Classroom clipper, Vol. IV, No. 2, December 1947

              December, 1947
Published by Pan American World Airways
VOL. IV, No. 2
AN AIR VIEW OF INDIA TODAY
A year or two ago a British writer went to India to find the Civis Indianus. After writing a thick book he returned home with one conclusion: “There is no Civis Indianus.”
If you ask me whether I found that citizen, my reply is simple: Even an army of scholars would only be able to skim the surface of a country so complex and so imponderable. The best that any single man can do is to give a rough sketch of certain phases of India that may be significant' and interesting.
A Historical Panorama
The brief story will not deal with the earlier history of British rule in India— the era of the East India Company, Clive, Warren Hastings, etc. It begins with the assumption of full British responsibility in 1858, after what is known as the Indian Mutiny, when Queen Victoria pledged England to give India good government, justice and progress without mentioning how. Yet the idea of a trusteeship eventually to be surrendered into Indian hands had already become a commonplace in the speeches and writings of public men.
With the Act of 1861 the first germ of representative institutions appeared. The Governor-General’s Executive Council was expanded to form a Legislative Council, and the Legislative Councils in the Provinces of British India were also enlarged. The additional members were mostly Indians, although not elected. Again, by the Act of 1909 the Legislators were enlarged and the principle of election for the proportion of the members was sanctioned. By this Act the Muslims were assigned a definite number of seats in the Legislative Councils, and the members filling these were chosen by a separate Muslim electorate.
The Act of 1919 saw the beginning in the Provinces of responsible government, with the Legislative Councils elected on a popular franchise, and with a proportion of the Ministers removable by a vote of the Legislatures. This was the system of “dyarchy,” by which, while certain offices of government, such as finance and law and order, remained in the hands of officials who could not be unseated, Indian Ministers assumed power over a wide field of administration — education, local government, health, etc. — and their tenure of office could be ended by an adverse vote of their fellow members of the Legislature.
DMS034-I, ceV 0>oy
By Enrique Portes
In some Provinces the Act was a success, in others it led to frequent political crises. It was ended by the Act of 1935, framed by the British Parliament after eight years of inquiry and consultation in three Round Table Conferences, in which Indians played a large part. Under this the eleven Provinces into which India had been divided were given self-government, subject only to certain powers reserved to' the Governors, with popularly elected Legislatures and Indian Ministers in control of all branches of administration. Provision was made for the Federation of all India, with the Indian States sending their representatives to a Central Legislature. For the first time the pledge was given that the ultimate goal for Indian Government was “Dominion Status.” Unfortunately these provisions of the Act had not come into force when World War II started.
With the outbreak of war the Congress Party objected to Indians participation. Their Ministers in the Provinces resigned. In January, 1940, the Viceroy again de-
clared the goal of British policy to be “full Dominion Status in accordance with the Statute of Westminster.” Endeavours to bring representatives of the Muslim League and the Congress Party into the Central Government proved a failure. In March, 1942, Sir Stafford Cripps went to India with new proposals whereby Indians were to have the right, at the end of the,» war, to frame their own constitution in jfn Assembly elected by themselves. The Cripps Mission failed.	y
There were other proposals made by Viceroy Wavell in 1945, by Pethick-Law-rence, Cripps and Alexander immediately after. But they also’ failed. In February, 1947, the British Government formally declared its intention to withdraw from India not later than June, 1948. At the same time Lord Wavell resigned and Viscount Louis Mountbatten was appointed Viceroy. Shortly after arriving in India Mountbatten returned to Britain with a plan of his own. It was accepted by the Cabinet, and the announcement was made
Muttra, on the bank of the Jummna River, is one of the most sacred spots in India. The Holy Ghat or bathing place with its flight of steps leading to the river attracts
pilgrims from all over India.