1

Unit 9: How Important Were Attempts to Find

a Solution to The Problems Facing the Sub-
Continent in The Years 1940 to 1947

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PAKISTAN RESOLUTION (1940)

Q What was the Pakistan/ Lahore Resolution? (4)
At the annual session of ML on 22 nd March 1940 at Lahore, the Premier of Bengal, Maulvi Fazal-
ul-Haq, put forward a resolution which demanded a separate homeland for the Muslims. It said
that the regions in which the Muslims were in majority should be grouped to form independent
state, which would be autonomous and sovereign. This was passed on 23 rd March 1940, which
is now national holiday, Pakistan Day. This was termed as Pakistan Resolution by the Hindus
and that name was adopted.
Q Why was the Lahore Resolution passed in 1940? (7)
The Congress Rule (1937-39) was tyrannical for the Muslims of India as their cultural and
religious rights were suppressed due to Congress anti-Muslim policies like Band-e-Matram,
Wardha Scheme. The Muslims believed that their future in India would not be bright due to
Hindu domination. Therefore, they passed the Lahore Resolution in order to gain a separate
homeland.
Muslims leaders like Rehmat Ali and Allama Iqbal had recently built upon the earlier view of Sir
Syed Ahmed Khan for the Muslims to have their own homeland. Jinnah was not in favor of the
idea, but the 2 years of Congress rule and a growing realization that British would soon leave
India convinced Jinnah that it was time to establish a Muslim state. Hence, the resolution was
passed to put the theories of these previous leaders into practice.
The political system of the world was changing from Kingdom to democracy in the 20 th century.
Due to this change the majority usually gained control in different countries. This meant that
Muslims would be under Hindu domination if democracy would be implemented in India and
Muslims would lose all elections to Hindus. Thus, the Lahore Resolution was passed to protect
Muslim social and political rights.
Q Why the Pakistan Resolution was important for the Muslims of India? (7)
Answer to be written
AUGUST OFFER (1940)
The August offer was a proposal made by the British government in 1940 to get Indian support
to the British war efforts. They offered the expansion of the Viceroy’s Executive Council to
include more Indians, the establishment of the Advisory War Council giving full weightage to
minority opinion and the recognition of Indians' right to frame their own constitution after the
war. In return, they hoped that all parties would cooperate in Britain’s efforts in World War II.
This proposal was rejected by Congress as the minorities were assured that no constitution
would be made without their agreement, meaning giving veto power to the ML. The Muslim
League rejected the offer as it didn’t give clear assurance that a separate Pakistan would be
made.

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CRIPPS MISSION (1942)

Q What was the Cripps Mission? (4)
In March 1942, the British sent Sir Stafford Cripps to India to see if a compromise could be
made which could win the support of the Indians for the British for the Second World War.
Cripps proposed that after the war an Indian Union would be made with dominion status and
the individual provinces could opt out of the union. Cripps also proposed that after the war
elections would be held for the Constituent Assembly (law-making body), which would make
the constitution of India after the war. Cripps didn’t accept the creation of Pakistan. Both
Congress and ML rejected the Cripps proposals.
Q Why did the Cripps Mission fail? (7)
The Cripps Mission proposed that India would be given dominion status after the Second World
War, but Congress wanted immediate shift of power and could not wait until the war was over.
Hence, Cripps mission was rejected. Also, there was lack of trust regarding the British as
Congress was not sure that British would deliver their promises after the war.
Jinnah also rejected the Cripps proposal as it did not contain any reference to the creation of
Pakistan and he was not ready to obtain anything less than Pakistan. Hence, it was rejected by
the Muslims.
The mission proposed that individual provinces could opt out of the future Union. This was a
threat to Congress as the Hindus thought that the Muslim majority provinces would opt out and
gain independence. This was unacceptable to Congress because it was against the creation of
Pakistan. Therefore, Congress rejected the Cripps Mission, which led to its failure.
Q Why was Cripps Mission important in the creation of Pakistan? (7)
The Cripps Mission stated that individual provinces could opt out of the Indian Union. This
pleased Jinnah as it meant that the British were considering the demand of the ML of a
separate homeland. Now the Muslim majority provinces could declare their independence.
Hence, he was encouraged to continue his mission of Pakistan.
Congress rejected the mission because it wanted immediate shift of power as it could not wait
until the end of the World War II. This alarmed Jinnah as he thought that it would be impossible
to create Pakistan under Congress, as the Hindus would not allow the Muslims to do so. As a
result, he increased his efforts to make Pakistan before the British departure from India.
Jinnah rejected the Cripps Mission, as it did not contain any reference to the creation of
Pakistan. This made it clear to the British and Hindus that Jinnah was determined about his
views, and this later played an important part in the Creation of Pakistan.
QUIT INDIA RESOLUTION (1942)
Q What was the Quit India Resolution? (4)

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The Congress rejected the Cripps Mission’s proposals and in May 1942, Gandhi spoke at a
Congress meeting in Allahabad. He argued that if the British left India, there would no longer be
a threat of a Japanese invasion. So, the British should be persuaded to leave India by a non-
violent protest. On 8th August 1942, the Congress passed its ‘Quit India Resolution’ calling for
the immediate withdrawal of British. To support the campaign, non-violent struggle was
started. Gandhi, Nehru and other Congress leaders were arrested by the British and Congress
Party was banned by the British.
Q Why was the Quit India Movement (QIM) launched/started in 1942? (7)
After the Cripps Mission, Congress realized that the British had become too weak in World War
II. The Congress exploited the weak position of the British in its favor and started the Quit India
Movement (QIM) to pressurize the British to leave India and gain independence.
Secondly, Congress knew that Japanese were rivals of the British and Japan was very close to
the borders of India. It could attack India anytime, as India was a British colony. Thus, the QIM
was started to drive the British away in order to avoid Japanese invasion.
Thirdly, from the Cripps Mission’s proposals Congress realized that the British were sympathetic
towards the Muslims as they proposed that the individual provinces could opt out of the future
Indian Union. This alarmed the Congress as the Hindus thought that Pakistan might be created.
Hence, the QIM was started so that Congress could stop the creation of Pakistan and could
dominate the Muslims of India.
Q Why did the Quit India Movement fail? (7)
Firstly, when the QIM was started by the Congress to get rid of the British, the British acted
harshly and arrested the influential leaders of Congress such as Gandhi and Nehru. This led to
the failure of the movement as it lacked guidance and leadership.
Secondly, the British also made use of aerial bombing and machine guns to stop the rioting and
restore order. Thousands of supporters were killed which led to the movement’s failure as there
was lack of supporters.
Thirdly, the ML did not support the QIM because Jinnah saw this as an attempt by the Congress
to drive the British out and gain control of India to exercise its own power to oppress the
Muslims. Jinnah criticized the QIM as a ‘blackmail’, saying that the Congress was trying to
exploit Britain’s problem to win advantages for itself. Hence, the QIM declined because
Muslims were the second largest majority in India, so without its support the Congress couldn’t
continue the movement.
Q Why was the QIM important in the creation of Pakistan? (7)
The Congress was banned by the British and its leaders were arrested because of the QIM for
some time. This brought Jinnah enough time for spreading the message of Pakistan to the local

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population. Due to this awareness more people joined the Pakistan Movement as they got to
know what the ML was standing for which later led to the creation of Pakistan.
When Congress started the QIM to drive the British away, Jinnah saw this as attempt to stop
the creation of Pakistan. As a result, Jinnah increased his efforts to create Pakistan in the
presence of British. This also showed Jinnah’s foresightedness that if he had given support to
the QIM, its chances of success would have increased and the creation of Pakistan would not
have taken place. Hence, by not giving support, he saved the creation of Pakistan.
Jinnah called this movement as ‘blackmail’ because the Congress was trying to pressurize the
British during the WWII. As a result, Jinnah developed good relations with the British by not
supporting the QIM, which later led to the Creation of Pakistan.
Q What was the British reaction to the Quit India Movement? (4)
Gandhi, Nehru and other senior Congress figures were arrested. Congress party was banned.
There was widespread rioting for several weeks and British lost control. The British used
machine guns and aerial bombing to restore their rule. Thousands of Indians were killed.
GANDHI-JINNAH TALKS (1944)
Q What were the Gandhi-Jinnah Talks? (4)
In 1944. Gandhi and Jinnah met at Jinnah’s residence in Bombay to consider the future of India.
There was a series of discussion on how to handle communal affairs after the British departure.
Many people hoped that these two leaders could reach a compromise. Nevertheless, Gandhi-
Jinnah talks failed.
Q Why were the Gandhi-Jinnah Talks (1944) unsuccessful? (7)
Gandhi-Jinnah talks failed due to different reasons. Gandhi wanted the League to give
immediate support to Congress to remove the British from India, partition discussions would
follow later. However, Jinnah wanted to settle the issue of partition first before the British left.
He knew that Congress would never agree to it once British were gone. Hence, the talks failed.
Gandhi also wanted the central government to have control over key areas such as defense and
foreign policy. Jinnah wanted these matters to be in the hands of the provinces. This created a
deadlock between them, resulting in the failure of the talks.
Gandhi considered himself to be speaking for all of India. Jinnah reminded him that he was just
the spokesman of Congress. Gandhi also refused to accept the Two-Nation Theory, whereas this
had now become the official League policy after the passing of the Pakistan Resolution in 1940.
As a result of these contrasting views, the talks failed.
Q Why were the Gandhi-Jinnah Talks important for the formation of Pakistan? (7)

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Gandhi suggested in the talks that out of the six provinces demanded by the ML for Pakistan,
three (Sindh, NWFP, Baluchistan) were Muslim majority areas, so these could directly be
included in Pakistan. Whereas, the other three (Punjab, Assam and Bengal) would be included
in Pakistan after their communal division as they were partially Hindus and partially Muslim.
Although Jinnah rejected this, he was pleased that Congress and Gandhi agreed that Muslims
would not accept anything other than partition of India.
Gandhi wanted the League to give immediate support to Congress to remove the British from
India, partition discussions would follow later. Jinnah wanted to settle the issue of partition first
before the British left. He knew that Congress would never agree to it once British were gone.
This shows Jinnah’s foresightedness as he didn’t trust Gandhi and fall to his trap. Jinnah’s
rejection made the creation of Pakistan possible.
Jinnah handled these talks in an intelligent way and did not compromise on Muslim rights. This
improved his position within Muslims which strengthened the Pakistan Movement as now more
Muslims believed in his leadership and thus gave him support for his mission of creating
Pakistan.
LORD WAVELL AND SIMLA CONFERENCE (1945)
Q What was the Simla Conference of 1945? (4)
In 1945, Viceroy Lord Wavell called a conference at Simla. He proposed that an Executive
Council should be set up to govern the country under the present constitution until the new
constitution would be made. The Executive Council would contain equal number of Muslims
and Hindus and that would be entirely Indian, except the Viceroy and a member controlling
defense. This conference was attended by Congress, Muslim League, the Scheduled Castes, Sikh
League and other groups.
Q Why was the Simla Conference of 1945 unsuccessful? (7)
In 1945, Viceroy Lord Wavell called a conference at Simla. He proposed that an Executive
Council should be set up to govern the country. The Simla Conference failed because of the lack
of agreement about who was to be on the council. Wavell had said that he wanted an equal
number of Muslims and Hindus, but Jinnah pointed out that, as the Sikhs and Scheduled Castes
on the council were bound to vote with the Hindus, this would mean a permanent Muslim
minority in the Executive Council. So, the rights of the Muslims would be sidelined. Hence,
Jinnah refused this proposal and the conference failed.
Jinnah also objected to the Congress suggestion that it could nominate Muslims as well as
Hindus in the council. Jinnah pointed out that the Muslim League was the sole representative
party of Muslims, so it would nominate all the Muslim members in the council. Hence, the
conference didn’t achieve its objective.

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Jinnah also argued that the Muslim League had won every by-election for the last two years and
was the undisputed voice of the Muslims. Hence, it was ML’s right to nominate the Muslim
members in the council. This created a deadlock and the conference failed.
Ans: [Nomination of Muslim seats] (a) in 1945 at the end of Second World War the viceroy, Lord
Wavell, wanted to give self-government to India. Viceroy Wavell invited all Indian political
parties at Simla to set up an executive council to govern the country. (b) He proposed
(suggested) equal number of Hindu and Muslim Ministers in the executive council. Congress
claimed that it had right to appoint one Muslim seat because Congress represents whole India.
(c) Quaid-e-Azam took firm stand and clearly stated that Muslim league had right to nominate
(appoint) all Muslim members because Muslim league had won every single by-election in last
three years on Muslim seats. Conference failed on the issue of appointment (selection) of
Muslim members.
[Lack of trust] (a) The Muslim league was also worried that Sikhs and low caste Hindu members
of council would usually (mostly) vote Congress. In that way Muslims would never be able to
share power. The Government of India would be in the hands of Hindus. (b) Quaid refused to
join a government in which Muslims would always be in a minority. Muslims would not be able
to make a single decision without the support (help) of the Congress members. (c) Quaid-e-
Azam rejected the Wavell Plan because after years of dealing with the Congress, he had no trust
in Congress to act fairly with Muslims. Quid-i-Azam demanded to setup Pakistan.
Q Why was the Simla Conference important for the formation of Pakistan? (7)
Although the Simla Conference failed due to a deadlock between ML and Congress on the
nomination of members in the council, this deadlock convinced Lord Wavell that the Hindus
and Muslims were different and some sort of partition was essential, which was an important
step towards the creation of Pakistan.
In the proposed Executive Council, the British gave almost all the powers to the Indians
including foreign affairs. This meant that the British were planning to leave India by shifting
power to Indians. Hence, independence was coming closer.
Jinnah was not pleased with the parity of seats as he thought that the Sikhs and Scheduled
Castes would be bound to vote with Hindus, resulting in the permanent Muslim minority in the
council. This showed that Jinnah was determined to protect Muslim rights. His attitude gained
him more Muslim support and thus strengthened the Pakistan Movement.
Q “During the Second World War there was no significant progress towards
independence in the subcontinent”. Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer. (14)

 Day of Deliverance 1939

 Pakistan Resolution 1940
 Cripps Mission 1942

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 Quit India Resolution 1942

 Gandhi-Jinnah Talks 1944
 Lord Wavell and Simla Conference 1945
During the World War II (1939-45), three important events took place which can be termed as
negotiations. These were Cripps Mission 1942, Gandhi-Jinnah Talks 1944 and Simla Conference
1945. The British Government sent Sir Stafford Cripps to India in 1942. After lengthy
negotiations with Indian leaders, Cripps proposed that Indian Union would be set up with
dominion status and individual provinces could opt out of the Indian Union. Also, after the war,
elections would be held for the constituent assembly which would make the constitution of
India. However, the Cripps Mission failed as both Congress and Muslim League rejected it.
Congress rejected it because it was now demanding immediate control of India’s affairs and
could not wait till the end of the war. ML also rejected it as it contained no reference to the
establishment of Pakistan.
However, the rejection of Cripps proposals by the ML made it clear to the British and Hindus
that Muslims were determined to protect their rights and identity. Moreover, the Cripps
Mission proposed that the individual provinces could opt out of the Indian Union. This pleased
the Muslims as it meant that the British were considering the demand of the ML of a separate
homeland for Muslims.
Gandhi-Jinnah talks were held in 1944. However, these talks failed due to different reasons.
Gandhi wanted the League to give immediate support to Congress to remove the British from
India, partition discussions would follow later. Jinnah wanted to settle the issue of partition first
before the British left. He knew that Congress would never agree to it once British were gone.
Hence, the talks failed.
Gandhi also wanted the central government to have control over key areas such as defense and
foreign policy. Jinnah wanted these matters to be in the hands of the provinces. This created a
deadlock between them, resulting in the failure of the talks.
However, Gandhi suggested in the talks that out of the six provinces demanded by the ML for
Pakistan, three (Sindh, NWFP, Baluchistan) were Muslim majority areas, so these could directly
be included in Pakistan. Whereas, the other three (Punjab, Assam and Bengal) would be
included in Pakistan after their communal division as they were partially Hindus and partially
Muslim. Although Jinnah rejected this, he was pleased that Congress and Gandhi agreed that
Muslims would not accept anything other than partition of India.
In 1945, Viceroy Lord Wavell called a conference at Simla. He invited leaders of Congress and
ML for negotiations which may eventually lead to transfer of power. He proposed that an
Executive Council should be set up to govern the country under the present constitution until
the new constitution would be made. The Executive Council would contain equal number of
Muslim and Hindus and that would be entirely Indian.

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However, Simla Conference failed because of the lack of agreement about who was to be on
the council. Wavell had said that he wanted an equal number of Muslims and Hindus, but
Jinnah pointed out that, as the Sikhs and Scheduled Castes on the council were bound to vote
with the Hindus, this would mean a permanent Muslim minority in the Executive Council. So,
the rights of the Muslims would be sidelined. Hence, Jinnah refused this proposal and the
conference failed.
Although the Simla Conference failed due to a deadlock between ML and Congress on the
nomination of members in the council, this deadlock convinced Lord Wavell that the Hindus
and Muslims were different and some sort of partition was essential, which was an important
step towards the creation of Pakistan.
The World War II ended in August 1945. All negotiations for independence during this period
failed and no success was made, but these negotiations revealed two facts. Firstly, the British
would leave India and secondly, Muslims would not agree to anything less than establishment
of a separate Muslim state.
1945 ELECTIONS
Q Why did the ML do better in the 1945 elections than it had in 1937? (7)
Since 1937 the ML had succeeded in its message across and had become a force in Indian
politics. It had learned the lessons from the 1937 elections and campaigned effectively to let
Muslims know exactly what it stood for. Hence, due to the increased support of Muslims, the
ML performed well in 1945 elections.
The period of Congress Rule (1937-39) was tyrannical for Muslims where their religious and
cultural rights were ignored by the Hindus. This made the Muslims realize that if they did not
stand for their rights, they would suffer at the hands of Congress. Hence, they voted for ML,
resulting in its victory.
ML was contesting these elections under the manifesto of Pakistan. The subcontinent in 1945
was different place to that of 1937. Now Muslim League had passed the Pakistan Resolution
and Jinnah was fighting to show that the League was an equal force in politics to Congress. This
attracted Muslims as they wanted to get rid of the Congress. Therefore, they voted for ML.
Jinnah improved the image of the ML during 1940s and did not compromise on Muslim rights
during his negotiations with the British and Hindus, e.g., Simla Conference and Gandhi-Jinnah
Talks. This improved his position with the Muslim leadership which brought him votes and
resulted in ML’s victory.
THE CABINET MISSION PLAN (1946)
Q What was the Cabinet Mission Plan? (4)

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In 1946, a three-man British delegation was sent to India to try to find a settlement acceptable
to all. This “Cabinet Mission” met with Muslim League, Congress, the Sikh and Hindu Mahasaba.
The Cabinet Mission announced their final plan. It rejected the idea of independent Pakistan
and suggested that the provinces of India should be divided into three parts, Part A: Hindu
majority provinces, Part B: Muslim majority provinces, Part C: Bengal and Assam. These parts
would have maximum authority and could form their own constitutions. A Central government
would only control defense and foreign affairs. This plan was rejected by both Congress and ML.
Q Why was the Cabinet Mission unsuccessful? (7)
When the Cabinet Mission negotiated with the Congress and ML, it realized that these parties
had opposite views. The ML wanted separate homeland for Muslims and Congress was against
any partition of India. Thus, the Cabinet mission failed as it was unable to bridge the gap
between the two parties.
Moreover, the Cabinet Mission proposed that a commission should be set up which would
decide whether there should be one or two states after the British had left. Both Congress and
ML rejected the plan because Congress wanted independence first, whereas, ML wanted the
state of Pakistan to be granted first. Therefore, the plan failed.
However, the delegation continued its work and Cabinet Mission announced its final plan. It
stated that India would be divided into three parts, Hindu majority territories, Western Muslim
provinces, Assam and Bengal. This pleased Jinnah as there was full provincial autonomy.
However, when Nehru said that Congress would not feel bound by the plan once the British had
left, the League felt that this made further discussions pointless. So, the cabinet plan was
dropped.
DIRECT ACTION DAY (1946)
Q What was the Direct-Action Day? (4)
OR
Q What was the Great Calcutta Killing? (4)
In May 1946 the ML passed a resolution declaring that it should prepare for the final struggle
against both the British and Congress. On 16 August 1946 the League called for a “Direct Action
Day” to show the strength of Muslim feelings. In many places thousands of Muslims
demonstrated peacefully to show Muslim solidarity. In Calcutta, however, the demonstration
turned to violence in which 4000 people died in the Great Calcutta Killing.
3 JUNE PLAN (1947)
Q What was the 3 June Plan? (4)
Viceroy Mountbatten arrived in India in March 1947. His meetings with different political
leaders convinced him that partition was inevitable. On 3 June 1947 he announced a plan. The

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plan stated that two states should be set up, India and Pakistan. The interim constitution of
both states was the 1935 Government of India Act. Each state was to have Dominion status and
have an Executive responsible to a constituent assembly. Muslim majority provinces would vote
either to stay in India or join Pakistan.
Q Was the success of Labor Party in winning the British general election in 1945 the most
important reason why the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947? Explain your answer. (10)
In July 1945, elections were held in England. The Labor Party, led by Clement Atlee won land
sliding victory against the Conservative Party. The Labor Party was pro-independence, but its
closeness to Congress did not allow it to grant division of India. Ignoring separate homeland for
Muslims by Mountbatten for the sake of Congress convinced Jinnah to oppose all arrangements
and only achieve separate homeland to safeguard rights of Muslims leading to partition.
However, there were other reasons for partition too. In 1945 elections in India, Muslim League
(ML) fought with the ‘manifesto of attaining independent homeland for Muslims’, whereas
Congress fought with the slogan of ‘independent united India’. The ML won 87% of the Muslim
vote in the Central Assembly and 446 out of 495 Muslim seats in provincial assemblies. This was
quite impressive performance of ML and it proved that the Muslim masses of India wanted
separate homeland. This convinced the British that partition was necessary.
The Cabinet Mission Plan (CMP) of 1946, made an important offer to Jinnah that Sindh,
Balochistan, NWFP, Bengal, and Punjab could be granted to Muslims on communal lines.
Although Jinnah rejected the plan, this indicated that British had accepted the idea of a
separate Muslim state. Thus, CMP led to partition.
On 16 August 1946, Jinnah called Muslims to observe Direct Action Day to show the strength of
Muslim feelings to Congress and the British about their determination for Pakistan. However,
this step caused violence in India, especially in Calcutta where 4000 people were killed. Due to
this, the British and Congress realized partition was the only solution to avoid violence. Hence,
partition took place.
In 3rd June plan of 1946, Congress ML and British decided to divide India into two states, India
and Pakistan. The plan further provided the base to Independence Act 1947. The acceptance
and official division of India was done through this plan, and struggle of attaining a Muslim state
became a reality.
The success of Labor Party in 1945 election in Britain was not the main reason for the partition
of India as the Muslims were already working whole heartedly for the creation of Pakistan since
the Lahore Resolution was passed in 1940. The Labor Party’s inclination towards Congress
boosted the efforts of Muslims to achieve independence and it was the Direct-Action Day which
convinced the British to partition India in order to avoid mass killings.

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Sub-continent 1940-47 By Samira Afzal Syed