The division of British-ruled India into the two independent countries of India and Pakistan according to the Indian Independence Act passed by the British Parliament on July 18, 1947, is known as the partition of India. British lawyer Cyril Radcliffe drew the international borders between the countries, known as the Radcliffe Line. After Indian independence took effect on August 15, 1947, one of the largest human displacements in modern history followed. People fled across the borders, migrating by the thousands to enter either India or Pakistan, which included West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan) in the northwest and East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) in the east.
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