Cripps Mission of 1942

By early 1942, Japan had made progress in Southeast Asia and was on the border of India. The British government has sought to ensure India’s full cooperation against Japan, China and the United States, which entered the war, were also interested in India’s full participation in the war. Increasing pressure from China and the United States, and the British Labour Party has prompted Prime Minister Winston Churchill to send Stafford Cripps to India in March 1942.

Features: 

• Establishment of Indian Estates. This rule would give the right to stay or leave within the British Commonwealth. Participation in international organizations will also be free.
• A Constituent Assembly would be formed to draft a new constitution for the country. The assembly would  include members elected by the provincial legislatures and appointed by princes.
• Any province that did not wish to be included in the Indian rule could form a separate federation and a separate constitution.
• The transfer of power and minority rights are guaranteed by negotiations between the Constituent Assembly and the British government.
• In the meantime, the defense of India would remain in British hands and governor- general’s powers would remain intact.

The failure of the Cripps mission can usually be attributed to several factors, most notably the limits within which Cripps was to operate. Some analysts see the mission as allaying China and America’s concerns about British imperialism. Gandhi seized on the mission’s failure and called the British from India. This gave rise to the Quit India Movement.

The 1940s was a very complicated year for the Britishers in India. In order to seek India’s support in World war II, it came up with a number of plans and policies, clearly depicting their actual motives behind the transfer of power. India had declared “Purna Swaraj” as the goal of the congress in the 1929 Lahore session and would not subside anything less than that.