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
Answer
Why
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.
Why the others are wrong
- (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.
Concept
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.
Key facts
- 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.
Study next
Common traps
- 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.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.
Practice
- 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).