Gandhi – Jinnah Talks & CR Formula 1944 Study Materials

2018-12-21

Gandhi – Jinnah Talks & CR Formula 1944 Study Materials

THE CR FORMULA (1944)

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari consented to the idea of partition and made the following proposals on 9 September 1944:

Major parties such as the Congress and the Muslim League would form a coalition government;
After World War II, a definite boundary would be marked between India and Pakistan;
Voluntary settlement by the people would be allowed in both the countries. However, the Muslim League opposed these proposals.

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GANDHI-JINNAH TALKS (1944)

The Gandhi-Jinnah talks were very important as these dealt with the political problems of India and the issue of two-nation theory of the Muslim League. They began their talks as the general public wished for an amicable solution to the Hindu-Muslim differences. On 17 July 1944, Gandhi sent a letter to Jinnah expressing his wish to meet him. The formal talk started in Mumbai on 19 September 1944. and continued till 24 September. The talks were not only held directly but also through correspondence. Gandhi conveyed to Jinnah that he had come to meet him on his own. He was not representing anybody. The main objective of the talks for Gandhi was to make Jinnah realise the absurdness ol the whole proposition of Pakistan.

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Throughout the talks, Gandhi maintainedthat India was one nation andsaw in the Pakistan resolution ‘nothing but ruin for the whole of India. If, however, Pakistan had conceded, the areas in which the Muslims are in an absolute majority shoutd be demarcated by a commission approved by both the Congress and the Muslim League. The wishes of the people of these areas will be obtained through re ferendum. These areas shall form a separate state as soon as possible after India is free from foreign domination. There shall be a treaty of separation which should also provide for the efficient and satisfactory administration of foreign affairs, defence, internal communication, customs and the like, which must necessarily continue to be the matters of common interest between the contracting countries’.

This meant, in effect, that power over the whole of India would first be transferred to the Congress, which, thereafter, would allow the Muslim majority areas that voted for separation to be constituted, not as an independent sovereign state, but as part of an Indian federation. Gandhi contended that his offer gave the substance of the Lahore Resolution. Jinnah did not agree to the proposal and the talks ended.