Mountbatten Plan

                  Mountbatten Plan (3rd June)

Lord Mountbatten even before being sent to India had been briefed by the British Government to arrange for the transfer of power in as smooth and quick a way as possible.He set himself to this task by holding talks with the leaders of both-the congress and the league. He settled the details with the congress and lead leaders. He left for England to discuss finally with Home Government and returned on June 2, with certain definite proposals. Next day he published his Plan. The salient features of Mountbatten Plan were as follows-

1-Mountbatten's Plan set down the partition of India as a settled fact.It proposed the division of India into two dominions and the transference of power to take place on 15th August,1947, instead of June, 1948,as declared earlier.

2-Contrary to League's demand for a Pakistan including the whole of Bengal and Assam in the East and the Punjab in the West, the plan exclude Assam completely and also suggested the partition of Bengal and the Punjab. The Provincial Legislatures of Bengal and Punjab were to meat separately in two parts each one representing the Muslim majority districts and the other Hindu majority districts. The members of the two parts of each Legislatures were empowered to vote whether or not the Provinces should be partitioned.

3-Referendum in Sylhet and N.W.E.P The Muslim majority district of Sylhet was to decide by referendum whether it was join East Bengal or remain in Assam.In the case of North-West frontier province,there was to be a referendum as certain whether the people wanted to be in Pakistan or India. The need arrows because of the fact that North-West frontier provinces had a Congress Ministry.

Acceptance of Plan-The Representatives of the Hindu Majority Districts of Punjab led by Dr. Gopichand Bhargava and Bengal led by Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in their respective assemblies voted in favour of partition of provinces Sylhet mainly choose to merge in East Bengal. The followers of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in North-West frontier provinces boycotted referendum. The remaining Muslim population opted for Pakistan, Mr. Mohammaed Ali Jinnah refused to accept multilated Pakistan but altimately had to submit to the pressure of Mount Batten as Churchil. The working Committee of the Congress met at Delhi on 14th June 1947, to discuss the draft plan of the viceroy. Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad nationalist Muslim the Hindu Member representing Pakistan districts and Sri Purusottam Das Tandon opposed the plan but Govind Ballabh Pant,Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Ballabh Bhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi accepted in view of condition prevailing in the country. Govind Ballabh Pant moving the resolution of acceptance said that," acceptance of June 3rd Plan was the only way to achieve freedom liberty for the country. It would assure Indian Union with a strong centre which could ensure progress...The choice today was between accepting the Plan or Committee suicide." Master Tara Singh opposed the partition of the Punjab tooth and nail.

Netaji Subash Chand Bose's Victory over Second World War could have averted partition-
The three surviving veterans of Indian National Army ( INA ) said in Singapore on 16th December, 1995,"India would not have been partitioned,had there leader Subhas Chand Bose victorious." 
As the three, colonel G.S.Dhillon ,Capton Lakshmi Sehgal and Capton S.S.Yadav prepare to reenact their famous march from here to India after Fifty years they look back at there native land and see a world gone wrong. But the trio instead ,however, that dispite the post Independence decline despite the struggle if they had to do it all over again.