'All the parties and especially the members of the Muslim League should ask the Qaid-i-Azam to revise his opinion,' Gandhi said in a press statement the next day. 'If Rajaji and I have stultified the Lahore Resolution we should be educated.' In an interview to Stuart Gelder from the News Chronicle, he remarked, 'I believe Mr. Jinnah is sincere, but I think he is suffering from hallucination when he imagines that an unnatural division of India could bring either happiness or prosperity to the people concerned.'
Their talks had only been adjourned sine die, Gandhi said to another group of pressmen, 'I am convinced that Mr. Jinnah is a good man. I hope we shall meet again.... In the meantime it is the duty of the public to digest the situation and bring pressure of their opinion upon us.'
Thus the talks between Gandhi and Jinnah ended without much progress.
THE SIMLA CONFERENCE
As the Second World War drew to a close in Europe, public opinion in Britain and the neutral world became increasingly critical of the continued denial of self-determination leading to independence for the people of India. Great Britain had faced a very embarrassing situation at the Commonwealth Relations Conference, when its own nominee, the leader of the Indian delegation, demanded dominion status for India by a fixed date and told the British statesmen that they could not prevent India from achieving its goal.
Lord Wavell, a former soldier and current viceroy of India, had time and again pressed Whitehall to resolve the Indian deadlock, to enable India's active cooperation in the prosecution of the war in the Far East. In March 1945 Wavell was called to England by His Majesty's Government (HMG) for consultations on the situation in India and the road ahead. While he was in London, the war in Europe ended with the unconditional surrender of the Axis. The Labour Party withdrew from the wartime coalition and the government fell on 23 May. A caretaker government took charge and the next general elections were fixed for 5 July. As the date neared, even the Tory diehards, who had till then refused to even consider a change in HMG's policy towards India, realised that the reality could not be ignored any longer. Soldiers who had returned home after serving their wartime duties in India had brought back with them horrifying stories of the brutal colonial regime and the total failure of the administration in providing relief during the Great Famine in West Bengal. Public opinion in Great Britain was now critical of their country's role in India. Many uncomfortable questions about the pitiable conditions in India were asked during election time. The tremendous goodwill that Gandhi enjoyed amongst the British was another factor that made it imperative for the politicians seeking reelection to show that they were willing to bow to the winds of change. If, by taking small steps towards resolving the Indian issue they managed to win a few more seats, there was no harm done.
On 14 June, with the concurrence of HMG, Lord Wavell made a public announcement explaining the intended constitutional amendments 'within the framework of the 1935 Government of India Act'. The viceroy would attempt to form a national government which would replace the existing Viceroy's Executive Council, with equal representation of caste Hindus and Muslims selected in consultation with the Indian leaders. Simultaneously, all the members of the CWC, detained since August 1942, were released, as a gesture to show that HMG and their colonial representatives were sincere in solving the Indian impasse.
Accordingly, a 'Simla Conference', chaired by the viceroy, was to be held starting on 25 June 1945, which would include invitees from all political parties and groups selected by the viceroy. Twenty-one invitations were sent out, eleven to the premiers of various provinces the leaders of the Congress party and the deputy leader of the Muslim League in the Central Assembly, the leaders of the Muslim League in the Council of State, the leader of the Nationalist Party and the European Group in the Central Assembly, one representative each from scheduled castes, the Sikhs and to Gandhi and Jinnah as the recognised leaders of the two main political parties. Initially, no invite was sent to the president of the Congress, Maulana Azad.
Gandhi was convalescing in Panchgani when he was informed about the Viceroy's broadcast by a press correspondent and the invitation to attend the conference. Gandhi immediately commented on the Congress president not being invited and wrote to the viceroy: 'I represent no institution formally. I am not even a primary member of the Congress since 1934, as an individual I can only tender advice. My presence in the Conference will change the official colour, unless I become an official representative of the Congress. The Congress President is the proper authority to represent the Congress point of view'. In view of this an invite was immediately despatched to the president. Gandhi agreed to go to Simla as an experienced advisor and stay there as long as the viceroy and the other invitees needed him. In his broadcast the viceroy had not mentioned a word about Indian independence and ominously, for the first time, the term 'caste Hindu-Muslim parity' was used as a basic condition in the national government. Gandhi commented: 'Personally I can never subscribe to it, nor the Congress, if I know its mind. In spite of having overwhelming Hindu membership the Congress has striven to be purely political. I am quite capable of advising the Congress to nominate all non-Hindus and most decidedly non-caste Hindus.' He stressed this point further by saying, 'Congress has never identified [itself] with caste or non-caste Hindus and never can, even to gain independence, which will be one-sided, untrue and suicidal.'
The CWC met at Bombay after a period of three years. Most of the Congress leaders had just been released and many of them were nursing serious ailments. The one affliction they all shared was a broken spirit. Finally, the colonial power had succeeded in breaking their will to 'do or die'. One refrain heard from almost all the Congressmen when referring to imprisonment, was 'never again'. Now they would sit around the negotiating table, cut deals, make compromises and accept whatever was dished out. They were not going to lead mass agitations, no more civil disobedience movements, no more 'Chale jao', 'Leave', shouted in defiance of the British police's picket lines at the head of thousands of their countrymen, on city streets and village squares of India, which led to mass arrests and prolonged incarceration. Now they wanted a negotiated understanding. They were afraid that if they allowed too much time to lapse in getting independence, not many of them would survive to reap the benefits. An 'instrument of instructions' was drafted for the Congress invitees to the conference. The Working Committee noted that a large number of its activists were still behind bars and many of the Congress committees were still banned, which was described as 'coercion'. However, it was decided that the Congress would attend the conference.
Gandhi refused to travel by the air-conditioned coaches provided for the Congress contingent, instead choosing to travel by his favourite third-class coach. Preston Grover, a correspondent with the United Press of America, was travelling by the same train. Concerned about Gandhi's physical well-being, he requested him to retire to the air-conditioned coach. Gandhi replied: 'Many thanks for your considerate note. But let me melt myself in this natural heat. As sure as fate, this heat will be followed by refreshing coolness which I shall enjoy. Let me feel just a touch of real India'.
On arriving in Simla, Gandhi had a hurried bath and meal at Rajkumari Amrit Kaur's residence and left for a meeting with the viceroy. At the Viceregal Lodge, greeting Lord Wavell he said, 'I, too, am a soldier like you though I bear no arms.' After exchanging pleasantries and a few moments of casual talk, when Gandhi rose to take his leave he sent his compliments to Lady Wavell. He spent the next thirty minutes talking with her and the viceroy's son. Gandhi stayed with Rajkumari Amrit Kaur for the entire duration of the Simla Conference. He had a favourite seat on one of the raised terraces, from where he gazed at the scenery, the pristine, eternally snow-covered Himalayan mountain range and the fir-clad hills and valleys. The azure blue skies formed a breathtaking backdrop for the pearly white brilliance of the Himalayas, carpeted by the vibrant multihued greens of the valleys. 'The world has nothing to equal it,' murmured Gandhi.
The viceroy was
eager that Gandhi attend the conference as a delegate, but the latter declined, saying that in a representative conference there was no room for an individual, however eminent. He offered to stay in Simla for the duration of the conference and agreed to give advice if required. Jinnah called Gandhi's absence from the conference as a 'withdrawal' and issued statements saying that 'Mr. Gandhi withdrawing from the conference has vitiated the atmosphere.' In an interview to Preston Grover, Gandhi answered, 'If Mr. Jinnah wants me there, he can take me there. Such a gesture on Mr. Jinnah's part would mean that he wants a settlement even in the teeth of differences and obstacles that face the conference.'
In his opening address to the delegates, Wavell sounded genuinely eager and honest. 'I said in my broadcast that on all sides there was something to forgive and forget.... You must accept my leadership for the present.... I will endeavour to guide the discussion of this conference in what I believe to be the best interest of the country.'
Commenting on the opening address, Gandhi said, 'It is a good and dignified expression that Lord Wavell has used. He thus acts in the conference as its leader and not as the agent of Whitehall.' The viceroy navigated the conference through predictable shallows and rapids of disagreements and conflicts. At one point, the Congress objected to having been classified as a Hindu party in the viceroy's address, and the viceroy denied having called them so. Jinnah jumped into the fray branding the Congress as a Hindu party. There followed a sharp exchange between Jinnah, the viceroy and Congress members.
Viceroy Wavell: 'There is nothing in my proposals which characterises Congress as a communal body.'
Jinnah: 'We have met here as communities and Congress does not represent anybody but the Hindus.'
Viceroy Wavell: 'Congress represents its members.'
Dr. Khan Saheb: 'What does he mean? I am a Congressman. Am I a Hindu or a Muslim?'
Viceroy Wavell: 'Leave it at that. The Congress represents its members.'
India's history would have chartered a different course if the viceroy had been firm about his utterances. The hollowness of his opening statement was to be proven before the conference ended.
There was disagreement between the Congress and Gandhi on the understanding of the term 'parity between communities'. Gandhi insisted that it meant 'No community could ask for more representation than the other but was free to accept less if it chose. The Congress should accept the position that the non-scheduled Hindu would in no case exceed Muslims and break the parity by nominating the best Indians drawn from all the minority groups, including one representative each of Anglo-Indians, Englishmen, Parsis, Sikhs, Jews (if available), Indian Christians, scheduled castes and women, and irrespective of whether they were Congress members or not.' This would have left the Muslim League with a panel of three or more, including a nationalist Muslim, in a council of fourteen. By refusing to exercise the right of parity on behalf of the Hindus, they would cut across sectional complications and lay a solid and safe foundation for the independent India to be on a purely nationalist basis. If, on the other hand, the Congress was to accept the communal parity formula, it would inevitably give rise to a gladiatorial duel between the Hindus and Muslims in the Viceroy's Executive Council and bring into play the viceroy's veto. But they could render nugatory the parity part of the viceroy's proposal by voluntarily choosing sub-parity for the Hindus. With five caste Hindus pitted against five Muslims, the Muslim League could create a tie in the Cabinet with the help of the viceroy and the commander-in-chief. But with a Cabinet comprising patriotic, nationalist-minded minority group representatives with a maximum of three 'caste Hindu' members, there would be no communal alignment in the Cabinet and the League would not be able to raise the bogey of 'Hindu majority rule'. The CWC was not convinced about Gandhi's strategy. The members of the committee individually agreed with the assessment. 'It appeals to me, Gandhiji is right,' remarked the ex-chief minister of a province to one of his colleagues. 'And you hope to be able to face the electorate after accepting sub-parity for the Hindus?' replied the latter. The chief minister stopped publicly agreeing with Gandhi's point of view after this.
The entry dated 29 June 1945 by Pyarelal Nayyar, says the following:
'Bapu explained his views on parity to Ravishankar Shukla, B.G. Kher, and Shrikrishna Sinha, ex-Chief Ministers of Central Province, Bombay and Bihar respectively, on the evening of the 25th, and later to Rajaji. He sent me to explain the same to Maulana Saheb and Rajaji again on the morning of the 26th. On the 26th afternoon the Maulana Saheb saw Bapu. Bapu made it very clear in the course of his talk that so far as he was concerned he could have nothing to do with this parity business or a Congress that was committed to it. The Maulana Saheb left giving an impression that in principle he wholeheartedly approved of Bapu's stand. But on the afternoon of the 28th, when the delegates returned from the conference, it was learnt that the conference had accepted all the five fundamental principles of the Wavell offer as put forth by the Viceroy, including parity.... It had been contended that the Wavell proposal leaves no freedom to renounce parity even if one of the parties so wishes. Bapu has, however, made it clear to all concerned that an imposed parity would make the offer stink in his nostrils and render the Viceregal proposal wholly unacceptable.
'It has again been agreed that whilst the Congress may insist on the principle of choosing best men, irrespective of caste, creed or party affiliations, and even give preference to minority group representatives (subject to the clause that they stand for independence and work for it) it cannot insist on sub-parity for the Hindus. That can be properly done by a purely Hindu organisation. Bapu's viewpoint, however, is that Congress, being pledged to act as a national organisation, cannot accept that position. Nor can the conference object to the Congress taking that stand in regard to the Hindus, since Congress claims to speak on the behalf of the Hindus, too, as a part of the Indian Nation, and the composition of the conference is of a political rather than communal character. The League is there as one of the dominant political parties in the Assembly. If it was intended that the various groups should function on a communal basis, the Hindu Mahasabha should have been invited and the Congress left out'.
Reacting to the decision of the conference to continue with the parity formula Gandhi wrote to Wavell: 'This does not mean any change on my part. I am more than ever convinced that the non-scheduled Hindu members should have been less than the Muslims'. Jinnah again back-tracked and stalled the conference by dilly-dallying. He refused to react to the Congress suggestion that the League should accommodate two non-League Muslims in its quota the way the Congress was accommodating two non-Congressmen within its quota. The viceroy suggested that Jinnah and the Congress president meeting along with the leader of the European group, Richardson. Jinnah manoeuvred out of the meet by saying that since he was committed to the ongoing talks between him and the Congress leader and ex-premier of U.R, Govind Vallabh Pant, there was no need for him to meet the Congress president. Jinnah sabotaged the dialogue with Pant too. Jinnah was now determinedly working towards the goal of partition and Pakistan.
On the 29th, when the conference reconvened, the viceroy announced that, since none of the parties could come to an agreement, instead of wasting time the delegate parties could send him their suggested lists of members for the national government. He would add some names himself and after consultation with the concerned parties, arrive at a generally acceptable list. Jinnah was against this; he wanted the viceroy to guarantee that he would accept the Muslim League's list en bloc. The viceroy refused to give any such assurance; it was his sole prerogative to arrive at a final selection. But he assured all parties that he would give them ample opportunity to accept or reject the names suggested by him. Jinnah then wanted to know if the viceroy would continue with the selection process if one of the parties finally rejected it; the viceroy refused to give any commitment in advance. When finally the viceroy asked Jinnah if the League was going to submit a list, the latter again fell back on his sta
lling techniques, by pleading that, since he was at the conference in his individual capacity, he could not make a commitment on behalf of the party. If the viceroy were to submit his proposal in writing to the Working Committee of the Muslim League, they would give a definite reply. The viceroy agreed and the conference was adjourned for a fortnight.
All parties barring the Muslim League and European group submitted their lists. The Congress submitted a panel of fifteen names, attempting to give proper representation to all the minority communities. The Congress list comprised:
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Congress Muslim)
Asaf Ali (Congress Muslim)
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (Congress Hindu)
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Congress Hindu)
Dr. Rajendra Prasad (Congress Hindu)
M.A. Jinnah (Muslim League)
Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan (Muslim League)
Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan (Muslim League)
Dr. Shyamaprasad Mukherji (Hindu Mahasabha)
Gaganvihari Mehta (Hindu)
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur (woman, Indian Christian)
Muniswami Pillay (scheduled class)
Radhanath Das (scheduled class)
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