SEVENTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD Secretary of State, Lord Pethick Lawrence, opened the Tripartite Conference with a brief address, exactly at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning [May 5] in the Viceregal Lodge, Simla, according to an A.P.I. report.

This was followed by a brief speech by the Congress President. Then there was a general discussion. The atmosphere in the Conference was most cordial and the proceedings were “most business-like”.

The Conference adjourned at 12-15 p.m. after 135 minutes and met again at 4 in the afternoon. From today onwards, the Conference will meet daily at 11-30 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. after lunch. Sunday’s afternoon session of the conference concluded at 5-30 p.m. …‘Maulana Azad is understood to have reiterated the Congress stand and made it clear that the Congress had gone the maximum extent to meet the legitimate grievances of the minorities, particularly the Muslims in the formula which he enunciated in his statement issued from Delhi on April 15. ‘Maulana’ Azad is reported to have emphasisd that the Congress could not agree to any scheme or proposal for a new constitutional set up which envisaged division of the country….

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2021