Acceptance of partition of India in Congress session
On 14 June 1947, in the meeting of the Congress General Committee (AICC), Govindvallabh Pant presented a proposal to accept the Mountbatten plan of partition of the country. This resolution had already been passed in the Congress Working Committee. This proposal was as follows-
'This is the only way to get the country's independence. This will ensure that the Indian Union will have a powerful center…… Congress has made great efforts for unity and has sacrificed everything but there is a limit beyond which even we cannot go. Today we have only two paths before us, either we accept the statement of June 3 or commit suicide.'
Maulana Azad opposed this proposal saying- 'The Congress Working Committee has not taken the right decision but there is no option before the Congress.……. Accepting partition is a political failure of Congress…. We have failed politically and hence are dividing the country. We must accept our defeat…..’
Patel and Nehru supported the partition resolution, but the opposition to this resolution in the AICC was so much that it was difficult to pass. Among the leaders who opposed this proposal were Sindh Congress leader Chauthram Gidwani, Pashtun leader Dr. Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Punjab Congress President Dr. Kitchlu, Purushottam Das Tandon, Maulana Hafizur Rahman etc. When Congress leaders were giving speeches, some members of AICC 'Pratapant Upasit' (Take what you are getting) were shouting slogans.
N. V. Gadgil has written- 'Chouthram Gidwani's speech was the most heart-wrenching. Many of us were crying shamelessly as he spoke. He drew a picture and described how the Congress had horribly disregarded Sindhi Hindus and how they were slaughtered at the altar of contemporary political convenience. He refuted the idea that whatever has happened, it had to happen, could not be changed. To accept this is to betray humanity. The whole speech was filled with a lot of emotion. Yet it did not lack intelligence and thoughtfulness. He said that bowing down to injustice is not a sign of intelligence.'
While Dr. Chauthram was delivering the speech, Nehru and Patel could see the soil slipping from under their feet. At that time Gandhiji was sitting in Harijan Colony, observing his weekly fast. The Congress leaders were beginning to understand that Mountbatten's plan would be rejected if the counting of votes was done after Dr. Chauthmal's lecture.
So he sent a special envoy to Gandhiji to come to the Congress Committee to protect his beloved Jawaharlal. Gandhiji broke his fast before time and ran away 'Constitutional Club' Arrived and after the speech of Dr. Saheb, with the concern of protecting the honor of his leaders, he started urging him to pass the resolution.
Abul Kalam Azad has written along with the memoirs of this proposal - 'Some ridiculous things were also seen during this great tragic drama. There are some people in the Congress who have been pretending to be nationalists but their outlook is actually sixteen anna communal. They have always argued that there is no unified culture of India. He has always been of the opinion that whatever the Congress may say, the social lives of Hindus and Muslims are completely different. It was astonishing to see that members with such views suddenly appeared on the stage as the biggest supporters of India's unity.'
Despite the overwhelming support of Gandhiji, Nehru and Patel, this resolution of the Congress Working Committee could not be passed unanimously in the AICC. 218 members were present in the meeting. Of these, 157 votes were cast in favor of the Congress Working Committee proposal and 29 votes in opposition and 32 members remained neutral.
After the resolution of the partition of India was passed by the Congress, the Khudai Khidmatgars of the North-West Frontier region under the leadership of Abdul Ghaffar Khan demanded that the provinces should not only have the option of joining the Indian Union or Pakistan, but we should have a separate Pathanistan or Pakhtunistan. There should also be a right to decide on the establishment and for this a public opinion should be held in the North-West Frontier region.
Mountbatten rejected this demand, but when the people of the North-West Frontier Province adopted the path of vigorous agitation, a referendum was organized to join India or Pakistan. At the time of voting, Muslim League goons created a lot of ruckus and by preventing genuine voters from voting, they got fake voting done, due to which Khudai Khidmatgar was defeated and the proposal to join Pakistan got one-sided votes.
Thus the North-West Frontier Province was forced to join Pakistan. The number of voters in the frontier at that time was 5,73,000. Of these, only 2,93,000 people were able to vote. Of these, only 3000 votes were in favor of joining the Indian Union. It was decided to include East Bengal, West Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan in Pakistan.
Like the North-West Frontier Province, the Sylhet district of Assam had a large number of Muslims, so a plebiscite was held there too. The people of Sylhet decided to go to Pakistan.
Provincial Legislative Assemblies Pass Pakistan Resolution
On 20 June 1947, the Bengal Legislative Assembly passed a resolution for the division of its province with an overwhelming majority. Three days later the members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to bifurcate their province. Voting took place in the Legislative Assembly of Sindh on the proposal to go or not to go to Pakistan. In this, 33 votes were in favor of going to Pakistan and 20 votes were in favor of staying in India. Thus it was decided to push the whole of Sindh into Pakistan by ignoring the outcry, shouting and crying of millions of Hindus living in Sindh province.