Political Science · Political Institutions in India
UGC NET Nov 2017 Political Science
Which of the following parties/groups the Cabinet Mission did not recognise?
AThe Muslim League
BThe Congress
CThe Sikhs ✓ Correct
DThe Princess Guild
Correct answer: (C) The Sikhs — The group the Cabinet Mission did not adequately recognise was the Sikhs, which is option (3).
Explanation
★The group the Cabinet Mission did not adequately recognise was the Sikhs, which is option (3).
★The Cabinet Mission of 1946 was sent by the British government to plan the transfer of power and the framing of a constitution for India.
★Its three members were Lord Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A.V. Alexander.
★The Mission rejected the demand for a separate Pakistan in its full form and instead proposed a loose federal union for a united India.
★Its plan grouped the provinces into three sections, broadly a Hindu majority group and two Muslim majority groups, under a weak central government handling defence, foreign affairs and communications.
★This grouping scheme was designed around Hindu and Muslim majorities and did not provide for the distinct concerns of the Sikh community, who were concentrated in Punjab.
★The Sikhs feared being submerged in a Muslim majority grouping of Punjab, and their objections were largely overlooked in the plan.
★The Mission also provided for the elections to the Constituent Assembly, which were held under the Cabinet Mission Plan in 1946.
★The option Muslim League is wrong, since it was a central party to the negotiations and initially accepted the plan before withdrawing its acceptance.
★The option Congress is wrong, since it was the other principal negotiating party whose response shaped the plan's fate.
★The option Princess Guild is wrong, since it is not a recognised political body of the period and does not fit the historical context of the Mission.
★The Cabinet Mission Plan ultimately failed as the League and the Congress could not agree on the interpretation of grouping.
★Its failure cleared the way for the Mountbatten Plan of June 1947 and the partition of India.
★The episode is important because the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Constitution was elected under this very plan.
★For NET, link the trio: the Cabinet Mission of 1946 with members Pethick Lawrence, Cripps and Alexander, its three group federal scheme, and the Constituent Assembly elections it set in motion.
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