Maulana Abul Kalam's opposition to Partition
When Maulana Abul Kalam Azad came to know that Mountbatten was going to London to persuade the British Cabinet for the partition of India, Maulana went to Shimla and met Mountbatten and proposed that the cabinet should stick to the mission plan so that the partition of the country could be avoided. . On this, Lord Mountbatten said that if the transfer of power is delayed, people will doubt the intentions of the British government and the government will be defamed.
Gandhiji's confusion
On 6 May 1947, Gandhi visited the residence of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in New Delhi with the efforts of Viceroy and Governor General Mountbatten. Between them was placed the map of India in which Pakistan was shown in green. Gandhiji begged Jinnah a lot to give up his insistence on taking Pakistan.
Gandhiji even told Jinnah that- 'If he gives up the demand for Pakistan, he will be made the Prime Minister of independent India' But Jinnah did not budge. After this meeting Jinnah issued a circular stating that Mr. Gandhi does not follow the principle of partition. Partition is not mandatory for them. Whereas in my view partition is not only necessary but also the only practical solution to the political problem of India.
In the prayer meeting of 7 May 1947, Gandhiji placed his decision before the public - 'Yesterday I went to Jinnah Sahib. There is a lot of political opposition between us. They ask for Pakistan, I am against it, but the Congress people have almost decided that the demand for Pakistan should be fulfilled. Yes, the areas of Punjab and Bengal where Hindus have a majority should not go to Pakistan. Only those states will go to Pakistan where Muslims have a majority. I am also against it. I shudder at the thought of dividing the country. But at the moment I am the only one who has this idea. I do not support either side. I have clearly told Jinnah sahib that I am a trustee, a servant of all castes like Hindu, Muslim, Parsi Sikh, Jain, Christian etc. So I will not be interested in the creation of Pakistan. And I will not sign his acceptance. I also humbly told Jinnah sahib that you cannot take Pakistan by force of violence or by such contemptuous attitude. Even if the whole country is handed over to you peacefully, I will be happy with that. If this happens then I will be the first to congratulate.'
Gandhiji opposed the creation of Pakistan again
On 18 May 1947, Lord Mountbatten went from Delhi to London with the plan for the partition of India. The whole country knew that Lord Mountbatten had gone to London to get permission for the Partition of India, but on 30 May 1947, the day the Viceroy returned to India from London with the approval of Attlee and Churchill on the partition of India, Gandhiji in the prayer meeting on the same evening. Opposing Partition in strong words, said- 'If the country starts burning with smoke, even then…..we will not give an inch of land in the name of Pakistan. '
Even though Gandhiji was making serious announcements not to allow Pakistan to be created, he was desperate inside and he understood very well that now the number of people supporting his views in the Congress on this subject has decreased. Even his old comrades Nehru and Patel have become supporters of the creation of Pakistan.
Saddened by this, one day he said in front of everyone in the prayer meeting- 'Today I find myself alone. Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal also think that my assessment of the situation is wrong and peace will surely return by agreeing to partition…..
Plan to rip India from the middle
When Mountbatten came to India with the approval of the new plan, suddenly Jinnah demanded that he needed a thousand-mile route through India to unite East-Pakistan and West-Pakistan. On this the Congress again got upset but Mountbatten somehow intervened between the two sides.
Gurudutt has written- 'Jinnah wanted a strip of one hundred miles wide under the Himalayas to join North and West-Pakistan.'
Danger of Direct Action Day in Delhi In the second week of May 1947, a report was published in the Calcutta Daily in which a correspondent wrote that- ' My study of the situation is as follows……. Similar direct action is going to happen in Delhi soon. As has just been done in the North-West Frontier Province. ……..
The Department of Communications of the Central Government of India has been made Muslim without any delay. European, Hindu and Sikh officers have been removed and appointed as Muslims at all necessary places of Delhi Telephone Department. so that at the same time as the Punjab and the North-Western Frontier had just now, all means of communication within Delhi and Delhi with other parts of India may be cut off or brought under control.'
Due to the timely arrangements made by the government, this apprehension proved to be unfounded, direct action could not be taken in Delhi.