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On August 8, 1940, a new policy called the ‘August Offer’ was announced. In this context, answer the following question:

Why did the Cripps Mission come to India ? What were the proposals of the Cripps Mission? Why were the proposals rejected by almost all the Indian political parties ?

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In December 1941, the Japanese attacked an American naval base in Hawaii, and the United States entered the war against Japan, Germany and Italy. Japan won a series of dramatic victories in the Western Pacific. Malaya and Singapore were overrun, and the retreating Anglo-Indian army surrendered Rangoon without a fight in early March. Soon the Japanese were at India’s eastern frontier, and an invasion of the country seemed imminent. For some time the United States had been pressing Britain to satisfy Indian demands for self-government. But Britain’s Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, was dead-set against this. 

But in March 1940, while Japanese troops were advancing through Burma, it became clear to Churchill that he would have to make some gesture, both to gain the support of the Indian people, and also to satisfy his American allies. 

Late in March, Churchill sent Sir Stafford Cripps, a socialist member of the war cabinet, to negotiate with Indian leaders on behalf of the Government. Cripps brought a new set of proposals. The Government promised ‘the earliest possible realization of self-government in India1. A ‘new Indian union’ would be created which would be a ‘dominion, associated with the United Kingdom and the other dominions by a common allegiance to the Crown, but equal to them in every respect, in no way subordinate1 to them. 

India would be able to frame its own constitution after the war. A new central executive council would operate till then. The net result of this would be that ‘in place of the majority of British members in the existing executive council, there would be an executive council composed of Indians alone, this statement was given by the current Congress President Abul Kalam Azad. This would mean that India would enjoy a significant measure of self-government .even before the conclusion of the war. 

In exchange of these concessions, the British asked for India’s support in its war effort. Leaders of the principal sections of the Indian people were invited to give their active and constructive help in the discharge of a task. This task was vital and essential for the future freedom of India, namely the defeat of the Axis dictatorships. A few leaders of Indian opinion responded favourably to Cripps’s proposals. M. N. Roy, who was the Head of the Radical Democratic Party, supported them on the grounds that the defeat of the axis was the most importafinnt thing at the moment. But practically every other shade of opinion in India found the proposals unacceptable. 

Most parties doubted the truth of Britain’s declared intention to share executive power. They could see that the Indian members of the proposed council could be prevented from taking part in the decision-making process. This happened especially in the critical area of defence. The clause that permitted provinces to break away from the proposed union was very clear. It can be explained as in the eyes of Congress leaders, ‘a severe blow to the conception of Indian unity’, for it admitted the possibility of a separate Muslim state. Muslim leaders felt that the mere possibility was not enough. They claimed that partition was ‘the only solution of India’s constitutional problem.’ 

These were not the only reasons the Cripps offer was rejected. The Indian people were not ready to trust a country that for almost two centuries had betrayed their confidence. It was too late for everything.

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