Mountbatten Plan: Main Points

Lord Mountbatten (India’s last viceroy) proposed a plan in 1947 according to which provinces were to be declared independent successor states with the power to choose whether to join the constituent assembly or not. Known as the Mountbatten Plan, the plan provided for the partition of India into two states that were granted the rights of dominions.

According to the Mountbatten plan, India was divided into two states—a Hindu state, Hindustan, and a Muslim state, Pakistan. Both states received the rights of a dominion.

Failure of Cabinet Mission & Plan Balkan

On 15 March, 1946 Lord Atlee (PM of England) made a historic announcement in which the right to self-determination and the framing of a Constitution for India were conceded. Consequently, a team was sent to India as part of the Cabinet Mission. Main features of Cabinet Mission included:

• Formation of a Union of India, comprising both the British India and the Princely States.
• Union would remain in charge of only foreign affairs, defense and communications leaving the residuary powers to be vested in the provinces.
• Rejection of the demand for a full-fledged Pakistan

Both the Muslim League and the Congress accepted the plan. Consequently, elections were held in July 1946 for the formation of a Constituent Assembly. An Interim Government was formed under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru on 2 September 1946.

However, between March and May of 1947, Mountbatten decided that the Cabinet Mission Plan had become untenable and formulated an alternative plan. Lord Mountbatten came to India as the last Viceroy on March 22, 1947 and was assigned the task of a speedy transfer of power by the then British Prime Minister Clement Atlee.

In May 1947, Mountbatten came up with a plan under which he proposed that the provinces be declared independent successor states and then be allowed to choose whether to join the constituent assembly or not. So, as per this plan, each of the 11 provinces of British India and each of the 559 princely states would be given the option to join India or Pakistan or remain independent. This plan was called the ‘Dickie Bird Plan’. Jawaharlal Nehru, when apprised of the plan, vehemently opposed it saying it would lead to balkanisation of the country. Hence, this plan was also called Plan Balkan.

Mountbatten Plan

In order to expedite matters and to take the necessary steps for transferring power to the Indians, Prime Minister Atlee decided to send Lord Mountbatten as Viceroy to India. Lord Mountbatten, armed with vast powers, became India’s Viceroy on 24 March 1947.

He realised that partition of India and the creation of Pakistan was inevitable. After extensive consultation Lord Mountbatten put forth the plan of partition of India on 3 June 1947. Also known as the June 3 Plan, this plan was the last plan for Indian independence. It is also called the Mountbatten Plan.

The June 3 Plan included the principles of partition, autonomy, sovereignty to both nations, and the right to make their own constitution. Above all, the Princely States such as Jammu and Kashmir were given a choice to either join India or Pakistan.

Mountbatten presented his plan to seven prominent leaders- Nehru, Patel, Jinnah, Kripalani, Liaquat, Nishtar and Baldev Singh. This plan was accepted by both the Congress and the Muslim League. By then, the Congress had also accepted the inevitability of the partition.

The Mountabatten Plan offered a key to the political and constitutional dead-end tha was created by the refusal of Muslim League to join the Constituent Assembly formed to frame the constitution of India.

Provisions of Mountbatten Plan

British India was to be partitioned into two dominions – India and Pakistan. The constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly would not be applicable to the Muslim-majority areas (as these would become Pakistan). The question of a separate constituent assembly for the Muslim-majority areas would be decided by these provinces.

As per the plan, the legislative assemblies of Bengal and Punjab met and voted for the partition. Accordingly, it was decided to partition these two provinces along religious lines. The legislative assembly of Sind would decide whether to join the Indian constituent assembly or not. It decided to go with Pakistan. A referendum was to be held on NWFP (North-Western Frontier Province) to decide which dominion to join. NWFP decided to join Pakistan while Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan boycotted and rejected the referendum.

Nehru on behalf of the Congress declared: “It is with no joy in my heart that I commend these proposals.” Jinnah on behalf of the Moslem League declared: “We cannot say or feel that we are satisfied or that we agree with some of the matters dealt with by the plan.” Baldev Singh on behalf of the Sikhs declared: “It would be untrue if I were to say that we are altogether happy. The British Plan does not please everybody, not the Sikh community anyway.”

This plan was put into action by the Indian Independence Act 1947 which was passed in the British Parliament and received the royal assent on 18 July 1947.

The date for the transfer of power was to be August 15, 1947. To fix the international boundaries between the two countries, the Boundary Commission was established chaired by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, a London barrister who had never previously visited British India.

Radcliffe had worked with Mountbatten earlier and since he had never been to British India, he was considered unbiased. Both Nehru and Jinnah agreed to his appointment, which was formally approved by the Partition Council. The main task of the Boundary commission was to demarcate Bengal and Punjab into the two new countries.

The princely states were given the choice to either remain independent or accede to India or Pakistan. The British suzerainty over these kingdoms was terminated. The British monarch would no longer use the title ‘Emperor of India’. After the dominions were created, the British Parliament could not enact any law in the territories of the new dominions.

Until the time the new constitutions came into existence, the Governor-General would assent any law passed by the constituent assemblies of the dominions in His Majesty’s name. The Governor-General was made a constitutional head.

On the midnight of 14th and 15th August 1947, the dominions of Pakistan and India respectively came into existence. Lord Mountbatten was appointed the first Governor General of independent India and M .A. Jinnah became the Governor-General of Pakistan.

To Summarize, the Mountbatten Plan not only laid down the partition of India, but provided a machinery for the areas affected by the Pakistan demand to choose, either through their Legislative Assembly representatives or through the referendum, between a single Constituent Assembly in accordance with the Cabinet Mission Plan, or a separate Constituent Assembly for a separate State.

Hence, we can say that the main purpose of the Mountbatten Plan was the partition of India and the speedy transfer of responsibility, initially in the form of Dominion Status, to the Indian Governments for the sections of a divided India.