Movements in 1946
February 22
Elections in Provinces
Out of 495 seats reserved for Muslims in the
provincial legislatures, Muslim League captured 440 seats. The break-up
is as follows:
| Province
Punjab
Benga
Assam
Sind
U.P
N.W.F.P
Bombay
Madras
C.P.
Orissa
Bihar |
Muslim Seats
86
119
34
35
66
38
30
29
14
4
40 |
Muslim League
Seats 79
113
31
35
55
17
30
29
13
4
34 |
March 24
Cabinet Mission in India
The Cabinet Mission, headed by
Lord Pethick Lawrenc'e, Secretary of State, arrived in New Delhi. The
other two members of the Mission were Sir Stafford Cripps and Mr. A. V.
Alexander. The Mission's aim was to help India to "attain her freedom as
speedily and fully as possible."
April 8-9
Muslim Member's Convention
A convention of the elected Muslim
members of the central and provincial legislatures was held at Delhi
under the chairmanship of the Quaid-i-Azam. A resolution proposed by Mr.
H.S. Suhrawardy, said,inter alia "...the Muslim nation will never
participate in any single constitution for a united India and will never
participate in any single constitution-making machinery set up for the
purpose..." It demanded that the Muslim majority zones in the north-east
and north-west should be constituted into a sovereign state and two
separate constitution-making bodies should be set up for Pakistan zones
and the rest of Hindustan. It also said that the acceptance of the
Muslim League demand for Pakistan
and its imp1ementation without delay are the
sine qua non for the Muslim League co-operation and participation in the
formation of an interim Government at the centre.
May 16
Cabinet Mission Plan
The Cabinet Mission Plan recommended that
there should be a Union of India consisting of the British India and the
Indian States, dealing with the subjects of foreign affairs, defence and
communications. All Subjets other than the Union subjects and all
residuary powers shall rest in provinces. Provinces shall be free to
form groups with Executives and Legislatures and each group could
determine the provincial subjects to be taken in common It was also
recommended that the Union and the groups should contain a provision
whereby any province could,by a majority vote of its Legislative
Assembly, call for a reconsideration of the terms of the constitution,
after an initial period of ten years. The Plan recommended that a
constitution-making machinery will be set up to, frame the new
constitution. This body will be elected by the members of the Provincial
Legislatures and after a preliminary meeting, the provincial
representatives will divide up into three groups. Group B would comprise
the north-western Muslim majority provinces of the Punjab,Sind and
N.W.F.P., Group C the north-eastern Pakistan zone (comprising Bengal and
Assam), and Group A the Hindu majority provinces.
May 25
Grouping The
Cabinet Mission declared that grouping formed an integral part of the
Cabinet Mission Plan. This was meant to allay Muslim fears aroused by
the Congressassertions to the contrary.
June 8
League Accepts Plan
The Muslim League accepts Cabinet Mission
Plan.
June 16
Interim
Government The
British Government desired that while the constitution-making plan
proceeds, an Interim Government, having the support of major political
parties, may be formed at the centre. In consultation with the members
at the Cabinet Mission, the Viceroy announced the formation of a
14-member Executive Council. The Quaid-i-Azam objected to it as the
Interim Government had been formed without calling a list from the
Muslim League. Moreover, parity between the Congress and the Muslim
League, which had been agreed to at Simla, had been abandoned and a
fourteenth member belonging to Parsi community had been included in the
Interim Government. According to the Quaid-i-Azam these modifications
aqversely affected the proportion of the Muslims in the Interim
Government.The Quaid-i-Azam also objected to the inclusion of his name
in the Interim-Government as he had made it clear to the Viceroy that as
long as he was the President of the All-India Muslim League, he would
not accept any office.The Congress had accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan
only so far as proposals for the formation of the Constituent Assembly
were concerned. It contended that the Constituent Assembly when formed,
would be a sovereign body and could, therefore, alter the scheme of the
Cabinet Mission. The Congress refused to partake in the Interim
Government and the Viceroy decided not to form the Interim Government
without the participation of the Congress.
June 29
Efforts Continue
The Cabinet Mission went back to London but
Lord Wavell continued his efforts to form an Interim Government with the
help of Congress leaders.
July 29
League withdraws Acceptance
The Muslim League withdrew its acceptance of
the Cabinet Mission Plan and decided to resort to Direct Action to
achieve Pakistan.
August 6
Interim Government
The Viceroy invited the Congress to form the
Interim Government, which it accepted on 8 August, 1946.
August 16
Direct Action Day
Direct Action Day was observed throughout
India.Public meetings were held and the day went peacefully
everyWhere except in Calcutta where riots broke out.Some 4,750 persons
were reportedly killed and 15,000 injured.
September 2
Interim Government installed
The Interim Government was formed by the
Congress members. The All-India Muslim League felt that political power
should not be left entirely into the hands of the Hindus because it
would be fatal for the Muslims. Therefore, the Muslim League decided to
join the Executive Council and the League Councillors were sworn in on
26 October, 1946. They were :
- Mr. Liaquat Ali- Khan
- Mr. I.I.Chundrigar
- Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar
- Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan .
- Mr.Jogindar Nath MandaI. (Scheduled
Caste)
The total number of the members of the
Council was fourteen.
December 2
London Conference
To obtain the participation and
co-operation of all parties in the Constituent Assembly, the British
Government invited four Indian leaders to London, including Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru, Mr. M.A. Jinnah, Mr. Liaquat AU Khan and Sardar
Baldev Singh. Lor WaveH was also present at the Conference which
continued for four days.
|
