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India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were independent from the British rule on August 15th, 1947. Why is it that India celebrates the nation's Independence Day on August 15th while Pakistan celebrates it on August 14th?

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    There was no Bangladesh. Just India and Pakistan got independence from British rule
    – siddhant Kumar
    Aug 16, 2016 at 14:25
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    "... were liberated from the British rule before August 15th" is a slightly ambiguous phrasing. Perhaps "... became independent of Britain from the start of August 15th" might be clearer
    – Henry
    May 9, 2017 at 9:55

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The 15th of August was the date chosen by Mountbatten to transfer power, as it was the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.

The act of UK parliament giving independence to India and Pakistan took effect from the 15th of August. The act took effect at midnight, and 14th of August 1947 coincided with 27th day of Ramadan (considered sacred night for Muslims), which is why Pakistan choose that date instead.

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    You Wikipedia link does not say that August 14th was chosen because of Ramadan: "[Mountbatten] chose 14 August as the date of the ceremony of power transfer to Pakistan because he wanted to attend the ceremonies in both India and Pakistan."
    – called2voyage
    Aug 15, 2016 at 21:42
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    The first commemorative postage stamps of the country, released in July 1948, also gave 15 August 1947 as the independence day,[20] however in subsequent years 14 August was adopted as the independence day.[21] The night of 14–15 August 1947 coincided with 27 Ramadan 1366 of the Islamic calendar, which Muslims regard as a sacred night.
    – user13123
    Aug 15, 2016 at 22:21
  • I skipped the (considered sacred night for Muslims) edit because I was not sure if it was part of the point HorusKol is making here.
    – mart
    Apr 18, 2017 at 8:52
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    @HorusKol "The act took effect at midnight" - in what timezone? This is rather relevant here. And what timezones were in effect in Greater India then? (IST has been introduced only after the independence, though it seems this used to be the timezone of British Pakistan as well).
    – Radovan Garabík
    Apr 19, 2017 at 8:04
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    @RadovanGarabík +1 British India (including Pakistan) was on +5:30 in 1947. (West) Pakistan is on GMT+5 so 00:00 in what is now India is 23:30 the previous day in Pakistan, providing a rationalisation for the difference
    – Henry
    May 9, 2017 at 9:52

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