Independence and Partition of India

(A) and (R) are independent of each other.

Explanation — The Wavell plan was rejected by the Muslim league because it fell short of its demand for Pakistan. The Congress rejected it as the Plan did not accept the total independence of India from the foreign rule.

(R) is the reason for (A).

Explanation — The Cabinet Mission was sent to India in 1946 to facilitate the process of transfer of power from the British government to the Indian political leadership. It offered a two-tier federal plan for India consisting of the British Provinces and the Princely States.

(R) is the reason for (A)

Explanation — Although the creation of Pakistan was rejected, yet the Muslim League accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan due to grouping of Muslim majority Provinces. This was like fulfilling their demands in an indirect way.

(A) is the reason for (R)

Explanation — Due to majority of congress in the Constituent Assembly, Muslim League feared that it would be outvoted in the assembly. Therefore, it kept itself out of the Government.

(R) is the reason for (A)

Explanation — The Muslim League asked Wavell, the Viceroy, to constitute the Interim Government in 1946, yet kept itself out of the Interim Government because the congress had the majority which meant that the Muslim league would have been out-voted.

(R) is the reason for (A)

Explanation — The partition of Punjab and Bengal was proposed to create Pakistan, provided that their Legislative Assemblies decide in favour of Partition.

World War II

(i), (iv), (ii), and (iii)

To facilitate transfer of power to Indians

Punjab

It felt that grouping of Muslim majority Provinces was a step towards a separate dominion.

Members to be directly elected by the people of India

All of the above

Sylhet

All of the above

The British Prime Minister

Two important reasons that prompted the British to withdraw from India were-

1. Even though Britain was on the winning side of the War, its economic and military power was shattered. It would take Britain years to rehabilitate itself.
2. The Government could not any longer rely on Indians for its civil administration or on the armed forces for suppression of the national movement. The INA had shown that patriotic ideas had entered the ranks of the Indian army, the chief instrument of British rule in India.

(a) The event is the Indian Naval Ratings Revolt (also called the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny) that took place in February 1946 in Mumbai.

(b) The ratings had fought a seven-hour battle with the army as well as navy and had surrendered only when asked to do so by the national leaders.

The outcome of the Second World War helped India's demand for self-government in the following ways-

1. 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.
2. Even though Britain was on the winning side of the War, its economic and military power was shattered. It would take Britain years to rehabilitate itself.
3. There was a change of government in Britain. The Conservatives were replaced by the Labour Party, many of them supported the Congress demands.
4. The British soldiers were weary of the War. Having fought and shed their blood for six years, they had no desire to spend many more years away from home suppressing the Indian people's struggle for freedom.

According to the Cabinet Mission Plan, Group B would include three Muslim majority provinces-

1. Punjab
2. North West Frontier Province (NWFP)
3. Sind

The Cabinet Mission Plan proposed that the Provinces would enjoy full autonomy for all subjects other than the Union subjects.

Muslim League's demand for Pakistan was rejected by the Cabinet Mission for the following reasons:

1. The establishment of Pakistan would not solve the problem of communal minorities because the number of Muslims in the remaining part of British India and the number of non-Muslims in Pakistan would be sizeable.
2. There was no justification for including within Pakistan, the non-Muslim districts of Bengal, Assam and the Punjab.
3. The armed forces, transportation as well as the postal and telegraph system had been built for India as a whole and the partition would create many problems.
4. The Princely States would find it difficult to decide which Union to join.
5. The two halves of the proposed Pakistan State would be separated by some seven hundred miles and interaction between them would be difficult.

The Cabinet Mission proposed a two-tier federal plan which was expected to maintain national unity while conceding the largest measure of regional autonomy.

1. There was to be a federal union of the British Provinces and the Princely States. The Union Government (Central Government) should deal with the following Subjects:
   1. Foreign Affairs
   2. Defence
   3. Communication
      The Union Government Should have the power to raise the finances required for the above mentioned subjects. The Union would have its own executive and legislature composed of members elected by all Provinces.
2. The Provinces would enjoy full autonomy for all subjects other than the Union subjects.

The Congress accepted the proposals of the Cabinet Mission Plan with reservations. It accepted only that part of the scheme which dealt with the Constitution making. It considered the Constituent Assembly as a sovereign body for drafting the Constitution. The Congress wanted the grouping of the Provinces as optional and not compulsory.

The Congress rejected the Viceroy's offer to form an Interim Government because of its limited status and powers and also because the principle of parity with Muslim League was not acceptable to it. It was also opposed to the League's claim that it alone had the right to nominate all the Muslim members to the Executive Council.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President of the Constituent Assembly in 1946.

Lord Mountbatten was the last Viceroy of India.

As regards the Princely States, the Mountbatten Plan stated that the treaties with them would come to an end. They would be free to associate themselves with either of the Dominions or to remain independent.

The most important but tragic provision of the Mountbatten Plan was the transfer of power without any delay and partition of the country into two dominions.

According to the Mountbatten Plan the transfer of power in India could be on the basis of the partition of the country. Power would be transferred to one whole or more States.

The Congress finally accepted the Partition of India because of the following reasons-

1. The large-scale communal riots that engulfed the whole country convinced all that the only solution to the communal problem lay in the Partition of India.

2. The League had joined the Interim Government to obstruct and not to cooperate. Experience of working with the League had convinced the Congress that it could not have a joint administration with the League.

Two provisions of the Indian Independence Act, 1947 were-

1. India would be partitioned and two independent Dominions — India and Pakistan — would be created from August 15, 1947. The Act provided legislative supremacy of both the Dominions. The territories of the two Dominions were divided in such terms that Pakistan would comprise Sindh, British Baluchistan, North West Frontier Province, the West Punjab and East Bengal. India was to comprise all the remaining territories included in the British India. The exact boundaries of the Dominions would be determined by a Boundary Commission.
2. There would be a Governor-General who would be appointed by the British King on the advice of the Cabinet of the concerned Dominion. This arrangement would work till the framing of the Constitutions.

With regards to the following points, Indian Independence Act, 1947 stated the following-

1. Bengal and Punjab — Both Bengal and Punjab would be divided if so desired by the people. The Provincial Assemblies of the two parts would meet separately representing Hindu majority districts and Muslim majority districts and would decide through a majority vote whether they wanted the division of the province or not.

2. North West Frontier Province — A plebiscite would be held in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to determine whether they would like to join Pakistan or India.

3. Sylhet District of Assam — A plebiscite would be held in Sylhet district (Muslim majority area) in East Bengal to determine whether they would like to join Pakistan or India.

The first Governor-General of independent India was Lord Mountbatten.

The first Indian Governor-General of India was C. Rajagopalachari.

(a) The Cabinet Mission consisted of three cabinet members:

1. Pethic Lawrence, the Secretary of State
2. Sir Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade
3. A.V. Alexander, the First Lord of Admiralty

The purpose of sending the Cabinet Mission to India in 1946 was to help the Indian leaders decide the form of government that would suit them after the transfer of power.

(b) The Cabinet Mission proposed a two-tier federal plan which was expected to maintain national unity while conceding the largest measure of regional autonomy.

1. There was to be a federal union of the British Provinces and the Princely States. The Union Government (Central Government) should deal with the following Subjects:
   1. Foreign Affairs
   2. Defence
   3. Communication
      The Union Government should have the power to raise the finances required for the above mentioned subjects. The Union would have its own executive and legislature composed of members elected by all Provinces.
2. The Provinces would enjoy full autonomy for all subjects other than the Union subjects.

(c) According to the Cabinet Mission plan, the Provinces would enjoy full autonomy for all subjects other than the Union subjects.

1. The British Provinces would be divided into three groups.
2. Each group could determine the provincial subjects to be taken in common.
3. A province could opt out of any group and join another by a majority of votes.

(a) Three proposals of the Cabinet Mission were-

1. Formation of a Constituent Assembly — A Constituent Assembly would be set up to frame the new Constitution of the Indian Union. The composition of the 389 member Constituent Assembly would be as under:
   (i) 296 members to be elected from the British Provinces.
   (ii) 93 members to be elected from the Princely States.
   The members of the Constituent Assembly would be elected by the Provincial Legislative Assemblies.

2. Representation of Minorities — Separate representation was to be given to Muslims and Sikhs.

3. Formation of an Interim Government — An Interim Government would be formed at the Centre with 14 members. For the time being, the Viceroy would reconstitute his Executive Council consisting of representatives of all communities.

(b) The Muslim League accepted the Cabinet Mission proposals in its entirety in June 1946 because it felt that the grouping of Muslim majority Provinces in a way meant the formation of Pakistan. The League asked Wavell, the Viceroy, to constitute an Interim Government.

The Muslim League rejected the Cabinet Mission Plan as-

1. Elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in July 1946, in which the Congress obtained two-third majority.
2. The League feared that it would be out-voted in the Assembly. It also feared that the British withdrawal from India would mean transfer of power to Hindus, who were in a majority in India.
3. The League's nominees were not prepared to work under Nehru's leadership. They openly rejected the idea of collective responsibility.

(c) The Congress rejected the Viceroy's offer to form an Interim Government because of its limited status and powers and also because the principle of parity with Muslim League was not acceptable to it. It was also opposed to the League's claim that it alone had the right to nominate all the Muslim members to the Executive Council.

(a) The Plan referred to in the given newspaper article is Mountbatten Plan.

Two features of the Plan devised by Lord Mountbatten were:

1. Partition — The country would be divided into two Dominions, i.e., India and Pakistan.

2. A Boundary Commission — A Boundary Commission would be created to settle the boundaries of the two Dominions in case partition was decided upon.

(b) The Mountbatten Plan aimed to solve India's communal problem by partitioning British India into two dominions—India and Pakistan, allowing provinces to choose their dominion. Muslim-majority areas could join Pakistan, while Hindu-majority ones remained in India. This was seen as a way to end separate electorates and enable India to become a secular, democratic nation.

(c) The Congress accepted the Mountbatten Plan because of the following reasons-

1. The large-scale communal riots that engulfed the whole country convinced all that the only solution to the communal problem lay in the Partition of India.
2. The League had joined the Interim Government to obstruct and not to cooperate. Experience of working with the League had convinced the Congress that it could not have a joint administration with the League.
3. The only alternative to Partition was a Federation with a weak Centre. A smaller India with a strong central authority was better than a bigger State with weak Centre.

(a) At the stroke of the midnight hour, India gained independence from the British rule. The unending quest that Jawaharlal Nehru is talking about in the excerpt is the struggle for India’s independence. Many people strived to end this quest, including freedom fighters, political leaders, and the general public of India.

(b) Jawaharlal Nehru made this historic speech, known as the “Tryst with Destiny” speech, on the eve of India’s Independence, towards midnight on 14 August, 1947. He delivered the speech to the Indian Constituent Assembly in the Parliament. Two famous dignitaries present there were Lord Mountbatten and Lady Edwina Mountbatten.

(c) The British Act that led to Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech was the Indian Independence Act of 1947. This Act led to the partition of British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. Three features of this Act were:

1. It ended British rule in India.
2. It provided for the partition of India into two independent dominions, India and Pakistan.
3. It granted complete legislative authority upon the respective Constituent Assemblies of the new countries.

The Independence Act, 1947 is a unique piece of legislation because never before has such a large portion of the world population achieved complete independence through legislation. The Act marked the end of the British rule in India. The Dominions of India and Pakistan came into existence on August 15, 1947.

Yes, the All-India Congress Party had no alternative but to accept the Mountbatten Plan because of the following reasons —

1. The large-scale communal riots that engulfed the whole country convinced all that the only solution to the communal problem lay in the Partition of India.
2. The League had joined the Interim Government to obstruct and not to cooperate. Experience of working with the League had convinced the Congress that it could not have a joint administration with the League.
3. The only alternative to Partition was a Federation with a weak Centre. A smaller India with a strong central authority was better than a bigger State with weak Centre.
4. Any further continuation of British rule would mean a greater calamity for India. The British were instigating the rulers of the Indian States to remain independent. Hence, partition was the price for immediate independence.
5. The leaders felt that further delay in the transfer of power could find India in the midst of a Civil War.
6. The leaders felt that Partition would rid the Constitution of separate electorates and other undemocratic procedures. India could then evolve as a truly secular and democratic polity.