Important Notes
From July 1941 to June 1943, Wavell was the Commander in Chief in the Army of the British Government. And after this, in October 1943, Wevell replaced Lord Linlithgow as Viceroy of India. When Lord Wavell became the viceroy of India, there were four major situations in India to tackle. The first situation was that the Quit India Movement was going under the leadership of Gandhiji, apart from this, Jinnah was adamant on the demand of creating a separate state for Muslims i.e. Pakistan and political deadlock was created in India. And on the other hand, Subhash Chandra Bose had formed the Indian National Army, And together with Japan, they were trying to attack the Eastern Border. Apart from this, the fourth situation was that feminism i.e. starvation had spread in Bengal. While Lord Wevell was engaged in controlling Bengal Feminine on one side, on the other side Solutions were being found to end the deadlock between Indian National Congress and Muslim League. In this connection, he reached London in May 1945 with some of his suggestions. After reaching there, he had discussions with Secretary of State L S Amery. And prepared a plan of action. And finally in June 1945, Wevell announced his solutions to end the Indian Constitution deadlock. This solution is called Wevell plan. In the Wevell plan, Lord Wevell had proposed to reconstitute the Viceroy's Executive Council. If all the Indian Political Parties are ready to give their support to the British Government in World War 2. Now let us see what proposals were brought in the Wevell plan.
1) The Viceroy's Executive Council will be reconstituted, and it will be increased from 14 members.
2) Hindus and Muslims will be given equal representation in this council.
3) Apart from this, Sikh community and different classes will also get representation in this council.
That is, in the Viceroy's Executive Council, except the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief, all other members will be Indians. And because the Commander-in-Chief is still going to remain a British officer, therefore the defense of India will still remain within the British authority. Apart from this, veto power was also given to the viceroy in wavell's plan i.e. the power to overwrite the decision of the executive council. However, it was also said that the viceroy would use this veto power very rarely. If seen, a big concession was given to the Muslim community, considering that the Muslim population in United India was only 25%, yet they were given equal seats to Hindus. It was also said in the Wevell plan that if this plan is approved for the Central Government, then a similar plan will be brought for the provinces as well. Lord Wavell called a conference in Shimla on 25 June 1945 to discuss this plan with the Indian Leaders. Because at that time all Indian leaders were in jail due to Quit India Movement. So Lord Wavell first got all the political prisoners released from jail. Lord Wevell had invited 21 political leaders for the Shimla conference, including Mahatma Gandhi and Mahmod Ali Jinnah, but this plan also failed.
Wavell's Mistake
Wavell announced a breakdown of talks thus giving the League a virtual veto. This strengthened the League's position, as was evident from the elections in 1945 - 46, and boosted Jinnah's position; and exposed the real character of the Conservative government of Churchill.
Questions based on Wavell's Plan
According to Wavell's plan, external affairs would be under which of the following?
Ans: Viceroy's Executive Council
How many seats were allotted to the princely states under the Cabinet Mission?
Ans: 93
When was Wavell's plan first presented?
Ans: in 1945 at Shimla Conference
Who was the Viceroy of India when Wavell's plan was presented?
Ans: Lord Wevell
To Download this Notes as PDF, Please click on this link
0 Comments