A New Beginning

The British, having ruled the Indian subcontinent for nearly two centuries, left India in mid-1947. Before the transfer of power could take place, Cabinet Mission Plan was sent to India in March 1946 to negotiate between the leadership of the Congress party and the Muslim League about the future of the subcontinent. By this time, while the communal question had become a grave issue, the possibility of an amiable solution to the mounting Congress–League differences had also turned remote. As an organisation, the Congress party constantly claimed to be committed to its anti-partition viewpoint. At an individual level, however, marked shifts in perception of Congress’s leadership were noticeable. For instance, Jawahar Lal Nehru regarded the Lahore Resolution as a game changer: ‘There is no question of settlement or negotiation now’, he declared immediately after the Resolution was passed ( Panikkar 1940 ). Similarly, Mahatma Gandhi wrote in April 1940, ‘As a man of non-violence, I cannot forcibly resist the proposed partition if the Muslims of India insist upon it. But I never can be a willing party to the vivisection’ ( Mehrotra 1979 ).