3
* Sir R. Lumley (Bombay) to the Marquess of Linlithgow (Extract)
MSS. EUR. F. 125/56
C ONFIDENTIAL
G OVT . H OUSE, B OMBAY, 24 April 1942
Report No. 104
- Reactions to the result of Sir Stafford Cripps’ Mission. As is always the case here, it is not easy to assess precisely the public reactions to the breakdown of the negotiations conducted by Sir Stafford Cripps. I am glad to say, however, that I do not notice any deterioration or any bitterness, with the exception which I shall mention later. In fact, I am inclined to think that, as I hoped would be the case, the proposals, though they have failed, have produced a nett gain, particularly in those quarters which were formerly our most persistent opponents. From an informant whom I have usually found reliable, I learn that a very much better feeling exists amongst those who professed to have doubts about our ultimate intentions. The Draft Declaration has satisfied a great many of them on that point. I also hear that local informed Congress opinion was quite prepared to accept the provision of non-accession, and considered it to be the only method so far put forward, with any prospects of success, for obtaining Muslim agreement to discussions about a future constitution. This view is said to find a good deal of support amongst local Congress people, although it has not been declared openly, and all nationalist newspapers condemn the proposals mainly on the ground that they would vivisect India.
There have been no public declarations by Muslims here, but most Muslim newspapers appear to be well satisfied with the result of the
*The Transfer of Power, Vol. I, No. 684, pp. 846-47.