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Pakistan
Toward Partition
Congress predictably opposed all proposals for partition and
advocated a united India with a strong center and a fully responsible
parliamentary government. To many, notably to Jawaharlal Nehru,
the idea of a sovereign state based on a common religion seemed
a historical anachronism and a denial of democracy. From 1940
on, reconciliation between Congress and the Muslim League became
increasingly difficult, if not impossible.
During World War II, the Muslim League and Congress adopted different
attitudes toward British rule. British priorities were driven
by the expediencies of defense, and war was declared abruptly
without any prior consultation with Indian politicians. Congress
ministers in the provinces resigned in protest. As a consequence,
Congress, with most of its leaders in jail for opposition to the
Raj, lost its political leverage over the British. The Muslim
League, however, followed a course of cooperation, gaining time
to consolidate. The British appreciated the loyalty and valor
of the British Indian Army, many of whose members were Punjabi
Muslims. The Muslim League's success could be gauged from its
sweep of 90 percent of the Muslim seats in the 1946 election,
compared with only 4.5 percent in the 1937 elections. The 1946
election was, in effect, a plebiscite among Muslims on Pakistan.
In London it became clear that there were three parties in any
discussion on the future of India: the British, Congress, and
the Muslim League.
Spurred by the Japanese advance in Asia and forceful persuasion
from Washington, British prime minister Winston Churchill's coalition
war government in 1942 had dispatched Sir Stafford Cripps to India
with a proposal for settlement. The plan provided for dominion
status after the war for an Indian union of British Indian provinces
and princely states wishing to accede to it, a separate dominion
for those who did not, and firm defense links between Britain
and an Indian union. Cripps himself was sympathetic to Indian
nationalism. However, his mission failed, and Gandhi described
it as "a post-dated check on a crashing bank."
In August 1942, Gandhi launched the "Quit India Movement" against
the British. Jinnah condemned the movement. The government retaliated
by arresting about 60,000 individuals and outlawing Congress.
Communal riots increased. Talks between Jinnah and Gandhi in 1944
proved as futile as negotiations between Gandhi and the viceroy.
In July 1945, the Labour Party came to power in Britain with
a large majority. Its choices in India were limited by the decline
of British power and the necessity of retaining Indian links in
imperial defense. General unrest in India spread, and, when a
naval mutiny in Bombay broke out in 1945, British officials came
to the conclusion that independence was the only alternative to
forcible retention of control over an unwilling dependency. The
viceroy, Lord Wavell, met with Indian leaders in Simla in 1945
to decide what form of interim government would be acceptable.
No agreement was reached.
New elections to the provincial and central legislatures were
ordered, and a three-man team came from Britain to discuss plans
for self-government. The Cabinet Mission Plan, proposed by Cripps,
represented Britain's last, desperate attempt to transfer the
power it retained over India to a single union. The mission put
forward a three-tier federal form of government in which the central
government would be limited to power over defense, foreign relations,
currency, and communications; significant other power would be
delegated to the provinces. The plan also prescribed the zones
that would be created: northeastern Bengal and Assam would be
joined to form a zone with a slight Muslim majority; in the northwest,
Punjab, Sindh, North-West Frontier Province, and Balochistan would
be joined for a clear Muslim majority; and the remainder of the
country would be the third zone, with a clear Hindu majority.
The approximation of the boundaries of a new Pakistan was clear
from the delineation of the zones. The mission also suggested
the right of veto on legislation by communities that saw their
interests adversely affected. Finally, the mission proposed that
an interim government be established immediately and that new
elections be held.
Congress and the Muslim League emerged from the 1946 elections
as the two dominant parties, although the Muslim League again
was unable to capture a majority of the Muslim seats in the North-West
Frontier Province. At first, both parties seemed to accept the
Cabinet Mission Plan, despite many reservations, but the subsequent
behavior of the leaders soon led to bitterness and mistrust. Nehru
effectively quashed any prospect of the plan's success when he
announced that Congress would not be "fettered" by agreements
with the British, thereby making it clear that Congress would
use its majority in the newly created Constituent Assembly to
write a constitution that conformed to its ideas. The formation
of an interim government was also controversial. Jinnah demanded
equality between the Muslim League and Congress, a proposal rejected
by the viceroy. The Muslim League boycotted the interim government,
and each party disputed the right of the other to appoint Muslim
ministers, a prerogative Jinnah claimed belonged solely to the
Muslim League.
When the viceroy proceeded to form an interim government without
the Muslim League, Jinnah called for demonstrations, or "Direct
Action," on August 16, 1946. Communal rioting broke out on an
unprecedented scale, especially in Bengal and Bihar. The massacre
of Muslims in Calcutta brought Gandhi to the scene, where he worked
with the Muslim League provincial chief minister, Hussain Shahid
Suhrawardy. Gandhi's and Suhrawardy's efforts calmed fears in
Bengal, but rioting quickly spread elsewhere and continued well
into 1947. Jinnah permitted the Muslim League to enter the interim
government in an effort to stem further communal violence. Disagreements
among the ministers paralyzed the government, already haunted
by the specter of civil war.
In February 1947, Lord Mountbatten was appointed viceroy with
specific instructions to arrange for a transfer of power by June
1948. Mountbatten assessed the situation and became convinced
that Congress was willing to accept partition as the price for
independence, that Jinnah would accept a smaller Pakistan than
the one he demanded (that is, all of Punjab and Bengal), and that
Sikhs would learn to accept a division of Punjab. Mountbatten
was convinced by the rising temperature of communal emotions that
the June 1948 date for partition was too distant and persuaded
most Indian leaders that immediate acceptance of his plan was
imperative.
On June 3, 1947, British prime minister Clement Attlee introduced
a bill in the House of Commons calling for the independence and
partition of India. On July 14, the House of Commons passed the
India Independence Act, by which two independent dominions were
created on the subcontinent; the princely states were left to
accede to either. The partition plan stated that contiguous Muslim-majority
districts in Punjab and Bengal would go to Pakistan, provided
that the legislatures of the two provinces agreed that the provinces
should be partitioned--they did. Sindh's legislature and Balochistan's
jirga (council of tribal leaders) agreed to join Pakistan.
A plebiscite was held in the Sylhet District of Assam, and, as
a result, part of the district was transferred to Pakistan. A
plebiscite was also held in the North-West Frontier Province.
Despite a boycott by Congress, the province was deemed to have
chosen Pakistan. The princely states, however, presented a more
difficult problem. All but three of the more than 500 states quickly
acceded to Pakistan or India under guidelines established with
the aid of Mountbatten. The states made their decisions after
giving consideration to the geographic location of their respective
areas and to their religious majority. Hyderabad, the most populated
of the princely states, was ruled by a Muslim but had a Hindu
majority and was surrounded by territory that would go to India,
and Junagadh (a small state with a Muslim prince but a Hindu majority)
presented a problem. Both hesitated but were quickly absorbed
into India. The accession of the third state, Jammu and Kashmir,
could not be resolved peacefully, and its indeterminate status
has poisoned relations between India and Pakistan ever since (see
Survival in a Harsh Environment , ch. 5).
Throughout the summer of 1947, as communal violence mounted,
preparations for partition proceeded in Delhi. Assets were divided,
boundary commissions were set up to demarcate frontiers, and British
troops were evacuated. The military was restructured into two
forces. Law and order broke down in different parts of the country.
Civil servants were given the choice of joining either country;
British officers could retire with compensation if not invited
to stay on. Jinnah and Nehru tried unsuccessfully to quell the
passions of communal fury that neither fully understood. On August
14, 1947, Pakistan and India achieved independence. Jinnah the
first governor general of the Dominion of Pakistan.
Data as of April 1994
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