Mountbatten Plan - A plan for the division of British colonial possessions on the Hindustan Peninsula ( British Raja ). Was proposed by the last Viceroy of India, Louis Mountbatten .
The plan was set out in a statement by the British government of June 3, 1947. Subsequently, the Mountbatten Plan was approved by the King of Great Britain, George VI , as the Indian Independence Act.
According to the plan, a Hindu state was created in place of British India - the Indian Union and the Muslim state of Pakistan, both of them were granted the rights of British dominions . Some territories were initially controversial. Therefore, the issue of entering into one of the newly created states of the North-West Frontier Province and Assam Sylhet District was resolved by referendum, Sinda - by voting in its legislative assembly. For Punjab and Bengal, the issue was resolved by a separate vote in the Legislative Assembly of deputies from districts with a predominantly Muslim population and deputies from districts with a predominant Hindu population. Each of the Indian principalities was given the right to make an independent decision on entry into one of the new states or the right to remain in its former status.
Mountbatten’s plan and the division of Punjab laid in it led to great bloodshed, during the partition of British India , more than 1 million people died and over 15.6 million became refugees.
Links
- Indian Independence Bill, 1947
- Indian Independence Act 1947 (p.30) . Original Statute from The UK Statute Law Database . Office of Public Sector Information, National Archives, UK. Date of appeal April 30, 2010.
- Indian Independence Act 1947 (p.30) . Revised Statute from The UK Statute Law Database . Office of Public Sector Information, National Archives, UK. Date of treatment June 2, 2008.