1947 Sylhet referendum

Prior to British arrival in the region in 1765, the Sylhet Sarkar was a part of the Mughal Empire's Bengal Subah. Initially, the Company Raj incorporated Sylhet into its Bengal Presidency. 109 years later however, on 16 February 1874, Sylhet was made a part of the non-regulation Chief Commissioner's Province of Assam (North-East Frontier) in order to facilitate Assam's commercial development. This transfer was implemented despite a memorandum of protests being submitted to the Viceroy, Lord Northbrook, on 10 August from the district's Bengali-majority population which consisted of both Hindus and Muslims.[2] These protests subsided when Northbrook visited Sylhet to reassure the people that education and justice would be administered from Calcutta in Bengal,[3] as well as when the Hindu zamindars of Sylhet realised the opportunity of employment in Assam's tea estates and a market for their produce.[4]

After the first partition of Bengal in 1905, Sylhet was briefly re-incorporated with eastern Bengal, as a part of the new province's Surma Valley and Hill Districts division. However, this was short-lived as Sylhet once again became separated from Bengal in 1912, when Assam was reconstituted into a chief commissioners' province.[5] By the 1920s, organisations such as the Sylhet Peoples' Association and Sylhet-Bengal Reunion League mobilised public opinion demanding Sylhet's reincorporation into Bengal.[6] However, the leaders of the Reunion League, including Muhammad Bakht Mauzumdar and Syed Abdul Majid who were involved in Assam's tea trade, later opposed the transfer of Sylhet and Cachar to Bengal in September 1928 during the Surma Valley Muslim Conference; supported by Abdul Majid's Anjuman-e-Islamia and Muslim Students Association.[7]

Sylhet Division in present-day Bangladesh

The partition of India was to happen along religious lines. The Muslim-majority areas would form Pakistan while the Hindu-majority areas would form India.[8] Sylhet was a Muslim-majority Bengali-speaking district in Assam which was a Hindu-majority Assamese-speaking province. The Government of Assam believed removing Sylhet would make the state more homogeneous and stronger as a result. Assam's Chief Minister Gopinath Bordoloi said in 1946 that his wish was to "hand over Sylhet to East Bengal".[9] The Government of British Raj declared on 3 July 1947 that a referendum would be held to decide the future of Sylhet on 6 July 1947. H. C. Stock was appointed the commissioner of the referendum.[1]

The majority of the population voted in favour of joining Pakistan. This was implemented via Article 3 of the India Independence Act of 18 July 1947. The Radcliffe line published on 17 August 1947 gave some areas of Sylhet — mainly the Karimganj — to India, while the rest of Sylhet joined East Bengal, even though Karimganj had a majority Muslim population which had opted for Pakistan unlike some other areas in Sylhet like Moulvibazar.[10] The putative cause of this was the plea of a group led by Abdul Matlib Mazumdar.

India received three and a half thanas of Sylhet.[11][12] Along with Karimganj, Zakiganj was also to be a part of the Dominion of India but this was prevented by a delegation led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[13] Thus, most of the Sylhet district of joined East Pakistan which subsequently became independent as Bangladesh in 1971.[14]

The result of the referendum was welcomed by Assamese Hindus.[15]

• 1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum