1920: Subcontinental Federalism vs. Provincial State rights give way to separatism: Cripps & CMP fails. HISTORICAL BASIS FOR THE INDPENDENCE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF MUSLIM PROVINCES

Posted on 16 January 2008. Tags: Cabinet Mission Plan, Cripps Plan, Federal vs Provincial rights in South Asia, History of Pakistan, South Asian History

Most countries have struggled with Federal rights vs. State rights. American history is full of these discussions. Today Iraq struggles with these aspects of poltical science. Pakistan also faces some of these questions that dogged the politicians in the Subcontinent before independence.

HISTORICAL BASIS FOR THE SOVEREIGNTY OF MUSLIM PROVINCES
Throughout history, the struggle for the independence of the Subcontinent has been struggle against centralism and the struggle has been waged to create for provincial autonomy. The Government of India Act of 1919 set out in clear terms the subjects which were to belong to the provincial sphere and those to the Central sphere. But both the Congress and the Muslim League boycotted the elections to the provincial and Central Legislatures held in November 1920 under the Act, because they felt that the Central vernment had still retained too much of power over the provinces.

When the Congress Party appointed a Committee to prepare a blueprint of the future Constitution for India under the chairmanship of Motilal Nehru, the then Congress President M.A. Ansari spelt out the fundamental principles on which the future Constitution was to be founded. Speaking at the annual session of the Congress on 28 December 1927 at Madras, Ansari had said:

“Whatever be the final form of the Constitution, one thing may be said with some degree of certainty that it will have to be on federal lines providing for a United States of India with existing Indian States as autonomous units of the Federation taking their proper share in the defence of the country, in the regulation of the nation’s foreign affairs and other joint and common interests.”

The Muslims cooperated with the Congress as long as they felt that the sovereignity of the Muslim majority provinces would be kept. When the Muslims felt that their sovereignty would not be honored, they deserted the ranks of the Congress and joined the Muslim League

The Nehru Committee Report submitted on 10 August 1928, reiterated the principles of provincial autonomy and reorganisation of the States on the basis of linguistic homogeneity

The Congress vehemently opposed the powers of the Governor General to override the Central Legislative as well as the powers granted to the provincial governors to rule directly during emergencies. The Congress
first decided to boycott the election in protest but later decided to take part. During the war years the Cripps Mission arrived in India in March 1942 with a draft declaration on the future government of India.
Recognizing the possibility of irreconcilable differences among Indians on the Constitutional future, the Mission proposed the following guarantees to accommodate them. It conceded:

1. “The right of any province of British India that is not prepared to accept the new Constitution to retain its present Constitutional provision and for its subsequent accession if it so desired.”

2. “With such non-acceding provinces, should they so desired, His Majesty’s government shall be prepared to agree upon a new Constitution giving them the same full status as the Indian Union….”

The Congress Working Committee in a resolution adopted on 2 April 1942 while objecting to the right of non-accession given to provinces, however, made the following significant point:

“The Committee cannot think in terms of compelling the people of any territorial unit to remain in an Indian Union against their declared and established will… Each territorial unit should have the fullest possible autonomy within the Union, consistently with a strong national State.”

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Cripps Mission failed.

CMP:

Elections to Provincial Assemblies were held towards the end of 1945 following termination of the war. Then arrived the Cabinet Mission in March 1946 to discuss with the Indian leaders the Constitution and the political modalities to be evolved for them to realize the goal of self government for Indians. After eliciting views from all the political parties and the groups, the Mission proposed a plan of government which was finally accepted by the Congress, the Muslim League and the Sikhs.
There was to be, under the plan, a Union of India embracing both the British and the princely States.

The Union was to deal with Foreign Affairs, Defence and Communications and to have the power to raise finances required to administer these subjects. All other subjects and residuary powers were to vest in the provinces which were to constitute themselves into groups with common executives and legislatures, and each group assuming such provincial subjects to administer in common as the provinces joining the group desired. Within this broad framework the Constitution for the Indian Union was to be framed by a body to be constituted by the provincial legislators in the ratio of one member to a million and choosing their representatives for the communities – Hindu, Muslim and Sikh – in the ratio proportionally representative of their population strength.

The Constituent Assembly was to have the total strength of 350. The Cabinet Mission Plan also conceded the right to provinces to change their Constitutions after 10 years by the majority vote of their assemblies.

Both the Congress and the Muslim League accepted the Mission Plan. The Sikhs also accepted the Mission Plan and agreed to join the Constituent Assembly, under persuasion by both the Cabinet Mission and the Congress, as has already been explained.

The Cabinet Mission Scheme had been devised to avert the division of India. However, Nehru and Vallabhai Patel, having first accepted it, sabotaged the scheme after coming around to the view that it was better to give away a part of India to become sovereign Pakistan, and then to rule the rest of the subcontinent with a totalitarian hold instead of presiding over a democratic federation with provinces being virtually autonomous. With this view they, together with Mountbatten, worked out the partition plan. Punjab was truncated.

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