Q. With reference to the proposals of Cripps Mission, consider the following statements:

  1. The Constituent Assembly would have members nominated by the Provincial Assemblies as well as the Princely States.
  2. Any Province, which is not prepared to accept the new Constitution would have the right to sign a separate agreement with Britain regarding its future status.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  • 1 only
  • 2 only
  • Both 1 and 2
  • Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (b) 2 only

Cripps Mission 1942:
  • The Cripps Mission was sent after the decision taken by the British War Cabinet in 1942 to grant Dominion Status to India after the War and equal treatment to the Indians on par with other dominions such as Canada and Australia.
    • It was sent amidst the political belligerence in India on various fronts, such as the lack of faith in the British Army’s capacity to defend India against aggressive Japan and the increasing demand for a separate state by the League and Jinnah. But the most important factor was the pressure on Churchill to win the support of Indians for the British cause in the War.
  • Based on the draft declaration prepared by the All India Committee, chaired by Attlee, Stafford Cripps came to India and proposed the following constitutional reforms:
    • Dominion status: The Cripps Mission proposed to create a new Indian Union with Dominion statusafter the War, associated with the UK and other dominions, equal in every respect – domestic as well as external affairs.
    • Constituent Assembly: Setting up a Constitution-making body for India after the War, whose members would be elected by the Provincial Assemblies and nominated by the rulers in the case of the Princely States. The constitution was to be drafted entirely by Indians now.
    • Right to secede for the provinces: There would be provisions for any British Indian Province unwilling to accept this Constitution to either maintain its current constitutional status or frame its own constitution.
    • Any province that refused to abide by the new Constitution could create its own union and constitution.
    • The new Constitution-making body and the British government would negotiate a treaty to sort out matters arising out of the transfer of powers to Indian hands.
    • Intact powers of the Viceroy: The Viceroy’s authority would be unaffected, and British control over India’s defence would continue until the War. After that, the dominion government could reorganise its own defence.
Why Cripps Mission Failed:

(a)The Cripps Mission proposals failed to satisfy Indian nationalists and turned out to be merely a propaganda device for US and Chinese consumption. Cripps had designed the proposals himself, but they were too radical for Churchill and the Viceroy, and too conservative for the Indians; no middle way was found. Congress moved toward the Quit India movement whereby it refused to cooperate in the war effort. Various parties and groups had objections to the proposals on different points.

The Congress’s objections:

  1. The offer of dominion status instead of a provision for complete independence
  2. Representation of the states by nominees and not by elected representatives
  3. Right to provinces to secede as this went against the principle of national unity
  4. Absence of any plan for immediate transfer of power and absence of any real share in defence; the governor- general’s supremacy had been retained, and the demand for governor-general being only the constitutional head had not been accepted. Nehru and Maulana Azad were the official negotiators for the Congress.

The Muslim League’s objections:

  1. Criticised the idea of a single Indian Union.
  2. Did not like the machinery for the creation of a constituent assembly and the procedure to decide on the accession of provinces to the Union.
  3. Thought that the proposals denied to the Muslims the right to self-determination and the creation of Pakistan.

Other groups’ objections:

  1. The Liberals considered the secession proposals to be against the unity and security of India.
  2. The Hindu Mahasabha criticised the basis of the right to secede.
  3. The depressed classes thought that partition would leave them at the mercy of the caste Hindus.
  4. The Sikhs objected that partition would take away Punjab from them.

(b)The explanation that the proposals were meant not to supersede the August Offer but to clothe general provisions with precision put British intentions in doubt.

(c) There was confusion over what Cripps had been authorised to offer India’s nationalist politicians by Churchill and Leo Amery (His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India), and he also faced hostility from the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow.The incapacity of Cripps to go beyond the Draft Declaration and the adoption of a rigid “take it or leave it” attitude added to the deadlock. Cripps had earlier talked of “cabinet” and “national government” but later he said that he had only meant an expansion of the executive council.

(d), in public, he failed to present any concrete proposals for greater self-government in the short term, other than a vague commitment to increase the number of Indian members of the Viceroy’s Executive Council. Cripps spent much of his time in encouraging Congress leaders and Jinnah to come to a common, public arrangement in support of the war and government.

(e)The procedure of accession was not well-defined. The decision on secession was to be taken by a resolution in the legislature by a 60% majority. If less than 60% of” members supported it, the decision was to be taken by a plebiscite of adult males of that province by a simple majority. This scheme weighed against the Hindus in Punjab and Bengal if they wanted accession to the Indian Union.

(f)It was not clear as to who would implement and interpret the treaty effecting the transfer of power.

(g)Churchill (the British prime minister), Amery (the secretary of state), Linlithgow (the viceroy) and Ward (the commander-in-chief) consistently torpedoed Cripps’ efforts.

(h)Talks broke down on the question of the viceroy’s veto.

(i)Gandhi described the scheme as “a post-dated cheque drawn on a crashing bank”; Nehru pointed out that the “existing structure and autocratic powers would remain and a few of us will become the viceroy’s liveried camp followers and look after canteens and the like”.

(j)Stafford Cripps returned home leaving behind a frustrated and embittered Indian people, who, though still sympathising with the victims of Fascist aggression, felt that the existing situation in the country had become intolerable and that the time had come for a final assault on imperialism.