Direct Action Day 1946 – Division of India
Behind division Direct Action Day, observed on 16 August 1946 , was a turning point in pre-Partition communal politics in Bengal. Called by the All-India Muslim League , it triggered the Great Calcutta Killings and intensified the push toward Partition. This article presents the timeline, key actors, and verified facts with source references. This article was developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI, to structure and expand ideas into a coherent historical narrative. 1. Call for Direct Action Day On 29 July 1946 , Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League announced Direct Action Day to press for Pakistan, abandoning purely constitutional methods. Jinnah declared: “The time has come… to resort to direct action… to vindicate their honour… We do not want war. If you want war we accept your offer unhesitatingly. We will either have a divided India or a destroyed India.” The League set 16 August 1946 as the date for the harta...