The British government planned to hand over power to the people of India by June 1948. In February 1946, a high-level Cabinet Mission was sent to India to discuss the transfer of power. One of the plans proposed by the Mission was to form a constituent assembly.
At first Jinnah was inclined to accept the Mission’s proposals but this changed when Nehru announced at his first press conference that no constituent assembly could be bound by any prearranged constitutional formula.
As a consequence, Jinnah called upon the ‘Muslim nation’ to launch direct action on 16 August 1946. This set off Hindu-Muslim rioting which spread in many regions such as Calcutta, Noakhali and Bihar.
Lord Mountbatten, who was the Viceroy at that time, decided that the situation was far too dangerous to wait till June 1948 for the handover and resolved to partition the country by 15 August 1947.
Both the Congress and the Muslim League accepted this decision. The closing weeks of the British Raj were busy for Jawaharlal Nehru.
As Prime Minister-elect of a new nation he had a lot to deal with. It fell upon him to decide matters of policy, and make decisions regarding India’s national flag, national anthem, national language etc.
Nehru applied himself to these matters and many more with enthusiasm and energy that belied his 58 years.
Picture Credit : Google