East Bengal (Pakistan), so most of Sylhet was transferred out of Assam.
- (b)Goalpara — A district of Assam that remained in India; no Partition referendum was held there.
- (c)Cachar — A district of the Barak Valley in Assam that stayed in India; it did not hold a referendum (though it received some transferred Sylhet areas).
- (d)Jalpaiguri — A district of Bengal partitioned by the Radcliffe line, not by a referendum; the referendum was specific to Sylhet.
When British India was partitioned in 1947, most boundaries were drawn by the Radcliffe Commission, but a few areas decided their fate by referendum or plebiscite — the North-West Frontier Province, the Sylhet district of Assam, and (later) the princely states. Sylhet, a Bengali-majority district then in Assam, voted in July 1947 to join East Bengal (Pakistan).
The question asks specifically which EASTERN district decided by a REFERENDUM. That points to Sylhet, whose vote separated it from Assam. The other options are ordinary districts whose boundaries were fixed by the Radcliffe award, not by a popular vote.
- Sylhet held a referendum on 6-7 July 1947 and voted to join East Pakistan.
- Most of Sylhet was transferred from Assam to East Bengal.
- The Karimganj sub-division was retained in Assam (Cachar/Barak Valley).
- The North-West Frontier Province also decided by referendum in 1947.
- Assuming every Partition boundary was a Radcliffe award — a few were referendums.
- Confusing Sylhet with neighbouring Assam districts that stayed in India.
Asked as which district decided by a 1947 referendum, or Sylhet's transfer to East Pakistan.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Apart from Sylhet, which region decided by a referendum in 1947 whether to join Pakistan?
- (a)North-West Frontier Province
- (b)Punjab
- (c)Bengal
- (d)Sindh
Answer(a) The North-West Frontier Province.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Sylhet referendum of 1947 resulted in the district joining
- (a)India (Assam)
- (b)East Pakistan
- (c)West Pakistan
- (d)Burma
Answer(b) East Pakistan (East Bengal).