Towards Independence, 1947 | Pakistan Affairs Notes for CSS/PMS
Civil Disobedience Movements:
The ML decided to confront the political situation through the protesting means for the first time. The Congress had been working on these lines but the Muslim leaders considered politics a gentle man’s game. Now when the British government joined hands to oust the Muslims from the constitutional and moral position they decided to launch ‘Direct Action.’ The ML revised its decision rejecting the Cabinet Mission Plan. Direct Action Day (August 16, 1946) was a protest against the British policy of injustice towards the Muslims. The Hindu attacks transmuted the course of the protests and concluded huge life casualties. The Calcutta massacre convinced Lord Wavell to bridge the ML-Congress to some settlement.
Wavell tried to prepare Nehru and Gandhi to coordinate the ML. It was imperative to do because Muslim League (95% seats) refused to join the Legislative Assembly. Congress rejected all the possible offers even from the government. Churchill snubbed the Labour government on the Calcutta riots and the Viceroy requested Jinnah to join the Interim Government that Jinnah accepted. On October 25, 1946, the members of the Executive Council were finalized.