Central Texas Model United Nations 2016
Background Guide:
1946: Indian Independence: Indian National Congress
1946: Indian Independence
“I would not flinch from sacrificing even a million lives for India’s Liberty” - Mahatma Gandhi
Letter of Introduction
Dear delegates,
I am a third year International Relations and Global Studies major at the University of Texas at
Austin. I have been with CTMUN Crisis since freshman year, and also serve at the OSG of
Crisis at HAMUN.
The separation of India and Pakistan was a brutal process, one that directly affected more than
400,000,000 people at the time. I hope to show just a piece of the complexities that played into
the events.
If you have any questions about your committee, research, or writing your position paper, feel
free to reach me at [email protected].
I hope you will enjoy Crisis as much as I do,
Kori Morris
Starting early in the 17th century, the British viewed the Indian territories as crucial to
their imperial growth and economy. At this point ‘India’ referred to a collection of kingdoms and
princely states, with little unifying them. The British East India Company took indirect control
over the various kingdoms of present-day India over the 17th and 18th centuries. Under the
oversight of the Company, railroads were build across the area, connecting previously
unconnected kingdoms. The Company’s attempts to gather more concrete power through direct
rule were met with resistance, culminating in the Rebellion of 1857, where over a million Indians
rose up against the British. After several months of fighting, the Crown formally took control of
British India in 1858, and the British East India Company was dissolved.
In 1885 the Indian National Congress (INC, or Congress) was founded by a group of
dissatisfied Indians educated under the British system universities. At that point many upper
class Indians were educated in this system, but few were chosen for the Indian Civil Service.
Anger at employment discrimination brought together Indians into a party determined to work
for change within the British system. In 1906 the All-India Muslim League (often shortened to
the Muslim League, or League) was founded as a means to combine the political will of Indian
Muslims.
In 1915 Mahatma Gandhi returned to India. He had been previously working successfully
in South Africa to win political freedoms for Indians there. During the first World War, the
majority of Indians supported the British war effort. Gandhi famously went to the countryside to
prompt the support of rural Indians. He, like many Indians, believed that if the country supported
the British during the war then autonomy would follow. Not all Indians supported the war,
however, and British forces demanded ever more men. Britain instituted a strict war tax and
forcibly conscripted men into their armed services. In 1919 a gathering of unarmed protesters
met in the city of Amritsar to protest Britain’s wartime policies. The gathering occurred at
Jallianwala Bagh, a public park where thousands of people were gathered for both the protest and
a day of religious celebration. Without warning, British troops surrounded the park and opened
fire, killing hundreds and wounding at least a thousand civilians. The massacre rippled across
India. It stirred particularly strong feelings in Gandhi. Witnessing the brutality with which
British troops met his countrymen, he because convinced that India needed full independence.
He began plotting a campaign of civil disobedience.
The defeat of Ottoman power in WWI brought grave concerns to the attention of
Muslims. The Turkish Sultan had symbolically stood as the head of the worldwide Muslim
community through his position as caliph. When the Ottoman empire was being dissolved by
Britain, Indian Muslims started the Khilafat movement in support of the caliph. They joined with
Gandhi to promote nonviolent protests, but their unison was weakened by growing divisions
between the Hindu and Muslim populations furthered by violent religious rebellions. Gandhi’s
arrest in 1921 and the violent revolts allowed the movement to dwindle out by 1924.
The efforts of the Indian forces in aiding the Crown during WWI meant that the British
government could no longer deny the need for constitutional change in India. The result was the
Government of India Act of 1919. The new system of government would be a “diarchy” – dual
control over India’s government between the British and the Indians themselves. The act was
meant to pass on a federated state system, though a great many states under this proposed plan
would still function under the purview of a princes instead of elected officials. Disagreements
between Congress and Muslim League representatives ultimately stopped that system from being
put into action.
This still left the Indians under the ultimate purview of the British machine, however.
More and more Indians were uniting behind Gandhi’s idea of peaceful resistance, and in 1930
Gandhi decided to march to the sea as a symbol of resistance. For centuries salt production in
India was monopolized by the British, while Indians were prohibited from producing or selling
salt. The salt sold by the British distributors was heavily taxed. Since the beginning of the salt
laws there had been opposition, as the mostly impoverished Indian populace often found
themselves unable to afford the high prices. From March to April of 1930 Gandhi walked across
the subcontinent in order to gather his own salt. From his home inland to the Arabian Sea, he
walked during the day and spoke to village gatherings at night, gathering followers at every stop.
By the end of the Salt March over fifty thousand people were arrested with Gandhi.
The response of the growing resistance to British presence was the Government of India
Act of 1935. This act ended the diarchic rule of India, made way for a “Federation of India”
which would include most of British India’s territories, including several princely states, and
increased the number of Indians able to vote from seven million to thirty-five million people.
Shortly after the act passed Gandhi and Ali Jinnah, the head of the Muslim League, met to
discuss forms of independence. Their talks amounted to nothing, due to disagreements between
Gandhi’s insistence on having one unified India succeed Britain, and Jinnah’s goal of having a
Hindu and a Muslim state.
When World War II struck the continent, Britain once again turned to its most populous
colony for support. Gandhi launched a civil disobedience movement, quickly supported by the
INC, to Quit India. This movement saw Gandhi and the INC leadership urge Indians not to help
Britain in the war – after all, helping her in WWI had not led to Indian independence. Gandhi
and the majority of INC leadership were imprisoned for the duration of the war without trial. The
Muslim League, eager to curry British favor, supported Britain.
Imperialists in Britain wished to protect their control of India, but that was fast becoming
an impossible option. The Atlantic Charter, signed in 1941 at the beginning of World War II,
was a joint a declaration from President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. The
Charter’s third point declares that all peoples have the right to choose their own government.
According to most Indian observers, this clause justified Indian decolonization.
religion and heritage. the primacy of Hindi. Been causing lots of riots
It is January of 1946. The INC leadership has been released from prison, Britain looks ready
(albeit reluctant) to hand over the reins, and the League wishes to declare Pakistan whenever the
momentum is right. Both groups’ leaders are meeting to prepare for the British to leave India.
With all hope, independence will come peacefully.
Goals of the Muslim League:
When India gains independence, a Muslim nation, Pakistan, must emerge from the shadows.
This is the unifying idea behind the League. Everyone present is convinced that the Muslims of
India will not be able to live in peace unless they have their own nation, with adequate
representation. The Hindu members of India will also rest easier if they have their own nation, in
which they can prioritize the Hindu religion however they would like.
On all other matters there is discord within the ranks. How religiously Islamic should Pakistan
be? Will Sharia law be the standard, or should Pakistan follow secular laws? If Sharia law should
prevail, what brand of Islam will the State endorse? That is up to the committee to decide.
Goals of the Indian National Congress:
Unlike the Muslim League, INC members do not all share the same religion. Many are Hindu. A
few are Muslim. Many believe that India should become a religiously Hindu nation, with
protection for Hindu beliefs (such as the sacredness of cows) enshrined by law. Others believe
that the State should protect the right to practice religion and no more. Regardless of whether
Pakistan becomes a reality (and all of you would prefer that it does not), there is no denial that
some form of an Indian state will become independent, and you all are many of the people who
will be leading it.
Your first goal is to stop the creation of Pakistan. The populations of India are not concentrated
in easily dividable regions, and in the event of a divide there will be many Muslims, Hindus,
Sikhs, and others who suffer. Regardless of whether you succeed in preventing Pakistan, you
must be prepared to unite as much of India as possible into a functioning state.
Within India, there are many more factions to be aware of than just those of the Congress
and the League. In order to have united populations, it will be necessary to communicate with
leaders of the following factions.
One of the largest factions is the ‘Untouchables’ caste. These are Hindus of the lowest caste.
Traditionally they have been pushed away from good employment, housing, and living
situations. They are 8% of the Indian population, and tired of being repressed. Many are even
threatening mass conversion to other religions, such as Islam, Buddhism, or Sikhism, which do
not recognize caste.
India used to a series of fractured states led by regional rulers, and some areas still are. Hundreds
of princes’ currently rule parts of India, and some have gone so far as to say they would declare
independence for their regions. Two particularly disputed regions are Hyderabad, which is in the
middle of India, and in Kashmir, where the large Muslim majority want independence from the
Hindu Prince.
The Punjab region, set along the disputed line INC and ML leadership are fighting over, has a
large minority of Sikhs living there. For centuries this small population has brought prosperity to
the region, through their hard work ethic and disciplined armies. They have mentioned the
possibility of having their own state, but since any borders drawn would leave them sharing land
with Muslims and Hindus, they’re unlikely to try and fight for their own state if they can be
assured equal rights under the laws of the new country.
The Hindu Mahasabha are extremist Hindus. They support a religiously, culturally, and
linguistically Hindu nation. They don’t hesitate to start riots or use violent means to achieve
these ends. Perhaps 5% of the Indian population subscribes to their philosophies.
Indian National Congress
1. Maulana Azad – As the President of the INC, Maulana Azad has quite a lot of influence within
the committee. Azad is a Muslim scholar and one of the leading voices of the Muslim
community within British India, and as such he desires a secular state that provides for the free
practice of religion. He believes that the creation of Pakistan would weaken the Muslim
population of India. It is immensely important to Azad that Hindi does not become ‘the’ national
language of India – this would ignore Urdu, the most prominent language among Indian
Muslims.
2. Jawaharlal Nehru – As a close confident of Gandhi, and a former president of the INC, Nehru
is one of the most well-known INC members. While Nehru comes from a Hindu background, he
advocates for secular values.
3. C. Rajagopalachari – As a prominent politician, Rajagopalachari is no stranger to controversy.
One of his previous pieces of legislation, from the time where he served the Madras Province,
saw him push through mandatory Hindi language learning into the Madras school system. This
was a controversial move, due to the many regional languages of India, and prominence of the
Urdu language among the Muslim population. Rajagopalachari sees the benefit of dialogue with
the Muslim League.
4. Gulzarilal Nanda – Nanda is concerned by the state of labor within India. He sees a large need
for socialization within the next government of India. Due to his ties within the various labor
movements, he could be able to organize a mass strike if the British do not agree with plans for
independence.
5. Sarvepalli Radharkrishnan – After a long career in academics, Radharkrishnan decided to pick
politics as a career. Due to his successful academic history, he gained a lot of acclaim
internationally. He became known as an authority on India, who was able to communicate Indian
ideologies abroad.
6. Vallabhbhai Patel – Patel has spent a large amount of time communicating with various
princes in India, and has so far had some success with convincing princes to tentatively accept
the idea of a federated state system. However, Patel is also aware that many provinces,
particularly Kashmir and Hyderabad, will be likely to use military force to protest joining India.
7. Rajendra Prasad – Another former president of the INC, Prasad has been a vocal proponent of
peaceful revolution. He has experience with disaster relief and crowd rallying.
8. Asaf Ali – A Hindu politician married to a Muslim woman, Ali has unique experiences seeing
the unison between the Hindu and Muslim populations. He is also a lawyer, who has used his
position to defend freedom fighters in court.
9. Bhulabhai Desai – One of the few INC members not to be arrested during the Quit India
campaign in WWII, Desai has proven instrumental in communicating with the Muslim League
on behalf of the Muslim League. He has particularly strong ties with Liaquat Ali Khan.
10. Dr. Saidfuddin Kitchlew – A proponent of Muslim-Hindu unity, Kitchlew has been active in
community building between the two populations. He has experience organizing young men into
units of ‘national work’.
11. J.B. Kripalani – An organizer of mass movements, Kripalani helped with the creation of the
Salt March and the Quit India movement. Kripalani and the Nehrus are close friends.
12. Purushottam Das Tandon – Coming from a strong Hindu background, Kripalani is convinced
of the need for one, a national language, and two, that the language in question should be Hindi.
Tandon believes that it is necessary that the INC not open talks with the Muslim League.
13. Kamala Nehru – The wife of Jawaharlal Nehru, Kamala Nehru has spent her life pursuing
freedom for India. As a woman, she has proven instrumental to organizing women. *
14. Lal Badahur Shastri – Shastri has worked with Gandhi extensively in organizing the Salt
March. As a result, he spent several years in jail, spending his time studying philosophy,
education principles, and the ideas of social reformers. Unlike Gandhi, who believes that
Western education is harmful to the Indian nationalistic spirit, Shastri believes the school
systems must include opportunities to learn English and Western schools of thought.
15. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari – Dr. Ansari is a Muslim, who believes in the importance of an
Islamic education for Muslims who should desire one. He spends much of his time working for
the National Islamic University in Dehli. As a Muslim, it is incredibly important to him that that
Hindi does not become ‘the’ national language of India – this would ignore Urdu, the most
prominent language among Indian Muslims.
16. Jayprakash Narayan – After completing his education in the United States, where he fell into
a deep infatuation with the principles of Karl Marx, Narayan views the current independence
movement in India as necessary for the betterment of the masses, and that Marxism must be a
part of the new Indian state.
17. U.N. Dhebar – As a follower of Gandhi, Dhebar has a great believe in the importance of rural
Indians. He thinks it is necessary to increase the self-reliance of India as a nation, and that in
order to do this India should have a united government that embraces all groups. Due to
connections with a Sikh friend, Dhebar desires to reach out the Sikhs.
18. Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya – Sitaramayya believes in the necessity of linguistic
provinces – that is to say, different regions of India should have different regional languages. He
believes in secular government.
19. Nellie Sengupta – Nellie Sengupta is an Englishwoman who was the President of the INC in
1933. After falling in love with a Bengali named Jatindra Mohan Sengupta. During the 1930s,
her and her husband spoke to illegal assemblies and were imprisoned – her husband died in jail.
Due to being English, she has extensive foreign connections.
20. Sarojini Naidu – Another former president of the INC, Naidu has actively campaigned for
women’s rights in India. She places a large importance on making sure women have
representation at a regional and national level in the new Indian state.
21. Palwankar Baloo* - As someone who came from the lowest cast (the Untouchables) to great
success in the sporting world, Baloo has faced a great amount of discrimination. It is of the
utmost important to Baloo that the Untouchables will have some form of representation in
government, and that the laws of the new Indian state will not place any priority on Hindu
legislation (declaring cows sacred, making the national language Hindi, giving priority to Hindu
religious education in schools).
*Some of these characters have had their lives extended or their facts exaggerated for the
purposes of showing different aspects of Indian lives.