Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: India’s last Viceroy released a plan on the country’s independence from the British on June 3, 1947. The plan came to be celebrated as the "last plan for independence". He was appointed Viceroy to India to speed up the process of transfer of power by the then British Prime Minister Clement Atlee.
Mention any three reasons given by the Congress to justify the acceptance of the plan.
Topic: Congress acceptance of the Plan
Answer
(1) The communal riots that followed Direct Action Day in August 1946 had made the country ungovernable, and the Congress felt that partition was the only way to stop the bloodshed and save countless lives. (2) The League’s obstruction inside the Interim Government had shown that a united India with the League as an unwilling partner would be unworkable; a smaller but strong and united India was better than a large but weak and divided one. (3) The transfer of power could not be delayed further without risking civil war and the disintegration of the country into hundreds of princely states; accepting partition secured immediate independence and a strong central government for the rest of India.
One mark per reason. The question asks for the CONGRESS justification, so answer from their point of view rather than describing the partition. The strongest three are: to end the communal violence, because a unitary India with the League was unworkable, and to avoid civil war and further delay. Gandhiji’s opposition to partition is worth one closing line, as it shows the decision was not unanimous.