Statement on the Wavell Plan, House of Commons

[3.55 p.m.]

The Secretary of State for India (Mr. Amery): May I take the opportunity of reading to the House a statement which I have been authorised by His Majesty's Government to make on the subject of India, and which is being published at the same time in India? The statement is in the form of a White Paper, and is now available in the Vote Office. It says:

"During the recent visit of Field-Marshal Viscount Wavell to this country His Majesty's Government reviewed with him a number of problems and discussed particularly the present political situation in India.

Members will be aware that since the offer by His Majesty's Government to India in March, 1942, there has been no further progress towards the solution of the Indian constitutional problem.

As was then stated, the working out of India's new constitutional system is a task which can only be carried through by the Indian peoples themselves.

While His Majesty's Government are at all times most anxious to do their utmost to assist the Indians in the working out of a new constitutional settlement, it would be a contradiction in terms to speak of the imposition by this country of self-governing institutions upon an unwilling India. Such a thing is not possible, nor could we accept the responsibility for enforcing such institutions at the very time when we were, by its purpose, withdrawing from all control of British Indian affairs.

The main constitutional position remains therefore as it was. The offer of March, 1942, stands in its entirety without change or qualification. His Majesty's Government still hope that the political leaders in India may be able to come to an agreement as to the procedure whereby India's permanent future form of government can be determined."

Mr. Cove (Aberavon): On a point of Order, Mr. Speaker. I am not an expert in Parliamentary procedure, although I have been here a long time, but this is the first time that I can remember a Secretary of State reading a White Paper that we can already get in the Vote Office. I have read it myself already. I should have thought that it is usual for the Minister concerned to explain and amplify the White Paper and not to read to us that which we can already get from the Vote Office. It seems to me to be rather amateur treatment of the House.

Mr. Amery: I shall, of course, explain and amplify what is in that statement. As the statement has only been released a little while ago and a good many hon. Members have not had an opportunity of reading it, I thought it would be for the convenience of the House that I should read it.

Mr. Cove: It is rather a shabby treatment of the House to issue a White Paper just before we adjourn, and ask us to listen to the Secretary of State for India reading it, when it is on such an important matter as the status of India. I think the Government are treating the House and the Country with scant courtesy and with no appreciation of the gigantic importance of India to the British Empire.

Mr. Amery: It has been of great importance that the issue of the statement should be synchronised in this country and in India. It was not possible to issue it earlier than this afternoon, and, therefore, I still hope that it may be for the convenience of the House that I should read the statement. If not, I am prepared to give an explanation of it without reading it.

Mr. A. Bevan (Ebbw Vale): I rise with some diffidence to support my hon. Friend the Member for Aberavon (Mr. Cove), because I do not know whether this also may not have been arranged through the usual channels. As the arrangements through the usual channels now appear not to be subject to the Rules of the House, I am in some difficulty when I try to raise this matter. It is a Rule of the House that statements may not be read except statements by Ministers of the Crown, who have need to read them in order to be word perfect on matters which may be of great public international import. As this is a White Paper, available in the Vote Office, why should we be subjected to the tedium of hearing a statement read out, which is available to Members in all parts of the House?

Mr. Amery: I suggest that in that case I need not submit the House to that tedium. As proceedings have been a little delayed, there has been time for a great many Members to see the White Paper, and I think I can cover the essential points in it sufficiently well in my explanatory statement. Therefore, I shall be only too happy, with the consent of the House, to proceed at once to some explanation of the political—

Mr. Colegate (The Wrekin): On a point of Order. A great many of us have had no opportunity whatsoever of reading this statement. We wish to hear the statement and I beg that we may be allowed to do so. It is quite impossible for us to follow this Debate unless we hear the White Paper read.

Mr. Speaker: These are not points of Order. It is for the Minister to decide how to make his speech.

Sir John Wardlaw-Milne (Kidderminster): I would ask my right hon. Friend to adhere to his original intention. It is merely a question of convenience. The House has had no opportunity of reading this statement. It is quite clear that it could only be issued at this particular moment, so it is for the convenience of the House that before we debate it we should at least have a chance of knowing what the White Paper says. It is not an insult to anybody; it is a mere matter of convenience, and I hope the right hon. Gentleman will continue.

Mr. Colegate: Please read it.

Mr. S. O. Davies (Merthyr): This White Paper has been in the Vote Office and, in fact, even in the hands of some hon. Members for the last 40 minutes. It has 23 paragraphs in it, and surely the right hon. Gentleman is not going to inflict it upon us now—

Mr. Colegate: It is not an infliction.

Mr. Davies: —and treat hon. Members of this House as if they were young and irresponsible children.

Mr. Cove: I repeat that I know of no occasion when such a procedure has been adopted, and I want to say to my hon. Friend opposite that, evidently, some of us on this side are keener about the interests of India and the British Empire than they are, because we have already read the White Paper.

Mr. Colegate: Then the hon. Members were not paying attention to the proceedings of the House. Surely those hon. Members who are not specially interested can leave the House while it is read?

Mr. Speaker: I really think that this House is not doing itself justice by becoming involved in a somewhat unseemly wrangle.

Hon. Members: Read on.

Mr. Amery: The opinion of the House is divided, and it would certainly suit the convenience of a good many Members that I should read it out. I will read it as speedily as I can, and I hope hon. Members opposite will have patience with me while I do so because, after all, it is a statement of considerable importance not only to us here but to the people of India. I think I reached the end of the fifth paragraph and I resume:

"His Majesty's Government are, however, most anxious to make any contribution that is practicable to the breaking of the political deadlock in India. While that deadlock lasts not only political but social and economic progress is being hampered.

The Indian administration, over-burdened with the great tasks laid upon it by the war against Japan and by the planning for the post-war period, is further strained by the political tension that exists.

All that is so urgently required to be done for agricultural and industrial development and for the peasants and workers of India cannot be carried through unless the whole-hearted co-operation of every community and section of the Indian people is forthcoming.

His Majesty's Government have therefore considered whether there is something which they could suggest in this interim period, under the existing constitution, pending the formulation by Indians of their future constitutional arrangements, which would enable the main communities and parties to co-operate more closely together and with the British to the benefit of India as a whole.

It is not the intention of His Majesty's Government to introduce any change contrary to the wishes of the major Indian communities. But they are willing to make possible some step forward during the interim period if the leaders of the principal Indian parties are prepared to agree to their suggestions and to co-operate in the successful conclusion of the war against Japan as well as in the reconstruction in India which must follow the final victory.

To this end they would be prepared to see an important change in the composition of the Viceroy's Executive. This is possible without making any change in the existing statute law except for one amendment to the Ninth Schedule to the Act of 1935. That Schedule contains a provision that not less than three members of the Executive must have had at least 10 years' Service under the Crown in India. If the proposals of His Majesty's Government meet with acceptance in India, that clause would have to be amended to dispense with that requirement."

"It is proposed that the Executive Council should be reconstituted and that the Viceroy should in future make his selection for nomination to the Crown for appointment to his Executive from amongst leaders of Indian political life at the Centre and in the Provinces, in proportions which would give a balanced representation of the main communities, including equal proportions of Moslems and Caste Hindus.

In order to pursue this object, the Viceroy will call into conference a number of leading Indian politicians who are the heads of the most important parties or who have had recent experience as Prime Ministers of Provinces, together with a few others of special experience and authority. The Viceroy intends to put before this conference the proposal that the Executive Council should be reconstituted as above stated and to invite from the members of the conference a list of names. Out of these he would hope to be able to choose the future members whom he would recommend for appointment by His Majesty to the Viceroy's Council, although the responsibility for the recommendations must of course continue to rest with him, and his freedom of choice therefore remains unrestricted.

The members of his Council who are chosen as a result of this arrangement would of course accept the position on the basis that they would whole-heartedly co-operate in supporting and carrying through the war against Japan to its victorious conclusion.

The members of the Executive would be Indians with the exception of the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief, who would retain his position as War Member. This is essential so long as the defence of India remains a British responsibility.

Nothing contained in any of these proposals will affect the relations of the Crown with the Indian States through the Viceroy as Crown Representative.

The Viceroy has been authorised by His Majesty's Government to place this proposal before the Indian Leaders. His Majesty's Government trust that the leaders of the Indian communities will respond. For the success of such a plan must depend upon its acceptance in India and the degree to which responsible Indian politicians are prepared to cooperate with the object of making it a workable interim arrangement. In the absence of such general acceptance existing arrangements must necessarily continue.

If such co-operation can be achieved at the Centre it will no doubt be reflected in the Provinces and so enable responsible Governments to be set up once again in those Provinces where, owing to the withdrawal of the majority party from participation, it became necessary to put into force the powers of the Governors under Section 93 of the Act of 1935. It is to be hoped that in all the Provinces these Governments would be based on the participation of the main parties, thus smoothing out communal differences and allowing Ministers to concentrate upon their very heavy administrative tasks.

There is one further change which, if these proposals are accepted, His Majesty's Government suggest should follow.

That is, that External Affairs (other than those tribal and frontier matters which fall to be dealt with as part of the Defence of India) should be placed in the charge of an Indian Member of the Viceroy's Executive so far as British India is concerned, and that fully accredited representatives shall be appointed for the representation of India abroad.

By their acceptance of and co-operation in this scheme, the Indian leaders will not only be able to make their immediate contribution to the direction of Indian affairs, but it is also to be hoped that their experience of co-operation in government will expedite agreement between them as to the method of working out the new constitutional arrangements.

His Majesty's Government consider, after the most careful study of the question, that the plan now suggested gives the utmost progress practicable within the present constitution. None of the changes suggested will in any way prejudice or prejudge the essential form of the future permanent constitution or constitutions for India.

His Majesty's Government feel certain that given goodwill and a genuine desire to co-operate on all sides, both British and Indian, these proposals can mark a genuine step forward in the collaboration of the British and Indian peoples towards Indian self-government and can assert the rightful position, and strengthen the influence, of India in the counsels of the nations."

Mr. Montague (Islington West): Before the Secretary of State leaves the White Paper, will he make clear what is meant in it by the terms "the main political parties" and "the principal political parties"?

Mr. Amery: The main political parties are, of course, the Congress Party and the Moslem League. There are other important major elements in India, like the scheduled castes, the Sikhs, the Christians and so on, but those are the two main political parties. May I, after apologising to those hon. Members who have already read the White Paper and have listened patiently to my reading of it, now proceed with some explanation of the political and constitutional background which has determined the nature of our proposals, and also go somewhat more fully into the details of the actual steps which the Viceroy is now taking in order to give effect to them?

As the statement makes clear, the offer of March, 1942, stands in its entirety. That offer was based on two main principles. The first is that no limit is set to India's freedom to decide for herself her own destiny, whether as a free member and partner in the British Commonwealth or even without it. The second is that this can only be achieved under a constitution or constitutions framed by Indians to which the main elements in India's national life are consenting parties. These principles, if I may quote the Prime Minister, “stand in their full scope and integrity. No one can add anything to them and no one can take anything away.” That, I may say, is an affirmation, not only of our own loyal purpose, but of the inescapable facts of the Indian situation. We can only transfer our ultimate control over India to a Government or Governments capable of exercising it. We cannot hand India over to anarchy or to civil war. Our responsibility to the people of India themselves forbid that course, and, indeed, our responsibility to the peace of the world forbids it. On the other hand, we cannot impose a constitution that will break up the moment our authority is no longer there to sustain it. The point was forcibly stated in a recent address by Dr. Ambedkar, the recognized leader of the Scheduled Castes and the Labour Member in the Viceroy's Executive. Arguing that only an Indian constitution "framed by Indians for Indians and with the voluntary consent of Indians" could command the necessary obedience and respect, he went on: “It is useless for the British to frame a constitution for India, which they will not remain to enforce.…I, therefore, am firmly of the opinion that if Indians want Dominion status they cannot escape the responsibility of framing their own constitution.” So far, no progress has been made in that direction, and the internal deadlock, essentially a deadlock as between Hindu India and Moslem India, remains unresolved. We should be wrong, I think, to be unduly impatient with Indian political leaders for their failure to find common ground. The issues at stake are great and the differences of approach to the problem are rooted in convictions sincerely and strongly held. I trust, nevertheless, that the right solution will emerge, and certainly His Majesty's Government will at all times be anxious to give such assistance as might contribute to its attainment.

Meanwhile, India cannot stand still. Over and above the effort still required for the war against Japan, there is an immense and urgent task of reconstruction, of agricultural and industrial development, of health and education, which cannot wait for the slower processes of political adjustment, but which at the same time calls for the whole-hearted co-operation of every community and section of the Indian people. This cannot be done without some real advance in the political field, some closer and more effective association of the organised political forces in India with the government of their country.

At the present juncture that is only possible, for the reasons I have given, on an interim and provisional basis. It must be without prejudice to the ultimate constitutional settlement, whatever its character. The ideal to which we have always looked forward is that of an All-India Union in which the States would play their full part. At the same time we have also recognised the possibility that agreement between Hindus and Moslems on any form of Indian unity may be unattainable. Any interim advance, therefore, must in no way prejudge the question whether the ultimate settlement is based on a united or a divided India, or affect the existing position or future freedom of choice of the States. That means that it must be within the present constitution, for there is no change in that constitution which would not be regarded as giving a bias in favour of one or other final solution. There can be no question, therefore, of making the Executive responsible, in our Parliamentary sense, to the Legislature. That would at once, in Moslem eyes, imply the control of a unified India by a Hindu majority. Nor can there be any question of doing away with the existing power of the Governor-General to overrule a majority view of his Council, if in his opinion, I quote the words of the Act: “…the safety, tranquillity, or interests of British India are, or may be, essentially affected,” nor of his consequent responsibility to the Secretary of State and to Parliament for its exercise. That power, I should explain, is a power in reserve, not an instrument in normal use. So long, however, as there is no Indian constitution under which controversial issues can be ultimately resolved, by an accepted democratic procedure, it is a necessary protection for the minorities whether against immediate injury or against decisions which might prejudice the constitutional future to their detriment. It is, in any case, a power, as the terms of the Act clearly state, whose main purpose is to safeguard Indian interests. That applies no less to the Viceroy's duty, in the existing constitutional position, to secure the fulfilment of our obligations towards the States.

In order to emphasise this aspect of the Viceroy's position, as well as for reasons of practical convenience, His Majesty's Government have, in connection with these proposals, decided on a step, not referred to in the statement, but in our opinion of substantial importance. That is to appoint a United Kingdom High Commissioner in India to represent the particular interests of the United Kingdom. Under present conditions there is always the possibility that the Viceroy might on occasion be placed, in dealing with his Council, in the ambiguous and even embarrassing dual position of being both concerned, as head of the Government of India, with the defence of Indian interests and, at the same time, of representing the specific material interests of this country. A United Kingdom High Commissioner, on the other hand, would be free, as in the Dominions, to discuss and negotiate with the appropriate Departments of the Government of India on a footing of complete equality, and also of complete frankness.

Earl Winterton (Horsham and Worthing): To whom will this high officer of State be responsible, to the Foreign Office or the Dominions Office, because that is the gist of the whole matter? From whom will he take instructions?

Mr. Amery: That is a matter of practical convenience. Most of his business will, I imagine, be conducted on behalf of Departments like the Board of Trade and the Treasury. The precise question as to who will answer for him in Parliament still remains to be settled, and is deserving of careful consideration.

I have stated the conditions, inherent in the situation, which indicate the only line on which advance is possible at this moment. I must remind the House of the advance, the real though not always appreciated advance, that has already taken place. When I came to the India Office, five years ago, the Governor-General's Executive Council, by whose majority decisions government is normally carried on, consisted of four European officials and three non-official Indian members. For these last three years it has consisted of four European and 11 Indian members. These Indian members have been drawn from all the main communities and from all parts of India. They are men who have played an active and distinguished part in Indian public life. They responded to the Viceroy's invitation to join him as colleagues not because they are less anxious than any of their fellow-countrymen that India should attain the fullest freedom at the earliest possible moment, but because, both as patriots and as practical men, they believed that they could serve India better by assuming responsibility than by abstention. They have served India well, and the value of their service to India and the constitutional advance it has represented will some day be more fully recognised. Some of them are well known to hon. Members, as, for instance, Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar, who has recently with such eloquence and ability put India on the world map at San Francisco.

Unfortunately, it has to be admitted, and the members of the present Council would be the first to admit it, that their position is weakened by the fact that they do not enjoy the support of the main organised political parties. Neither in the Legislature nor in the Press are they sustained as a body by that measure of co-operative good will and understanding which is so desirable for the carrying out of the great and urgent tasks of reconstruction. Nothing could serve that purpose better than if the leaders of those main organised parties, postponing without prejudice the constitutional issues which have so far divided them, would agree together in giving their support to the formation of a new Executive selected from among the leaders of Indian political life both at the centre and in the provinces.

Mr. S. O. Davies: The right hon. Gentleman is coming to the most important part of his speech. Will he tell us whether he proposes now to release from prison the leaders of Indian opinion, so that they might be freely consulted and express their desires?

Mr. Amery: I would ask the hon. Member to be a little patient, because I am coming to that in a moment. If the offer which His Majesty's Government now make is accepted, all the portfolios, except that of War Member held by the Commander-in-Chief, will be transferred to Indian hands. The portfolios transferred would include not only the important Home and Finance Departments, but also that of External Affairs, hitherto reserved to the Viceroy in person. This would naturally be accompanied by the appointment of fully accredited representatives abroad and so constitute a definite enhancement of India's international status. The new Executive would thus in fact, though not as the outcome of any formal constitutional process, be made representative of organised Indian political opinion.

In selecting his Council the Viceroy will be concerned to secure a balanced representation of the main communities, including equal proportions of Moslems and Caste Hindus. I understand that he also intends to secure representation for the Scheduled Castes, for the Sikhs and possibly for some other special interests. But the essential condition is the equality in representation between the two main communities. That is indispensable to securing agreement. It must always be remembered that we are dealing, not with an ultimate constitution, but with a provisional, interim working arrangement, aimed at enlisting the maximum of immediate support and the maximum of practical advance without prejudice to the future.

Mr. Cove: Do I understand that the Congress Leaders will be released unconditionally to consider these proposals, that they will be allowed to come out of prison and to consider the proposals which have been made without there being any binding upon them to accept or reject before they are released?

Mr. Amery: I would ask the hon. Member, as I asked his hon. Friend just now, to be a little patient and to allow me to explain the proposals in my own way.

Whether the principles of arithmetical majority can ever apply in a country with such profound differences and such strong consciousness of those differences as exist in India is another question. Even the American constitution has disregarded those principles in the equal senatorial representation given to every State, great or small. If our proposals for a newly selected Executive at the Centre are accepted we would hope, and indeed it would be a natural corollary, that Ministerial Government would be resumed in the Provinces now under Section 93. We would also hope that following the example set at the Centre, they would be on a coalition basis. Such questions as the holding of elections, whether at the Centre or in the Provinces, will no doubt be discussed at the Conference which the Viceroy has invited to meet him.

Lord Wavell is at this moment informing the Indian public by broadcast of the invitations which he has issued to the leading political figures in India whom he wishes to consult with a view to the selection of the proposed new Executive. These include the gentlemen now holding the office of Premier in a Provincial Government and, in the case of Provinces under Section 93, those who last held that office; the leader of the Congress Party and the deputy leader of the Moslem League in the Central Assembly, the leaders of both those parties in the Council of State, and the leader of the Nationalist Party and of the European Group in the Assembly; they also include Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Jinnah, as the recognised leading personalities in the two main parties; Rai Bahadur Sivaraj to represent the Scheduled Castes, and Master Tara Singh to represent the Sikhs. It is in the light of these discussions that the Viceroy hopes to be able to form a new Executive pledged to the prosecution of the war against Japan and to the great and fruitful task of Indian reconstruction.

There is a matter which I have not so far mentioned, but which I realise is very much in the mind of hon. Members, and that is the release of those still under detention as the result of the 1942 disturbances. I must remind the House that this matter has been, from first to last, dealt with by the Government of India and by the Provincial Governments responsible for law and order. The Provincial Governments have on their own initiative progressively released the vast majority of detainees, while the Central Government have already released seven out of the fifteen members of the Congress Working Committee. The Viceroy's Council have now recommended the release of the members of the Working Committee still under detention and this recommendation, which has the full approval of His Majesty's Government, is being put into effect. It is possible that it has already been put into effect. The final decision about the remaining detainees in the different Provinces will be left to the new Central and Provincial Governments when formed. These then are the proposals which the Viceroy, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, is laying before India. They owe everything to the initiative of Lord Wavell, to his deep sympathy with Indian aspirations and to his firm belief in India's future greatness. Their actual final form was shaped here in consultation between him and leading members of both of the main parties in the late Coalition. They thus represent an agreed national offer on the part of this country to the people of India.

We earnestly hope that our offer will meet with acceptance. It is the utmost that we ourselves can do pending Indian agreement upon the final constitutional settlement. We believe and hope, however, that, if accepted, the co-operation of Indian statesmen in facing the many practical and urgent issues of India's needs, may help to bring the hour of agreement nearer. The other day Mr. Rajagopalachari, the late Premier of Madras, urged his fellow countrymen to be open-minded about any British offer in order “to use the power and opportunities so obtained to form a habit of common purpose which will cut across classes, creeds and communities…and help us to become a strong united people.” Those are the words of true statesmanship; they will find a ready echo in every quarter in this House.

In any case, the acceptance of our offer opens up a wide field of opportunity for Indians to mould their country's destiny, to build up its prosperity at home and to vindicate its importance in the world scheme of the future. India has played, thanks to the valour of her fighting men, a notable part in the world's struggle for freedom. She feels, and rightly feels, that both her past efforts and the developments which she envisages entitle her to equal pride of place both among the peoples of the British Commonwealth and among the great nations of the world. We share that desire and, so far as in us lies, are making our offer as a genuine contribution to that end. We are placing India's immediate future in Indian hands. It is for them to take and to shape it.

One last word about these proposals. No one can regard them as concessions wrung from us in the hour of weakness. They are offered in the hour of victory as an earnest of our good will to India and of our genuine desire to help forward the fulfilment of her aspirations as well as the fulfilment of our own traditions and instincts. I might indeed venture to claim that in relation to the present situation in India and in the world, they justify certain words used of this country by Emerson a century ago: “With strength still equal to the time; still wise to entertain and swift to execute the policy which the mind and heart of mankind requires in the present hour.”