The British government wanted to get the cooperation of the Indian people in order to deal with the war situation. The divergence between the two major representative parties of the country harassed the British government. It found it difficult to make the war a success without the cooperation of both the Hindus and the Muslims.
On March 22, 1942, Britain sent Sir Stafford Cripps with constitutional proposals.[The important points of the declaration were as follows:
- General elections in the provinces would be arranged as soon as the war ended.
- A new Indian dominion, associated with the United Kingdom would be created.
- Those provinces not joining the dominion could form their own separate union.
- Minorities were to be protected.
However, both the Congress and the Muslim League rejected these proposals. Jinnah opposed the plan, as it did not concede Pakistan. Thus the plan came to nothing.
This article was last updated on Sunday, June 01, 2003
