Q. The plan of Sir Stafford Cripps envisaged that after the Second World War

  • India should be granted complete independence.
  • India should be partitioned into two before granting independence.
  • India should be made a republic with the condition that she will join the Commonwealth.
  • India should be given Dominion status.

Answer: (d) India should be given Dominion status.

Cripps Mission:
  • The Cripps Mission was a failed attempt in late March 1942 by the British government to secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II.
  • The mission was headed by a senior minister Stafford Cripps. Cripps belonged to the left-wing Labour Party, which was traditionally sympathetic to Indian self-rule, but he was also a member of the coalition War Cabinet led by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who had long been the leader of the movement to block Indian independence.
  • Few proposals of this mission are:
    • During the war, the British would retain their hold on India. Once the war finished, India would be granted dominion status with complete external and internal autonomy. It would, however, be associated with the United Kingdom and other Dominions by a common allegiance to the Crown.
    • At the end of the war, a Constituent Assembly would be set up with the power to frame the future constitution of India. The members of the assembly were to be elected based on proportional representation by the provincial assemblies. The Princely States would also be given representation in the Constituent Assembly.
    • The provinces not agreeing to the new constitution would have the right to keep themselves out of the proposed Union. Such provinces would also be entitled to create their own separate Union. The British government would also invite them to join the commonwealth.
    • During the war, an interim government comprising of different parties of India would be constituted. However, defence and external affairs would be the sole responsibility of the viceroy.
  • Gandhi called Cripps Mission ‘A post-dated cheque drawn on a failing bank’ due to the Cripps offer of Dominion Status after the war.