Cripps Mission (21) Flashcards
Why were Indians optimistic regarding the leadership of the Cripps delegation?
Sir Stafford Cripps was a Labour Party minister, a friend of Nehru and Gandhi and personally sympathetic to Indian aspirations. He was well-known and well-liked in Congress circles.
What was the purpose of the Cripps Mission?
Roosevelt was putting pressure on Churchill to agree to some form of self government for India to unite the country.
When did the Cripps Mission arrive in New Delhi?
23rd March 1942
Why was Viceroy Linlithgow apprehensive regarding the Cripps Mission?
He was worried that a settlement would be imposed by the British government over his head.
Why was the Cripps Mission doomed?
What Cripps had to offer wasn’t what Congress wanted.
What did the Cripps Mission offer (believing it to be a bargain)?
After the war, India would be offered full dominion status
The Indian people would elect an assembly, which would frame a new constitution
If any province or princely state wanted to disassociate itself from the new India, they were free to go their own way
In return, all Indian parties were invited to join in an interim government of national unity under the Viceroy and his Council, which would operate until the end of the war.
How did Congress react to the Cripps Mission proposals?
They rejected the first part, as they weren’t willing to accept any situation where states were allowed to opt out of a united India.
But they were willing to join the proposed interim government, provided it behaved like the Westminster one, with the Viceroy acting as PM and the defence ministry under the control of an Indian
How did Churchill and Linlithgow react to Congress’ suggestions?
They were angry, the Raj had to remain in control while the war continued. Indians were affronted, it was another sign that Britain would cling onto India at all costs and wouldn’t accept India as an equal partner.
What was Jinnah’s reaction to the Cripps proposals?
He was ready to accept it as it implied that a separate Pakistan wouldn’t be a problem, but it did reject it if the Muslim League was to remain part of the constitution-making process.
What was the conclusion of the Cripps Mission?
Cripps flew home on the 11th April, Churchill had won a victory at too great a cost and Roosevelt had been wrong-footed. The Indians wouldn’t accept what had seemed to them both (Churchill and Roosevelt) to be a perfectly reasonable proposition.
