NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL

History-II Project

A Critical Analysis of the Cripps Mission

Semester-IV

Submitted by: Amitabh Abhijit

Roll no.: 2019BALLB112
Section: B
Submitted to: Professor Uday Pratap Singh
 Table of Contents

Certificate.............................................................................................................3
Acknowledgement................................................................................................4
Introduction...........................................................................................................5
Project Synopsis....................................................................................................7
Statement of the Problem:...............................................................................7
Method of Study:.............................................................................................8
Hypothesis:......................................................................................................8
Review of Literature:.......................................................................................8
The Purpose of the Cripps Mission......................................................................9
Analyzing the Propositions under the Cripps Mission.......................................10
The Juxtaposition between Cooperation and Protest..........................................12
The Draft Declaration.........................................................................................13
Failure of The Cripps Mission............................................................................15
Conclusion..........................................................................................................15
Bibliography.......................................................................................................16
 Certificate

This is to certify that the research paper titled “A Critical Analysis of the Cripps Mission” has
been prepared and submitted by Amitabh Abhijit who is currently pursuing his BA
LLB(Hons.) at National Law Institute University, Bhopal in fulfillment of History-II course.
It is also certified that this is an original research report and this paper has not been submitted
to any other university, nor published in any journal.
 Acknowledgement

This project has been made possible by the unconditional help and support of many people. I
would like to acknowledge and extend my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Uday Pratap Singh
for guiding me throughout the development of this paper into a coherent whole by providing
helpful insights and sharing his brilliant expertise. I would also like to thank the officials of
the Gyan Mandir, National Law Institute University, for providing me with online resources
and the means to access them. I am deeply indebted to my parents, seniors and friends for all
the moral support and encouragement.
 Introduction

The onset of the Second World War in 1939 with the invasion of Poland was bound to cause
ripple-effects throughout the world. At the peak of the war, the situation in the early 1940s,
compelled the British to have diplomatic talks with the Indian leaders after facing numerous
defeats at the hands of the Japanese army, acting on behalf of the Axis Powers, in many
countries of South-East Asia. The extent of the war had caused much destruction to Asia due
to the involvement of the Japanese who were rapidly taking over countries so as to expand
their areas of influence and win the war.

In the context of such an unstable situation, the British realized they needed to protect their
resources in India and defeat the Japanese once and for all. However, they were well-aware
of the fact that such a huge feat could not be accomplished without the help of Indian citizens
who would enlist as soldiers to fight the Japanese military. Since the Indian population was
heavily influenced by the erstwhile elected leaders of India, the British approached them for a
proposition through Sir Stafford Cripps, a British Minister. This event came to be known as
the “Cripps Mission” and was conducted in March-April 1942.

While Sir Stafford Cripps was a member of the Labour Party which supported Indian
independence, he was a part of a coalition under Prime Minister Winston Churchill as well
which is why he had come with a proposition that didn’t completely favour Indian self-
governance. However, the situation in India itself was far too contentious to properly
negotiate over plans for the country to involve themselves in a war that they were not a
stakeholder in. This is primarily because of the tension between the Indian National Congress
and the Muslim League and their debate over the two-nation theory.

The primary motive of Sir Cripps was to ensure India’s loyalty towards the British during the
Second World War. This work was put on a fast track as the defeat of Burma at the hands of
the Axis Powers made the Colonial rulers apprehensive about India’s situation and they
feared that if India was overtaken as well, it would mean serious weakening for the Allies. In
exchange for India’s loyalty to the British war effort, Sir Cripps offered the much requested
‘Dominion Status’ to India along with a promise of elections even when the war was over.
In a surprising turn of events, the Indian leaders of the Indian National Congress rejected the
proposals made by Sir Stafford Cripps in the draft of the declaration that he himself had
prepared as they wanted ‘Purna Swaraj’ or complete independence instead of a dominion
status. On this note, it can very well be assumed that the Indian leaders were skeptical of the
British from the very start of this mission as even when the Indians had agreed to help the
British during the First World War, the British were unable to make good on any of the
promises they had made towards a free India.

The Muslim League, led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had a completely opposite reaction to the
propositions brought forth by Sir Cripps as they were striving for self-determination and
wanted a separate nation for themselves to be carved out of India. Interestingly, Prime
Minister Churchill himself was not accepting of the Cripps Mission as he was advocated
against providing India any sort of independence.

While the role of these three key players, the British Government, the Indian National
Congress and The Muslim League was instrumental in deciding the fate of the Cripps
Mission, the same three players participated vehemently in the consequences of the Cripps
Mission’s failure as well. All these factors eventually culminated into India’s independence
and its partition with Pakistan which is why most scholars consider the Cripps Mission to be
the “beginning of the end” for British imperialism in India.1

1
Cripps Mission: The Beginning Process to the way of Indian Independence by Sukanta Pramanik, IOSR
Journal of Humanities and Social Science.
 Project Synopsis

Statement of the Problem: The researcher aims to conduct an analytical study into the
Cripps Mission and its consequences that eventually led to weakening of the Colonial regime
over India.

Objectives of Study:
 To assess the contributing factors that led to the initiation of the Cripps Mission by
the British
 To examine the propositions put forth by Sir Stafford Cripps.
 To understand the reasons behind the failure of the Cripps Mission.
 To learn about the consequences of the failed Cripps Mission and the start of the Quit
India movement.

Research Questions:
The research question for this proposal area as follows:
a. What was the purpose behind launching the Cripps Mission?
b. Why did the Cripps Mission fail to achieve its objectives?
c. What happened after the failure of the Cripps Mission?

Method of Study: The research work would be carried out with the help of doctrinal
method of data collection. The main sources from which the research work would be
formulated would mainly consist of research papers, e-books and scholarly articles.

Hypothesis: The Cripps Mission came at a rather unsettling time in the case of both the
U.K. and India as with the outbreak of the Second World War and the failure of diplomacy
talks between the British and India. In this view, it can be well grasped why it turned out be
to be a failed mission as, historically, negotiations over terms that were unfavourable for one
party never leads to a peaceful result.
Review of Literature:
 The Cripps Mission to India, March- April 1942 by Nicholas Mansergh,
International Journal, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Spring, 1971), Sage Publications: This
research article outlines the entire history of the Cripps Mission, from its beginning to
its end, in an analytical manner, and goes to the extent of explaining the reasons
behind the failure of the Cripps Mission in India. This secondary source is
instrumental in understanding the vital role played by the British Parliament at the
time and the newly elected cabinet of ministers in India.

 The Cripps Mission viewed from India, The Round Table, 32:127, 384-390: This
research paper, available in the Commonwealth Journal for International Affairs
provides a unique take on the Cripps Mission as a foreigner attempts to visualize the
events from the Indian perspective to understand why the draft declaration brought
over by Sir Stafford Cripps was rejected.

 Cripps Mission: The Beginning Process to the way of Indian Independence by

Sukanta Pramanik, IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science: This
research paper connects the Cripps Mission to a domino-like structure and describes
its failure to be the stepping off point for Indian independence from the British rule as
it led to the Quit India Movement and eventually helped in weakening colonial
influence over the nation.
 The Purpose of the Cripps Mission

While on a superficial level, the reasons behind the British sending one of their foremost
ministers, Sir Stafford Cripps to India can seem as simple as gaining India’s loyalty to the
Allied powers during the Second World War. However, there are several facets to this simple
reason behind the Cripps Mission. At the brink of World War-II, the primary purpose of
Cripps Mission to come to India was to prevent any more expansion of the Axis Powers in
Asia, whose forces were led by the Japanese military.

This was not uncharted territory for the British as they had received major help from Indian
soldiers during the First World War and had fought diligently for the British war effort.
However, the loss of countless lives enraged the Indian nationalists at the time as they had
not gained any bargaining power from their colonial rulers even after they had agreed to help
them in the battlefield. Therefore, Mahatma Gandhi, in cooperation with the other Indian
leaders, launched the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1919 against the British.

The British could not have allowed another revolt after the war had weakened them and so
Sir Stafford Cripps drafted a declaration that would lead to a paradigm shift in Indian
governance by granting India a ‘Dominion Status’. 2In this view, it can be reasonably
assumed that one of the major purposes of the Cripps Mission was to ensure full-fledged
Indian support by addressing any skepticism they may have with the idea of being involved
in the Second World War on behalf of the British.

Sir Stafford Cripps strived to devise a plan that, in his opinion, would serve the best interests
of all the parties involved. Since he was sympathetic to Indian nationalism, as he was a part
of the Labour Party, he certainly hoped to transition as much power to the Indian government
as he could but was limited by Prime Minister Churchill’s ideals. This is why the declaration
that Sir Cripps drafted did not grant full independence to India in exchange for their loyalty
and help during the Second World War.

2
The Cripps Mission viewed from India, The Round Table, 32:127, 384-390.
 Analyzing the Propositions under the Cripps Mission

The draft declaration of the Cripps Mission put forth many “incentivizing propositions” with
the only condition subsequent being that the Indians would support the British war effort just
like they did during the First World War. The Draft Declaration propositions can be worded
as the following -

Firstly, the very highlight of the declaration prepared by Sir Stafford Cripps was that India
would gain ‘Dominion Status’ as a reward for their loyalty and support to the British which
meant that there would have been an Indian Union that would be free to decide its relations
with the Commonwealth and also would have been free to participate in the international
bodies.

This clearly meant that there would be a transition of power from the Colonialists to the
Indian leaders but the same was not be construed as complete independence as even if India
was a dominion, it would owe its allegiance to the British Crown and would be considered to
be a part of the British Administration.

Secondly, when the war ends, it was recommended that there shall be a Constituent Assembly
composed entirely of Indian citizens and they would be responsible for framing a new
Constitution of India. Additionally, the provincial assemblies, through proportional
representation, would have partly elected the members of this assembly while the rest could
have been nominated by the rulers of the Princely States.

Thirdly, The British Government would also have subjected the newly framed Constitution of
India by subjecting it to the following conditions:

 If any province is not willing to join the Union, they could have a separate
constitution of their own and form a separate Union;

 The new constitution- making body and the British Government would have to
negotiate a treaty to enforce the transfer of power and also to safeguard racial and
religious minorities.
Fourthly, the post of Governor-General would remain intact. This was a rather contentious
proposition since it was not in India’s favour at all and could not have possibly incentivized
the Indian leaders. The very existence of a British Governor-General in India would have
made the supposed transition of power to be only on paper as every Indian leader would have
been under his influence.

Fifthly, the defense of India would remain in the hands of British. This was perhaps the most
unacceptable proposition to the Indian Leaders at the time as this gave an impression that
India was merely a puppet of the British and that its so-called independence was only present
in an extremely limited forum3.

Without an autonomy on its military, the Indians would have been under the British Crown
for a much longer period of time and the only way they could have regained control, apart
from diplomatic means, was through a mutiny much like that of the 1857 revolt.

In view of the above-mentioned propositions, the reasons behind Indian leaders such as
Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru rejected the draft
declaration entirely given that it was not meant for improving the relationship between the
Indians and the British. Its ulterior motive was to ensure that the Colonialists would retain
their superior status and simultaneously, get Indian support for their war effort as well.

The Juxtaposition between Cooperation and Protest

3
B. Shiva Rao, “The Cripps Mission.” Modern Asian Studies, vol. 5, no. 3, 1971, pp. 273–276. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/311703
When Sir Stafford Cripps arrived in India with his draft of the plan, the Indians reacted to it
in a very predictable way. Firstly, the Indian National Congress in itself was divided upon its
response to the idea of India being involved in yet another war on behalf of the British. The
unfortunate experience of the Indian soldiers in the First World War made the leaders even
more skeptical as they believed that the plan outlined by Sir Cripps was full of empty
promises. 4

In this context, a large number of the leaders from the Indian National Congress were of the
view that instead of helping the British in this war, they should launch a nationwide protest to
fight the British when they’re already weakened by the ramifications of the War. This led to a
very ironical situation as the plan that was supposed to ensure loyalty of the Indians towards
the British, had actually turned numerous Indians against them.

While several others, such as C. Rajagopalachari, was of the opinion that this was a nice
opportunity for Indians and advocated making peace with the British by supporting them in
this crucial time of the Second World War with the hope that this genuine gesture would be
reciprocated with independence after the same was over. 5

C. Rajagopalachari with the support of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abdul Kalam
Azad and Jawaharlal Nehru decided to hold discussions with Cripps and offered their full
support to the British at the cost immediate self-government, and eventual independence in
return. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League was also in favour of the war
effort and condemned the Congress policy. He further insisted on the formation of a separate
Muslim State, i.e., Pakistan and resisted the Indian National Congress's calls for pan-Indian
cooperation and immediate independence. Therefore, the entire Indian population was
divided into these groups of people with extremely contrasting views.

The Draft Declaration

4
Id.
5
Nicholas Mansergh, “The Cripps Mission to India, March-April 1942.” International Journal, vol. 26, no. 2,
1971, pp. 338–346. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40201045.
The decisive and final phase in India’s struggle for independence initiated with the outbreak
of the Second World War by Japan in 1941. “The British fortress of Singapore also fell in
February 1942. Thereafter in March, Rangoon in British Burma was taken over by the
Japanese and it posed a serious threat to India. In the capital city of London, political
decision-makers realized that India that was an unfriendly territory to the Allies. The
Japanese troops were coupled with rapid and advance weapons which had explosive
potential.”

“Apart from the physical threat by Japan to India, U.S.A. and China also posed pressurized
Britain to secure India’s unconditional participation in the war against Japan. “Therefore, on
March 11, 1942, the War Cabinet decided to make efforts to resolve the differences,
especially with the Indian National Congress. The conclusion came out that the Congress
Party’s approval could only be obtained by granting India greater autonomy rights.”

He negotiated in consideration with the “Draft Declaration”. The Draft Declaration was a
document in which the British War Cabinet had agreed for the laying down of a middle
ground which is acceptable to both the British and the Indians. 6It mainly included self-
government in India after the Second World War along with other “incentives” that would
have given Indians the impression that they should contribute to the Allied Powers in
exchange for these benefits.”

Lord Linlithgow was the British viceroy in India then, and he was also rather close to the
erstwhile Prime Minister Churchill. He personally ensured Prime Minister Churchill that no
further concessions would be given to the Indians as the same wasn’t necessary during the
war. His primary objective was to maintain British superiority and imperialism over the
Indians.

Therefore, when he was made aware of and read the “Draft Declaration” prepared by Sir
Cripps for the first time, he immediately offered his resignation in protest of the operation,
which had put Prime Minister Churchill in an embarrassing situation. Even so, Sir Stafford
Cripps who sympathized with the Indians as he was a member of the Labor Party in England,
felt that he had very limited area to work with due to the interference of Prime Minister
Churchill and the British Administration.
6
Id.
“Hence, with the deployment of Sir Cripps, Prime Minister Churchill managed to make a
virtue out of the imbroglio of a new Indian constitution and self-government, a negotiation
position complicated by the limited bargaining position given to Cripps by the War Cabinet7,
the Hindu-Muslim-conflict, the position of the Viceroy and on top Churchill’s own reluctance
to Indian independence.”

Failure of The Cripps Mission

The fact that the Cripps Mission was going to fail was evident from the very first time it was
introduced to Indians and they became divided over its propositions. In fact, even Sir Stafford

7
Simeon Martin, “Churchill’s double game with the Cripps Mission to India, 1942”, The London Monument,
2018.
Cripps also knew that the propositions within his “Draft Declaration” were unjust and could
not ensure Indian loyalty to the British war effort but he could do nothing about it as he was
constrained by the ideology of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the British War
Cabinet.

There were several factors that led to the failure of this operation which include:

 The Indian National Congress’s Dissent:

Leaders from the first political conglomerate of India were mostly not in favor of
supporting the Allied Powers during the Second World War due to the fact that they
hadn’t gained anything but actually lost countless Indian lives when they did so
during the First World War. They were extremely skeptical of the provisions and even
Mahatma Gandhi, who was perhaps the most influential man in India at the time, did
not support the Cripps Mission.

Moreover, the propositions of the Draft Declaration only provided India with a
“Dominion Status” which was not satisfactory anymore even though it had been so at
a time. Indians were vehemently striving for complete independence and national self-
determination. They did not want to be under the British Crown in any manner of
speaking, even if the same was done in a notional capacity.

The Cripps Declaration also provided that the princely states of India could have
chosen to be Independent States afterwards and the same option was given to the
Muslim League by Sir Cripps led to a perception that the British were trying to divide
India. The Indian National Congress was adamant that only one Union would come
out after independence and it would be the nation of India. 8

Lastly, as mentioned before, the fact that the Cripps Declaration would have retained
the powers of defense over India and also maintain the status-quo of a Governor
General made it seem like barely anything was changing for the Indians and that they
were not being given any substantial power.

 The Muslim League’s Opposition: 

8
supra note 2.
 The Muslim League majorly represented the Muslim Community of India at the time
and had demanded for a separate union carved out of the independent India only for
the Muslim population of India. In fact, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the
Muslim League was ready to support the Cripps Mission when Sir Stafford Cripps
had offered him an option to form a separate country of Pakistan but the discussions
soon fell as the process of voting for the same was rather “unfair” in their opinion.

Additionally, the proposition under the plan that provided for the election of an Indian
Constituent Assembly was opposed by the Muslim League as they realized it may
knock them out of any political power and subsequently, put the Congress in power.
These factors immediately made them reluctant to support the Cripps Mission.

In view of the above-mentioned opinions, the majority of the Indian population was covered
and the two most influential organizations had already convinced them of the negative effects
of the Cripps Mission. This is why the operation lost all support and any hopes for
negotiation were long gone as well. 9All things considered, the tussle between the British, the
Indian National Congress and the Muslim League led to the failure of the Cripps Mission in
India.

Conclusion

In the course of this research paper, it has been mentioned several times that the Cripps
Mission was indeed the starting point for a series of events that would lead to a complete
independence of India. The “Draft Declaration”, in all actuality, was the last straw for Indians
in terms of their negotiations with the British as they immediately realized that England was
extremely unwilling to provide them with autonomy in all aspects of a nation. It can be seen
in the propositions put forth by Sir Stafford Cripps himself as it provided for India to become

9
V.N. Datta, “THE CRIPPS MISSION, ITS FAILURE AND SIGNIFICANCE.” Proceedings of the Indian
History Congress, vol. 63, 2002, pp. 644–652., www.jstor.org/stable/44158132.
a “Dominion” of the British Crown. In the view of the Indian leaders, this meant that there
would be no true transition of power and the British Colonialists would practice their
imperialism in a different, more diplomatic way instead. This was absolutely unacceptable as
the countless Indians who had strived for ‘Purna Swaraj’ and even sacrificed their lives to
achieve complete independence instead of being tied to the British.

While it can certainly be argued that the Cripps Mission did have the potential to peacefully
lead a future transition of power between the British and the Indians, the very fact that
someone as brilliant and sympathetic as Sir Stafford Cripps could not make it feasible
represents the limited scope that he was given by Prime Minister Churchill who was not in
favor of granting any more concessions to India. Apart from leaders of the Indian National
Congress, the Muslim League did seem to be on board with the Cripps Mission, at least
initially, but that was only because Sir Cripps had provided them with the option of creating
their own nation by separating from a future Union of India. Since this provision was
unacceptable to the Indian National Congress and many other leaders, the key players
involved realized that if they go through with the Draft Declaration, they would be stuck in a
constant tug of war.

Additionally, nobody wanted a repeat of the First World War wherein the Indians, on behalf
of the British, sacrificed their lives for the war effort and supported the propaganda of the
Allied Powers and yet there was no substantial transition of power, let alone any benefits
provided to the nation. The Cripps Mission’s sole objective was to ensure India’s loyalty to
the British war effort during the Second World War, but their actions before had led the
Indians to be extremely skeptical of their promises and propositions.

Bibliography

1. Journal/Research Paper(s):
 Nicholas Mansergh, “The Cripps Mission to India, March-April 1942.” International
Journal, vol. 26, no. 2, 1971, pp. 338–346. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40201045.
 B. Shiva Rao, “The Cripps Mission.” Modern Asian Studies, vol. 5, no. 3, 1971, pp.
273–276. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/311703
 V.N. Datta, “THE CRIPPS MISSION, ITS FAILURE AND SIGNIFICANCE.”
Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 63, 2002, pp. 644–652.,
www.jstor.org/stable/44158132.

2. Scholarly Article(s):
 Simeon Martin, “Churchill’s double game with the Cripps Mission to India,
1942”, The London Monument, 2018.
 The Cripps Mission viewed from India, The Round Table, 32:127, 384-390.
 Cripps Mission: The Beginning Process to the way of Indian Independence by
Sukanta Pramanik, IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science.