LONDON: All British papers reported … the ‘tense’ situation in India. Lord Ismay’s report, it is said, has instilled in the Cabinet the need for a sense of urgency. Indeed, the situation is painted so gloomy that the diplomatic correspondents of the ‘Daily Mail’, the ‘Daily Express’ and the ‘News Chronicle’ have … hinted that the British might quit much earlier than June 1948. What plan is Lord Ismay taking back to India? The ‘Daily Worker’s’ headline “The Cabinet plans a speedy Indian Partition”, perhaps puts it in a nutshell. Although the British Government still re-state the desirability of its Grouping Scheme, the operative clause in the New Proposals is undoubtedly partition. But what kind of partition? The ‘Daily Herald’s … correspondent says, “The Cabinet has suggested various minor changes, but the basic principles laid down by the Viceroy remain.”

… The ‘Minor Changes’, which the ‘Daily Herald’ speaks of, are those affecting the partition of the Punjab and Bengal. … Sir Stafford Cripps has taken his stand … for detaching the predominantly non-Muslim areas from the proposed Pakistan. By this trick, Sir Cripps hopes to make Pakistan unattractive to the League and so compel it to re-accept the Cabinet Mission’s plan.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2022