 The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present the Pacific Story. This is the story of the Pacific, the drama of the millions of people who live around this greatest sea where the United States is now committed to a long-term policy of keeping the peace. This is a documentary account of the situation in the Pacific, of the men and events which are today influencing world affairs for generations to come. Transition in India Prime Minister Atlee was on his feet in the parliamentary debate in the House of Commons. I am quite certain that the tide of nationalism is running very fast in India, and indeed all over Asia. In the Netherlands, India, in French, Indo-China, as well as in India, the old colonial system was crumbling. I hope that India may elect to remain within the British Commonwealth. If, on the other hand, he elects independence, in our view, she has the right to do so. It will be for us to help make the transition as smooth as possible. Transition. Britain was in the process of giving India self-government. But giving India back to the Indians contemplated enormous difficulties. In whose hands would it be placed? The Indians are divided, 250 million Hindus on one side, 92 million Muslims on another, not to mention the other minorities. For a good many years, two conflicts have been going on simultaneously in India. This is an observer. The first conflict has been between the Indian nation on one side and the British government on the other. This conflict has revolved around the question of when India was to be freed. This conflict has been going on for many years. The second conflict has been between the Hindus and the Muslims. On the question of how the power to be transferred to the Indians is to be shared between them. There are some very strong ideas about this. We, 92 million Muslims, are a nation. We will never submit to domination by the Hindus. Pakistan is the best. This is the Muslim position. They envisage a separate nation of their own, Pakistan. The only hope of India is that a unified nation under a democratic form of government. We will never permit succession of the Muslim. Nothing on earth, including the United Nations, is going to bring about the Pakistan of generous conception. This is the Hindu position. Today, in the matter of transition, the British government stands between the Muslims and the Hindus, searching for some common ground on which they can be brought together without strife and possibly without actual civil war. Last spring, the British government saw its problem as a short-term consideration and a long-term consideration. The short-term problem is to find some way of associating the Congress Party and the Muslim League in an interim government to see India through the period while her constitution is being hammered out. This is the British spokesman. The long-term problem is to set up machinery for framing the new constitution on a basis which would enable all parties to cooperate. But the main difficulty was the diametrically opposed views of the Hindus and the Muslims. Besides their political rivalry, there is a wide religious gulf between them. The Muslims have a simple austere faith. They have one God in one prophet. The Hindus worship many gods and have great veneration for the cow. The Muslims slaughter and eat the cow. On the other hand, the Hindus anger the Muslims by playing music before the Muslim mosques. In addition to these differences, the Hindus and the Muslims are miles apart in matters of business. The Hindus, years ago, took to Western education and Western business. Today, most of the big business of India, the banking and insurance, are monopolized by the Hindus. The Muslims have been slower to enter these fields. So many of them are in the position of being workmen for the Hindus. Yes. If we agree to a federal India, the Hindus would freeze us out of the government as they have frozen us out in industry. In 1945, a conference had been called at Simla to deal with the short-term problem that of getting the Congress Party and the Muslim League together in an interim government. This failed. In the spring of 1946, the British Labour government then sent three cabinet ministers to India. These three, known as the Cabinet Mission, were Lord Pethic Lawrence, Secretary of the State for India, Sir Stafford Cripp, President of the Board of Trade, and A.V. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty. Indian leaders met with them. We wish it to be plain that we have come to India to conclude a final agreement. The choice of the future status of India lies with India itself. Our first task is to set up an interim government. The British cabinet ministers spoke and the Indian leaders listened. Then they spoke. Speaking for the 92 million Muslims, he will join in setting up a provisional government only if the principle of a complete Muslim separate state is conceived itself. This is impossible. Speaking for the 250 million Indians who are representatives in the Congress Party, we will not take part in any proceedings, the objective of which is to separate India. The conference was deadlocked before it got started on the question of whether India would be divided into one part for Muslims and another part for Hindus. What Jinnah proposes is two separate sovereign states in the north of India, one in the northwest, one of the northeast. These areas he would make a Muslim state and call it Pakistan. But the Hindus have pointed out repeatedly that this is not the answer to the communal question. First, because there is a mass of Hindu territory 600 miles in length between the two isolated areas in the northeast and the northwest. Second, because many of the population of the two proposed Muslim areas are not Muslims. Conversely, many Muslims live in the areas which under this arrangement would be in the Hindu section. There's also another reason you might say a more vital one. This is a Hindu. The two sections of the suggested Pakistan contain the two most vulnerable frontiers of India. If India were attacked in these quarters, the situation would be grazed for their insufficient area in Pakistan for a successful defense in depth. The talks lasted 10 days. Then they broke down. No agreement was reached on an interim government. To effect the transfer of authority, the British made an offer with six sharply defined provisions. There should be a union of India embracing both British India and the states to deal with foreign affairs, defense and communication and to have the powers necessary to raise the requisite finances. The union shall have an executive and legislature composed of British Indian and states representatives. And any question raising a major communal issue in the legislature shall be decided by a majority of the representatives present in voting of each of the two major communities as well as a majority of all the members present in voting. All portfolios other than union portfolios and all residuary powers shall be vested in the provinces. The states shall retain all portfolios and powers other than those seated to the union. The provinces shall be free to form groups with executives and legislatures. These groups will determine the provincial portfolios to be taken in common. The constitution of the union and of the group shall contain provisions whereby any province by majority vote of its legislative assembly may call for a reconsideration of the terms of the constitution after an initial period of 10 years and a 10 year interval thereafter. In addition to these points, the new Indian government would have to decide India's relation to the British Commonwealth and empire. We hope that the new independent India may choose to be a member of the British Commonwealth. In any event, we hope that India will remain in close and friendly association with our people. But these matters are for your own free choice. Whatever that choice may be, we look forward with you to your ever increasing prosperity among the greatest nations of the world. And to a future even more glorious than your past. Thus the British plan was to set up a federal union embracing all the provinces and all the states of the Maharajas. This part of the proposal is good. It conceives of India as a sovereign republic. The British plan proposed, however, that the federal union be limited to dealing with international affairs, defense and communication. We Muslims would agree to this if it permits us to form a regional block of Muslims within the union. Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League voted in favor of the plan. But there were fireworks in the offing. Nevertheless, for the next few weeks, things were to go relatively smoothly. Nehru gave his approval to the plan. So on June 25th, 1946, the Hindu dominated Congress party after long delay conditionally endorsed the long-term plan but refused to join an interim government. Four days later, the fireworks went off. The Muslim League revoked its support of the plan. The vice-roy has not asked me to form an interim government. We withdraw our end. I accuse the British and the Congress party of working together to the disadvantage of us Muslims. We will have no path of trying to work on a plan on this basis. And head forth, we will resort to direct action. Direct action was to have special and terrible meaning in the time to come. The vice-roy, after long discussion, invited Nehru, the president of the Congress party, to form a new interim government and all Indian government, regardless of the Muslims. The month before this, the Muslims had met in a hall in Bombay and one after another Muslim, titled by the British, in times past, renounced their honors. By the direction, let the world know that we protest with all that is in us against the collaboration of the British with the Congress party. Once, for me, I accepted the British knighthood. Now, I am ready. Britain was placed in a difficult situation. If, when the Muslims revoked their support of the British plan, the British had withdrawn the plan, they would have solidified the Indian sentiment against them. By supporting the Congress party, they drew their support to the vast majority of Indians. But Britain knows the temper of the Muslims. She knows the power of the Muslims in the Middle East and she does not wish to risk their hostility. So, asking Nehru, a Hindu, to form an interim government, regardless of the Muslims, was a dangerous but necessary maneuver. Nehru made up a slate of 14 seats for the interim government. Six of these were Hindus from the Congress party. One was a Muslim from the Congress party. Two were independent Muslims. Three were representatives of other minorities. And two more seats were reserved for the Muslims. This would give the Muslims five of the 14 seats. Jinnah and the Muslim League refused to cooperate. The sound representation in the interim government, I asked that the Muslim League reconsider and accept the five seats in the cabinet set aside for Muslims. Jinnah refused to budge. Jinnah was in a position to make a strong move. He could reconsider and call off the Muslim League boycotts of the interim government. Or he could encourage even more active opposition, such as non-payment of taxes, resignation of Muslims from public offices, and even active demonstrations of Muslims against the government. Or he could bide his time and prepare for a decisive move when the time came. Muslim leaders had ideas about budding the time. What can they do without us? Look at the troubles in India, unemployment and labor unrest, inadequate transportation, the danger of famine, and all the other things. How can the interim government do business without us? It is not necessary for us to take measures against the interim government. It will collapse of its own wishes in a matter of months. As the British, the Hindus, and the minorities waited for Jinnah to act, they remembered Jinnah's tactics in the past. This was Jinnah, who in 1940 bitterly attacked the recent Congress Party government in the provinces. The only course open to us all is to allow the nations of India to separate to their home lands. Any scholar in India who gives more than the position inferior in political power to the Hindus must lead to civil war and a briefing of the Prime Minister. They remembered that in 1940, and they remembered his position in 1942 and after the failure of the Crips mission, the Hindus undertook a policy of civil disobedience. The Muslim leaders will take no part in the Hindu civil disobedience. And for this, the British are fortunate. For if we did, the British would have 500 times more trouble because we have 500 times more dust. And so the British and the Congress Party waited. And when Jinnah did not name Muslims to the cabinet of the interim government, the Viceroy appointed Muslims who were not members of Jinnah's Muslim League. Violence resulted. There he is coming out now. Yes. Get your niers ready. Come on, careful. Do not let him see us. He sees us. He's starting to run. Come on, quick now. You will not escape, you traitor! You will not escape! He will do you no good to see us! I got him! I got him! Let me go! You will accept the post of the Hindu government, will you? He is your reward for betraying your people. Get off me! Get off me! Here comes the police! The police! Oh! They put you up badly. Who were they? I do not know. They were Muslims, were they not? Why would they attack a Muslim like you? Get me to a hospital. Get me to a hospital. Oh! You want to shove it on my car? Get me to a hospital. But this was to be a very small part of what was to happen. Jinnah had spoken of direct action. Now he named a direct action day against the plan advanced by Britain for Indian independence. The streets of Calcutta were quiet as the day started. Quiet except for the bitterness that rankled within many who walked the streets. But who would soon be dead? Come a battle ground. The dead and dying are everywhere. Troops are moving against the routers with all possible dispatch. There are! Oh! The Hindus are setting fire to the Muslim mosque and to the living quarters of the Muslims. Both Hindus and Muslims not involved in the riot and each tearing the other are in panic trying to escape. The Muslims lay dead in the streets. Thousands were wounded. Indians, both Hindus and Muslims coward wherever they could find shelter or roamed in groups in search of food. Outraged women and children died along with the others and vultures fed on them as they did on the fanatics who had died with torches or weapons in their hands. This sexist-fighter war is a disgrace. This was Jinnah's reaction. Jinnah's reaction is obscure in the light of the fact that it was he who named Direct Action Day. Jinnah must certainly have known what would happen when he called for Direct Action. Especially when the Chief Minister of Bengal who is also a Muslim proclaimed Direct Action Day a holiday. This, if it meant nothing to anyone else could only be construed by the more radical Muslims as being for the express purpose of giving them an opportunity to attack the Hindus. How many died in the riot? How great the damage perhaps never will be known. But Pandit Nehru summed up the situation in a line. Either Direct Action knocks the government over or the government knocks Direct Action over. Then Jinnah, who had steadfastly refused to take part in the interim government, agreed to accept the Viceroy's invitation to name five Muslims to the All India Cabinet. Thus the short-term problem that of setting up an interim government with both Hindus and Muslims was achieved. And now the long-term problem that of working out a constitution for the new independent India was undertaken. But there were rocks and shoals ahead. Hardly had the five Muslims been named when rumors began making the rounds. Jinnah has not named the best-qualified Muslims to the interim government for a definite reason. For what reason? If you had my opinion, because he does not propose to cooperate at all, rather he will obstruct. Obstruct? I have reports that the members he has named to the government will not only obstruct, but will try to break up the interim government. Meanwhile, Pundit Nehru made a trip to the Muslim-dominated country northwest Frontier Province, waiting for him at the airport with thousands of Muslims and Muslim sympathizers. Nehru alighted from the plane and with his party got into car. Most of them are armed. Most of them have guns and spears. They look angry. They are throwing rocks at us. They are throwing rocks at us. No seeds drive off. They have no attention to them. There was no mistaking the attitude of the Muslims. Nevertheless, as planned, Nehru later mounted the platform to speak. The Muslims first listened, then walked out. And miles away, the bad blood between the Muslims and the Hindus was manifested in terms even more unmistakable. ... broken out between the Muslims and the Hindus in the lower Harley District of Bengal. How can I bring the Hindus by at least four to one in this district, the Muslims are killing the Hindus by the thousands, looting and firing the Hindu buildings. Police are making a frantic effort to halt humanity. When North Harley was quiet again, some 5,000s lay dead. The distance between the Muslims and the Hindus had not lessened one width. Still worse riots broke out in Bihar. In an effort to find some kind of common ground upon which they could consider India's independence, an invitation was extended to the leaders of both parties to come to London for a conference. They accepted, Nehru accepted. And together, in the same plane, along with Viceroy Wavell and Sikh defense minister Sardar Singh, they flew to London. Jinnah and Nehru could not agree on a question of interpretation of two sections of the plan advanced by the British cabinet mission. Jinnah took one deal, the British agreed with him. Nehru refused to agree to this interpretation. Jinnah asked the convocation of the constituent assembly to be postponed from December 9th. Viceroy Wavell refused to postpone the constituent assembly. Jinnah said the 73 Muslim League delegates would not attend. Back of all this, Jinnah was fighting for Pakistan. And Nehru was fighting against it. And so did the deadlock. Into this impasse then stepped Prime Minister Clement Adler. Should a constitution come to be framed by a constituent assembly in which a large section of the Indian population had not been represented? His Majesty's government could not, of course, contemplate forcing such a constitution upon any unwilling parts of the country. To this the Congress had agreed that if the 92 million Muslims were not represented in the constituent assembly that the constitution could not be forced upon them. And implicit in this statement by the Prime Minister was a warning that the British government would not turn India over to the party government. How can we solve here in a few days a problem that has been an issue for months? This was Nehru's reaction. What they could not settle in India they could not settle in London. If Nehru and Jinnah could not get together on a question of procedure they had no common grounds on which to meet. So Nehru went home. The London talks broke down. But the constituent assembly was still scheduled to open in New Delhi or without the Muslims. As the days of the weekend passed between the ending of the London talks and the opening of the constituent assembly in New Delhi, concern grew as to the explosive situation between the Muslims and the Hindus in India. Remember what happened in Calcutta? Yes. And what happened in the Mughali district of Bengal? It's gone far beyond control by either the Muslims or the Hindus. What is for that matter? If you ask me, forces have been let loose now that no one can control. Almost anything will set it off. Yes. You read what Jinnah said before he left London. Said that the Muslims would never submit to the sacrifice of their political and religious identity. Nobody's asking them to do that. He says that's what Britain's plan for independence for India would amount to. New Delhi and throughout India, everyone who understood the situation held his breath as the constituent assembly convened on Monday, December 9th. Seated were the 221 delegates of the Congress party representing the 260 million Hindus and the minority group. Absent were the 73 delegates of the Muslim League. The assembly got underway. Dr. Rajendra Prasad, a member of the Congress party was elected chairman of the assembly. Observers looked on. They were probably starred by adopting resolutions declaring India sovereign nation. They can't go very far without taking some action on those interpretations of the British cabinet mission plan that caused the breakdown in London. They'll have to ask a federal court for an interpretation. Well, in the face of what Prime Minister Adley said in London about not putting power over the Congress party, how far are they going here without the Muslim delegates? This is one of the momentous questions. A constitution acceptable to the British government cannot be worked out without the Muslims and the Muslims are boycotting the assembly. Jinnah is an able and experienced politician. He may soon find it expedient to consult the council of the Muslim League on participation in the constituent assembly. It's possible that he may keep the Muslim delegates out of the assembly for some time. Possibly for months. Until the assembly gets down to considering the details of provincial groupings. Now that is where Jinnah's concern rests. For with the proper setup and these considerations, he can, in effect, achieve some measure of his Pakistan. But almost before the assembly got underway there was evidence that the tension between the Muslims and the Hindus was still at fever pitch. Violent discrepancy between the Muslims and the Hindus from the northwest from Jabravin. Muslim tribes have attacked Hindus in two villages, killing 14 Hindus and shooting and setting fire to Hindu places of business. The outbreak was sudden and the Hindus were completely defenseless. Indian police have killed several of the raiding tribes when impelling the outbreak. As the nearly 400 million people of India move toward freedom, they face a period of incredible difficulties. Transition from more than a century and a half under British rule to self-government. Transition from hard and fast concepts to communal parts of view to a point of view which contemplates the overall good. And finally, whether this can be achieved without the hand of one people turned against the other in war with this question in the balance. And with the acceptance of the fact that if the peoples of India are to live together then great changes must indeed take place. Listening to the Pacific story presented by the national broadcasting company and its affiliated independent stations to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the crosscurrents of life in the Pacific basin. The Pacific story is written and produced by Arnold Marquess. The music was scored and conducted by Henry Russell, your narrator, John Easton. And in this series of particular interest to servicemen and women are broadcast overseas through the worldwide facilities of the armed forces radio service. This program came to you from Hollywood and is heard in Canada through the facilities of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.