India celebrates Independence Day on 15 August each year, commemorating the nation's freedom from British rule on that date in 1947, when the Indian Independence Act transferred legislative sovereignty to the Constituent Assembly. This historic milestone followed a largely non-violent independence movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, but it was tragically overshadowed by the bloody partition of British India into India and Pakistan. On the first Independence Day, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru raised the Indian flag above the Red Fort in Delhi—a tradition upheld by every subsequent prime minister, who delivers a national address broadcast by Doordarshan, often preceded by Ustad Bismillah Khan's shehnai music. The day is observed nationwide with flag-hoisting ceremonies, parades, and cultural events, making it a joyous public holiday. Interestingly, before actual independence, the Congress had declared 26 January 1930 as Independence Day (Purna Swaraj) and celebrated it from 1930 to 1946 with peaceful pledges and constructive work, as envisioned by Gandhi, setting the stage for the final triumph in 1947.