APPENDIX—III
THE CABINET MISSION
“On 19, February 1946, the day following the outbreak of the revolt, Lord Pethick Lawrence announced in the House of Lords that “in view of the paramount importance, not only to India and to the British Commonwealth, but to the peace of the world, of a successful outcome of discussions with leaders of Indian opinion, the British Government would send out to India a special mission of Cabinet Ministers consisting of the Secretary of State for India (Lord Pethick Lawrence), the President of the Board of Trade (Sir Stafford Cripps), and the First Lord of Admiralty (Mr. A. V. Alexander) to act in association with the Governor-General in this matter. A similar statement was made in the House of Commons by Mr. Clement Attlee.”
The Cabinet Mission, headed by Lord Pethick Lawrence, arrived in India on 23, March 1946 to find a solution to the problem of India. Its activities and the following events may be understood, “in the background of the Labour Government’s firm decision to quit India at a very early date after making the best possible arrangements for handing over power.” [1] The negotiations with party leaders did not bring an agreed solution. On 16, May 1946, the Mission gave a Scheme of its own. After fully examining the question of Pakistan, it concluded that neither a larger nor a smaller sovereign State of Pakistan would provide an acceptable solution for the communal problem keeping in view other consideration also— like administrative, economic and military and those relating to communications and the Indian States, and that the creation of Pakistan could not be advised. But Muslim apprehensions that their culture and political and social life might be dominated by the Hindus, could not be ignord. As regards the Indian States, the view of the Mission was that with the attainment of independence by British India, paramountcy over them could neither be retained by the British Crown nor transferred to the new Government: yet the States were willing to Co-operate
1 : Speeches and Documents of the Indian Constitution, Vol. 1, selected by Sir Maurice Gwyer and A. Appadorai, Introduction at P. Vii (1957).