1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum

North-West Frontier Province referendum, 1947
6–20 July 1947 (1947-07-06 – 1947-07-20)
Should the North-West Frontier Province join India or Pakistan?
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Join India 2,874 0.98%
Join Pakistan 289,244 99.02%
Valid votes 292,118 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 0 0.00%
Total votes 292,118 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 572,798 51%
Results by district. All 6 Districts voted for Pakistan by over whelming margin of 99%
Part of a series on the
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The North-West Frontier Province referendum (Pashto: د شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ایالت ټولپوښتنه) was held in July 1947 to decide whether the North-West Frontier Province of British India would join the Dominion of India or Pakistan upon the Partition of India. The polling began on 6 July and the results were made public on 20 July. Out of the total population of 4 million in the NWFP, only 572,798 were eligible to vote, of whom only 51.00% voted in the referendum. 289,244 (99.02%) of the votes were cast in favor of Pakistan and only 2,874 (0.98%) in favor of India.[1][2]

The NWFP Chief Minister Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (Dr. Khan Sahib), his brother Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and the Khudai Khidmatgars boycotted the referendum, citing that it did not have the options of the NWFP becoming independent or joining Afghanistan.[3][4] Their appeal for boycott had an effect, as according to an estimate, the total turnout for the referendum was 15% lower than the total turnout in the 1946 elections.[5]

  1. ^ Electoral History of NWFP (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2013.
  2. ^ Michael Brecher (25 July 2017). A Century of Crisis and Conflict in the International System: Theory and Evidence: Intellectual Odyssey III. Springer. ISBN 9783319571560. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  3. ^ Meyer, Karl E. (5 August 2008). The Dust of Empire: The Race For Mastery In The Asian Heartland – Karl E. Meyer – Google Boeken. PublicAffairs. ISBN 9780786724819. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Was Jinnah democratic? — II". Daily Times. 25 December 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)