Question

Explain the statement: Partition of India became unavoidable in 1947.​

Answer 1

Explanation:

15 Aug 2010

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AUGUST 14, 2010 marks the sixty-third anniversary of Pakistan's inception. The birth of an independent Muslim state from the womb of an undivided, colonial India eventually became the solution to the communal problem after prolonged negotiations involving the British government, the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League. One common allegation against Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League, is that he in league with the British effectively blocked alternative solutions to the Hindu-Muslim problem. Is the allegation valid?

The communal problem in the British India centred on Muslims' apprehension that in the absence of adequate constitutional safeguards, they would be overwhelmed by the majority Hindus politically and economically. It was that apprehension that translated initially into the demand for separate electorates (first proposed in 1906 and accepted in 1909 vide the Indian Councils Act) and subsequently into that for a separate Muslim state in the event of British withdrawal from India. The Congress most of the time would deny either that the communal problem existed or that it was serious enough to warrant even special safeguards for Muslims what to talk about a separate Muslim state. But in the end the party accepted the partition of India as a fait accompli.

Though the League first made the demand for a separate Muslim homeland in March 1940 vide the Lahore Resolution, as late as 1946, one year before the creation of Pakistan, it was willing to consider alternative options. A look at the Cabinet Mission Plan confirms this.

Answer 2

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• Elections to the provinces were held in 1946. The Congress did well in the “General”  constituencies but the League’s success in the seats reserved for Muslims was  spectacular. It persisted with its demand for “Pakistan”.In March 1946 the British  cabinet sent a three-member mission to Delhi to examine this demand and to  suggest a suitable political framework for a free India.
• This mission suggested that India should remain united and constitute itself as a loose  confederation with some autonomy for Muslim-majority areas. But it could not get the  Congress and the Muslim League to agree to specific details of the proposal. Partition now  became more or less inevitable.