India's Independence Movement (1940-1947)

The cabinet mission recommended an undivided India and turned
down the Muslim league’s demand for a separate Pakistan. The Cabinet mission
restricted the Communal representation.

The mission spent some 3 weeks to discuss with the leaders of various political parties, but could not arrive at any agreed solution. So finally it announced its own recommendations on May 16, 1946.

The cabinet mission recommended an undivided India and turned down the Muslim league’s demand for a separate Pakistan. The Cabinet mission restricted the Communal representation.

In all, 472 leaders were interviewed. The representatives of all shades
of opinion were heard. The Congress and the Muslim League were, however,
given main considerations.

9 December 1946: The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was held in the constitution hall (now the Central Hall of Parliament House). Demanding a separate state, the Muslim League boycotted the meeting. Sachchidananda Sinha was elected temporary president of the assembly, in accordance with French practice.

The formation of the interim government was also a veritable tangle which the Cabinet Mission could not foresee. Lord Wavell had invited on June 16, 1946, the political parties of India to form the provisional government in the ratio of six representatives for the Congress, five to the Muslim League and three to the minorities.

The objective of this mission were to ;

• Devise a machinery to draw up the constitution of Independent India.
• Make arrangements for interim Government.

• Thus the mission was like a declaration of India’s
  independence.

On July 29, it rejected the plan and called the Muslims to resort to “Direct Action” to achieve the land of their dream “Pakistan”. August 16, 1946 was fixed as “Direct Action Day“.

On July 27, the Muslim League Council met at Bombay where Jinnah reiterated the demand for Pakistan as the only course left open to the Muslim League.

Cabinet Mission was composed of three Cabinet Ministers of England

Sir Pethick Lawrence, Secretary of State for India.

Sir Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade,

Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty

On July 27, the Muslim League Council met at Bombay where
Jinnah reiterated the demand for Pakistan as the only course left open to the
Muslim League.

The World War changed the balance of power in the World. The United
States of America and the Russia (Soviet Union), emerged from the War as the two
big powers. Both supported India's demand for freedom.

The Indian Independence Act of 1947, passed by the British Parliament, provided for the partition of British India into two independent dominions: India and Pakistan.

Direct Action Day was initiated on 16 August 1946 by the Muslim League, to achieve their demand for a separate nation for Muslims called Pakistan. Stabbing, throwing of stones and brickbats started. There were widespread riots in Calcutta and turned into the “Great Calcutta Killing”.

The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was held in the Central Hall of Parliament House on December 9, 1946. Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was the first president of the Constituent Assembly. The Muslim League stayed away from the deliberations and the Congress Muslims attended the session. In this meeting, the assembly adopted an ‘Objective Resolution’ which later became the preamble of the constitution.

The Constituent Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December, 1946 in the Constitution Hall which is now known as the Central Hall of Parliament House.  Upon independence in 1947, Prasad was elected as President of the Constituent Assembly of India. It was entrusted with the responsibility of drafting and adopting  the constitution.

The interim government of India was formed on September 2, 1946, from the newly elected Constituent Assembly. It was in place till 15th August 1947, when the nations of Indian and Pakistan received Independence from colonial rule. Azad was appointed to head the Department of Education. With the Muslim League part of the Interim Government as well, the Department of Finance was headed by Liaquat Ali Khan.

The interim government of India was formed on September 2, 1946, from the newly elected Constituent Assembly with the powers of a Prime Minister bestowed on the vice-president of the Council, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was in place till 15th August 1947, when the nations of Indian and Pakistan received Independence from colonial rule. Azad was appointed as head of the Department of Education. With the Muslim League part of the Interim Government as well, the Department of Finance was headed by Liaquat Ali Khan.

The Muslim League formally adopted the demand for a separate nation for Muslims, known as the Pakistan Resolution, at its Lahore session in 1940.

The Cabinet Mission to India was consisted of the Secretary of state Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, and A.V. Alexander. It proposed to set up a Constituent Assembly. The proposed Constituent Assembly was to consist was to consist of 292 member from British India and 93 from Indian States.

Cabinet Mission was the one which was to for see the transfer of power from British. One of its recommendation was to allow the Provinces to form groups with common executives and legislatures.

Under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946, the Constituent Assembly was to consist of 389 members, of which 93 were allocated to represent the Princely States.

The Cabinet Mission Plan allocated 4 seats in the Constituent Assembly to the Chief Commissioner's Provinces (Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg, and British Baluchistan).

The Cabinet Mission to India consisted of the Secretary of state Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, and A.V. Alexander. As per the plan, the unity of India had to be retained i.e no possibility of Pakistan. It proposed a very loose union of all the Indian territories under a centre that would control merely defence, the Foreign Affairs and the Communication.

The Cabinet Mission Plan proposed a treaty between the United Kingdom and the Constituent Assembly (representing the Indian Union) to handle the transfer of power. The Indian National Congress was a political party, not a party to the treaty itself.

As per the cabinet Mission, the power would be first transferred to Interim Government. The interim government was formed on September 2, 1946 from the newly elected Constituent Assembly with the powers of a prime minister bestowed on the vice-president of the Council, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was in place till 15th August 1947, when the nations of Indian and Pakistan received Independence from colonial rule

Lord Wavell, the Governor-General of India, with a view to resolving the deadlock in Indian politics put forward a plan which is known as the 'Wavell Plan' announed in 1945. It proposed the formation of an interim government. It had the provision of a new Executive Council at the centre in which all the members except the Viceroy and the Commander in Chief would be Indian..

Lord Wavell, the Governor-General of India, with a view to resolving the deadlock in Indian politics put forward a plan which is known as the 'Wavell Plan' announced in 1945. The discussions on the plan were held at Shimla. Discussion was stuck at a point of selection of Muslim representatives. Jinnah said that no non-league Muslim should be represented to the Executive Council because only Muslim League has right to represent the Muslims of India.

On February 20, 1947, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced in the House of Commons that the British government intended to transfer power to responsible Indian hands by June 1948.

The commission that was responsible for the drawing of boundaries between the new nations of Pakistan and India named after its architect, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who, as the joint chairman of the two boundary commissions for the two provinces, received the responsibility to equitably divide 450,000 km2 of territory with 88 million people.

The 1946 Cabinet Mission to India for the planning of the transfer of power from the British Raj to the Indian leadership proposed an initial plan of a composition of the new Dominion of India and its government. However, soon an alternative plan to divide the British Raj into a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan was proposed by the Muslim League. The Congress rejected the alternative proposal outright. The Muslim League planned a general strike on 16 August, terming it as Direct Action Day, to protest this rejection and assert its demand for a separate Muslim homeland.
The Action resulted in the worst communal riots that British India had seen.

Provincial elections were held in British India in the winter of 1936-37 as mandated by the Government of India Act 1935. Elections were held in eleven provinces - Madras, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, United Provinces, Bombay Presidency, Assam, NWFP, Bengal, Punjab and Sindh. The Indian National Congress emerged in power in eight of the provinces - the three exceptions being Bengal, Punjab, and Sindh. The Congress ministries resigned in October and November 1939, in protest against Viceroy Lord Linlithgow's action of declaring India to be a belligerent in the Second World War without consulting the Indian people.

The Congress accepted the partition due to the long term failure t draw Muslim masses into the national movement. They realised that the seeds of communalism had been sown too deep and only partition could stop the spread of 'direct action' and communal violence.

Partition of India was mentioned in the Mountbatten Plan. It was also known as Indian Independence Act 1947 and was put forward by Lord Mountbatten on June 3, 1947. This plan was the last plan for independence. 

After the World War II, the change in government took place in Britain. Conservative party was replaced by the Labour party. The new government supported the Demands of Congress. They started working on the demands of independence of India and other demands. The British Parliament was actively working towards passing decolonization legislation.

The cabinet mission plan of 1946 proposed that there shall be a Union of India which was to be empowered to deal with the defense, foreign affairs and communications.

Congress  rejected the idea of a weak centre and division of India in small states. Congress was against decentralization and the idea was to have a strong centre.

The cabinet mission recommended an undivided India and turned down the Muslim league’s demand for a separate Pakistan. The Cabinet mission restricted the Communal representation.

The Cabinet Mission arrived in Karachi on 23 March 1946. Lord Pethick Lawrence, Secretary of State for India,  stated at Karachi "We are convinced that India is on the threshold of very great future."

Cabinet Mission composed of three Cabinet Ministers of England. They were:

Sir Pethick Lawrence, Secretary of State for India.

Sir Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade.

Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty.

The Cabinet Mission arrived in Karachi on 23 March 1946 and in Delhi on 2 April 1946. 

The World War changed the balance of power in the World. The United States of America and the Soviet Union, emerged from the War as the two big powers. Both supported India's demand for freedom.

Tebhaga movement was due to the share cropping system that prevailed in the Bengal. It was initiated by Kisan Sabha in Bengal. It was the sharecroppers' movement demanding two thirds of the produce from land for themselves and one third for the landlords. By March 1947, the movement slowly disappeared due to government promises.

After the end of the second world war, Conservative government was replaced by Labour government in Britain. The Labour government in Britain was committed to independence for India. It sent a mission in 1946 for the preparation of independence. It also appointed a new Viceroy Lord Mountbatten to take over from Lord Wavell who had failed to get the Indian parties to agree on any plan. In June 1947, Mountbatten announced that Independence would come at Midnight on 14 August 1947.

There are large-scale unrest all over the country on the eve of Cabinet Mission:
In July 1946, there was an all India strike by the postal and talagraph workers.
Railway Workers in South India went on strike in August 1946.
The peasant movement acquired fresh thrust after 1945.

The Cabinet Mission Plan specifically rejected the demand for a separate sovereign state of Pakistan, proposing instead a loose federation with a central government limited to defense, foreign affairs, and communications.

Towards the middle of the decade of 1940, the world war II was over and as a result of its impact, there was a wave of decolonization world over. The newly formed Labor Party, which replaced the Conservative Party, was in favor of granting independence to India. above all this there was a growing unrest all over the country against the British rule and the spirit of nationalism was on high.

The Interim Government of India, also known as the Provisional Government, formed in 2 September 1946 from the newly elected Constituent Assembly of India. It had the task of assisting the transition of British India to independence.

The Cabinet mission recommended the formation of a Constituent Assembly. It was to be formed on democratic principles based on population. Its strength was decided to be 389 (of undivided India).

Lord Wavell, the Viceroy of India at the time, expressed this view regarding the Cabinet Mission's proposals, as he believed they offered a framework to maintain Indian unity while addressing communal concerns.

Lord Wavell, the Governor-General of India, with a view to resolving the deadlock in Indian politics put forward a plan which is known as the 'Wavell Plan' announced in 1945. It had the provision of a new Executive Council at the center in which all the members except the Viceroy and the Commander in Chief would be Indian. All portfolios except Defence were to be under the control of Indian members.

The Shimla Conference of 1945 was convened by Lord Wavell to discuss the Wavell Plan, where Jinnah and the Muslim League expressed their opposition to the proposals.

A high-powered mission of three British Cabinet members- Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the Secretary of State for India, Sir Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade, and A. V. Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty reached Delhi on 24^th March 1946. It was called the Cabinet Mission and it was headed by Lord Pethick Lawrence.

A-3 (1919 Act introduced Dyarchy), B-1 (1935 Act introduced Provincial Autonomy), C-2 (1909 Minto-Morley introduced Separate Electorates), D-4 (Cabinet Mission proposed the Constituent Assembly).

The Muslim League joined the Interim Government in 1946 primarily to gain a position of influence from which they could better advocate for their demand for Pakistan and protect their interests within the administrative framework.

The Shimla Conference of 19451945 failed on account of the following reasons:

Cabinet Mission was composed of three Cabinet Ministers of England

Sir Pethick Lawrence, Secretary of State for India.

Sir Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade,

Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty