2. The mountbatten plan
● Mountbatten put his plan for the partition of india in front of the ‘big seven
leaders’ - Nehru, Patel, Kripalani, Jinnah, Liaquat, Nishtar, and Baldev Singh.
● The plan was announced on 3 June 1947 on the same day Gandhi said that
the division of india can only do harm to the country’s future.
3. Clauses of the mountbatten plan
● Partition
○ The country would be divided into 2 dominions, india and pakistan.
● Relations between the 2 new dominions
○ The 2 dominions were to decide what relations they would have with each other and the british
commonwealth.
● A boundary commission
○ The plan provided for a boundary commission to decide the partition for the 2 dominions in case a
partition was decided.
● The princely states
○ The treaties with the princely states would come to an end.
○ They would be free to associate themselves with either of the dominions or to be independent.
4. Clauses of the mountbatten plan
continued...
● Bengal and Punjab
○ The partition of bengal and punjab was proposed provided that the legislative
assemblies of the 2 provinces decided in favour of the partition
● Sindh
○ The legislative assembly of sindh would take its own decision in a special meeting
● North-West frontier province
○ A plebiscite was to be held in the North-Western province to see if people wanted
to join india or pakistan
● The district of sylhet
○ Muslim majority district sylhit could decide if they wanted to join east bengal or
assam.
5. Acceptance of the mountbatten plan
● According to Maulana azad the congress had no other alternative and accepted the mountbatten
plan
● The plan may be summarised by the following points:
○ The leaders felt that further delay in the transfer of power could find india in the midst of a civil war
○ The leaders felt that partition would rid the constitution of separate electorates and other undemocratic
procedures. India could then evolve a truly secular and democratic policy
○ The only alternative to partition was a federation with a weak centre. A smaller India with a strong central
authority was better than a bigger state with a weak centre
○ Any further continuation of british rule would mean a greater calamity for India. The british were instigating the
rulers of the indian states to remain independent. Hence, partition was the price for immediate independence.
6. The indian independence clause 1947
● Princely states
○ The princely states would become independent and all the powers exercised by the british authority were to be
terminated. All the treaties and agreements made by the british would lapse from 15 august 1947. They would
be free to associate themselves with either dominion or to remain independent
● Division of the army and assets
○ Provisions were made for the division of the indian army between the 2 dominions and steps were taken to
share the assets and liabilities between the 2 dominions
● Office of secretary of state and Interest of existing Officers
○ Provisions were made for safeguarding the interests of the existing officers appointed by the secretary of the
state. The office for the secretary of india was abolished
● Governor general for each dominion
○ There would be a governor general for each dominion appointed by the british king on advice of the cabinet of
the concerned dominion. This arrangement would work until the framing of the constitution
