His nobi-
lity, devotion to duty and sincerity were unequalled.
lity, devotion to duty and sincerity were unequalled.
Cambridge History of India - v4 - Indian Empire
Later on, the Congress accepted
it and the Muslim League rejected. The Congress believed that
under the Cabinet Mission Plan the grouping of the Provinces was
not compulsory. The Congress was not prepared to allow Assam
and the North-Western Frontier Province to join their respective
groups. The Muslim League insisted that the grouping of the
Provinces was compulsory and Assam was bound to join Bengal
and the North-Western Frontier Province was bound to join Pun-
jab and Sind. Ultimately, the British Government decided in
favour of the Muslim League. A perusal of the resolution of the
Muslim League by which it accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan
shows that it considered the Plan to be merely a stepping stone to
the realisation of Pakistan in the long run. The Regional Unions
of the Muslim majority provinces could decide at any time to leave
the Indian Union and in that case Pakistan was to consist of the
whole of the Punjab, North-Western Frontier Province, Sind,
Baluchistan, Bengal and Assam. Such an eventuality was not ac-
ceptable to the Congress. The Congress was not in favour of
giving away the whole of Punjab, Bengal and Assam to the Mus-
lim League. Moreover, the Congress did not approve of a weak
Centre. Nothing could be accomplished under such a weak
Centre. Thus there were bound to be differences and misgivings.
When Lord Wavell did not invite the Muslim League to form
the Interim Government in spite of the rejection of the plan by the
Congress, the Muslim League passed a resolution on 29 July, 1946,
by which it withdrew its consent of the Cabinet Mission Plan and
fixed 16 August, 1946, as the Direct Action Day. That Day was
declared a public holiday in Bengal and Sind. What happened on
16 August, in Calcutta and on the subsequent three days is well-
known. There was a terrible loss of life and property in Calcutta.
The same story was repeated when the trouble spread to Noakhali.
There were repercussions in Bihar.
## p. 972 (#1016) ###########################################
972
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
On 2 September, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru formed the Interim
Government. When the Muslim League found that Lord Wavell
had invited the Congress to form the Interim Government without
it, it decided to enter the Interim Government as it was not pre-
pared to allow power to pass into the hands of the Congress. Lord
Wavell also accommodated the Muslim League and it was allow-
ed to nominate five members to the Executive Council of the Vice-
roy. When the Constituent Assembly met on 9 December, 1946,
the Muslim League boycotted it.
The situation began to worsen in the country and ultimately
Prime Minister Attlee declared on 20 February, 1947 that the Bri-
tish Government would hand over power into the hands of the
Indians by a date not later than June, 1948. He also declared that
the British Government would send Lord Mountbatten to India to
carry out the new policy. It was under these circumstances that
Lord Wavell was recalled before his term of office expired.
LORD MOUNTBATTEN (1947-48)
Before his appointment as the Governor-General and Viceroy of
India, Lord Mountbatten had been the Supreme Allied Comman-
der in South-East Asia during World War II. He played an im-
portant part in the overthrow of the Japanese power in South-East
Asia. From 27 March, 1947 to 15 August, 1947, he was the
Governor-General and Viceroy of the whole of India. After the
partition of India, he became the Governor-General of free India
minus Pakistan. He continued in that position up to June, 1948.
When Lord Mountbatten reached India towards the end of
March 1947, the situation was very critical. The Muslim League
was carrying on its wear and tear campaign all over the country,
particularly in the Punjab, Sind and North-Western Frontier Pro-
vince. The Khizar Hayat Tiwana's ministry was forced to resign
in March and there were riots not only at Lahore but also at
Rawalpindi and its neighbourhood. It is rightly stated that the
Muslims turned upon the Sikhs in Rawalpindi and in a welter of
ferocity, murdered more than 2,000. Even before the announce-
ment of 3 June plan, there were serious disturbances in the Pun-
jab. When the Muslims rioted in Multan, British authority com-
pletely disappeared there. The non-Muslims were completely at
the mercy of the unsocial elements who were instigated and har-
boured by the Muslim League. There were fires in various parts
of Lahore even before 3 June, 1947. Soon after the arrival of Lord
Mountbatten in India, the Muslim League celebrated the Pakistan
Day. The working of the Interim Government was hopelessly un-
## p. 973 (#1017) ###########################################
LORD MOUNTBATTEN
973
satisfactory. On account of the attitude of the Muslim League
members in the Central Government, the work of the Government
was practically at a stand-still. No wonder, Lord Mountbatten
came to the inevitable conclusion that the partition of the country
was the only solution. On the whole, the 3 June plan was accept-
ed by all the political parties and the Indian Independence Act
fixed 15 August, 1947, as the date for making India free and on
that date both India and Pakistan became actually independent.
Credit must go to Lord Mountbatten for the lightning speed with
which he expedited the work of the partitioning of India. Address-
ing the constitution Assembly just before mid-night on 14 August,
1947, Prime Minister Nehru observed: “Long years ago we made
a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem
our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At
the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will
awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but
rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when
an age ends, when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utte-
rance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge
of dedication to the service of India and her people and to still
larger cause of humanity. ” Lord Mountbatten was requested to
continue as the Governor-General of India.
After the declaration of India's independence, the state of Jam-
mu and Kashmir was attacked by the tribal raiders. Prime Mini-
ster Mehr Chand Mahajan protested against the attack and appea-
led both to Pakistan and the British Prime Minister to stop them
but to no avail. Ultimately, the state acceded to India and In-
dian forces were flown to Kashmir to protect the people and drive
out the raiders. India also took the matter to the Security Council
of the United Nations and ultimately a cease-fire was ordered bet-
ween the two countries.
The division of India on communal lines presented insurmoun-
table difficulties. The Boundary Force of 50,000 Indian troops
under the command of Major-General Reese proved inadequate
to maintain law and order in the Punjab after the announcement
of the Radcliffe Boundary Award on 17 August, 1947. The South
Indian troops who could be trusted in that atmosphere were not
readily available. The result was that the Muslims in West Pak-
istan attacked the Hindus and Sikhs and the latter attacked them
in turn in East Punjab. Each tried to exterminate the other.
According to one estimate, “In the nine months between August
1947 and the spring of the following year, between fourteen and
sixteen million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were forced to leave
their homes and flee to safety from blood crazed mobs. In that
## p. 974 (#1018) ###########################################
974
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
same period, over 600,000 of them were killed. . . . Another
view is that “up to the middle of 1948 about 51/2 million non-
Muslims were brought across the border from West Punjab and
other provinces of Western Pakistan. About the same number of
Muslims moved into Pakistan from East Punjab (including the East
Punjab States), Delhi, the United Provinces, Ajmer-Merwara,
Alwar, Bharatpur, Gwalior and Indore. During the same period
about 114 million non-Muslims crossed the border from East Pakis-
tan into West Bengal. These figures do not of course take into
account about 4,000,000 non-Muslims who later migrated to India
from Sind. ”
When all this was happening convoys were waylaid and refugee
trains were held up and their passengers were slaughtered. Mr.
Justice G. D. Khosla has calculated that about 5 lakhs of people
lost their lives. As East Punjab could not accommodate all the in-
coming refugees, many of them came to Delhi. They occupied
not only streets but also mosques. There was the danger of com-
munal trouble in Delhi and Mahatma Gandhi came to Delhi from
Bengal in October 1947 to reconcile the people. In January 1948
Mahatma Gandhi insisted that India must pay to Pakistan her
agreed assets of Rs. 55 crores which had been withheld owing to
the war in Kashmir and peace must be restored in Delhi and the
Muslim mosques must be evacuated by the Hindus. It was on 18
January, 1948 that Mahatma Gandhi gave up his fast when the
money was paid to Pakistan and the mosques were evacuated by
the Hindus in Delhi. Mahatmaji's action was not liked by some
fanatics among the Hindus and 12 days after (30 January), the
Mahatma was murdered while he was going to his prayer meeting.
The action of the Hindus and Sikhs in turning out the Muslims
from the Punjab and Delhi has been criticised but it must not be
forgotten that the circumstances were such that no human-being
could have acted differently. It is appropriate to quote in this
connection the following passage from V. P. Menon: “The uprooted
millions (from West Punjab) were in a terrible mental state. They
had been driven from their homes under conditions of indescribable
horrors and misery. Not many had the time to plan their evacua-
tion; most had to move out at the shortest possible notice. They
had been subjected to terrible indignities. They had witnessed
their near and dear ones hacked to pieces before their eyes and
their houses ransacked, looted and set on fire by their own neigh-
bours. They had no choice but to seek safety in flight, filled with
wrath at what they had seen, and full of anguish for numberless
missing kinsmen who were still stranded in Pakistan and for their
womenfolk who had been abducted. . . . . . The holocaust in West-
## p. 975 (#1019) ###########################################
LORD MOUNTBATTEN
975
ern Pakistan had its repercussions in East Punjab. The streams
of fleeing refugees with their tales of woe and suffering made a
profound impression on the people. In vain were appeals made
to them to remember that retaliation was no remedy. The spirit
of revenge was abroad, working up communal bitterness to a fren-
zied pitch, till all restraint was thrown to the winds. . . . . . To under-
stand the attitude of this ‘over-blamed people, one must appreciate
the fact that the Sikhs had been driven out of their homes, contrary
to all their hopes and expectations; that they had been deprived
of their lands and property, their shrines and holy places; that
their losses in men and property had been comparatively greater
than those of any other community affected by the communal up-
heaval; that nearly 40 per cent of the entire Sikh community had
been reduced to penury and had become refugees with the neces-
sity of having to start life afresh. ”
The problem of the rehabilitation of the refugees was a very
difficult one but the same was tackled sympathetically and efficient-
ly. Lands left by the Muslims in India were allotted to the refugees
from West Pakistan. They were granted loans to start their lives
afresh. A machinery was set up to evaluate the properties left by
the refugees in Pakistan and the Government gave the claim-holders
either cash or immovable property in India. Rehabilitation grants
were given to others. The existing cities were expanded and
Model Towns were attached to the old towns. Satellite towns such
as Faridabad were set up to rehabilitate the refugees. The refugees
also showed remarkable courage and facilitated the task of the
Government by self-help.
Lord Mountbatten did a lot of useful work in connection with
the Indian States even before the partition of India. He called
on 25 July, 1947 a conference to discuss the question of the acces-
sion of the Indian States to either India or Pakistan because after
the passing of the Indian Independence Act, British Paramountcy
was going to end and there were to be no treaties between the
Indian States and the Dominions of India and Pakistan. The Con-
ference was attended by more than a hundred princes and the
representatives of the States. Lord Mountbatten tried to impress
upon them the urgency of the matter and the necessity of the States
joining one Dominion or the other before 15 August, 1947. The
efforts of Lord Mountbatten and V. P. Menon were successful and
the result was that most of the states acceded to one Dominion or
the other before 15 August. V. P. Menon facilitated the task of
Lord Mountbatten by drafting an Instrument of Accession which
was acceptable to most of the States as it required them to hand
over to the Central Government only a few subjects. Stand-still
## p. 976 (#1020) ###########################################
976
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
Agreements were to be entered into with those states which were
not able to join one Dominion or the other. It can be said without
exaggeration that the personality of Lord Mountbatten helped to
save the situation which otherwise would have arisen on account
of the ambitions of certain rulers to become independent. Whether
by persuasion or by pressure, most of the Indian rulers were made
to join the Dominion of India. This was the greatest service done
by Lord Mountbatten to India which we must never forget. Even
before 15 August, Lord Mountbatten tried to persuade the Maha-
raja of Jammu & Kashmir to join one Dominion or the other but
his efforts failed. In the case of Hyderabad, Lord Mountbatten
made very serious efforts to persuade the Nizam to accede to India
on very favourable terms. Those efforts he continued up to June,
1948 when he actually left India. He was of the view that the
Nizam had lost a golden opportunity to come to terms with India
and he was doomed.
Lord Mountbatten was so popular in India that a public meet-
ing was held at Delhi to bid him farewell. The sitting of Lord
Mountbatten and Lady Mountbatten along with all the Indian
leaders created a scene which even the Gods could envy. There
was an atmosphere of warmth everywhere. When he actually left,
there was the general feeling that the man who was leaving the
country was their own man. One must not forget to mention
Lady Mountbatten who competed with her husband through her
goodness and nobility. She loved the people of this country and
they loved her in turn. She continued to visit India from time to
time even after June, 1948 and when the sad news of her death
came in 1960, there was genuine sorrow in many hearts in this
country.
RAJAGOPALACHARIAR (1948-50)
Lord Mountbatten was succeeded by Shri C. Rajagopalachariar
who was the Governor-General of India from June, 1948 to January,
1950. He was born in 1879 and started his legal practice after
passing from the Law College, Madras. He gave up a splendid
career at the Bar to fight for the freedom of this country when he
came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi in 1919. When
Mahatmaji was in prison, Rajagopalachariar edited Young India
with great success. In 1921 and 1922, he became the General Secre-
tary of the Indian National Congress and later on a member of the
All-India Congress Committee. He had his differences with the Con-
gress more than once and in spite of that he was appointed the first
Governor-General of Free India. When the Congress Ministries
## p. 977 (#1021) ###########################################
PRESS LAWS ENQUIRY COMMITTEE
977
were formed in 1937, he was the Chief Minister of Madras. Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru tried to get him elected as the Presi-
dent of India but he failed as the people wanted Dr. Rajendra
Prasad. In 1959, he founded the Swatantra Party in opposition
to the Congress. Although he is about 90, he takes active interest
in the politics of the country. He is a man of great strength of
character.
It was during his regime as the Governor-General of India that
police action was taken against the Nizam of Hyderabad. Kasim
Razvi and his followers were defeated and Hyderabad became a
part of the Indian Union. During this period, the Constituent
Assembly passed the new Constitution of India which came into
force on 26 January, 1950. The relations between India and
Pakistan were unsatisfactory and there was a lot of tension on
account of the problem of Kashmir and evacuee property.
In 1948 was created the Press Trust of India Limited. This
organisation took over the supply of news to and from India. This
was done on the basis of an agreement with the Reuters. The
agreement enabled the Indian press to get complete control over
its internal news supply. The Press Trust of India is a non-profit
making concern and its membership is open to all newspapers of
India. It has now become independent of the Reuters.
The Government of India set up a Press Laws Enquiry Com-
mittee under the Chairmanship of Shri Ganganath Jha. The Com-
mittee was required to examine all the existing press laws of India
and make its recommendations regarding the direction in which
those should be modified. The Central Legislature nominated
some members to the Committee. Three editors were also recom-
mended by the Indian Newspapers Editors' Conference. The Com-
mittee recommended that an explanation should be added to Sec-
tion 153-A of the Indian Penal Code to the effect that it did not
amount to an offence under that Section to advocate a change in
the social and economic order provided that advocacy did not in-
volve violence. The Committee recommended the repeal of the
Foreign Relations Act, 1932, the Indian States (Protection) Act,
1934 and the Indian Press (Emergency Powers) Act, 1931. How-
ever, it was suggested that certain provisions of the Indian Press
(Emergency Powers) Act, 1931 which did not find a place in the
ordinary law of the country, should be incorporated into that law
at suitable places. Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code should
be amended in such a way as to apply only to those acts which
either incite disorder or are intended or tend to incite disorder.
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure should not apply to
the press and separate provision should be made for dealing with
## p. 978 (#1022) ###########################################
978
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
the press in urgent cases of apprehended danger. Necessary provi-
sion should be made in the law to empower courts to order the clos-
ing down of a press for a special period in case of repeated viola-
tion of law.
In 1948, the Government of India appointed a University Com-
mission under the Chairmanship of Sir S. Radhakrishnan. The
terms of reference of the Commission were to consider and make
recommendations on the aims and objects of University education
and research in India, the changes considered necessary and desir-
able in the constitution, control, functions and jurisdiction of uni-
versities in India and their relations with the Government of India
and the Provincial Governments, the finances of the universities,
the courses of study in the universities and their duration, the stand-
ards of admission to university courses of study with special refer-
ence to the desirability of an independent university entrance exa-
mination and the avoidance of unfair demonstrations which militate
against the fundamental rights, the medium of instruction in the
universities, the provision for advanced study in Indian culture,
history, literature, languages, philosophy and finance, the mainten-
ance of the highest standards of teaching and examinations in the
universities and the colleges under their control, the organisation
of advanced research in all branches of knowledge in the universi-
ties and institutions of higher research in a well-coordinated fashion
avoiding waste of efforts and resources, religious instruction in the
universities, the qualifications, conditions of service, salaries, privi-
leges and functions of teachers and the encouragement of original
research by teachers, the discipline of students, hostels and the
organisation of tutorial work and any other matter which was
germane and essential to a complete and comprehensive enquiry
into all aspects of university education and advanced research in
India.
After touring the whole of the country, interviewing people and
receiving and considering memoranda from various quarters, the
Commission made its recommendations in 1949. It recommended
the establishment of rural universities with Shantiniketan and
Jamia Millia as their model. It criticised the allocation of small
funds for education. It stressed the necessity of increasing consi-
derably the grant of scholarships and stipends so that the poor
students may not suffer. No college was to be allowed to admit
more than 1,000 students. Where the mother tongue was the same
as the federal language, the federal language was to be the medium
of instruction. If the mother tongue and the federal language
were identical, the students were required to take up any other
Indian, classical or modern language. There was to be no hasty
## p. 979 (#1023) ###########################################
DR. RAJENDRA PRASAD
979
replacement of English as a medium of instruction for high acade-
mic standards. Co-education could be adopted in the secondary
stage and in the college stage. A lot of emphasis was laid on im-
proving the standards of the teaching profession. There were to
be four classes of teachers, viz. , Professors, readers, lecturers and
instructors. The promotion from one category to another was
to be solely on the basis of merit.
DR. RAJENDRA PRASAD (1950-62)
The Constitution of Free India came into force on 26 January,
1950. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected the first President of
India. In 1957, he was re-elected President and he occupied that
office with rare distinction. He was a brilliant scholar.
His nobi-
lity, devotion to duty and sincerity were unequalled. He was suc-
ceeded by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan as President in 1962. He was a
remarkable personality in many ways. He was a great Sanskrit
Scholar and he was very near Prime Minister Nehru. Before be-
coming President, he had been the Indian Ambassador in the Soviet
Union and the Vice-President of India. When he retired in 1967,
Dr. Zakir Husain was elected the President. He had hardly com-
pleted two years when he died in May, 1969. Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru was the Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964. He
was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri as Prime Minister and the lat.
ter continued to occupy that position up to January, 1966. After his
death at Tashkent, Mrs. Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister
of India and she is holding that position up to now.
Indian Leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Dr.
Rajendra Prasad deserve credit for the manner in which they dealt
with the situation which faced them when India became free.
Before leaving India, British bureaucracy had deliberately made the
administrative machinery unworkable and it was a big problem to
make it work smoothly for the good of the country. Sardar Patel
who was in charge of Home portfolio, played an important part in
this connection. The creation of the Indian Administrative Service
facilitated the task. The old officials also adjusted themselves to
the new environments.
The problem of law and order was a formidable one. As a mat-
ter of fact, it completely broke down at one stage. Disturbances
were of such a serious nature and on such a large scale that law
and order completely broke down and for some time help had to be
taken from the army to restore normal conditions. The difficul-
ties of the Government to maintain law and order in the country
can be appreciated only if we keep in mind the fact that there were
## p. 980 (#1024) ###########################################
980
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
lakhs of refugees in the country who had come to India from Pakis-
tan after losing not only the lives of their kiths and kins but also
after losing all they had in the form of property and were demand-
ing revenge against all those who were responsible for their fate.
Although the problems of the refugees was a very big one, the
same was satisfactorily solved within a few years. The rich got
properties in lieu of the properties left by them in Pakistan and the
poor got help from the Government in many ways to rehabilitate
themselves. A minister of Cabinet rank was put in charge of the
Ministry of Rehabilitation and he was assisted by the Custodian
General of India, Deputy Custodian General of India, Custodians
of Evacuee Property, Claims Officers and a host of other officials
such as Chief Settlement Commissioner, etc.
FIVE YEAR PLANS
Under the dynamic personality of Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru, the Planning Commission was set up in 1950. The First
Five Year Plan was launched in 1951 and it placed special empha-
sis on agricultural production in order to free India irom depen-
dence on overseas supplies. The First Five Year Plan was a great
Production increased by 25% during the five years period.
It was during this period that the great power and irrigation pro-
jects of the Damodar Valley scheme and the Hirakud Dam were
undertaken. Along with these, three new steel plants were started,
sponsored respectively by Great Britain, the United States and the
Soviet Union. The Durgapur Steel Plant was put up with the
assistance of a consortium of British firms. The Bhilai Steel Plant
in Madhya Pradesh was set up with the technical and financial co-
operation of the Soviet Government. The Plant was to produce
Steel ingots and finished products like rails, railway sleepers bars
etc. The Rourkela Plant was set up in collaboration with the
German firms in 1955 and completed in 1961. The Sindri Fertil-
izers and Chemicals in Bihar was started in 1947, with help from
the United States and Great Britain and completed in 1950 That
factory was the biggest of its kind in the East, producing over
300,000 tons of ammonium sulphate annually. The Chittaranjan
Locomotive Factory had already been set up and it made India
self-sufficient in the matter of steam locomotives. The Bhakra-
Nangal Project utilized the waters of the Sutlej in the Punjab for
irrigation facilities and generating power. The American Govern-
ment gave a lot of help in this matter.
success.
The Second Five Year Plan was launched in 1956. In this the
emphasis was on large scale industrialisation. The aim was to in-
## p. 981 (#1025) ###########################################
FIVE YEAR PLANS
981
crease the national income by 25%. The expenditure on the
Second Five Year Plan was double of that of the first Five Year
Plan. Some four thousand millions of pounds were spent in the
public Sector and about two thousand million pounds in the Private
Sector. As all this money was not available in the country, money
had to be borrowed from foreign countries, particularly from the
United States. The Plan was completed with some trimmings and
shortfalls. The Third Five Year Plan was launched in 1962. It
called for an outlay of about eight thousand million pounds out of
which nearly five thousand millions were spent in the Public Sector.
A lot of money for this plan had to be borrowed from foreign coun-
tries. The Government also resorted to deficit financing to find
money for the completion of the Plan. A lot of time has been spent
in the preparation of the Fourth Five Year Plan. There are some
who demand that the next Five Year Plan must be in accordance
with the resources available in the country itself and we must not
depend upon foreign help for the implementation for the next Five
Year Plan. The other view is that we must do what we have been
doing in the past regardless of the resources available in the coun-
try itself. It is contended that all developing countries have to
follow such a policy.
In this connection, it must be mentioned that India has not got
the maximum for the money invested in agriculture and industry.
While India owes more than Rs. Five thousand crores to foreign
countries, the progress made is not adequate. A good bit of money
has been wasted in the Public Sector on account of corruption and
inefficiency. Instead of earning dividends, the Public Sector Under-
takings are showing losses to the tune of crores of rupees every year.
Production in various fields has not kept pace with the growth of
population in the country. Prices have been continuously rising
and with the exception of the rich, the condition of the man in the
street is becoming intolerable. Freedom has not brought what the
common man hoped and prayed for. Hartals and agitations have
become the order of the day.
AGRARIAN LEGISLATION
Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, an attempt was made
to improve the lot of the peasants. In most of the States, legisla-
tion was passed which abolished Zamindari and gave land to the
tiller. The result was that millions of persons who had been mere-
ly tenants, became the owners of the lands cultivated by them. This
certainly improved their lot. A ceiling was also fixed by the Gov-
ernment beyond which no landlord was allowed to possess land
## p. 982 (#1026) ###########################################
982
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
and the surplus land was distributed among those who were land-
less. There was a lot of opposition to these reforms and even the
Constitution had to be amended to carry out these reforms.
The State Trading Corporation of India was set up in 1955 pri-
marily to handle trade with the iron curtain countries. This com-
pany was given monopoly of trade in cement. The cost of import-
ed cement was higher than that of the cement produced in India
and hence a few years later, the import of cement was discontinued
and the State Trading Corporation continued to hold the internal
trade.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
The Government of India has spent a lot of money on the com-
munity development programme. This programme was launched
on 2 October, 1952. The aim of the programme is that each vil-
lage should have a plan of all-round development. There should
be an increase in the agricultural production. Village crafts should
be recognised. Not only health education should be given to the
people but they should be provided with minimum health services.
Provisions should be made for educational facilities for children and
adults. Recreational facilities should be provided. Housing and
family living conditions should be improved. The community deve-
lopment programme has not been able to achieve much. It has
failed to "evoke popular initiative. ” The view of Dr. D. R. Gadgil
who at present is the Vice-President of the Planning Commission,
is that the community development programme has not borne the
desired results because “characteristically, it originated with a
foreign expert and was sponsored and worked through top-level
bureaucrats. "
SOCIAL LEGISLATION
The necessity of social legislation was felt at the very beginning.
Prime Minister Nehru was in favour of passing the Hindu Code
Bill which was a comprehensive measure intended to reform various
aspects of Hindu Law. However, there was a lot of opposition
and consequently the Government decided to resort to piecemeal
legislation. In 1955 was passed the Hindu Marriage Act and in
1956 were passed the Hindu Succession Act, the Hindu Minority
and Guardianship Act and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance
Act. The new legislation has put women on an equal footing with
men in the matter of succession to and holding of property. The
## p. 983 (#1027) ###########################################
FOREIGN SETTLEMENTS IN INDIA
983
Hindu Marriage Act gives monogamy a legal basis and provides for
divorce with alimony and maintenance.
FOREIGN SETTLEMENTS
When Great Britain gave India independence in August, 1947,
there were many foreign settlements in the country but one by one
all of them have been liquidated. The French settlement of Chan-
darnagar was transferred to India on 2 May, 1950. The transfer
was ratified and became legal two years later and Chandarnagar
was included in West Bengal after a Bill was passed by the Indian
Parliament in 1954. In the same year, the other French settle-
ments of Pondicherry, Karikal, Mahe and Yanam were transferred
to India by the French. The transfer was formally completed on
18 August, 1962 when instruments of ratification were exchanged
between India and France.
In 1954, volunteers from India occupied the villages of Dadra
and Nagar Havelli which formed part of the Portuguese posses-
sions in India. Dadra and Nagar Havelli became a part of the
Indian Union on 11 August, 1961.
Attempts had been made from time to time to bring about the
inclusion of Goa into the Union of India but the Portuguese Gov-
ernment was not prepared
do so.
The Indian volunteers who
were captured by the Portuguese Government while entering Goa
were imprisoned for years and subjected to inhuman treatment.
In the middle of November 1961, a series of minor incidents flared
up at the borders of the Portuguese enclaves in India following
reports of Portuguese attacks on Indian merchant shipping and
fishermen. For some time, the Portuguese warships were patrol-
ling the Indian coast. The Government of India protested against
these "acts of unprovoked aggression and wanton killing" but the
Portuguese Government made counter charges against India. Mili-
tary preparations took place on both sides and a clash was imminent.
The memory of the Portuguese firing upon the unarmed Indian
Satyagrahis in 1955 was still fresh in the minds of the Indians. The
situation was worsened by irresponsible pronouncements from Radio
Goa. There were also the Portuguese atrocities in Angola in which
the Indians suffered very much. There was a unanimous demand
all over the country that the Portuguese rule must end in India.
It was under these circumstances that the Government of India
asked the Government of Portugal to leave Goa. The reply of
Salazaar was: “If the question of Goa is understood as a transfer
to the Indian Union of the sovereignty of Portuguese territories, it
is certain that the question will not be solved by peaceful means. ”
## p. 984 (#1028) ###########################################
984
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
It was under these circumstances that in the early hours of the
morning of 18 December, 1961, the 17th Division of the Indian
Army, with air and naval support, launched a three-pronged attack
on Goa. Within 26 hours, the Portuguese resistance collapsed. On
19 December, 1961, Daman and Diu also surrendered. Casualties
on both sides were very few. However, a lot of damage was done
to property by the Portuguese deliberately. The conduct of the
Indian army was an ideal one. No harm was done to the civilian
population of Goa and other Portuguese enclaves. Civil and mili-
tary prisoners taken by the Indian army were released uncondi-
tionally as India did not regard herself at war with Portugal.
The action of the Indian Government was welcomed enthusiasti-
cally all over the country. However, the Western Powers were very
bitter on this point. They pointed out that Prime Minister Nehru
had one moral standard for himself and another for others.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
A few days after taking over as Vice-President of the Executive
Council of the Viceroy of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru made
his first official announcement on 7 September, 1946 on the foreign
policy of India over the All-India Radio. In the course of his
address he observed: “We shall take full part in international con-
ferences as a free nation with our own policy and not merely as a
satellite of another nation. We hope to develop close and direct
contacts with other nations and to co-operate with them in the
furtherance of world peace and freedom. ” “We propose, as far as
possible, to keep away from the power politics of groups, aligned
against one another, which have led in the past to world war and
which may again lead to disasters on an even vaster scale. We
believe that peace and freedom are indivisible and the denial of
freedom anywhere must endanger freedom elsewhere and lead to
conflict and war. We are particularly interested in the emancipa-
tion of colonial and dependent countries and peoples, and in the
recognition in theory and practice of equal opportunities for all
races. We repudiate utterly the Nazi doctrine of racialism, where-
soever and in whatever form it may be practised. We seek no
domination over others and we claim no privileged position over
other peoples. But we do claim equal and honourable treatment
for our people wherever they may go and we cannot accept any
discrimination against them.
"The world, in spite of its rivalries and hatreds and inner con-
flicts, moves inevitably towards closer co-operation and building
up of a world commonwealth. It is for this One World that free
## p. 985 (#1029) ###########################################
INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY
985
>
India will work, a world in which there is the free co-operation of
free peoples, and no class or group exploits one another. ”
Again, "We hope that an independent India will have friendly
and co-operative relations with England and the countries of the
British Commonwealth. . . . . . We send our greetings to the people
of the United States of America to whom destiny has given a major
role in international affairs. We trust that this tremendous respon-
sibility will be utilized for the furtherance of peace and human
freedom everywhere.
"To that other great nation of the modern world, the Soviet
Union, which also carried a vast responsibility for shaping world
events, we send greetings. They are our neighbours in Asia and
inevitably we shall have to undertake many common tasks and have
much to do with each other.
“We are of Asia and the peoples of Asia are nearer and closer
to us than others. India is so situated that she is the pivot of
Western, Southern and South-East Asia. In the past her culture
flowed to all these countries, and they came to her in many ways.
Those contacts are being renewed and the future is bound to see a
closer union between India and South-East Asia on the one side,
and Afghanistan, Iran, and the Arab world on the other. To the
furtherance of that close association of free countries we must devote
ourselves. India has followed with anxious interest the struggle of
the Indonesians for freedom and to them we send our good wishes.
China, that mighty country with a mighty past, our neighbour, has
been our friend through the ages and that friendship will endure and
grow. We earnestly hope that her present troubles will end soon
and a united and democratic China will emerge playing a great
part in the furtherance of world peace and progress.
Although this enunciation of India's foreign policy was made
before India became free, these very principles were followed by
Jawaharlal Nehru so long as he was India's Prime Minister and
Foreign Minister up to 1964. Even after his death, there has been
no significant departure from those principles under Lal Bahadur
Shastri and Mrs. Indira Gandhi.
There are certain salient features of the foreign policy of India.
It is based on the principle of non-alignment. When India became
free, the world was divided into two camps, the Anglo-American
bloc and the Soviet bloc. Soon after the Second World War was
over, there started rivalry between the Soviet Union on the one
hand and the United States on the other. This was given the
name of cold war. Jawaharlal Nehru was right in coming to the
conclusion that it was not desirable to join one bloc or the other.
India had just become free and she had too many problems to
## p. 986 (#1030) ###########################################
986
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
tackle. Hence, it was in India's interest to remain aloof. Prime
Minister Nehru defended his policy of non-alignment by referring
to the policy followed by the United States towards Europe after
her independence. To quote him, “About 150 years ago, the West-
ern World was breaking up on account of all kinds of imperial and
revolutionary wars. Having achieved independence by breaking
off from the British Empire, the United States was naturally
affected by these upheavals; nevertheless it avoided being involved
in the chaotic situation of Europe—although doubtless it had its
particular sympathies—because that was natural thing for a nation
in that state of affairs to do. Now this analogy, although it may
not be a particularly good one in the circumstances of to-day, has
a bearing and I wish to point out that for a country that has newly
attained freedom and independence, this is the natural policy to
pursue. "
Prime Minister Nehru was very emphatic about his policy of
non-alignment. While following that policy, he did not care if any
country got annoyed with India. The view of Nehru was that
India was not going to sell herself for any price to any country.
To quote Nehru, “In any event, speaking for India, whatever hap-
pens, I am not prepared merely to say ditto to any country in the
wide world. I think it is degrading for a country as it is for an
individual just to be an automation, just to be a puppet and to repeat
what others say. ” “I do not think that anything could be more
injurious to us from any point of view—certainly from an idealistic
and high moral point of view but equally so from the point of view
cf opportunism and national interest in the narrowest sense of the
word—than for us to give up those policies that we have pursued,
namely, of standing up for certain ideals in regard to oppressed
nations, and trying to align ourselves with this great Power or that
and becoming its camp follower in the hope that some crumbs
might fall from their tables. ” “I realise—I frankly admit--that
—
there are always certain risks involved, not risks on paper but risks
in the same sense that certain obligations might be felt which might
affect our policy without our knowing it. Those risks are there.
All I can say is that we should be wide awake to avoid our commit-
ting mistakes because of those risks. . . . . . If any country imagines
that we are going to change our policies and sell ourselves for a
mess of pottage from any other country, she, I submit, is complete-
ly mistaken. I am quite sure in my mind that if at any time help
from abroad depends upon the slightest variation of our policy, we
shall give up that help; the whole of it and prefer starvation and
everything to it. So it is in this way that we accept help and I
think the world knows it well enough. "
## p. 987 (#1031) ###########################################
INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY
987
a
It is true that a policy of non-alignment was in the interest of
India so long as there was going on rivalry of a violent type between
the United States and the Soviet Union but there is no sense in
continuing the old policy of non-alignment in a changed world.
The relations between the Soviet Union and the United States have
improved. There exists bitter hostility between Communist China
and the Soviet Union. Peking says that both the Soviet Union and
the United States are at one in their hostility towards China. After
1962, Communist China has also become enemy number 1 of India.
Under the circumstances, it is ridiculous to assert that India should
not join either the Soviet bloc or the American bloc.
it and the Muslim League rejected. The Congress believed that
under the Cabinet Mission Plan the grouping of the Provinces was
not compulsory. The Congress was not prepared to allow Assam
and the North-Western Frontier Province to join their respective
groups. The Muslim League insisted that the grouping of the
Provinces was compulsory and Assam was bound to join Bengal
and the North-Western Frontier Province was bound to join Pun-
jab and Sind. Ultimately, the British Government decided in
favour of the Muslim League. A perusal of the resolution of the
Muslim League by which it accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan
shows that it considered the Plan to be merely a stepping stone to
the realisation of Pakistan in the long run. The Regional Unions
of the Muslim majority provinces could decide at any time to leave
the Indian Union and in that case Pakistan was to consist of the
whole of the Punjab, North-Western Frontier Province, Sind,
Baluchistan, Bengal and Assam. Such an eventuality was not ac-
ceptable to the Congress. The Congress was not in favour of
giving away the whole of Punjab, Bengal and Assam to the Mus-
lim League. Moreover, the Congress did not approve of a weak
Centre. Nothing could be accomplished under such a weak
Centre. Thus there were bound to be differences and misgivings.
When Lord Wavell did not invite the Muslim League to form
the Interim Government in spite of the rejection of the plan by the
Congress, the Muslim League passed a resolution on 29 July, 1946,
by which it withdrew its consent of the Cabinet Mission Plan and
fixed 16 August, 1946, as the Direct Action Day. That Day was
declared a public holiday in Bengal and Sind. What happened on
16 August, in Calcutta and on the subsequent three days is well-
known. There was a terrible loss of life and property in Calcutta.
The same story was repeated when the trouble spread to Noakhali.
There were repercussions in Bihar.
## p. 972 (#1016) ###########################################
972
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
On 2 September, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru formed the Interim
Government. When the Muslim League found that Lord Wavell
had invited the Congress to form the Interim Government without
it, it decided to enter the Interim Government as it was not pre-
pared to allow power to pass into the hands of the Congress. Lord
Wavell also accommodated the Muslim League and it was allow-
ed to nominate five members to the Executive Council of the Vice-
roy. When the Constituent Assembly met on 9 December, 1946,
the Muslim League boycotted it.
The situation began to worsen in the country and ultimately
Prime Minister Attlee declared on 20 February, 1947 that the Bri-
tish Government would hand over power into the hands of the
Indians by a date not later than June, 1948. He also declared that
the British Government would send Lord Mountbatten to India to
carry out the new policy. It was under these circumstances that
Lord Wavell was recalled before his term of office expired.
LORD MOUNTBATTEN (1947-48)
Before his appointment as the Governor-General and Viceroy of
India, Lord Mountbatten had been the Supreme Allied Comman-
der in South-East Asia during World War II. He played an im-
portant part in the overthrow of the Japanese power in South-East
Asia. From 27 March, 1947 to 15 August, 1947, he was the
Governor-General and Viceroy of the whole of India. After the
partition of India, he became the Governor-General of free India
minus Pakistan. He continued in that position up to June, 1948.
When Lord Mountbatten reached India towards the end of
March 1947, the situation was very critical. The Muslim League
was carrying on its wear and tear campaign all over the country,
particularly in the Punjab, Sind and North-Western Frontier Pro-
vince. The Khizar Hayat Tiwana's ministry was forced to resign
in March and there were riots not only at Lahore but also at
Rawalpindi and its neighbourhood. It is rightly stated that the
Muslims turned upon the Sikhs in Rawalpindi and in a welter of
ferocity, murdered more than 2,000. Even before the announce-
ment of 3 June plan, there were serious disturbances in the Pun-
jab. When the Muslims rioted in Multan, British authority com-
pletely disappeared there. The non-Muslims were completely at
the mercy of the unsocial elements who were instigated and har-
boured by the Muslim League. There were fires in various parts
of Lahore even before 3 June, 1947. Soon after the arrival of Lord
Mountbatten in India, the Muslim League celebrated the Pakistan
Day. The working of the Interim Government was hopelessly un-
## p. 973 (#1017) ###########################################
LORD MOUNTBATTEN
973
satisfactory. On account of the attitude of the Muslim League
members in the Central Government, the work of the Government
was practically at a stand-still. No wonder, Lord Mountbatten
came to the inevitable conclusion that the partition of the country
was the only solution. On the whole, the 3 June plan was accept-
ed by all the political parties and the Indian Independence Act
fixed 15 August, 1947, as the date for making India free and on
that date both India and Pakistan became actually independent.
Credit must go to Lord Mountbatten for the lightning speed with
which he expedited the work of the partitioning of India. Address-
ing the constitution Assembly just before mid-night on 14 August,
1947, Prime Minister Nehru observed: “Long years ago we made
a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem
our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At
the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will
awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but
rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when
an age ends, when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utte-
rance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge
of dedication to the service of India and her people and to still
larger cause of humanity. ” Lord Mountbatten was requested to
continue as the Governor-General of India.
After the declaration of India's independence, the state of Jam-
mu and Kashmir was attacked by the tribal raiders. Prime Mini-
ster Mehr Chand Mahajan protested against the attack and appea-
led both to Pakistan and the British Prime Minister to stop them
but to no avail. Ultimately, the state acceded to India and In-
dian forces were flown to Kashmir to protect the people and drive
out the raiders. India also took the matter to the Security Council
of the United Nations and ultimately a cease-fire was ordered bet-
ween the two countries.
The division of India on communal lines presented insurmoun-
table difficulties. The Boundary Force of 50,000 Indian troops
under the command of Major-General Reese proved inadequate
to maintain law and order in the Punjab after the announcement
of the Radcliffe Boundary Award on 17 August, 1947. The South
Indian troops who could be trusted in that atmosphere were not
readily available. The result was that the Muslims in West Pak-
istan attacked the Hindus and Sikhs and the latter attacked them
in turn in East Punjab. Each tried to exterminate the other.
According to one estimate, “In the nine months between August
1947 and the spring of the following year, between fourteen and
sixteen million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were forced to leave
their homes and flee to safety from blood crazed mobs. In that
## p. 974 (#1018) ###########################################
974
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
same period, over 600,000 of them were killed. . . . Another
view is that “up to the middle of 1948 about 51/2 million non-
Muslims were brought across the border from West Punjab and
other provinces of Western Pakistan. About the same number of
Muslims moved into Pakistan from East Punjab (including the East
Punjab States), Delhi, the United Provinces, Ajmer-Merwara,
Alwar, Bharatpur, Gwalior and Indore. During the same period
about 114 million non-Muslims crossed the border from East Pakis-
tan into West Bengal. These figures do not of course take into
account about 4,000,000 non-Muslims who later migrated to India
from Sind. ”
When all this was happening convoys were waylaid and refugee
trains were held up and their passengers were slaughtered. Mr.
Justice G. D. Khosla has calculated that about 5 lakhs of people
lost their lives. As East Punjab could not accommodate all the in-
coming refugees, many of them came to Delhi. They occupied
not only streets but also mosques. There was the danger of com-
munal trouble in Delhi and Mahatma Gandhi came to Delhi from
Bengal in October 1947 to reconcile the people. In January 1948
Mahatma Gandhi insisted that India must pay to Pakistan her
agreed assets of Rs. 55 crores which had been withheld owing to
the war in Kashmir and peace must be restored in Delhi and the
Muslim mosques must be evacuated by the Hindus. It was on 18
January, 1948 that Mahatma Gandhi gave up his fast when the
money was paid to Pakistan and the mosques were evacuated by
the Hindus in Delhi. Mahatmaji's action was not liked by some
fanatics among the Hindus and 12 days after (30 January), the
Mahatma was murdered while he was going to his prayer meeting.
The action of the Hindus and Sikhs in turning out the Muslims
from the Punjab and Delhi has been criticised but it must not be
forgotten that the circumstances were such that no human-being
could have acted differently. It is appropriate to quote in this
connection the following passage from V. P. Menon: “The uprooted
millions (from West Punjab) were in a terrible mental state. They
had been driven from their homes under conditions of indescribable
horrors and misery. Not many had the time to plan their evacua-
tion; most had to move out at the shortest possible notice. They
had been subjected to terrible indignities. They had witnessed
their near and dear ones hacked to pieces before their eyes and
their houses ransacked, looted and set on fire by their own neigh-
bours. They had no choice but to seek safety in flight, filled with
wrath at what they had seen, and full of anguish for numberless
missing kinsmen who were still stranded in Pakistan and for their
womenfolk who had been abducted. . . . . . The holocaust in West-
## p. 975 (#1019) ###########################################
LORD MOUNTBATTEN
975
ern Pakistan had its repercussions in East Punjab. The streams
of fleeing refugees with their tales of woe and suffering made a
profound impression on the people. In vain were appeals made
to them to remember that retaliation was no remedy. The spirit
of revenge was abroad, working up communal bitterness to a fren-
zied pitch, till all restraint was thrown to the winds. . . . . . To under-
stand the attitude of this ‘over-blamed people, one must appreciate
the fact that the Sikhs had been driven out of their homes, contrary
to all their hopes and expectations; that they had been deprived
of their lands and property, their shrines and holy places; that
their losses in men and property had been comparatively greater
than those of any other community affected by the communal up-
heaval; that nearly 40 per cent of the entire Sikh community had
been reduced to penury and had become refugees with the neces-
sity of having to start life afresh. ”
The problem of the rehabilitation of the refugees was a very
difficult one but the same was tackled sympathetically and efficient-
ly. Lands left by the Muslims in India were allotted to the refugees
from West Pakistan. They were granted loans to start their lives
afresh. A machinery was set up to evaluate the properties left by
the refugees in Pakistan and the Government gave the claim-holders
either cash or immovable property in India. Rehabilitation grants
were given to others. The existing cities were expanded and
Model Towns were attached to the old towns. Satellite towns such
as Faridabad were set up to rehabilitate the refugees. The refugees
also showed remarkable courage and facilitated the task of the
Government by self-help.
Lord Mountbatten did a lot of useful work in connection with
the Indian States even before the partition of India. He called
on 25 July, 1947 a conference to discuss the question of the acces-
sion of the Indian States to either India or Pakistan because after
the passing of the Indian Independence Act, British Paramountcy
was going to end and there were to be no treaties between the
Indian States and the Dominions of India and Pakistan. The Con-
ference was attended by more than a hundred princes and the
representatives of the States. Lord Mountbatten tried to impress
upon them the urgency of the matter and the necessity of the States
joining one Dominion or the other before 15 August, 1947. The
efforts of Lord Mountbatten and V. P. Menon were successful and
the result was that most of the states acceded to one Dominion or
the other before 15 August. V. P. Menon facilitated the task of
Lord Mountbatten by drafting an Instrument of Accession which
was acceptable to most of the States as it required them to hand
over to the Central Government only a few subjects. Stand-still
## p. 976 (#1020) ###########################################
976
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
Agreements were to be entered into with those states which were
not able to join one Dominion or the other. It can be said without
exaggeration that the personality of Lord Mountbatten helped to
save the situation which otherwise would have arisen on account
of the ambitions of certain rulers to become independent. Whether
by persuasion or by pressure, most of the Indian rulers were made
to join the Dominion of India. This was the greatest service done
by Lord Mountbatten to India which we must never forget. Even
before 15 August, Lord Mountbatten tried to persuade the Maha-
raja of Jammu & Kashmir to join one Dominion or the other but
his efforts failed. In the case of Hyderabad, Lord Mountbatten
made very serious efforts to persuade the Nizam to accede to India
on very favourable terms. Those efforts he continued up to June,
1948 when he actually left India. He was of the view that the
Nizam had lost a golden opportunity to come to terms with India
and he was doomed.
Lord Mountbatten was so popular in India that a public meet-
ing was held at Delhi to bid him farewell. The sitting of Lord
Mountbatten and Lady Mountbatten along with all the Indian
leaders created a scene which even the Gods could envy. There
was an atmosphere of warmth everywhere. When he actually left,
there was the general feeling that the man who was leaving the
country was their own man. One must not forget to mention
Lady Mountbatten who competed with her husband through her
goodness and nobility. She loved the people of this country and
they loved her in turn. She continued to visit India from time to
time even after June, 1948 and when the sad news of her death
came in 1960, there was genuine sorrow in many hearts in this
country.
RAJAGOPALACHARIAR (1948-50)
Lord Mountbatten was succeeded by Shri C. Rajagopalachariar
who was the Governor-General of India from June, 1948 to January,
1950. He was born in 1879 and started his legal practice after
passing from the Law College, Madras. He gave up a splendid
career at the Bar to fight for the freedom of this country when he
came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi in 1919. When
Mahatmaji was in prison, Rajagopalachariar edited Young India
with great success. In 1921 and 1922, he became the General Secre-
tary of the Indian National Congress and later on a member of the
All-India Congress Committee. He had his differences with the Con-
gress more than once and in spite of that he was appointed the first
Governor-General of Free India. When the Congress Ministries
## p. 977 (#1021) ###########################################
PRESS LAWS ENQUIRY COMMITTEE
977
were formed in 1937, he was the Chief Minister of Madras. Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru tried to get him elected as the Presi-
dent of India but he failed as the people wanted Dr. Rajendra
Prasad. In 1959, he founded the Swatantra Party in opposition
to the Congress. Although he is about 90, he takes active interest
in the politics of the country. He is a man of great strength of
character.
It was during his regime as the Governor-General of India that
police action was taken against the Nizam of Hyderabad. Kasim
Razvi and his followers were defeated and Hyderabad became a
part of the Indian Union. During this period, the Constituent
Assembly passed the new Constitution of India which came into
force on 26 January, 1950. The relations between India and
Pakistan were unsatisfactory and there was a lot of tension on
account of the problem of Kashmir and evacuee property.
In 1948 was created the Press Trust of India Limited. This
organisation took over the supply of news to and from India. This
was done on the basis of an agreement with the Reuters. The
agreement enabled the Indian press to get complete control over
its internal news supply. The Press Trust of India is a non-profit
making concern and its membership is open to all newspapers of
India. It has now become independent of the Reuters.
The Government of India set up a Press Laws Enquiry Com-
mittee under the Chairmanship of Shri Ganganath Jha. The Com-
mittee was required to examine all the existing press laws of India
and make its recommendations regarding the direction in which
those should be modified. The Central Legislature nominated
some members to the Committee. Three editors were also recom-
mended by the Indian Newspapers Editors' Conference. The Com-
mittee recommended that an explanation should be added to Sec-
tion 153-A of the Indian Penal Code to the effect that it did not
amount to an offence under that Section to advocate a change in
the social and economic order provided that advocacy did not in-
volve violence. The Committee recommended the repeal of the
Foreign Relations Act, 1932, the Indian States (Protection) Act,
1934 and the Indian Press (Emergency Powers) Act, 1931. How-
ever, it was suggested that certain provisions of the Indian Press
(Emergency Powers) Act, 1931 which did not find a place in the
ordinary law of the country, should be incorporated into that law
at suitable places. Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code should
be amended in such a way as to apply only to those acts which
either incite disorder or are intended or tend to incite disorder.
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure should not apply to
the press and separate provision should be made for dealing with
## p. 978 (#1022) ###########################################
978
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
the press in urgent cases of apprehended danger. Necessary provi-
sion should be made in the law to empower courts to order the clos-
ing down of a press for a special period in case of repeated viola-
tion of law.
In 1948, the Government of India appointed a University Com-
mission under the Chairmanship of Sir S. Radhakrishnan. The
terms of reference of the Commission were to consider and make
recommendations on the aims and objects of University education
and research in India, the changes considered necessary and desir-
able in the constitution, control, functions and jurisdiction of uni-
versities in India and their relations with the Government of India
and the Provincial Governments, the finances of the universities,
the courses of study in the universities and their duration, the stand-
ards of admission to university courses of study with special refer-
ence to the desirability of an independent university entrance exa-
mination and the avoidance of unfair demonstrations which militate
against the fundamental rights, the medium of instruction in the
universities, the provision for advanced study in Indian culture,
history, literature, languages, philosophy and finance, the mainten-
ance of the highest standards of teaching and examinations in the
universities and the colleges under their control, the organisation
of advanced research in all branches of knowledge in the universi-
ties and institutions of higher research in a well-coordinated fashion
avoiding waste of efforts and resources, religious instruction in the
universities, the qualifications, conditions of service, salaries, privi-
leges and functions of teachers and the encouragement of original
research by teachers, the discipline of students, hostels and the
organisation of tutorial work and any other matter which was
germane and essential to a complete and comprehensive enquiry
into all aspects of university education and advanced research in
India.
After touring the whole of the country, interviewing people and
receiving and considering memoranda from various quarters, the
Commission made its recommendations in 1949. It recommended
the establishment of rural universities with Shantiniketan and
Jamia Millia as their model. It criticised the allocation of small
funds for education. It stressed the necessity of increasing consi-
derably the grant of scholarships and stipends so that the poor
students may not suffer. No college was to be allowed to admit
more than 1,000 students. Where the mother tongue was the same
as the federal language, the federal language was to be the medium
of instruction. If the mother tongue and the federal language
were identical, the students were required to take up any other
Indian, classical or modern language. There was to be no hasty
## p. 979 (#1023) ###########################################
DR. RAJENDRA PRASAD
979
replacement of English as a medium of instruction for high acade-
mic standards. Co-education could be adopted in the secondary
stage and in the college stage. A lot of emphasis was laid on im-
proving the standards of the teaching profession. There were to
be four classes of teachers, viz. , Professors, readers, lecturers and
instructors. The promotion from one category to another was
to be solely on the basis of merit.
DR. RAJENDRA PRASAD (1950-62)
The Constitution of Free India came into force on 26 January,
1950. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected the first President of
India. In 1957, he was re-elected President and he occupied that
office with rare distinction. He was a brilliant scholar.
His nobi-
lity, devotion to duty and sincerity were unequalled. He was suc-
ceeded by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan as President in 1962. He was a
remarkable personality in many ways. He was a great Sanskrit
Scholar and he was very near Prime Minister Nehru. Before be-
coming President, he had been the Indian Ambassador in the Soviet
Union and the Vice-President of India. When he retired in 1967,
Dr. Zakir Husain was elected the President. He had hardly com-
pleted two years when he died in May, 1969. Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru was the Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964. He
was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri as Prime Minister and the lat.
ter continued to occupy that position up to January, 1966. After his
death at Tashkent, Mrs. Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister
of India and she is holding that position up to now.
Indian Leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Dr.
Rajendra Prasad deserve credit for the manner in which they dealt
with the situation which faced them when India became free.
Before leaving India, British bureaucracy had deliberately made the
administrative machinery unworkable and it was a big problem to
make it work smoothly for the good of the country. Sardar Patel
who was in charge of Home portfolio, played an important part in
this connection. The creation of the Indian Administrative Service
facilitated the task. The old officials also adjusted themselves to
the new environments.
The problem of law and order was a formidable one. As a mat-
ter of fact, it completely broke down at one stage. Disturbances
were of such a serious nature and on such a large scale that law
and order completely broke down and for some time help had to be
taken from the army to restore normal conditions. The difficul-
ties of the Government to maintain law and order in the country
can be appreciated only if we keep in mind the fact that there were
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980
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
lakhs of refugees in the country who had come to India from Pakis-
tan after losing not only the lives of their kiths and kins but also
after losing all they had in the form of property and were demand-
ing revenge against all those who were responsible for their fate.
Although the problems of the refugees was a very big one, the
same was satisfactorily solved within a few years. The rich got
properties in lieu of the properties left by them in Pakistan and the
poor got help from the Government in many ways to rehabilitate
themselves. A minister of Cabinet rank was put in charge of the
Ministry of Rehabilitation and he was assisted by the Custodian
General of India, Deputy Custodian General of India, Custodians
of Evacuee Property, Claims Officers and a host of other officials
such as Chief Settlement Commissioner, etc.
FIVE YEAR PLANS
Under the dynamic personality of Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru, the Planning Commission was set up in 1950. The First
Five Year Plan was launched in 1951 and it placed special empha-
sis on agricultural production in order to free India irom depen-
dence on overseas supplies. The First Five Year Plan was a great
Production increased by 25% during the five years period.
It was during this period that the great power and irrigation pro-
jects of the Damodar Valley scheme and the Hirakud Dam were
undertaken. Along with these, three new steel plants were started,
sponsored respectively by Great Britain, the United States and the
Soviet Union. The Durgapur Steel Plant was put up with the
assistance of a consortium of British firms. The Bhilai Steel Plant
in Madhya Pradesh was set up with the technical and financial co-
operation of the Soviet Government. The Plant was to produce
Steel ingots and finished products like rails, railway sleepers bars
etc. The Rourkela Plant was set up in collaboration with the
German firms in 1955 and completed in 1961. The Sindri Fertil-
izers and Chemicals in Bihar was started in 1947, with help from
the United States and Great Britain and completed in 1950 That
factory was the biggest of its kind in the East, producing over
300,000 tons of ammonium sulphate annually. The Chittaranjan
Locomotive Factory had already been set up and it made India
self-sufficient in the matter of steam locomotives. The Bhakra-
Nangal Project utilized the waters of the Sutlej in the Punjab for
irrigation facilities and generating power. The American Govern-
ment gave a lot of help in this matter.
success.
The Second Five Year Plan was launched in 1956. In this the
emphasis was on large scale industrialisation. The aim was to in-
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FIVE YEAR PLANS
981
crease the national income by 25%. The expenditure on the
Second Five Year Plan was double of that of the first Five Year
Plan. Some four thousand millions of pounds were spent in the
public Sector and about two thousand million pounds in the Private
Sector. As all this money was not available in the country, money
had to be borrowed from foreign countries, particularly from the
United States. The Plan was completed with some trimmings and
shortfalls. The Third Five Year Plan was launched in 1962. It
called for an outlay of about eight thousand million pounds out of
which nearly five thousand millions were spent in the Public Sector.
A lot of money for this plan had to be borrowed from foreign coun-
tries. The Government also resorted to deficit financing to find
money for the completion of the Plan. A lot of time has been spent
in the preparation of the Fourth Five Year Plan. There are some
who demand that the next Five Year Plan must be in accordance
with the resources available in the country itself and we must not
depend upon foreign help for the implementation for the next Five
Year Plan. The other view is that we must do what we have been
doing in the past regardless of the resources available in the coun-
try itself. It is contended that all developing countries have to
follow such a policy.
In this connection, it must be mentioned that India has not got
the maximum for the money invested in agriculture and industry.
While India owes more than Rs. Five thousand crores to foreign
countries, the progress made is not adequate. A good bit of money
has been wasted in the Public Sector on account of corruption and
inefficiency. Instead of earning dividends, the Public Sector Under-
takings are showing losses to the tune of crores of rupees every year.
Production in various fields has not kept pace with the growth of
population in the country. Prices have been continuously rising
and with the exception of the rich, the condition of the man in the
street is becoming intolerable. Freedom has not brought what the
common man hoped and prayed for. Hartals and agitations have
become the order of the day.
AGRARIAN LEGISLATION
Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, an attempt was made
to improve the lot of the peasants. In most of the States, legisla-
tion was passed which abolished Zamindari and gave land to the
tiller. The result was that millions of persons who had been mere-
ly tenants, became the owners of the lands cultivated by them. This
certainly improved their lot. A ceiling was also fixed by the Gov-
ernment beyond which no landlord was allowed to possess land
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982
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
and the surplus land was distributed among those who were land-
less. There was a lot of opposition to these reforms and even the
Constitution had to be amended to carry out these reforms.
The State Trading Corporation of India was set up in 1955 pri-
marily to handle trade with the iron curtain countries. This com-
pany was given monopoly of trade in cement. The cost of import-
ed cement was higher than that of the cement produced in India
and hence a few years later, the import of cement was discontinued
and the State Trading Corporation continued to hold the internal
trade.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
The Government of India has spent a lot of money on the com-
munity development programme. This programme was launched
on 2 October, 1952. The aim of the programme is that each vil-
lage should have a plan of all-round development. There should
be an increase in the agricultural production. Village crafts should
be recognised. Not only health education should be given to the
people but they should be provided with minimum health services.
Provisions should be made for educational facilities for children and
adults. Recreational facilities should be provided. Housing and
family living conditions should be improved. The community deve-
lopment programme has not been able to achieve much. It has
failed to "evoke popular initiative. ” The view of Dr. D. R. Gadgil
who at present is the Vice-President of the Planning Commission,
is that the community development programme has not borne the
desired results because “characteristically, it originated with a
foreign expert and was sponsored and worked through top-level
bureaucrats. "
SOCIAL LEGISLATION
The necessity of social legislation was felt at the very beginning.
Prime Minister Nehru was in favour of passing the Hindu Code
Bill which was a comprehensive measure intended to reform various
aspects of Hindu Law. However, there was a lot of opposition
and consequently the Government decided to resort to piecemeal
legislation. In 1955 was passed the Hindu Marriage Act and in
1956 were passed the Hindu Succession Act, the Hindu Minority
and Guardianship Act and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance
Act. The new legislation has put women on an equal footing with
men in the matter of succession to and holding of property. The
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FOREIGN SETTLEMENTS IN INDIA
983
Hindu Marriage Act gives monogamy a legal basis and provides for
divorce with alimony and maintenance.
FOREIGN SETTLEMENTS
When Great Britain gave India independence in August, 1947,
there were many foreign settlements in the country but one by one
all of them have been liquidated. The French settlement of Chan-
darnagar was transferred to India on 2 May, 1950. The transfer
was ratified and became legal two years later and Chandarnagar
was included in West Bengal after a Bill was passed by the Indian
Parliament in 1954. In the same year, the other French settle-
ments of Pondicherry, Karikal, Mahe and Yanam were transferred
to India by the French. The transfer was formally completed on
18 August, 1962 when instruments of ratification were exchanged
between India and France.
In 1954, volunteers from India occupied the villages of Dadra
and Nagar Havelli which formed part of the Portuguese posses-
sions in India. Dadra and Nagar Havelli became a part of the
Indian Union on 11 August, 1961.
Attempts had been made from time to time to bring about the
inclusion of Goa into the Union of India but the Portuguese Gov-
ernment was not prepared
do so.
The Indian volunteers who
were captured by the Portuguese Government while entering Goa
were imprisoned for years and subjected to inhuman treatment.
In the middle of November 1961, a series of minor incidents flared
up at the borders of the Portuguese enclaves in India following
reports of Portuguese attacks on Indian merchant shipping and
fishermen. For some time, the Portuguese warships were patrol-
ling the Indian coast. The Government of India protested against
these "acts of unprovoked aggression and wanton killing" but the
Portuguese Government made counter charges against India. Mili-
tary preparations took place on both sides and a clash was imminent.
The memory of the Portuguese firing upon the unarmed Indian
Satyagrahis in 1955 was still fresh in the minds of the Indians. The
situation was worsened by irresponsible pronouncements from Radio
Goa. There were also the Portuguese atrocities in Angola in which
the Indians suffered very much. There was a unanimous demand
all over the country that the Portuguese rule must end in India.
It was under these circumstances that the Government of India
asked the Government of Portugal to leave Goa. The reply of
Salazaar was: “If the question of Goa is understood as a transfer
to the Indian Union of the sovereignty of Portuguese territories, it
is certain that the question will not be solved by peaceful means. ”
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POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
It was under these circumstances that in the early hours of the
morning of 18 December, 1961, the 17th Division of the Indian
Army, with air and naval support, launched a three-pronged attack
on Goa. Within 26 hours, the Portuguese resistance collapsed. On
19 December, 1961, Daman and Diu also surrendered. Casualties
on both sides were very few. However, a lot of damage was done
to property by the Portuguese deliberately. The conduct of the
Indian army was an ideal one. No harm was done to the civilian
population of Goa and other Portuguese enclaves. Civil and mili-
tary prisoners taken by the Indian army were released uncondi-
tionally as India did not regard herself at war with Portugal.
The action of the Indian Government was welcomed enthusiasti-
cally all over the country. However, the Western Powers were very
bitter on this point. They pointed out that Prime Minister Nehru
had one moral standard for himself and another for others.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
A few days after taking over as Vice-President of the Executive
Council of the Viceroy of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru made
his first official announcement on 7 September, 1946 on the foreign
policy of India over the All-India Radio. In the course of his
address he observed: “We shall take full part in international con-
ferences as a free nation with our own policy and not merely as a
satellite of another nation. We hope to develop close and direct
contacts with other nations and to co-operate with them in the
furtherance of world peace and freedom. ” “We propose, as far as
possible, to keep away from the power politics of groups, aligned
against one another, which have led in the past to world war and
which may again lead to disasters on an even vaster scale. We
believe that peace and freedom are indivisible and the denial of
freedom anywhere must endanger freedom elsewhere and lead to
conflict and war. We are particularly interested in the emancipa-
tion of colonial and dependent countries and peoples, and in the
recognition in theory and practice of equal opportunities for all
races. We repudiate utterly the Nazi doctrine of racialism, where-
soever and in whatever form it may be practised. We seek no
domination over others and we claim no privileged position over
other peoples. But we do claim equal and honourable treatment
for our people wherever they may go and we cannot accept any
discrimination against them.
"The world, in spite of its rivalries and hatreds and inner con-
flicts, moves inevitably towards closer co-operation and building
up of a world commonwealth. It is for this One World that free
## p. 985 (#1029) ###########################################
INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY
985
>
India will work, a world in which there is the free co-operation of
free peoples, and no class or group exploits one another. ”
Again, "We hope that an independent India will have friendly
and co-operative relations with England and the countries of the
British Commonwealth. . . . . . We send our greetings to the people
of the United States of America to whom destiny has given a major
role in international affairs. We trust that this tremendous respon-
sibility will be utilized for the furtherance of peace and human
freedom everywhere.
"To that other great nation of the modern world, the Soviet
Union, which also carried a vast responsibility for shaping world
events, we send greetings. They are our neighbours in Asia and
inevitably we shall have to undertake many common tasks and have
much to do with each other.
“We are of Asia and the peoples of Asia are nearer and closer
to us than others. India is so situated that she is the pivot of
Western, Southern and South-East Asia. In the past her culture
flowed to all these countries, and they came to her in many ways.
Those contacts are being renewed and the future is bound to see a
closer union between India and South-East Asia on the one side,
and Afghanistan, Iran, and the Arab world on the other. To the
furtherance of that close association of free countries we must devote
ourselves. India has followed with anxious interest the struggle of
the Indonesians for freedom and to them we send our good wishes.
China, that mighty country with a mighty past, our neighbour, has
been our friend through the ages and that friendship will endure and
grow. We earnestly hope that her present troubles will end soon
and a united and democratic China will emerge playing a great
part in the furtherance of world peace and progress.
Although this enunciation of India's foreign policy was made
before India became free, these very principles were followed by
Jawaharlal Nehru so long as he was India's Prime Minister and
Foreign Minister up to 1964. Even after his death, there has been
no significant departure from those principles under Lal Bahadur
Shastri and Mrs. Indira Gandhi.
There are certain salient features of the foreign policy of India.
It is based on the principle of non-alignment. When India became
free, the world was divided into two camps, the Anglo-American
bloc and the Soviet bloc. Soon after the Second World War was
over, there started rivalry between the Soviet Union on the one
hand and the United States on the other. This was given the
name of cold war. Jawaharlal Nehru was right in coming to the
conclusion that it was not desirable to join one bloc or the other.
India had just become free and she had too many problems to
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POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1919
tackle. Hence, it was in India's interest to remain aloof. Prime
Minister Nehru defended his policy of non-alignment by referring
to the policy followed by the United States towards Europe after
her independence. To quote him, “About 150 years ago, the West-
ern World was breaking up on account of all kinds of imperial and
revolutionary wars. Having achieved independence by breaking
off from the British Empire, the United States was naturally
affected by these upheavals; nevertheless it avoided being involved
in the chaotic situation of Europe—although doubtless it had its
particular sympathies—because that was natural thing for a nation
in that state of affairs to do. Now this analogy, although it may
not be a particularly good one in the circumstances of to-day, has
a bearing and I wish to point out that for a country that has newly
attained freedom and independence, this is the natural policy to
pursue. "
Prime Minister Nehru was very emphatic about his policy of
non-alignment. While following that policy, he did not care if any
country got annoyed with India. The view of Nehru was that
India was not going to sell herself for any price to any country.
To quote Nehru, “In any event, speaking for India, whatever hap-
pens, I am not prepared merely to say ditto to any country in the
wide world. I think it is degrading for a country as it is for an
individual just to be an automation, just to be a puppet and to repeat
what others say. ” “I do not think that anything could be more
injurious to us from any point of view—certainly from an idealistic
and high moral point of view but equally so from the point of view
cf opportunism and national interest in the narrowest sense of the
word—than for us to give up those policies that we have pursued,
namely, of standing up for certain ideals in regard to oppressed
nations, and trying to align ourselves with this great Power or that
and becoming its camp follower in the hope that some crumbs
might fall from their tables. ” “I realise—I frankly admit--that
—
there are always certain risks involved, not risks on paper but risks
in the same sense that certain obligations might be felt which might
affect our policy without our knowing it. Those risks are there.
All I can say is that we should be wide awake to avoid our commit-
ting mistakes because of those risks. . . . . . If any country imagines
that we are going to change our policies and sell ourselves for a
mess of pottage from any other country, she, I submit, is complete-
ly mistaken. I am quite sure in my mind that if at any time help
from abroad depends upon the slightest variation of our policy, we
shall give up that help; the whole of it and prefer starvation and
everything to it. So it is in this way that we accept help and I
think the world knows it well enough. "
## p. 987 (#1031) ###########################################
INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY
987
a
It is true that a policy of non-alignment was in the interest of
India so long as there was going on rivalry of a violent type between
the United States and the Soviet Union but there is no sense in
continuing the old policy of non-alignment in a changed world.
The relations between the Soviet Union and the United States have
improved. There exists bitter hostility between Communist China
and the Soviet Union. Peking says that both the Soviet Union and
the United States are at one in their hostility towards China. After
1962, Communist China has also become enemy number 1 of India.
Under the circumstances, it is ridiculous to assert that India should
not join either the Soviet bloc or the American bloc.
