Cripps Mission, Simla Conference, Cabinet Mission, and Independence Act

Cripps Mission 1942

During Second World War (1939-45), the British Government sent Sir Stafford Cripps to the subcontinent in 1942 to have a consensus of all the political parties on some proposals, but he failed.

Proposals of Cripps Mission:

Cripps Mission offered the following proposals:

1. After the war, the subcontinent will be under the British Crown but the British Government would avoid interfering in its internal as well as external affairs.
2. During the war, total responsibility of defense would be in the hands of the British Government.
3. The members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies will elect a Central Assembly for framing constitution. After the constitution is finalized, it will be sent to all the provinces for confirmation. The provinces which do not approve the constitution would have the authority to establish their independent status after separation from the centre.
4. Appropriate steps will be taken to safeguard minorities' rights.

Sir Stafford Cripps' proposals were rejected by Muslim League, All Indian National Congress and other political parties. The attainment of a separate homeland remained the major demand of the Muslims, which was unacceptable to the Congress. For this, the Muslims had to step up their struggle. In 1945, the Wavell Plan was presented which was strongly opposed by Quaid-e-Azam. Quaid-e-Azam tried to prove Muslim League as the only representative party of the Muslims but the Congress refused to accept it.

Simla Conference and Elections

In 1945, when Britain was sure to win the war, Viceroy lord Wavel announced that the Viceroy's Executive Council will include all Indian members. In this council, the Muslims and the Hindus would be equal in number. To analyse these proposals, Simla Conference was held in 1945. It was proposed that five Muslim members will be included in the council but the Congress demanded that it will nominate one Muslim member. Quaid-e-Azam said that Muslim League being the representative of Muslims would nominate all the five Muslim representatives. The Simla conference failed to resolve this issue.

While the Simla Conference could not decide that the Muslim League was the only representative party of the Muslims, this issue was decided in 1945-46 elections. The Muslim League achieved great success and emerged as the sole representative party of Muslims by winning all reserved seats for the Muslims.

Cabinet Mission Plan 1946

The Labour Party came into power in England in 1945. The British Government sent a Cabinet Mission to India due to the rising political restlessness in the subcontinent. The Mission consisted of three members. This mission had two fundamental objectives. First to determine the constitutional position and the form of government and secondly to reduce the hatred between the Hindus and the Muslims and keep them together in the united India. But the elections proved that this could not be done.

The members of the Cabinet Mission met with the leaders of all the political parties but failed to achieve the desirable results. So, these members announced a plan on 16th May 1946, with following salient features:-

1. A union would be established in the subcontinent which would be responsible for the foreign affairs, defense and communications.
2. All powers except central affairs would be given to the provinces.
3. The provinces would have the mandate to form mutual groups and every
4. The provinces would have the authority to demand amendments in the constitution, through majority opinion, after every 10 years.

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