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COLONIAL ADM. STRUCTURE

Centre: Viceroys council, and legislative

council

Provinces: Governors council, and legislative

council

Towns: councils

Army, Judiciary, Civil services and Police.

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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACTS

ACT OF 1909: Separate electorates for

Muslims

ACT OF 1919: Dyarchy and separate

electorates for Anglo Indians and Christians

ACT OF 1935: Federation of India.

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POLITICS OF PARTITION

1919-1947

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M K GANDHI

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M K GANDHI

Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi was born in

1869 into a bania (merchant trader) family in a

princely state of Porbandar, Gujarat. He went

to England to complete his law degree and

then went to South Africa in 1893.

He worked in Natal for nearly 20 years on

behalf of Indian community against racistpolicies of white rulers.

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GANDHIAN POLITICS

He returned to India in 1915 and travelled to

different areas assessing the political situation

and understanding various strands of Indian

unrest.

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SATYAGRAHA*

Lit. translationTHE QUEST FOR TRUTH.

MASS POLITICAL ACTIVITYthrough non-

violent methods

Gandhi mobilized three localities with

different demands in 1917-1918.

SATYAGRAHA IN KHEDA DISTRICT,GUJARAT 1917: No revenue demand by the

peasansts.

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SATYAGRAHA

SATYAGRAHA IN AHMEDABAD: Gandhi

intervened in an internal conflict between

Gujarat mill owners and their workers.

SATYAGRAHA IN CAMPARAN: Gandhi

instituted an open enquiry in July 1917, and

gave an All India publicity to the grievances of

Champaran indigo cultivators and the landlessplantation labour.

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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, 1919

The System of Dyarchy* was introduced in the

provinces.

Besides Muslims, other minorities including

Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Christians and

Europeans were also given the right of

separate electorate.

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DYARCHY

The principle of dyarchy was introduced in

which the central Legislative Assembly and

Provincial Assemblies were responsible for

different areas of sovereignty. Education,

health, agriculture, and local self government

were made the responsibility of provincial

legislative, while income tax, law and order,communications, foreign affairs and military

matters were reserved for the central authority.

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ROWLATT ACT SATYAGRAHA, 1919

The Rowlatt act was passed as a war timeordinance to ensure the states monopoly ofpower and had permitted British to hold

Indians without trial through a system ofspecial court orders. The Rowlatt act became alaw in February 1919, which was an attempt tomake the war time procedures a permanent

restriction on civil rights.

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ROWLATT ACT

Gandhi called for a mass protest movementrelying on political networks like Pan-Islamicist groups who were concerned about

the fate of Caliph in the declining OttomanEmpire, and his own Satyagraha sabha whichhe had started in Bombay in February, 1919.

The resentment was fuelled by brutalprovocation and repression by the stateauthorities ,especially, in Punjab.

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JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE

On April 13, 1919, Gen. Dyer opened fire on a

peaceful unarmed crowd, consisting mostly of

villagers. The enclosed ground where these

people had gathered was known as Jallianwala

Bagh, about 379 people were killed and over

1200 were wounded.

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NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT

1922-24

After the repressive response to the RowlattSatyagraha, the Indian National Congressunder the leadership of Gandhi launched the

Non-cooperation movement.The movement had a formal program ofboycotting government institutions andschools, as well as mass economic boycott offoreign goods.

1919-21 also saw a series of labour unrest andpeasant (kisan) movements.

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NON-CO-OPERATION MOVEMENT

The regional and class variations of unrest inthis period reflected a variety of local concernsthat fuelled the sense of mass agitation.

CHAURI-CHAURAINCIDENT,GORAKHPUR, UINTEDPROVINCE, 1922: The agitators killed 22policemen and injured several. Gandhi calledoff the non-cooperation movement after thisincident.

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NON-CO-OPERATION MOVEMENT

After 1922, as active non-cooperation moved

into a quiescent phase, a number of prominent

Congress politicians, among them C R Das

and Motilal Nehru formed a new party and

successfully contested the elections of

reformed assemblies. Simultaneously, with

Gandhis encouragement, the khadi movement,through All India Spinners Association took on

organizational form.

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GANDHIAN POLITICS

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GANDHIAN POLITICS

Gandhi also began to develop a program for

women. When he asked women to join the

political movement, he equated it with the

restoration of the rule of Rama and that would

come only, when women emulating the

faithful and brave Sita would united fight

alongside their men against this immoral ruler.

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CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

(1930-34)

The backdrop of economic depression (1929

and Bengal famine) and appointment of Simon

commission (all white member committee was

appointed to enquire into the futureconstitutional reform in India, led to massive

unrest and demonstrations all over India.

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CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

Gandhi launched a now-famous salt march

from his ashram in Sabarmati in mid-Gujarat

to the western coast of lndia at Dandi, on the

Arabian sea, to collect salt water to make salt,in violation of the salt tax.

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CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

At the height of all-India agitation, Gandhi

once again chose to hold back and settle for

moderate concessions from the British. The

Gandhi-Irwin Pact of March 1931 was basedon vague principles: federation (central and

provinces), Indian responsibility, and

safeguards for minority populations.

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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, 1935

The Government of India Act had two main

parts: provincial and federal.

At the provincial level the Indian ministers

were now to be involved in all government

departments.

Dyarchy- the separation of provincial subjects

of government from the central ones was

officially abolished.

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ACT OF 1935

The Act can be seen as a possible prelude to

the British finally agreeing to concede power

to the Indians at the centre, based on electoral

showings in the provinces.

Both the Congress and the Muslim league

contested the elections in 1936 and Congress

won elections in 7 out 11 provinces.

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OTHER LEADERSS: M A JINNAH

Mohammad Ali Jinnah was a staunch

secularist and a brilliant lawyer. He was the

member of Indian National Congress till 1913

when he joined the Muslim league. He was astrong critic of sectarianism and use of religion

in politics (did not support the Khilafat

movement of 1922).

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M A JINNAH

Jinnahs opportunity to stake a claim for

All India Muslims not only at the centre but at

the provincial level came through the needs of

Muslims in Indias Muslim minority provinces

especially United Provinces (UP).

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M A JINNAH

In UP, where the Muslim League won all 29

seats reserved for the Muslims, the Congress

refused to form any coalition with them.

Congress saw itself as representing all Indians.

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OTHER LEADERS

JAWARHARLAL NEHRU

SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE NETAJI

B R AMBEDKAR

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INDIA AND WORLD WAR II

The Congress ministries resigned in 8 out of

11 provinces in protest of Viceroy

Linlothgows decision to declare India a

belligerent in the war against Germany withoutconsulting them.

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CRIPPS INDIA MISSION

The mission did not meet the Congress

demand for immediate control of defence

portfolio of the centre and the talks basically

failed.

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QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT 1942

The movement was seen as by far more serious

rebellion since 1857.

The main Congress leaders were jailed by the

authorities and the movement was carried on

by the lower ranking leaders and it began as an

urban movement where the strikes (hartals)

and clashes with the police became the norm inmost cities.

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POLITICS OF PARTITION:SIMLA

CONFERENCE

In the summer of 1945, a conference was

convened at Simla by the Viceroy, Lord

Wavell, who had recently returned from

England with the approval of British Cabinetto a proposal for reconstituting the Executive

Council in consultation with the Indian

leaders.

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SIMLA CONFERENCE: WAVELL

PLAN

Wavell proposed talks to set up a new

Executive Council which would be entirely

Indian. Caste Hindus and Muslims will

have equal representation.

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SIMLA CONFERENCE

The conference broke down on the insistence

of Jinnah that his party should have an

exclusive right to nominate Muslim members

of the Viceroys Executive Council. This wassomething which the Congress could not

concede without repudiating its national

composition.

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THE DEADLOCK

1946, that the British Government was still

working "in the spirit of the Cripps Offer of

1942" and intended to convene a constitution-

making body. Elections to the central andprovincial legislatures, were announced.

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1946 ELECTIONS

Muslim League win was most spectacular and

it won all the seats to the Central Legislative

Assembly and 75% vote of the Muslim caste

vote in the provincial assemblies.

Still, the League had to form coalitions to form

ministries. Only Bengal had a league ministry.

In Punjab had a coalition under congress andAkali (Sikh).

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1946 ELECTIONS

Northwestern Province had a Congress

ministry.

Congress entered the coalition politics of the

Muslim majority provinces and so remained a

constraint for Jinnahs claim to parity at the

centre.

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CABINET MISSION PLAN

In an effort to resolve deadlock between

Congress and the Muslim League in order to

transfer British power "to a single Indian

administration", a three-man Cabinet Missionformed in 1946 which drafted plans for a

"three-tier federation for India."

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According to these plans, the region would be

divided into three groups of provinces, with

Group A including the Hindu-populated

provinces that would eventually comprise themajority of the independent India.

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Groups B, the NW Muslim majority provinces,

and C were comprised of largely Muslim-

populated of NE provinces. Each group would

be governed separately with a great degree ofautonomy except for the handling of "foreign

affairs, communications, defense, and only

those finances required for such nationwidematters."

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CABINET MISSION

Jinnah interpreted the scheme to be a defacto

recognition of his Pakistan Demand: the

groups would have constituent assemblies of

their own; the constitution of the federalcentral could eventually be designed to be a

mere agency with executive and not legislative

powers. The Congress also was amenable tothe scheme.

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but argued that the provinces were free to opt

out of a group to which they did not wish to

belong. Congress had a ministry in

northwestern province which was in Group Band under the Congress reading it should have

a choice to opt out.

Jinnah, interpreted the scheme as havingcompulsory grouping, in order to ensure

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two groups of Muslim majority provinceswithin federation.

The plan provided only the choice between an

undivided India with a weak federal structurewith compulsory grouping of Muslim andHindu majority provinces, or a separateindependent sovereign centre, that wouldconstitute only of the Muslim majoritydistricts of Bengal and Punjab.*

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As leader of the Muslim League, Jinnah

accepted the Cabinet Mission's proposal.

However, when Nehru announced at his first

press conference as the re-elected president ofCongress "no constituent assembly could be

boundby any prearranged constitutional

formula,"

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ROAD TO PARTITON

By early 1947, with increasing violence and

armed mutinies Londons priority was to leave

India as soon as possible. Clement Atllee, the

New Labour minister announced that Britishwould depart from India by June 30th 1948

(Feb 20th 1947)..

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ROAD TO PARTTION

On March 8, Nehru spoke for the Congress

and called for the partition of Punjab and

Bengal.

In March Wavell left for London and Lord

Montabatten arrived as Britains final viceroy.

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PARTITION OF INDIA

June 2 1947, Mountbatten announced his

Partition plan - moth eaten Pakistna made up

of only the Muslim majority districts of Punjab

and Bengal.

The Mountbatten Plan, as the 3rd June, 1947

Plan came to be known, sought to effect an

early transfer of power to India and Pakistan.

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NEHRUS SPEECH

Long years ago we made a tryst with

destiny, and now the time comes when we

shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in

full measure, but very substantially. Atthe stroke of the midnight hour, when the

world sleeps, India will awake to life and

freedom....

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PARTITION

12 to 14 million people were caught up in the

process of mass migration; over one million

were killed in violent encounters, and an

estimated 75,000 women were abducted andsubjected to sexual violence.

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Documents

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