Towards Indepence and Partition (1942-47) Lord
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History Module 5 TOWARDS INDEPENCE AND PARTITION (1942-47) LORD WAVELL’S PLAN Lord Wavell, the Viceroy of India, convened a conferences of different political leaders at Shimla on 25 june, 1945 with a view to grant more powers to Indians. At the conferences, the proposals of the Cripps offer of 1942 were renewed and Lord Wavell offered to reconstruct the Viceroy’s Executive Council. Lord Wavell made the following proposals; 1. The Viceroy’s Executive council would be reconstructed. It would wholly consist of Indian except for the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief. 2. Hindus and Muslims would be represented at par on the Viceroy’s council. 3. India would be given dominion status in the long Run. 4. The Constitution of India would be drafted by Indians themselves. 5. The governor-General would retain the veto power which he would use in the interest of the people of India. Lord Wavell’s plan was not acceptable to the Muslim League. It insisted that the right to appoint members from the Muslim community should entirely rest with the League. The congress apposed the proposal of the League on the ground that the congress represented both the Hindus and the Muslims.(In fact, Abdul Kalam Azad and Abdul Ghaffer Khan presented themselves at simle in the capacity of leaders and distinguished members of the congress delegation) The congress had agreed to Lord Wavell’s plan but the adverse attitude of the League to the plan made it inoperative, Judging by the subsequent developments, Wavell’s decision to abruptly abandon the british Proposals and dissolve the simla conferences implied an official recognition of the League’s monopoly to speak for all Muslim. It also meant that, hereafter, the satisfaction of the League became a pre-requisite to any major settlement. The forces for partition had received a morale booster. THE CABINET MISSION PLAN Several events that took place in the world as well as in India charged the British attitude towards India. After the World War II ended, the British Raj was too exhausted and needed a respite. The situation had changed considerably: The European element in its armed forces wanted to go home rather than stay on indefinitely in India. In the face of obvious Indian Hostility, It was no longer convenient, even possible, to use Indian economy for furthering Britain’s global trade interests. Financially, India was no more a debtor to “governance”, and Britain- on the Countrary- had become indebted to India to the tune of above $ 3,000 million. Nobody could sum up the British predicament in India better than the penultimate viceroy, Lord Wavell, who said,’ Our time in India is limited, and our power to control events almost gone’. The Second world War ended in August 1945. The labour party, under the prime Minister ship of clement Attlee, came to power in England in the same year. This change was beneficial to India as the Labour party had always favored self-rule for India. The Second World War had shattered British power. USA and Russia emerged as world powers. Both these nations supported India’s demand for self-government. After the surrender of Japan in August, 1945, the soldiers of Indians National Army were taken as war prisoners. The Government wanted to try some of the leaders as traitors since they had broken their pledge of loyalty to the British crown. The historic trial of Shah Nawaz Khan, G.S. Dhillon and Prem Sehgal was held at Red Fort in November, 1945, which roused tremendous national sentiment. Leading advocates like Bhulabhai Desai, sir Tej Bahadur Sapru and Jawaharlal Nehru appeared as defense counsels. The court martial held the prisoners guilty. Yet the Government, at its discretion, had to set them free. The entire country was united on the demand for their acquittal. During the trial of the INA personnel there were large-scale demonstrations demanding their release. There were also strikes demonstrating the deep feelings of people British rule. Furthermore, the rating of the Royal Indian Navy revolted in Mumbai in 1946. This was followed by demonstration and grievances which unnerved the Government. In the winter of 1945-46, there were general elections in the provinces. The Congress won a majority of the general seats and the Muslim League captured a majority of seats reserved on the Muslim quota. Consequently the congress formed ministries in eight provinces (assam,Bihar, the united provinces, North west Frontier provinces, Bombay, Madras, central provinces and Orissa). A coalition Ministry, headed by Malik Khizar Hayyat Khan(leader of the unionist Party), formed the government in Punjab. But the Muslim League could not form the government in any province, in spite of its victories in the elections. This situation strengthened Jinnah’s demand for partition. Communal passions rose high and the entire political atmosphere was charged with suspicion, distrust and violence. The Cabinet Mission Of India It was against the background of the events given above that prime Minister Clement Attlee announced in parliament the British government’s decision to send a Cabinet Mission to India. It consisted of Lord Pethick Lawrence, sir Stafford Cripps and A.V.Alexander. The purpose of this mission was to hold consultations with the Indian leaders with the objective of finding out ways and means of a negotiated, peaceful transfer of power in India. Attlee further announced that his Government was aware of the rights of the minorities, yet he could not allow a minority to place a veto on the rights of the majority. The cabinet Mission arrived in India on 16 th may 1946. The Mission met leaders of the political parties. It rejected jinnah’s demand for a separate Pakistan composed of Muslim-Majority areas in the North-East on the following grounds: 1. The partition of India as claimed by the League would not solve the communal problem because Hindu minorities would still live in the areas demanded by the League and there was no justification for keeping large Punjab in Pakistan. The same argument, as was advanced by the League for the partition of India, was applied with equal relevance to the separation of the Hindu majority districts in Pakistan. 2. A small Pakistan would not be viable, particularly when its two parts—one in the East and the other in the West—would be separated by hundreds of miles of Indian territory. 3. Partition would involve dislocation of communication network and would involve division of armed forces and services personnel along communal lines. The Cabinet Mission, Therefore, made fresh proposals with the aim of maintaining unity of India, yet giving reasonable satisfaction to the demand of the league for Pakistan. Final Proposals of the Cabinet Mission The cabinet Mission, with the aim of keeping a united India, made the following proposals: 1. India would be a federation of British provinces and the Indian states. 2. The federal government would deal with defense, foreign affairs and communication. All other subjects would be under the control of the provinces 3. British provinces would be divided into three groups. Group A would consist of Madras, Bombay, the United Provinces, Bihar, Orissa and the central provinces; Group B would include Punjab, North west frontier provinces and sind; group c would have Bengal and Assam. 4. Each group referred to above would draft a constitution for a regional union if so desired. 5. A province would opt out of the group by a majority decision of its legislature. 6. A constituent Assembly would be elected to draw up the future Constitution of India.It would consist of 389 members, 292 from thru provinces and 93 from the Indian states. Therefore it would be divided into three sections, comprising the three groups of British provinces mentioned above in (3) and each section would draft a constitution for a regional union if so desired, and also for the Constituent provinces. Thus, it envisaged a three-tier system of government, for the provinces for the group and for the union of India. 7. The Constituent Assembly would sign a Treaty with Britain to provide for certain matters arising out of the transfer of power. 8. An Interim government at the centre representing all communities would be installed on the basis of parity between the representatives of the Hindus and the Muslims. Reaction of the Congress and the League The Cabinet Mission plan received a Mixed reaction in the congress and the League camps. It preserved the Unity of India but, at the same time, conceded to a large extent the substance of Pakistan, by providing for the grouping of Muslim-majority provinces. The congress welcomed the proposals which provided for an Indian union of provinces and states as it preserved the unity of India. It was also glad to see the proposals rejecting the idea of Pakistan. The proposals of the cabinet Mission with regard to the grouping of the provinces were not clear. The League regarded the compulsory grouping of the provinces as one of the cornerstones of the plan and were not prepared to compromise on that issue. The congress stand was that the making of groups was optional for the provinces, which should be free to join any group. As a matter of fact, gandhiji asked the people of assam not to join the groups if they did not approve of it. Against this, it was suggested that the provinces might join the proposed groups provisionally, but later on freedom might be given to them to leave it if they so desired. Finally, the British Government gave its verdict in favor of the compulsory grouping of the provinces.