12-15-2005, 12:21 AM
http://www.geocities.com/sadna_gupta/index.html
It is worthwhile for those interested in India's constitutional question in the pre-independence era to read for themselves primary sources on the Cabinet Mission Plan and related materials.
I have typed out full text and excerpts of discussions, letters, statements and speeches of the primary actors of that period- Congress, Muslim League and the British, and uploaded these to this website to make them accessible to a larger audience..
The main sources I have drawn from are
1. 'The Transfer of Power 1942-7' Eds, Nicholas Mansergh, E.W.Lumby and Penderel Moon.
2. 'Speeches and Documents on the Indian Constitution 1921-47'. Selected by Sir Maurice Gwyer and A. Appadorai, 1957
3. 'Speeches, 'Statements and Messages of the Quaid-e-Azam', Ed.Khurshid Yusufi, Bazm-i-Iqbal, Lahore.
My own thesis is that the Congress Party had to accept Partition of India as the best of only two bad choices offered by the Plan- a truncated sovereign Pakistan right then or a larger sovereign Pakistan after the British left, whose boundaries would pass through the outskirts of Delhi.
This is borne out by the British and Jinnah's insistence that Congress accept those provisions of the Cabinet Mission Plan which specified the compulsory grouping of provinces into separate sections and those which specified that the proposed Indian Union have not one but two or more separate Constitution making bodies for all subjects except only three Union subjects defence, foreign affairs and communications.
These provisions meant that under the Cabinet Mission Plan the Pakistan sections B and C would for all practical purposes constitute an independent state with Hindustan/section A unable to prevent its secession at any point of time. The only way for Congress to prevent such a larger sovereign Pakistan from coming into being was to stress that grouping of provinces should not be compulsory. When that position was not accepted by the British or Jinnah, the Congress settled for the lesser evil, the smaller truncated Pakistan.
I believe the primary material supports my thesis of these being essentially the only two choices before the Congress and of Congress leaders including Gandhi, Maulana Azad, Nehru and Patel's being collectively aware of such.
Note: This collation would not have been possible without the help of my brother. Without his patient guidance and steady involvement it might have been impossible for me to navigate the oceans of material on this subject. The beautiful picture above was shot by him(click on it to enlarge).
11/05
It is worthwhile for those interested in India's constitutional question in the pre-independence era to read for themselves primary sources on the Cabinet Mission Plan and related materials.
I have typed out full text and excerpts of discussions, letters, statements and speeches of the primary actors of that period- Congress, Muslim League and the British, and uploaded these to this website to make them accessible to a larger audience..
The main sources I have drawn from are
1. 'The Transfer of Power 1942-7' Eds, Nicholas Mansergh, E.W.Lumby and Penderel Moon.
2. 'Speeches and Documents on the Indian Constitution 1921-47'. Selected by Sir Maurice Gwyer and A. Appadorai, 1957
3. 'Speeches, 'Statements and Messages of the Quaid-e-Azam', Ed.Khurshid Yusufi, Bazm-i-Iqbal, Lahore.
My own thesis is that the Congress Party had to accept Partition of India as the best of only two bad choices offered by the Plan- a truncated sovereign Pakistan right then or a larger sovereign Pakistan after the British left, whose boundaries would pass through the outskirts of Delhi.
This is borne out by the British and Jinnah's insistence that Congress accept those provisions of the Cabinet Mission Plan which specified the compulsory grouping of provinces into separate sections and those which specified that the proposed Indian Union have not one but two or more separate Constitution making bodies for all subjects except only three Union subjects defence, foreign affairs and communications.
These provisions meant that under the Cabinet Mission Plan the Pakistan sections B and C would for all practical purposes constitute an independent state with Hindustan/section A unable to prevent its secession at any point of time. The only way for Congress to prevent such a larger sovereign Pakistan from coming into being was to stress that grouping of provinces should not be compulsory. When that position was not accepted by the British or Jinnah, the Congress settled for the lesser evil, the smaller truncated Pakistan.
I believe the primary material supports my thesis of these being essentially the only two choices before the Congress and of Congress leaders including Gandhi, Maulana Azad, Nehru and Patel's being collectively aware of such.
Note: This collation would not have been possible without the help of my brother. Without his patient guidance and steady involvement it might have been impossible for me to navigate the oceans of material on this subject. The beautiful picture above was shot by him(click on it to enlarge).
11/05