Simla Conference
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The Simla Conference of 1945 was a meeting between the
Talks stalled on the issue of the selection of Muslim representatives. The
On 14 June 1945 Lord Wavell announced a plan for a new Executive Council in which all members except the Viceroy and the Commander in Chief would be Indians. This executive council was to be a temporary measure until a new permanent constitution could be agreed upon and come into force. All portfolios except Defense would be held by Indian members.[2]
Lord Wavell
Prime Minister Winston Churchill as head of the war cabinet proposed Field Marshal Wavell's name to his cabinet in mid-June 1943, as India's next Viceroy. General Sir Claude Auchinleck who had followed Wavell in his Middle Eastern command was to be the next Commander in Chief of the Indian army after Lord Wavell. In October 1943 the British Government decided to replace Lord Linlithgow with Lord Wavell as the Viceroy of India. Before assuming the vice royalty, Lord Wavell had been head of the Indian army and thus had an understanding of the Indian situation. On becoming Viceroy, Wavell’s most important task was to present a formula for the future government of India which would be acceptable to both the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League.[citation needed]
Background
Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement in August 1942, after which he was arrested with other Congress lieutenants like Nehru and Patel. He was held separately in the Agha Khan's Pune palace while others were kept in the Ahmednagar Fort.[circular reference] Now he decided to launch his ''Satyagraha'', he commenced after the early morning breakfast on 10 February 1943 a fast for 21 days. Weighing 109 pounds when he began, Gandhi lost eighteen pounds after his 22-day fast. Fearing the death of Gandhi in prison as before him Kasturba, his wife and Mahadev Desai, his private secretary died in the same prison in Pune Palace, Lord Linlithgow recommended to Churchill the immediate unconditional release of Gandhi. Churchill wrote back to Linlithgow, "it seems almost certain that the old rascal [Gandhi] will emerge all better for his so-called fast.'' Gandhi broke his fast on 3 March 1943.[3] Gandhi suffered from malaria, and after that his health seriously deteriorated. The new Viceroy Archibald Wavell, recommended his unconditional release, Leo Amery the secretary of state for India convinced Churchill to release Gandhi on medical grounds, so he was released. After his release, Gandhi managed to recover. Upon hearing of this Churchill is said to have sent Wavell a peevish telegram asking ''why Gandhi has not died yet?''[3]
Communal division was the greatest hurdle in the path of any political progress in India, so Wavell also began to agree with Amery's conviction that until the "Aged Trinity" (Gandhi, Churchill and
After correspondence with Amery in October, Wavell decided to write to Churchill directly and he tried to convince Churchill in this regard though he was sure that Churchill was reluctant to hold or attend any summit as "he hated India and anything to do with it". Churchill informed Amery that he would not be able to see Wavell until March 1945, Wavell on his own behalf met with Jinnah on 6 December, and tried to convince him to live in a united India as that would be much more beneficial for all because it would be a stronger nation at an international level. Jinnah argued that "Indian unity was only a British creation". Bengal's governor Richard Casey was well informed about Congress-League relations and he wrote to Wavell saying: "Congress is basically responsible for the growth of the Pakistan idea, by the way they treated the Muslims especially by refusing to allow them into the coalition provincial governments." Wavell agreed with everything Casey said about Pakistan, writing in his reply: "I do not believe that Pakistan will work."[3] Churchill chaired his war cabinet that reviewed and rejected Wavell's proposal for constitutional reforms in India on 18 December.[3] But Wavell was invited to visit England, and met with Churchill and Cabinet in May 1945. Wavell was allowed to fly back to India in June 1945 to release Congress Working Committee members and start the talks that would later be called the Simla Conference. Wavell decided to call all key leaders of India in Simla on 25 June 1945 and broadcast a message to all Indians on 14 June 1945 showing British willingness to give India dominion status as soon as possible if the communal deadlock was broken down. "India needs a surgical operation", Nehru noted after considering Wavell's idea, "We have to get rid of our preoccupation with a petty problem" as he considered the demand for Pakistan a petty problem. Jinnah accepted the invitation but only if he could meet with Wavell alone first on 24 June.[3]
Details
One day before the conference was convened on 24 June,
Wavell Plan
Details
In May 1945 Wavell visited London and discussed his ideas with the British Government. These London talks resulted in the formulation of a definite plan of action which was officially made public simultaneously on 14 June 1945 by L.S. Amery, the Secretary of State for India, in the House of Commons and by Wavell in a broadcast speech delivered from Delhi. The plan, commonly known as the Wavell Plan, proposed the following:
1. The Viceroy’s Executive Council would be immediately reconstituted and the number of its members would be increased.
2. In the Council there would be equal representation of high-caste Hindus and Muslims.
3. All the members of the Council, except the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief, would be Indians.
4. An Indian would be appointed as the member for Foreign Affairs in the Council and a British commissioner would be responsible for trade matters.
5. The defense of India would remain in British hands until power was ultimately transferred to Indians.
6. The Viceroy would convene a meeting of Indian politicians including the leaders of Congress and the Muslim League at which they would nominate members of the new Council.
7. If this plan were to be approved for the central government, then similar councils of local political leaders would be formed in all the provinces.
8. None of the changes suggested would in any way prejudice or prejudge the essential form of the future permanent Constitution of India.
To discuss these proposals with Indian leaders, Wavell summoned them to a conference in Simla on 25 June 1945.
Criticism
The Wavell Plan, in essence, proposed the complete "Indianisation" of the Executive Council, but instead of asking all the parties to nominate members to the Executive Council from all the communities, seats were reserved for members on the basis of religion and caste, with the caste Hindus and Muslims being represented on it on the basis of parity. Even Mahatma Gandhi resented the use of the words "caste Hindus".
While the plan proposed immediate changes to the composition of the Executive Council it did not contain any guarantee of Indian independence, nor did it contain any mention of a future constituent assembly or any proposals for the division of power between the various parties of India.[citation needed]
Failure
Meanwhile, a
References
- ^ "India: Simla Conference 1945". Time. 9 July 1945. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-577389-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-906606-3.
