Khwaja Razi Haidar
In the context of the Pakistan movement, 3 June 1947 has almost the same significance as 23rd March 1940. On March 23, 1940, the Islamic Hind demanded the formation of a separate Muslim state under the leadership of its beloved Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and on June 3, 1947, this demand was officially accepted. These two dates span a period of about seven years, two months, and ten days and span the history of the Pakistan Movement and the struggle that turned the impossible into possible.
The story of this battle is long and sad. In this story where there are enviable events of the maturation of the will there are also fascinating tales of loyalty and gallantry. It was this struggle that finally gave an objective shape to an idea and a dispersed workforce became a stable nation. If 23rd March 1940 was the beginning of this struggle, 3 June 1947 was the peak of this struggle. Government-level consultations were held to find a solution to India’s problem.
Although the Cabinet Mission Plan is of great importance in this regard, the Mountbatten Plan is more notable because it divided India into two parts and reaffirmed the practical status of the demand for Pakistan. Lord Mountbatten was a close friend of Jawaharlal Nehru. He came to India as a Viceroy on 22 March 1947.
He was not only aware of the political situation in India. Rather, he came to India with the intention that he would try to make India even stronger. As Lord Mountbatten himself later admitted in an interview, “I was a firm believer in a united India” and I thought I would do my best to keep India united. Lord Mountbatten’s statement shows that Mountbatten was against the creation of Pakistan until he took over as a Viceroy.
It was for this reason that he first met Jawaharlal Nehru after taking charge of his office and held talks with Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah on April 5, 1947, about twelve days after that meeting. Initially, Mountbatten tried to push for a united government under the “Cabinet Mission Plan,” but within the first two weeks of negotiations with Congress and Muslim League leaders, he was convinced that continuing the siege on the Cabinet Mission Plan was futile and that belief led him to an alternative plan.
Mountbatten developed an alternative plan during talks with Indian leaders. Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, in his book The Emergence of Pakistan, says that on April 26, Mountbatten decided to send his chief of staff, Lord Ismay and George Abel to London. They had to carry with them the initial draft of the said plan. So that the details of this project can be discussed with the government of Britain and the concerned authorities. Under this plan, “the islanders were to be divided into two free and independent kingdoms” One was called India and the other was called Pakistan.
A study of the Mountbatten Papers and other documents of that period, besides the works of Latif Ahmed Sherwani and the Lire Colenza and Domani Colapier, published during the two eras regarding Mountbatten, makes it clear that there was a great deal of communication between Mountbatten and the Congress to save India from partition and they continued their efforts in this regard till the last moment.
He was the fiercest opponent of the creation of Pakistan, but it was undoubtedly the charisma of Quaid e Azam’s skill, efficiency and extraordinary political insight that forced all the opposing forces to accept the demand of Pakistan as the rightful government. In particular, Mountbatten was defeated in negotiations with Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Perhaps this was the reason why Mountbatten, acting in a vindictive spirit, decided that if he was forced to partition India, he would also divide Bengal and Punjab. He believed that the partition of Punjab and Bengal would end the influence of the Quaid e Azam not only on the Muslims of these provinces but also on the Muslims of Bengal. Rather, a Pakistan will come into existence which will be unworkable.
Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah strongly opposed this partition, he was not at all willing to accept “Karam Khurdah” (Compassion’s Residue) or “Kattapatta” (shredded) Pakistan. He also issued very strong statements in this regard, but despite this, he was ready to accept the plan of partition of India. He believed that he would eventually be able to convince Mountbatten or the British government that justice and reasonableness required that the two provinces should not be divided.
It is completely part of Pakistan. But they were successful in their efforts only to the extent of protest because at one stage the British government also stubbornly rejected the proposal of the Quaid e Azam to hold a referendum on the question of division in these provinces. They were also threatened in this regard. Mountbatten even said that ‘if you do not approve this plan, you will also lose the Pakistan for which you have been struggling for years.’
In these circumstances, the Quaid e Azam had no other option but to conditionally approve the project. He met Mountbatten on the evening of June 2, 1947. “I personally assure you that I will try to get the plan approved by the Muslim League council,” he said. In his letters and reports, Mountbatten expressed surprise at the self-confidence of the Quaid-e-Azam and his struggle to keep his position intact in this most critical phase of the Partition of India. Even on June 3, 1947, when Mountbatten, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Baldev Singh, and Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah announced the approval of the plan on All India Radio, Quaid e Azam was the only leader who announced the recognition of the plan with unhappiness. In his speech, he said:
‘It is clear that the plan does not align with our approach on some key issues. We can neither say nor feel that we are satisfied with the way certain issues have been dealt with in the plan. We agree with them. Now, we have to examine whether this plan, presented to us by the government of Johor Majesty, should be accepted or not. However, the final decision will be taken by the All-India Muslim League in the meeting to be held on June 9.’
Although Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah partially expressed confidence in the contents of the plan in his speech, at this stage it was as clear as day that the demand for the creation of “Pakistan” had been finally conceded. And it was this that made the eight crore Muslims of India feel proud. At the end of his speech, Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah raised the slogan “Pakistan Zindabad,” which gave a new meaning to the Muslims of India but created a wave of anger among the Hindus who could not even imagine the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan.
So at a point, when things were heading towards their ultimate destiny and perhaps for the first time in the history of India, Hindus began to compare the strategy of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Congress leaders on the scene. At this stage, they not only became disillusioned with the Congress leadership but also began to explicitly acknowledge Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s superior political qualities and his loyalty to the national cause of the Muslims.
Mohibullah Arifi, a senior officer of the Military Accounts and a poet of a particular style, has written in an article about this speech of Quaid e Azam, “I heard this speech of Quaid e Azam in Delhi with some of my office colleagues. On hearing the decision of the partition of India, one of the Congressmen who was a Hindu trembled with anger and started abusing the big Congress leaders. What is the meaning of a phrase that has come out of his tongue?” “I wish Jinnah was born a Hindu.” After the final phase of the partition of India and the announcement of the principled decision to establish Pakistan, this type of analysis was commonly heard in the political atmosphere of united India.
One of these analyses was that if there had been one Jinnah in the Congress and a hundred Gandhis and Nehrus in the Muslim League, India would never have been partitioned. Muslims, on the other hand, accepted Jinnah’s speech as a final success and sent thousands of letters and telegrams to the office of the All-India Muslim League and the Quaid e Azam, expressing their joy at the decision to establish Pakistan and assuring the League leaders of their full support. The ‘3rd June Plan’ is commonly known as the Mountbatten Plan. To get Pakistan, especially after talks and discussions with those forces which were at that time a wall of iron against the Muslims’ demand for a separate homeland was undoubtedly a huge and historic achievement of Quaid-e-Azam that every Pakistani will always be proud of.
The author is the former Director of Quaid-e-Azam Academy, Karachi.
