LORD MOUNTBATTEN
Who was Lord
Mountbatten?
Lord Mountbatten was the
last viceroy of British ruled India and the first Governor General of the Dominion
of India.
What were the
political conditions in India when Lord Mountbatten became the Viceroy?
When Lord Mountbatten
took over from Lord Wavell in 1947
·
The
Interim Government in India was not functioning properly due to the differences
between the Congress and the League.
·
The
Communal riots were at the peak.
·
Chaos
and anarchy prevailed everywhere in the country.
Why was Lord Mountbatten
sent to India? What was the immediate task before him?
Lord Mountbatten was sent
to India for the purpose of taking necessary steps for the transfer of power to
the Indians.
His immediate task was
to restore peace among the warring sections-the Congress and the League-both in
his Executive Council, and in the country.
Why did Lord Mountbatten
sought to effect the transfer of power without any delay?
After assessing the
situation in India Lord Mountbatten found and realized that
·
It
was difficult to solve the deadlock between the Congress and the League
·
The
Cabinet Mission Plan was unworkable
·
The
partition of India was inevitable.
He, therefore, sought to
effect the transfer of power without any delay.
Name the Big Seven leaders
before whom Lord Mountbatten put his plan for the partition of India.
Mountbatten put his plan
for the partition of India on June 3rd 1947 before the 'big seven'
leaders- Nehru, Patel, Kripalani, Jinnah, Liaquat, Nishtar and Baldev Singh.
Explain the main
clauses of the Mountbatten Plan.
The main clauses/points/
features of the Mountbatten Plan are as follows:
1. Partition:
The
country would be divided into two Dominions i.e. India and Pakistan.
2. Relations between the two new Dominions:
It
was for the two Dominions to decide what relations they would have with
·
With
the British Commonwealth and
·
With
each other
3. A Boundary Commission:
A
Boundary Commission would be created to settle the boundaries of the two Dominions
in case partition was decided upon.
4. The Princely States:
·
All
the treaties with the Princely states would come to an end
·
They
would be free to associate themselves with
Ø
Either
of the Dominions or
Ø
To
remain independent
5. Bengal and Punjab:
The
Legislative Assemblies of Bengal and Punjab were to take decision to
partition of their respective provinces.
6. Sindh:
The
Legislative Assembly of Sindh was to take its own decision at a special
meeting.
7. North West Frontier Province
A
plebiscite was to be held in the North-West Frontier Province to ascertain
whether the people wanted to join India or Pakistan.
8. The District of Sylhet
The
Muslim majority district of Sylhet was to decide by referendum whether
it would join East Bengal or remain in Assam.
9. The Constituent Assembly
·
The
existing Constituent Assembly would continue to work
·
The
Constitution framed by the existing Constituent
Assembly would not apply to Pakistan
·
A
separate Constituent Assembly would be constituted for those parts of India which
decided in favour of Partition
10.
Transfer
of Power
The plan declared the British
Parliament would pass and Act for the transfer of power before August 15, 1947
and not in June 1948 as stated earlier.
What was the Congress
and League’s reaction to the Mountbatten Plan?
The Mountbatten Plan was
received with mixed feelings by the public.
·
The
Nationalists deplored the partition of India
·
The
Muslims of the League were not fully satisfied with the way Pakistan was
divided, but they accepted the plan for partition.
Why did the Congress
accept the Partition of India?
Though the nationalists deplored
the partition of India; the All-India Congress Committee finally accepted the Mountbatten
Plan for the following reasons:
1. The whole country was engulfed with large-scale
communal riots over the partition of India. The Congress was convinced that
the only solution to the communal problem lay in the partition of India into
India and Pakistan.
2. The experience of working with the
Muslim league had convinced the Congress that the League had joined the Interim
Government to obstruct and not to cooperate and that having a joint
administration with the League was not feasible.
3. The Congress also understood that
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 a weak Centre.
4. The Congress got ready for partition
as it would lead to immediate independence from the British because any
further continuation of British rule would mean a greater calamity for India as
the British were instigating the rulers of the Indian States to remain
independent.
5. The Congress 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 evolve India as a truly secular and democratic polity as it would get
rid of the Constitution of separate electorates and other undemocratic
procedures.
What was the most
important but tragic provision of the Mountbatten Plan?
The most important but
tragic provision of the Mountbatten Plan was that the united country of India
would be divided into two Dominions i.e. India and Pakistan.
To whom was the power
to be transferred according to the Mountbatten Plan?
According to the
Mountbatten Plan there would be complete transfer of power to the two new
dominions India and Pakistan and the Governor General appointed by the British
king on advice of the Cabinet of the concerned Dominion would govern till the
new Constitutions were framed.
What did Mountbatten
Plan provide in regard to the princely states?
According to the Mountbatten
Plan all the treaties with the Princely states would come to an end. They would
be free to associate themselves with either of the Dominions or to
remain independent.
Mention any two
reasons why Congress finally accepted the Partition of India.
All-India Congress
Committee accepted the Mountbatten Plan for the following reasons:
1. The whole country was engulfed with large-scale
communal riots over the partition of India. The Congress was convinced that
the only solution to the communal problem lay in the partition of India into
India and Pakistan.
2. The experience of working with the
Muslim league had convinced the Congress that the League had joined the Interim
Government to obstruct and not to cooperate and that having a joint
administration with the League was not feasible.
Mountbatten formula
was to divide India but to retain maximum unity. In the light of the statement
answer the following questions
State the basis of
the partition of India.
After assessing the
situation in India Lord Mountbatten found and realized that since it was
difficult to solve the deadlock between the Congress and the League and the Cabinet
Mission Plan was unworkable; the partition of India was inevitable and the only
option.
State any three
features of the Mountbatten Plan
1. Partition:
The
country would be divided into two Dominions i.e. India and Pakistan.
2. Relations between the two new Dominions:
It
was for the two Dominions to decide what relations they would have with
·
With
the British Commonwealth and
·
With
each other
3. A Boundary Commission:
A
Boundary Commission would be created to settle the boundaries of the two Dominions
in case partition was decided upon.
Why did the Congress
and Muslim League accept the Mountbatten Plan?
The All-India Congress
Committee accepted the Mountbatten Plan for the following reasons:
2. The experience of working with the
Muslim league had convinced the Congress that the League had joined the Interim
Government to obstruct and not to cooperate and that having a joint
administration with the League was not feasible.
3. The Congress also understood that
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 a weak Centre.
4. The Congress got ready for partition
as it would lead to immediate independence from the British because any
further continuation of British rule would mean a greater calamity for India as
the British were instigating the rulers of the Indian States to remain
independent.
5. The Congress 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 evolve India as a truly secular and democratic polity as it would get
rid of the Constitution of separate electorates and other undemocratic
procedures.
The Muslim League
though not fully satisfied with the way Pakistan was divided accepted the plan
of partition as their idea of separate Muslim State was being realized.
