Attempts At Political Settlement, 1945-46 Flashcards
(32 cards)
What did the labour government’s India committee do
Decided to recommend that elections should be held throughout India to allow people to choose representatives to a constituent assembly
- to assemblies of 11 provinces, central assemblies in New Dehli
- would give clear indication of Indian opinion, pave the way for negotiations about final political settlement
- little to suggest besides setting up constitution-making body of unelected Indians serving as the viceroys council and resurrecting Cripps offer of 1942
How did the labour government’s India committee investigate
January 1946: small fact-finding group of MPs made an unannounced visit to India
- aim of trying to gauge strength of support for separate Pakistan
- in private, some of the group conceded that this would be necessary to avoid Muslim unrest
Led to:
- work in secret to determine how a partition could be achieved, Wavell wanted as much groundwork as possible to be done in preparation if partition was to be announced
When were the elections held
January 1946
When was the cabinet mission
Arrived in India 24 March 1946
When was the second Simla conference
May 1946
When was the May statement
May 1946
Events in July 1946
Muslim league denounced congress, direct action day declared
Events in August 1946
Muslim leagues direct action day results in Calcutta killings
Events in September 1946
2nd: Congress forms interim government with Nehru as PM
Muslim league joins interim government
Events in December 1946
7th December: Constituent assembly met, never completed its task
What events influenced the 1946 elections
British authorities mishandled fighters captured by INA in 1944
- congress called for immediate release, they had been fighting for freedom of India, majority of Indians shared this view
- instead, British selected sample of senior INA officers, deliberately chose a Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu, charged them with waging war against crown, uniting 3 communities against British
- were then released due to fear of reprisals by Indian army
Demobilisation from armed services
- 7 million Indians looking for work in industries that were laying off workers, returned to peacetime production levels
Drought threatened to result in famine
Mutiny in February 1946
- Indian army, 20,000 sailors and their officers in Indian navy based in Bombay, Calcutta, Karachi
- congress persuaded mutineers to surrender (saw more advantage in working with British), angered supporters
Results of 1946 elections
Congress won 90% of all available seats
- formed governments in 8 provinces
Muslim league won 75% of all Muslim votes, 90% of all seats reserved for Muslims in provinces, all 30 seats reserved for Muslims in central assembly
- formed governments in 2 provinces: Bengal and Sind
In the Punjab: non-Muslim coalition took control even though Muslim league polled largest number of votes
Impact of the 1946 election results
Muslim league was a powerful force within India, supported by large proportion of Muslim population
- settlements needed to take account of leagues demands
In provinces where Muslims were minority, very strong Muslim vote for League candidates, opposed to Muslims standing independently
- provinces couldn’t geographically be part of Pakistan, showed people would travel to a seperate Muslim state
What was the cabinet mission
Attlee sent 3 men to resolve India’s constitutional problems
- cripps, lord-pethick-Lawrence, A.V. Alexander
Cabinet mission aims
- Did everything possible to maintain united India
- Confidential brief that they should aim to create positive desire for speedy transfer of power
- Needed to reverse embarrassing failure of 1942 cripps mission
- stayed in India for more than 3 months, wanted to break deadlock between congress and Muslim league key Indian politicians invited to clarify position
- Gandhi argued power should be handed to congress
- Jinnah waited (realised seperate Pakistan could only come from British decision, not congress-dominated subcontinent)
- Sikhs and princes ignored, princes had separate treaties with British, couldn’t be forced to join an independent India
Purpose of second Simla conference
Congress and league each invited to send four representatives
To work through cabinet missions proposals
Provided for three-tier federal structure within united India, partition not acceptable
Proposals at second Simla conference
All-India union
- responsible for defence, foreign policy, internal communication, with powers to raise finances for these
- governed by executive and legislature
- comprised of elected representatives from each provincial group
3 clusters of provincial governments: each would elect its own government to be responsible for day-to-day running of provincial affairs
- congress’s Hindu heartland: madras, Bombay, orissa, united and central provinces
- Muslim and predominately Muslim areas: Baluchistan, NW frontier province, Sind, Punjab
- bengal and assam, balance slightly in favour of Muslims
Proposed that after a period of time and plebiscite, regional groups could become independent states
Second, fall-back proposition, creation of independent states of Hindustan and Pakistan
Outcome of the cabinet mission
Hoped that congress would opt for main proposition and Muslim league would also accept it (as they could still have Pakistan if everyone agreed)
After two full conference sessions, congress wouldn’t agree to either option
What was the may statement
Result of Simla failing to reach an agreement
Cabinet mission announced they would create a constituent assembly
- comprising representatives from 11 British provinces, would draft a constitution for a single Indian state with regional groupings
Reaction to the may statement
Congress refused to accept it
Jinnah accepted it, emphasised the compromise he had made in agreeing the creation of Pakistan was up to constituent assembly
What did the cabinet mission do after the may statement
Acted unilaterally
Announced they would set up an interim government to run India before proposals of constituent assembly could be put into effect
Comprised of Indians and the viceroy
Reaction to interim government
Jinnah insisted Muslim league had to select Muslim members
Congress insisted they could choose all the members
Cabinet mission announced in June statement that viceroy would choose the members
- congress then announced they would agree to the original plan if individual states (not groups of states) could opt out, to fragment cohesive Pakistan that might emerge
- cripps didn’t rule out this interpretation, to anger of wavell and Jinnah
How was the day of direct action initiated
Jinnah was outraged at duplicity of congress and raj, convened his council of the League in Bombay on 27th July 1946
- rejected any agreements made with cabinet mission announced they
- 2 days later, he called for universal Muslim hartal, urged Muslims to prepare for day of direct action on 16th august 1946
Events of direct action
In Calcutta, police ordered by Muslim league to take special holiday
- streets given over to mob
- within 72 hours, over 5,000 dead, at leats 20,000 seriously injured, 100,000 residents made homeless
Muslim and Hindu murdered each other, killings, bloodletting, looting, arson all spread across India
