Interim Government and the Communal Violence of 1946

At a Glance

• Riots From 16 August 1946; worst in Calcutta, Bombay, Noakhali, Bihar and Garhmukteshwar
• Interim Government Sworn in 2 September 1946 under Nehru
• League joined 26 October 1946
• Constituent Assembly First met 9 December 1946; League absent
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: Post-War Scenario, Cabinet Mission and Communalism

Where Does It Fit?

This is the sixth topic of the category on the post-war scenario, the Cabinet Mission and communalism. The previous topic covered the grouping dispute. This topic covers the communal violence and the Interim Government. The next topic covers the birth and spread of Indian communalism. Previous topic: Grouping Clause of the Cabinet Mission Plan and Its Interpretations.

What Happened From 16 August 1946?

From 16 August 1946 the Indian scene was rapidly transformed. There were communal riots on an unprecedented scale that left several thousand dead. The worst-hit areas were Calcutta, Bombay, Noakhali, Bihar and Garhmukteshwar in the United Provinces. The call for Direct Action is in Grouping Clause of the Cabinet Mission Plan and Its Interpretations.

How Did the Government’s Priorities Change?

Wavell was now eager to get the Congress into the Interim Government somehow, even if the League stayed out, a departure from his stand at the Shimla Conference. This went against the League’s insistence that all settlements must be acceptable to it and against earlier government postures of encouraging communal forces, denying the legitimacy of nationalism and denying that the Congress was representative. Continued British rule had demanded one stance, while withdrawal and post-imperial links demanded the opposite. The Shimla Conference is in Wavell Plan and the Simla Conference.

How Was the Interim Government Formed?

Fearing mass action by the Congress, a Congress-dominated Interim Government headed by Nehru was sworn in on 2 September 1946, with Nehru continuing to insist on his party’s opposition to compulsory grouping. Despite the title, it was little more than a continuation of the Viceroy’s old executive; in his last cabinet meeting in March 1947 Wavell overruled the ministers on the release of INA prisoners.

Wavell quietly brought the Muslim League into the Interim Government on 26 October 1946. The League was allowed to join without giving up Direct Action, despite its rejection of the Cabinet Mission’s long-term and short-term plans, and despite its insistence on compulsory grouping with decisions taken by a majority vote of a section as a whole, which would reduce the opponents of Pakistan in Assam and the North-West Frontier Province to a helpless minority.

These 14 ministers served from 2 September 1946 to 15 August 1947.

How Did the League Obstruct the Government?

• The League did not attend the Constituent Assembly, which first met on 9 December 1946. The Assembly could therefore only pass a general Objectives Resolution, drafted by Nehru, stating the ideals of an independent sovereign republic with autonomous units, adequate minority safeguards and social, political and economic democracy.
• The League refused to attend informal cabinet meetings that took decisions.
• It questioned the decisions and appointments of Congress members.
• Liaqat Ali Khan, as finance minister, restricted and encumbered the efficient working of other ministries.

The League sought only a foothold in the government to fight for Pakistan; for it, membership was a continuation of civil war by other means. From the day the League joined, the Congress demanded that the British either make the League change its attitude or quit.

How Did the Crisis Develop in February 1947?

In February 1947 nine Congress members of the cabinet wrote to the Viceroy demanding the resignation of the League members and threatening to withdraw their own nominees. The last straw came with the League demanding the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly. A crisis seemed to be developing rapidly. As an analytical point, the Interim Government was built on an unresolved difference: the Congress treated it as the start of a national government and the League as a place to continue its campaign, so that the shared cabinet, instead of building trust, brought the deadlock inside the government itself. The British answer, in Attlee’s Statement of 20 February 1947, came in the same month. The background to the riots in the communal ideas of the period is in Birth, Spread and Characteristics of Indian Communalism.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Cabinet list Names and portfolios are favourite Prelims items
• League’s tactics A frequent Mains point on obstruction
• Link to partition Shows how a joint government failed

What Came Next?

The next topic describes the birth, spread and characteristics of Indian communalism. Next topic: Birth, Spread and Characteristics of Indian Communalism.

Key People and Terms

• Interim Government The government formed on 2 September 1946
• Direct Action Day 16 August 1946, the start of the riots
• Objectives Resolution Nehru’s resolution at the Constituent Assembly
• Garhmukteshwar Place in the United Provinces hit by riots
• Vice President of the Executive Council Nehru’s position
• Obstruction The League’s tactic of hindering the cabinet

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about the Interim Government and the League’s role. These points add depth.

• Violence Riots after Direct Action
• Government Congress dominance and the League’s entry
• Obstruction League’s tactics and the February crisis