1946 Cabinet Mission to India: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Talks on a British transfer of power to India and Pakistan}}

[[Image:193447id.gif|thumb|right|300px|[[British India]] ([[1934]] - [[1947]]).]]

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TheA [[Unitedcabinet Kingdom|British]]mission '''Cabinetwent Mission'''to ofIndia [[1946]]on to24 [[India]]March aimed1946 to discuss and finalize plans for the transfer of power from the [[British Rajgovernment]] to the Indian political leadership, providingwith Indiathe withaim independenceof underpreserving [[Dominion]]India's statusunity inand thegranting [[Commonwealthits of Nations]]independence. FormulatedFormed at the initiative of [[ClementBritish AttleePrime Minister]], the [[PrimeClement Minister of the United KingdomAttlee]], the mission consistedcontained ofas its members, Lord [[Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence|Pethick-Lawrence]], the ([[Secretary of State]] for India]]), Sir [[Sir Stafford Cripps]], ([[President of the [[Board of Trade]]), and [[A. V. Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough|A. V. Alexander]], the ([[First Lord of the Admiralty]]). ItThe wasViceroy alsoof supplemented byIndia [[LordArchibald Wavell]], the1st [[ViceroyEarl ofWavell|Lord IndiaWavell]] atparticipated in some of the timediscussions.

The '''Cabinet Mission Plan''', formulated by the group, proposed a three-tier administrative structure for British India, with the Federal Union at the top tier, individual provinces at the bottom tier and Groups of provinces as a middle tier. Three Groups were proposed, called Groups A, B and C, respectively, for Northwest India, eastern India and the remaining central portions of India

==Purpose and proposals==

The Mission purpose was:

#Hold preparatory discussions with elected representatives of [[British India]] and the Indian states in order to secure agreement as to the method of framing the constitution.

#Setting up of a constitution body.

#Setting up an Executive Council with the support of the main Indian parties. The mission arrived on March 24, 1946.

The Cabinet Mission's heldplan talksfailed withbecause of the representativesdistrust ofbetween the [[Indian National Congress - Freedom Era|Indian National Congress]] and the [[All -India Muslim League|Muslim League]], and the twoBritish largestgovernment politicalreplaced partiesLord inWavell thewith [[Constituenta Assemblynew ofviceroy, India]].Lord After initial[[Louis dialogueMountbatten, the1st MissionEarl proposedMountbatten twoof plansBurma|Mountbatten]], overto the composition of thefind new government: solutions.

==Background==

===Plan of May 16===

Towards the end of their rule, the British found that their temporary patronage of the Muslim League conflicted with their longstanding need for Indian unity. The desire for a united India was an outcome of both their pride in having politically unified the subcontinent and the doubts of most British authorities as to the feasibility of Pakistan.<ref>{{harvnb|Talbot|Singh|2009|pp=39–40}}</ref> The desire for Indian unity was symbolised by the Cabinet Mission, which arrived in New Delhi on 24 March 1946,<ref name="Talbot2009p40" /> which was sent by the British government,<ref name="Hardy1972p247">{{harvnb|Hardy|1972|p=247}}</ref> in which the subject was the formation of a post-independent India. The three men who constituted the mission, A.V Alexander, Stafford Cripps, Pethick-Lawrence favoured India's unity for strategic reasons.<ref name="Talbot2009p40">{{harvnb|Talbot|Singh|2009|p=40}}</ref>

Promulgated on [[May 16]], [[1946]], the plan to create a united dominion of India as a loose [[confederation]] of provinces came to be known by its date of announcement:

Upon arriving in the subcontinent the mission found both parties, the Indian National Congress and Muslim League, more unwilling than ever to reach a settlement. The two parties had performed well in the elections, [[1945 Indian general election|general]] and [[1946 Indian provincial elections|provincial]], and emerged as the two main parties in the subcontinent, the provincial organizations having been defeated because of the separate electorates system. The Muslim League had been victorious in approximately 90 percent of the seats for Muslims.<ref name="Kulke2004p318">{{harvnb|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|p=318}}</ref> After having achieved victory in the elections Jinnah gained a strong hand to bargain with the British and with Congress.<ref name="Hardy1972p247" /> Having established the system of separate electorates, the British had to live with its consequences even though they didn't want a divided India.<ref name="Kulke2004p318" />

#A united Dominion of India would be given independence.

#Muslim-majority provinces would be grouped - [[Baluchistan]], [[Sind]], [[Punjab]] and [[NWFP]] would form one group, and [[Bengal]] and [[Assam]] would form another (it should be noted that [[Assam]] was a [[Hindu]]-majority province, while both Punjab and Bengal consisted of large populations of Hindus and [[Sikhs]]).

#Hindu-majority provinces in central and southern India would form another group.

#The Central government would be empowered to run foreign affairs, defence and communications, while the rest of powers and responsibility would belong the provinces, coordinated by groups.

===Plan of June 16===

The mission made its own proposals, after inconclusive dialogue with the Indian leadership,<ref name="Talbot2009p40" /> and saw that the Congress opposed Jinnah's demand for a Pakistan comprising six full provinces.<ref name="Hardy1972p247" /> The mission proposed a complicated system for India with three tiers:<ref name="Metcalf2006p215">{{harvnb|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p=215}}</ref> the provinces, provincial groupings and the centre.<ref name="Kulke2004p319">{{harvnb|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|p=319}}</ref> The centre's power was to be confined to foreign affairs, defence,<ref name="Talbot2009p40" /> currency<ref name="Kulke2004p319" /> and communications.<ref name="Metcalf2006p215" /> The provinces would keep all other powers and could establish three groups.<ref name="Talbot2009p40" /> The plan's main characteristic was the grouping of provinces. Two groups would be constituted by the mainly-Muslim western and eastern provinces. The third group would comprise the mostly-Hindu areas in the south and the centre.<ref name="Metcalf2006p215" /> Thus provinces such as [[United Provinces (1937–1950)|United Provinces]], [[Central Provinces and Berar]], [[Bombay Presidency|Bombay]], [[Bihar]], [[Odisha|Orissa]] and [[Madras Presidency|Madras]] would make Group A.<ref name="Talbot2009p40" /> Group B would comprise [[Sindh|Sind]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[North-West Frontier Province|Northwest Frontier]] and [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Baluchistan]]. [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]] and [[Assam]] would make a Group C.<ref>{{harvnb|Wolpert|2009|p=359}}</ref> Princely States will retain all subjects and powers other than those ceded to the Union.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Dewan Ram Parkash |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.61593/page/n133/mode/1up |title=Cabinet Mission In India |year=1946 |publisher=Tagore Memorial Publications |page=135}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.constitutionofIndia.net/historical_constitutions/cabinet_mission_plan__cabinet_mission__1946__16th%20May%201946 |title=Constitution of India}}</ref>

An alternative plan proposed on [[June 16]], [[1946]] was to arrange for India would be divided into Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority [[Pakistan]]. The [[List of Indian Princely States|princely states of India]] would be permitted to accede to either dominion or attain independence.

==Reactions and acceptance==

Through the scheme, the British expected to maintain Indian unity, as both they and Congress wanted, and also to provide Jinnah the substance of Pakistan. The proposals almost satisfied Jinnah's insistence on a large Pakistan, which would avert the North-Eastern Pakistan without the mostly non-Muslim districts in Bengal and Punjab being partitioned away. By holding the full provinces of Punjab and Bengal, Jinnah could satisfy the provincial leaders who feared losing power if their provinces were divided.<ref>{{harvnb|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|pp=215–216}}</ref> The presence of large Hindu minorities in Punjab and Bengal also provided a safeguard for the Muslim minorities remaining in the mostly-Hindu provinces.<ref name="Metcalf2006p216">{{harvnb|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p=216}}</ref><ref name="Hardy1972p249">{{harvnb|Hardy|1972|p=249}}</ref>

The approval of the plans would determine the composition of the new government. The Muslim League gave its approval to both plans, seeking to enter the government at any rate. While the Congress ruled out the June 16 plan - seeing it as the blatant division of India into small states - it also hesitated to accept the May 16 plan, which it saw as caving in to communal division by accepting the grouping of provinces on a communal basis - setting the stage for regional and religious separatism. It objected strongly to the inclusion of Assam, a Hindu-majority province with the Muslim-majority Bengal province which was to form the third group. It also objected to the inclusion of the [[Northwest Frontier Province]], which was a Congress-administered province and supportive of Indian unity, into a group dominated by League-ruled provinces. The Congress was certain that the League would use the groupings as a solid platform for to achieve a Muslim state - attributed by Jinnah's demand that the groups have the option of secession in five years. The plan's strongest opponent was [[Mohandas Gandhi]], the principal Indian leader.

Jinnah explained in a letter to Karachi mayor Hatim Alavi on 10 June 1946, that the acceptance of the Cabinet Mission Plan was only a first step. Once Group B and Group C were established in the northwest and northeast, nothing would stop them from seceding later. “We can work on the two decks, provincial and group,” he urged, “and blow up the topmast” at any time.<ref>{{Cite book |editor1-last=Zahidi |editor1-first=Z.A. |title=Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah Papers, Volume 13 |publisher=National Archives of Pakistan |year=1994 |isbn=9698156038 |publication-date=24 March 1994 |pages=235–236 |language=en}}</ref>

However, the plan had its advocates. [[Maulana Azad]], a nationalist Muslim leader said that while groupings was a major concession to the theme of religious separatism, it would also force the League to accept a framework for a united India. While assuring minority rights and participation, an independent India would be free to do away eventually with the groupings arrangement. While Gandhi criticized the Maulana's views for ignoring practical considerations and League ambitions, other senior Indian leaders like [[Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel]] and [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] were aware that if the Congress did not approve either plan, the entire government would be transferred to the League, which had approved both. Expressing strong reservations, the Congress approved the May 16 plan for a loose union of India.

Most of all, Jinnah wanted parity between Pakistan and India. He believed that provincial groupings could best secure that. He claimed that Muslim India was a 'nation' with entitlement to central representations equal to those of Hindu India. Despite his preference for only two groups, the Muslim League's Council accepted the mission's proposals<ref name="Metcalf2006p216" /> on 6 June 1946 after it had secured a guarantee from Wavell that the League would be placed in the interim government if the Congress did not accept the proposal.<ref>{{harvnb|Hardy|1972|p=248}}</ref>

==Formation of a government==

The Viceroy began organizing the transfer of power to a Congress-League coalition. But League president Muhammad Ali Jinnah denounced the hesitant and conditional approval of the Congress and rescinded League approval of both plans. Thus Congress leaders entered the newly styled '''Viceroy's Executive Council''': Jawaharlal Nehru became the head - vice president in title, but possessing the executive authority. Vallabhbhai Patel became the Home member - responsible for internal security and government agencies. Congress-led governments were formed in most provinces - including in the NWFP, in Punjab (a coalition with the [[Shiromani Akali Dal]] and the [[Unionist Muslim League]]). The League led governments in Bengal and Sind. The Constituent Assembly was instructed to begin work to write a new constitution for India.

Congress also accepted the proposals and understood them to be a repudiation of the demand for Pakistan, and its position was that, in case a Group Constitution was framed by its Constituent Assembly, the Provinces should have one vote each. Therefore, in Group C, Muslim-majority Bengal and Hindu-majority Assam would have one vote each. However, Muslim League interpreted the plan to mean that the state's influence in the Group Constituent Assembly would be proportional to its population. Another point of difference concerned the Congress position that a sovereign constituent assembly would not be bound to the plan. Jinnah insisted that it was binding once the plan was accepted.<ref name="Kulke2004p319" /> The groupings plan maintained India's unity, but the organisation's leadership, most of all Nehru, increasingly believed that the scheme would leave the centre without the strength to achieve the party's ambitions. Congress's socialist section led by Nehru desired a government able to industrialise the country and to eliminate poverty.<ref name="Metcalf2006p216" />

==Coalition and breakdown==

Jinnah and the League condemned the new government, and vowed to agitate for Pakistan by any means possible. Disorder arose in Punjab and Bengal, including the cities of [[Delhi]], [[Bombay]] and [[Calcutta]]. On the League-organized [[Direct Action Day]], over 5,000 people were killed across India, and Hindu, Sikh and Muslim mobs began clashing routinely. Viceroy Wavell stalled the Central government's efforts to stop the disorder, and the provinces were instructed to leave this to the governors, who did not undertake any major action. To end the disorder and rising bloodshed, Wavell encouraged Nehru to ask the League to enter the government. While Patel and most Congress leaders were opposed to conceeding to a party that was organizing disorder, Nehru conceeded in hope of preserving communal peace.

Nehru's speech on 10 July 1946 rejected the idea that the provinces would be obliged to join a group<ref name="Metcalf2006p216" /> and stated that the Congress was neither bound nor committed to the plan.<ref>{{harvnb|Wolpert|2009|pp=360–361}}</ref> In effect, Nehru's speech squashed the mission's plan and the chance to keep India united.<ref name="Metcalf2006p216" /> Jinnah interpreted the speech as another instance of treachery by the Congress.<ref>{{harvnb|Wolpert|2009|p=361}}</ref> With Nehru's speech on groupings, the Muslim League rescinded its previous approval of the plan<ref name="Talbot2009p40" /> on 29 July.<ref name="Hardy1972p249" />

League leaders entered the council under the leadership of [[Liaquat Ali Khan]], the future first Prime Minister of Pakistan who became the finance minister. But the council did not function in harmony - separate meetings were held by League ministers, and both parties vetoed the major initiatives proposed by the other, highlighting their ideological differences and political antagonism. At the arrival of the new (and proclaimed the last) viceroy, [[Lord Mountbatten]] in early [[1947]], Congress leaders expressed the view that the coalition was unworkable. This led to the eventual proposal, and acceptance of the [[partition of India]].

==CoalitionInterim government and breakdown==

Concerned by the diminishing British power, Wavell was eager to inaugurate an interim government. Disregarding Jinnah's vote, he authorised a cabinet in which Nehru was the interim prime minister.<ref name="Kulke2004p319" /> Sidelined and with his Pakistan of "groups" refused, Jinnah became distraught. To achieve Pakistan and impose on Congress that he could not be sidelined, he resorted to calling for his supporters to use "direct action" to demonstrate their support for Pakistan in the same manner as Gandhi's civil disobedience campaigns, but it led to rioting and massacres on religious grounds in some areas.<ref>{{harvnb|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p=217}}</ref> [[Direct Action Day]] further increased Wavell's resolve to establish the interim government. On 2 September 1946, Nehru's cabinet was installed.<ref name="Kulke2004p320">{{harvnb|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|p=320}}</ref>

Millions of Indian Muslim households flew black flags to protest the installation of the Congress government.<ref name="Wolpert2009p363">{{harvnb|Wolpert|2009|p=363}}</ref> Jinnah did not himself join the interim government but sent Liaquat Ali Khan into it to play a secondary role. Congress did not want to give him the important position of home minister and instead allowed him the post of finance minister. Liaquat Ali Khan infuriated Congress by using his role to prevent the functioning of Congress ministries.<ref name="Kulke2004p320" /> He demonstrated, under Jinnah's instructions, the impossibility of a single government for India.<ref name="Wolpert2009p363" />

Britain tried to revive the Cabinet Mission's scheme by sending Nehru, Jinnah and Wavell in December to meet Attlee, Cripps and Pethick-Lawrence. The inflexible arguments were enough to cause Nehru to return to India and announce that "we have now altogether stopped looking towards London".<ref name="Wolpert2009p363" /> Meanwhile, Wavell commenced the Constituent Assembly, which the League boycotted. He anticipated that the League would enter it as it had joined the interim government. Instead, the Congress became more forceful and asked him to drop ministers from the Muslim League. Wavell also could not obtain a declaration from the British government that would articulate its goals.<ref name="Kulke2004p320" />

On 15 December 1946, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] met the Assam Congress leaders and told them to refuse to join Group C in the Constituent Assembly. He continued : "If you do not act correctly and now, Assam will be finished. Tell Mr Bardoloi I do not feel the least uneasiness. My mind is made up. Assam must not lose its soul. It must uphold it against the whole world... It is an impertinent suggestion that Bengal should dominate Assam in any way." Thus, he rejected the Grouping Scheme in Cabinet Mission Plan to prevent [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] from controlling Hindu-majority Assam. Gandhi feared that League would use its power in a confederal arrangement, to continue large-scale Muslim infiltration into Assam, and make it a Muslim-majority province.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Noorani |first=A. G. |date=1980 |editor-last=Mansergh |editor-first=Nicholas |editor2-last=Moon |editor2-first=Penderel |title=Prelude to Partition |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4369334 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=15 |issue=50 |pages=2090–2094 |jstor=4369334 |issn=0012-9976}}</ref>

In the context of the worsening situation, Wavell drew up a breakdown plan that provided for a gradual British exit, but his plan was considered fatalistic by the Cabinet. When he insisted on his plan, he was replaced with [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Mountbatten]].<ref name="Talbot2009p40" />

==See also==

* [[Opposition to the partition of India]]

*[[Rajmohan Gandhi]], ''Patel: A Life''

* [[Indo-Pakistani Confederation]]

*[[Ayesha Jalal]], ''The Sole Spokesman''

* [[Cripps Mission]]

*[[V. P. Menon]], ''Transfer of Power''

{{IndiaFreedom}}

==References==

{{PakCreation}}

{{reflist}}

[[Category:British rule in India]]

==Bibliography==

* {{cite book |author1=Peter Hardy |author1-link=Peter Hardy (historian) |title=The Muslims of British India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDw4AAAAIAAJ |year=1972 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-08488-1 |ref={{SfnRef|Hardy|1972}} }}

* {{cite book |author1=Hermann Kulke |author1-link=Hermann Kulke |author2=Dietmar Rothermund |author2-link=Dietmar Rothermund |title=A History of India |url=http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/A%20History%20of%20India_Kulke.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226092618/http://ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/A%20History%20of%20India_Kulke.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 February 2015 |year=2004 |orig-year=First published 1986 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-32919-1 |edition=4th |ref={{SfnRef|Kulke|Rothermund|2004}} }}

* {{cite book |author1=Barbara D. Metcalf |author1-link=Barbara D. Metcalf |author2=Thomas R. Metcalf |author2-link=Thomas R. Metcalf |title=A Concise History of Modern India |url=http://apnaorg.com/books/english/concise-history-india/concise-history-india.pdf |year=2006 |orig-year=First published 2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-86362-9 |edition=2nd |ref={{SfnRef|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006}} }}

* {{cite book |author1=Ian Talbot |author2=Gurharpal Singh |title=The Partition of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-13aHAAACAAJ |year=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-85661-4 |ref={{SfnRef|Talbot|Singh|2009}} }}

* {{cite book |author1=Stanley Wolpert |author1-link=Stanley Wolpert |title=A New History of India |url=https://archive.org/details/newhistoryofindi0000wolp_i0v9/page/359/mode/1up |url-access=registration |year=2009 |orig-year=First published 1977 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-516677-4 |edition=8th |ref={{SfnRef|Wolpert|2009}} }}

==Further reading==

* [http://sites.google.com/site/cabinetmissionplan/ India's Constitutional Question – The Cabinet Mission Plan 1946]

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