NEW DELHI: Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India, had advanced independence by nine months from June 1948 to August 1947 because of his desperation to leave the affairs of the country to the people, according to his daughter Pamela Hicks. In an interview, Hicks said, "It was essential that this was brought forward... it was time for India to cope with her own problems." Mountbatten, she said, held that partition was "completely unreal, crazy and unworkable". The reason for this haste was his wife Edwina's opposition to his taking over as governor general. Hicks disagreed that partition of the...