Previous Year Question

At the time of the Partition of India in 1947, Bengal and Punjab were experiencing serious communal tensions. A large military force was deployed in Punjab to maintain order, while Gandhi was in Calcutta working directly for Hindu-Muslim peace.

During August 1947, Gandhi stayed at Beliaghata in Calcutta and continuously met leaders and ordinary people belonging to different communities. His efforts contributed to the relative calm in Calcutta around the time of Independence.

On 30 August 1947, Lord Mountbatten paid tribute to Gandhi's work. He noted that in Punjab there were 55,000 soldiers and large-scale rioting, whereas in Bengal the effective “force” consisted of one man, with peace prevailing there at that moment.

It was in this context that Mountbatten described Gandhi as the “One-man Boundary Force.” He also referred to H. S. Suhrawardy as Gandhi's “Second-in-Command” because Suhrawardy was participating with Gandhi in the peace effort.

The description did not refer to any military command by Gandhi. It emphasised that the moral influence and direct peace-making efforts of a single individual were achieving what elsewhere required a large military presence.

Communal violence again broke out in Calcutta on 31 August–1 September 1947. Gandhi then began a fast on 1 September, which he ended on 4 September after peace was restored.

Therefore, the person who addressed Gandhi as the “One-man Boundary Force” was Lord Mountbatten.