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Home , Simla Conference

During and after the Simla Conference, two important events occurred. One was the victory of the Labour Party in the general elections held in England in July 1945. As a result, the Clement Attlee became the Premier, with Lord Pethic-Lawrence as the Secretary of State for India. Lord Wavell continued to be the of India. As a whole, the Labour Party was more sympathetic to India’s cause.

The Second important event was the surrender of Japan in August 1945, and termination of hostilities in the Far East. Now, the British authorities could devote more time to the Indian Problems. In July, Lord Wavell and the Labour Party prime minister Atlee discussed the future of India, and announced that the government would implement the measures outlined in the Cripps proposal of 1942.the elections of Central and Provincial Legislature were also announced . There was nothing new in this proposal as the elections, were already long overdue. However the British had to make amendments to its policy on India, because of the serious ant colonial upsurge in the Post-War period

ECONOMIC DISCONTENT

Various developments in 1945 and the following year added to the internal tensions in India and helped to advance further, the unfolding of a mass anti-colonial movement. The deteriorating economic situation, inflation, unemployment and food shortage as consequences of the war, gave rise to a new wave of labour and peasant unrest .Strikes and hartals became almost every day events in many parts of the country. Further, the economic struggle of the working class was now coordinated with the political demonstrations of the students. There was also a consolidation of cooperation between various political factions of trade union organisation. Peasant unrest too, rose in the country. Radical peasant movement in the Telangana , tebagha in the Bengal , and the Travancore region took the form of anti-feudal struggles, demanding land, and the removal of land rent and exploitation by landlords.

I.N.A TRAILS

Another popular moment broke out in November 1945 when the trial of the officers of the (I.N.A) began. The court-martial sentenced Shah Nawaz Khan,P.K. Sehagal, Gurbaksh Singh Dillion and the other officers to long term imprisonment. But, the Indian public considered them to be the champions of national independence who has taken up arms against the colonial regime. Therefore, the imprisonment of I.N.A .officer aroused the indignation of patriotic Indians. Bhulabhai Desai, Tejbahadur Sapru and Nehru appeared for the defence. Mass demonstration in Calcutta and later in other towns of country broke out. They developed into political strikes in which workers, students, traders etc., took an active part. The government, therefore, thought it expedient to release the I.N.A officers, although the court-martial found them guilty of “waging war against the king”. The brief mutiny of the Royal Indian Navy, which followed in February 1946, showed how thin the crust of British power was becoming

Indian Naval personnel began calling themselves the "Indian National Navy" and offered left-handed salutes to British officers. In Madras and Poona, the British garrisons had to face some unrest within the ranks of the Indian Army. Widespread rioting took place from Karachi and Calcutta. Notably, the revolting ships hoisted three flags tied together – those of the Congress, Muslim League and the Red Flag of the Communist Party of India (CPI), signifying the unity and downplaying of communal issues among the mutineers.

The revolt was called off following a meeting between the President of the Naval Central Strike Committee (NCSC), M. S. Khan, and Vallabhai Patel of the Congress, who had been sent to Bombay to settle the crisis. Patel issued a statement calling on the strikers to end their action, which was later echoed by a statement issued in Calcutta by Mohammad Ali Jinnah on behalf of the Muslim League. Under these considerable pressures, the strikers gave way. Arrests were then made, followed by Courts Martial and the dismissal of 476 sailors from the Royal Indian Navy. None of those dismissed were reinstated into either the Indian or Pakistani navies after independence. . could no longer be contained by armed forces.

REVOLTS IN THE ARMY

The climax of the political ferment came in February 1946 when sections of armed forces began to be drawn into the movement. The Indian naval ratings at Bombay revolted. They fought a seven hour battle with the army and navy and surrendered only when the Indian national leaders asked them to do so. There were also widespread strikes in the Indian air force. The police and the administration also showed signs of nationalist learning’s. All these development made it clear to the British rulers that they could no longer suppress the national movement.

CABINET MISSION

Taking note of the situation in India, on 19th February 1946, the British Premier, Clement Atlee, announced that three members of the Cabinet ( Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Sir and Mr. Alexander) would be sent out to India to promote, in conjunction with the Indian leaders, the early realisation of full self-government in India. The Cabinet Mission arrived at Delhi in March 1946, and held a series of conferences with the leaders of the Congress and the League. As no agreement was possible between them, the Mission issued a statement on 16 May 1946, giving in broad outline their idea of the future government of India. After holding talks with the leaders of various Indian political parties, and cabinet mission rejected the Muslim leaders demand for a separate , in May 1946, the mission made the following suggestions.

1. The dominion of India would consist of a union of provinces and princely states, the central government would retain only defence. Foreign affairs and communications, with the provinces enjoying maximum autonomy.

2. The provinces of British India would be unites into three groups. The Hindu dominated zone. The Muslims dominated west zone, and the Muslims majority areas of Assam and Bengal. The provinces of three zones would free to form groups of them own for common purposes, mutually agreed upon by them.

3. Any questions concerning a major communal issue in the legislature would be decided by a majority of the representatives of each of the major communities as well as majority of all the members present and voting.

4. A constituent assembly would be formed to frame a constitution for India. Each province would be allotted a fixed number of seats in proportion to its population. The seats allotted to each province to their population in the province. The members of constituent assembly would be elected by the elected members of the legislature assemblies of the provinces.

5. An interior government enjoying the support of the major political parties would be formed as early as possible.

Thus, the plan of the cabinet mission certainly had the merit of preserving the unity of India, and yet conceded to a large extent to the demand for Pakistan by providing for the grouping of the Muslims majority provinces. The plan had a mixed reaction. The congress, after due deliberation, accepted the long term part of plan, but rejected the proposal for an interim government. It would not yield to the leagues claim of being the sole representatives of Indian Muslims, and thus holding its exclusive right of nominating the members of the Muslims quota in the interior government. On the other hand, the Muslim league initially accepted the plan. But soon withdrew from participating in the interim government as well as in the working of the constituent assembly. The June elections to the constituent assembly had given the congress 205 seats and the league 73 seats. The league was apprehensive that it would be outvoted in the assembly. It was this apprehensive that made the league reject the plan.

In July, Lord Wavell put up a new proposal before the congress and the league. He proposed the formation of an interim government with the congress having six seats and the league five seats. Insisting on parity with the congress, the league rejected the proposal. The congress, however, accepted the proposal and formed the interim government with Pandit Nehru as its vice-president.

DIRECT ACTION BY MUSLIMS LEAGUE

One of the Major tasks facing the leadership of the national movement was to impart a common national consciousness to the Indian people and to unite them in the common struggle against imperialism.

A major hurdle in this respect was the emergence almost simultaneously with nationalism of communalism. From the 1880s efforts were made to keep the Muslims from joining the broad national movement. The national movement on the other hand set out to unite people professing different religious and, in order to be able to do so, to fight against the divisive communal forces. Its basic strategy in this respect was to have momentous consequences. The efforts to bring about national unity from the top began almost with the founding of the . At its fifth session at Poona in 1889, the Congress framed its demands for the reservation of the Legislative Councils, including the demand for the reform of the Legislative Councils, including the demand for the reservation of seats for the religious minorities in proportion to their share in the total population. The positive aspect of the early moderate nationalist leader’s approach lay in their simultaneous, scientific effort in the political and ideological fields to make the people aware of their exerting unity, of their common interests in the confrontation with imperialism, and of the need for unity in this confrontation. Lokamaya Tilak , once he awoke to the need for Hindu-Muslim unity, also followed a similar strategy. He became a major architect of the Lucknow Pact which represented an effort to unite the leaders of the Congress and the Muslim League in order to be able to put pressure on the Colonial authorities to grant constitutional reforms.

In 1946, declared 16 August as ‘’ and called for Muslims all over the country to ‘suspend all businesses’. This was to put pressure on the British government to relent to the Muslim League’s demand of dividing the country on the basis of religion, thereby allowing the creation of a Muslim-dominate Pakistan.

The day of protest ushered in communal violence. Hindu Muslim riots began in Calcutta and soon engulfed large parts of Bengal, Bihar, U.P. and Bomaby. Gandhi, at his juncture, spoke out in sharp condemnation of the riots and visited the places of Hindu-Muslim riots. Referring to communalism had written in 1946 in his The Discovery of India: It is our fault, of course, and we most suffer for our failings. But I cannot excuse of forgive the British authorities for the deliberate part they have played in creating disruption in India. All other injures will pass, but this will continue to plague for a much longer period.

Meanwhile, the economic situation in the country continued to deteriorate and this served to fan the mass actions in towns and villages. In the course of the year 1946, there were more than two thousand strikes. In Kanpur, and Calcutta, striking workers were shot at by the police. In Bengal, telangana and parts of Punjab and central India. There was agrarian unrest. These, peasant uprising fought feudal oppression and demanded land and low rents. In Kashmir, the national congress headed by Shaik Abdullah, launched the ‘quit kashmir’ movement directed against the feudal order of the Kashmir maharaja, hand in hand with these mass movements, there was communal violence. Pt. Nehru formed the Interim Government on September 2, 1946. He tried to persuade Jinnah to join it but in vain. The League declared the 2nd of September the Muslims to display black flags. Violence was breaking out in Bombay, Punjab, Bengal and Bihar. Gandhiji said” we are not yet in the midst of a civil war, but we are nearing it.” The League entered the interim Government late in October, 1946 without any commitment to join the Constituent Assembly. The League joined the Interim Government to get a foothold to fight for its goal of Pakistan. It refused to accept the leadership of Nehru. There was no real Coalition Government.

26.7 ATLEE’S DECLARATION

It was in the context of the enthusiasm generated by the INA trials and the deteriorating communal situations that on February 20, 1947, Clement Attlee made the historic announcement regarding the British Government’s “definite intention to take necessary steps to effect the transfer of power to responsible Indian hands by a date not later than June 1948.”

Atlee announced that the British would hand over power to India by June, 1948. Power would be handed over the Central Government or more. The hint partition and possibly even balkanisation into numerous states was very clear. The hope of the Congress to secure the lever of power in time to prevent partition had now faded with the new time limit. If no settlement was reached, the government machine would be handed over to the Government of various provinces. Fragmentation rather than partition was the most pressing danger, the Congress felt

The League, hearted by Atlee’s announcement, intensified its struggle for the achievement of Pakistan by using direct action tactics. As a result, communal violence renewed and engulfed the whole of northern India within no time. The chain of tragic events that developed due to communal passions and prejudices were aided and abetted by the alien government. This caused a change of heart in Congress leaders like Sardar Patel and Pandit Nehru. They came to hold the view that the historical development of communalism, both Hindu and Muslim over the last 50 years had created a situation where the alternative to partition was chaos and anarchy. It owing to his faithful conviction that, in March, 1947, the Congress Working Committee in the name of having a realistic approach passed a resolution

MOUNTBATTEN PLAN AND THE PARTITON OF INDIA

In March, 1947, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who had come to India as Viceroy worked out a compromise after long discussions with the leaders of the Congress and the Muslim League : the country was to be free but not united. So, he prepared a plan which provided for the . It was announced on June 3, 1947. Even Gandhiji the admired the sincerity of Lord Mountbatten and he frankly said that although the new Viceroy was against partition lke the Congress, “yet if both of the us (Hindus and Muslims) cannot agree on anything , then the Viceroy id left with no Choice’. The two main political parties professed dissatisfaction but, nevertheless accepted the Mountbatten Plan as the best practicable solution of the tangled Indian problems so far as it could be envisaged at the movement.

On the basis of the Mountbatten Plan of June 3, 1947 the British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act on July 16, 1947. Following were the main provisions of this Act:

1. Two Independent dominions, namely India and Pakistan, shall be set up on August 15, 1947.

2. The British government was to have no control over the affairs of the dominions after August 15, 1947 and would transfer all their powers to the Assembles of India and Pakistan.

3. The constituent Assemblies of both the Dominions would frame their respective Constitutions and would decide whether to stay with the British Commonwealth or not. 4. The Constituent Assembly of each Dominion shall exercise the power of the Central Legislatures.

5. The right of the King to veto laws was given up. This right was given to the Governor- General.

6. The states would have the choice to join with either of the dominions or to retain their independence.

7. The office of the Secretary of State for India was to be abolished.

8. The Titles of ‘Emperor of India’ and ‘king of England ‘were dropped from the royal style.

This act has its own importance. It has been rightly said that the Indian Independence Act of 1947 was a great landmark in the Anglo-Indian relations. It was the noble’s t and the greatest law ever enacted by the British Parliament. About the significance of this Act, the Secretary of State of India remarked. “The Bill is unique in the history of legislation of this country. Never before has such a large portion of the world population achieve complete independence through legislation,.” It marked the end of the British rule in India. India became free on August t 15, 1947. But unfortunately it was divided into two parts India and Pakistan.

TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE

As the plan was accepted by the major political parties of India, machinery was set up at the centre, as well as in the provisions to decide the assets and liabilities of India and Pakistan. The armed forces and other service personnel were asked to submit their options. The provisional assemblies of Punjab and Bengal decided upon the division of their provinces. Muslim majority districts were separated from the non-Muslim majority areas. The latter joined the Indian Union. The Boundary Commission headed by SirRadcliff set to work on drawing line and completed its work by August 15, 1947. In the mean time, on account of the pressure of the people of the Princely States, the masterful diplomacy of Sardar Patel, with the cooperation of Mountbatten integrated 500 and odd Princely States into the Indian Union. The integration of only three native States, Hyderabad, Junagadh and Kashmir remained to be undertaken.

In July, 1947 the British parliament ratified the Mountbatten plan as the independence of India act. It fixed upon august 15th, 1947 as the date for the transfer of authority. Accordingly, at midnight on 14th, in the early hours of 15th august, a special session of the constituent assembly was held in Delhi, and the Indian flag was unfurled at red fort. The constituent assembly solemnly declared the independence of India, as a part of the British Commonwealth and appointed Lord Mountbatten as the first governor-general of the new Indian dominion. The heroic struggle of several generations of freedom fighters had been crowned with success at last. This victory of the national movement marked the beginnings of a new period in the that of independent development. In a memorable address to the constituent assembly meeting on 14th midnight, pandit Nehru giving expression to the feeling of the people, said, on 15 August 1947, India celebrated with joy its first of freedom. The sacrifice of generations of patriots and the blood of countless martyrs had borne fruit. Their dream was now a reality. In a memorable address to the Constituent Assembly on the night of 14 August, Jawaharlal Nehru, giving expression to the feelings of the people said:

“Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem or pledge, not wholly, or in the full measure, but every substantially. At the stroke of midnight hour, when the whole world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment, we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity we end today a period of ill fortunate and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but of incessant striving so that we may fulfil the pledges we have so often taken”.