Why In 1946 The British Decided To Leave India?

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Replies Lord Attlee, then Prime Minister of England, “it was because of wartime activities of the 1.N.A., Naval Revolt, the widespread unrest in Indian Armed Forces and not in the least because of 1942 Quit India Movement of Mahatma Gandhi”

“19th Feb. 1946 Morning the Revolt in the same evening he states in House of Lords that a Cabinet Mission was to be sent instantly to India for settling terms of India’s independence with her leaders”

An extract from a letter written by Mr. P. V. Chakraborty, former chief justice of Calcutta High Court on March 30, 1976 reads thus:

“When I was acting as Governor of Bengal in 1956. Lord Clement Attlee, who was the British Prime Minister in postwar years and who was responsible for India’s freedom, visited India and stayed in Raj Bhawan, Calcutta for two days…” I put it straight to him like this: “The Quit India Movement of Gandhi practically died out long before 1947 and there was nothing in the Indian situation at that time, which made it necessary for the British to leave India in a hurry. Why then did they do so?”

In reply, Attlee cited several reasons, the most important of which were the I.N.A. activities of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, which weakened the very foundation of the British Empire in India and the RIN Mutiny which made the British realize that the Indian armed forces could no longer be trusted to prop up the British. When asked about the extent to which the British decision to quit India was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s 1942 movement, Mr Attlee’s lips widened in smile of disdain and he uttered slowly, “Minimal”.

Also Read – U Tirot Sing Syiem: Meghalaya’s Unsung Hero who Waged War Against the British

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