The 3rd June Plan (1947)
April 6th, 2008 | by Raja Ghias |In March 1947, Lord Wavell was recalled and was replaced by Lord Mountbatten as Viceroy of India. His appointment had been greatly welcomed by the Congress and his relations with Nehru were said to be good. When Lord Mountbatten reached India in March, 1947, he found India in a grip of civil war in the shape of “communal riots”. He soon realized that there was no way out of the tangle other than partition. Thus the partition of the sub-continent became inevitable as the only solution. On 3rd June, he announced his plan. The 3rd June Plan or otherwise known as the Mountbatten Plan provided:
1. The areas of the sub-continent not represented in the Constituent Assembly were to decide whether their constitution was to be framed by the existing Constituent Assembly or by a new one.
2. The Legislature of Bengal and the Punjab were each to meet in two parts representing the Muslim majority areas and the rest of the province. Each part to decide by a simple majority whether the province was to be partitioned or not. If either of the two portioned, it was to be effected accordingly. For the purpose of determining the population of districts the 1941 census figures would be taken as authoritative.
3. It would be the choice of the legislatures of Sindh to join the existing Constituent Assembly or the new one.
4. For the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) a referendum would be made to the electors of the present legislative Assembly to choose which Constituent Assembly they would join.
5. For the district of Sylhet in Assam the same procedure like that of the NWFP would follow.
6. A Boundary Commission would be set up to demarcate the Muslim majority areas in Bengal, the Punjab and Sylhet if they decide to opt for the new Constituent Assembly.
7. If Bengal, the Punjab and Sylhet decide to join the new Constituent Assembly, a fresh election would be held on the principle of one for every million population.
8. Agreements regarding tribal areas would be negotiated later with the successor authority.
9. The position of the Indian States would remain unchanged.
10. It would be the right of the Constituent Assemblies either to remain in the British Common wealth or to opt for complete independence.
On 4 June Mountbatten held a press conference where he opened his remarks with a palpable lie: “he pointed out that at every stage and at every step he had worked in hand with the leaders and that the plan had come as on shock or surprise to them”. It was on this occasion that 15 August, 1947, was mentioned as the tentative date for the transfer of power.
The Muslim League Council met on 10 June and gave full authority to Jinnah to accept the plan as a compromise. All India Congress committee met on 14 June and resolved to accept the plan. But the Congress in resolution of its acceptance still harparped the one India idea by saying that geography has fashioned India as she is, and no human agency can change that shape. Maulana Abul Kalam said that: “I am sure it is going to be short-lived partition.” The Hindu Mahasabha paraphrased the same idea in stronger and cleaner terms. “India is one and indivisible and there will never be peace unless and until the separated areas are brought back into the Indian Union and made integral parts thereof.”
