A post claiming that out of the 54 Commonwealth countries, 53 gained independence from the British between 1946 and 1956, without the involvement of Gandhi or Nehru, and without Partition, is going viral on social media platforms (here, here, here, and here). Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Out of the 54 Commonwealth countries, 53 gained independence from the British between 1946 and 1956.
Fact: There are currently 56 member countries in the Commonwealth, most of which are former territories of the British Empire. The last four countries to join the Commonwealth—Mozambique, Rwanda, Gabon, and Togo—have no historical ties to the British Empire. Not all nations that gained independence from the British Empire are part of the Commonwealth. For example, Myanmar (formerly Burma), which gained independence in 1948, is not a member. Only three Commonwealth nations—India (1947), Sri Lanka (1948), and Pakistan (1947)—gained independence from the British between 1946 and 1956. Additionally, India was not the only Commonwealth country to experience partition alongside independence; a similar division occurred in Zambia, where Zambia and Malawi gained independence in 1964 by separating from the ‘Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify the accuracy of the viral claim, we first visited the official website of the Commonwealth organization. According to the information available on this website, there are currently 56 member countries, most of which are former territories of the British Empire. The last four countries to join the Commonwealth—Mozambique, Rwanda, Gabon, and Togo—have no historical ties to the British Empire. Gabon and Togo are the most recent members, both having joined in June 2022 and both are former French colonies. Rwanda was a colony of Belgium, while Mozambique was a colony of Portugal.
During this search, we also found that not all nations that gained independence from the British Empire joined the Commonwealth. For example, Myanmar (formerly Burma), which gained independence from the British in 1948, is not a member of the Commonwealth. Some countries, such as South Africa and the Maldives, left the Commonwealth and later rejoined.
A total of 62 countries have gained independence from the United Kingdom so far. The first was the United States on 04 July 1776 (although the British government did not officially recognize the Declaration until 1783). The most recent was Brunei, which became an Islamic sultanate in 1984. More recently, an attempt at independence in Scotland failed after a closely fought referendum in 2014, in which 55% voted to remain part of the UK (here, here, here).
During this research, we also found that only three Commonwealth nations, namely India (1947), Sri Lanka (1948), and Pakistan (1947), gained independence from the British between 1946 and 1956 (here).
Further, India was not the only Commonwealth country to experience partition alongside independence; a similar division occurred in Zambia. Zambia and Malawi gained independence in 1964 by separating from the ‘Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.’ Later, Southern Rhodesia became Zimbabwe (here, here, here).
To sum up, only three Commonwealth nations, namely India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, gained independence from the British between 1946 and 1956.
