Question

The period between 1920 to 1947 was marked with major events and reforms that finally led us to our Independence. In this context, answer the following question. How did the Congress and the Muslim League respond to the Cabinet Mission Plan?

Answer 1

Hint:
> The Congress was led by Jawaharlal Nehru and the Muslim League was led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
> One of the political parties wanted a strong central government and a united India.
> The other party was more inclined towards having its own central government.

Complete answer:
The Cabinet Mission aimed at the discussion of the transfer of powers from the British Government to the Indian Government. In other words, the Cabinet wanted to preserve India’s unity as a nation and grant its Independence.

On arriving in India, the cabinet mission found the Congress and the Muslim League, extremely unwilling to reach a settlement. Congress wanted a strong centre with very fewer powers in the provinces. The Muslim league on the other hand wanted strong political safeguards for Muslims. Since both parties could come up with a common demand, the Cabinet made its own set of proposals.

The cabinet proposed that it would not bring partition into the country, instead, it would form groups of Muslim-majority provinces and Hindu-Majority provinces. The centre would only take part in foreign affairs, defence, communication and currency, while the rest of the power would remain with the provinces.

Congress was not happy with the idea of a weak centre and rejected this proposal. Thus, a new proposal was made which aimed at dividing India into a Hindu-Majority nation and a Muslim-Majority nation (later named as Pakistan). They also made a list of princely states that had their own choice to become part of India or remain as an independent state. The congress still disagreed to this plan but agreed to be part of the constituent assembly for drafting a constitution.

Note:
The Cabinet Mission was formulated by the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Clement Attlee. The Cabinet contained major politicians like Lord Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, the Secretary of State for India, President of the Board of Trade and the First Lord of the Admiralty, A.V. Alexander.