Union of India

Abstract

year, on the departure of the Cabinet Mission to India, Mr. Attlee, in a declaration of policy, emphasized the established principle that it was for the Indian peoples themselves to choose their future status and constitution. When, after months of laborious mediation, the Mission failed to induce agreement between contending elements in India, the British Government was constrained to modify the principle to the extent of permitting the Mission to put forward recommendations as to the basic form of the new constitution. The Mission's Statement of May 16 in effect amounted to a veiled arbitral award between rival claims of the Hindu and Muslim parties. The scheme bore some fruit in the setting up of an interim government at the centre, composed of political leaders of the major communities and exercising wide powers within the limits of the existing constitution; but it proved to be an uneasy fellowship, riven by intrigue and animosity. The Muslim League refused to enter the Assembly which was to create the new constitution, and the Indian Princes appeared to be hesitant also. Each of the two major parties voiced continuing suspicion of Britain, accusing it of bad faith and partisanship; but each also constantly pressed its claims for preferential treatment at the final showdown.