Some Political leaders from India are claiming that Civil Society particularly the members of Team Anna should first get elected to Parliament, if they desire to get their Jan Lokpal Bill passed, as of now they are not supposed to be the representatives of the Society.

In fact right from the days of 1945, we have been seeing the attitude of the Political Leaders, the way they ignore the aspirations of the Society and that is why, on 15th August, 1947, the universally acclaimed Civil Society Leader: Mahatma Gandhi sat silently in a Dark Room, in Kolkata, far away from Delhi where Independence was being celebrated.

If we have a look on the History of Freedom Movement in India, there is enough material on record to show that the Civil Society has always been undermined by the Political Masters, to have an unbridled control over the reins of power, and for that they never shirked even in going to the extent of compromising with the basic principles / sovereignty. As a result of which the Indian Constitution still hangs around the strong allegiance to the British Rule, which continues right from 1860. The following narration gives out the facts which are based on records.

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In 1942, The British government wanted to elicit the support and cooperation of the Indian people in order to deal with the war situation. Accordingly, on March 22, 1942, the British Government sent the proposal for the transfer of Powers through Cripps Mission headed by Sir Stafford Cripps that: (a) General elections in the provinces would be arranged as soon as the war ended; (b) A new Indian dominion, associated with the United Kingdom would be created; (c) Those provinces not joining the dominion could form their own separate union; (d) Minorities were to be protected.

The then Civil Society Leader Mahatma Gandhi refused to accept the aforesaid proposals on the ground that the British Government cannot enforce any conditionality for the governance in India, once they transfer the Powers to Indians. On August 7, 1942 Pt. Nehru moved the historic ‘Quit India’ resolution at the A.I.C.C. session in Bombay. On August 8, 1942, he was arrested along with other leaders and taken to Ahmednagar Fort. On 9th August, 1942 Mahatma Gandhi made a call for ‘Quit India’.

Followed by the Shimla Conference of 1945 in the first week of May, The British Cabinet Mission landed in India on March 23/24, 1946 and reached Delhi on April 2, 1946, consisting of Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the Secretary of State for India, Sir Stafford Cripps, (who was Head of the earlier one member Cripps Mission of 1942, to India), and A. V. Alexander, to discuss the plan for the transfer of power to Indians, which was formulated at the initiative of the then British Prime Minister Clement Attlee.

The Cabinet Mission placed its first proposal on May 16, 1946, and the alternative second proposal on June 16, 1946, but it was not submitted directly to Mahatma Gandhi. An agreement emerged from such proposal, without taking Mahatma Gandhi into confidence. Before that on 29th March, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru arrived by air at Kallang Airport in Singapore and was welcomed by the Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia, Lord Louis Mountbatten, where Nehru was given a welcome befitting a head of State. The question arises as to Why? Perhaps because of the reported love affair between Jawaharlal Nehru, and Lady Edwina Mountbatten, as of late has also been admitted by Edwinas younger daughter, Lady Pamela Hicks. This raises a serious question about the integrity and credibility about the whole episode.

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To hide the terms and conditions that were actually agreed upon between the Congress Leadership and the Cabinet Mission, on July 10, Jawaharlal Nehru, in a press conference in Bombay declared that the Congress had agreed only to participate in the Constituent Assembly and “regards itself free to change or modify the Cabinet Mission Plan as it thought best”. Whereas the then Indian Civil Society Leader Mahatma Gandhi had strongly opposed the Cabinet Mission Proposal. This Agreement, which was actually agreed upon, stands exposed by Section 8 of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, passed on 18th July 1947, by the British Parliament, imposing the allegiance to British Rule governed in India under Government of India Act, 1935, upon Indian Constitution with the following provisions:-

(1)In the case of each of the new Dominions, the powers of the Legislature of the Dominion shall, for the purpose of making provision as to the constitution of the Dominion, be exercisable in the first instance by the Constituent Assembly of that Dominion, and references in this Act to the Legislature of the Dominion shall be construed accordingly.

(2) Except in so far as other provision is made by or in accordance with a law made by the Constituent Assembly of the Dominion under subsection (1) of this section, each of the new Dominions and all Provinces and other parts thereof shall be governed as nearly as may be in accordance with the Government of India Act, 1935; and the provisions of that Act, and of the Orders in Council, rules and other instruments made there under, shall, so far as applicable, and subject to any express provisions of this Act, and with such, omissions, additions, adaptations and: modifications as may be specified in orders of the Governor-General under the next succeeding section, have effect accordingly:

(3) Any provision of the Government of India Act, 1935, which, as applied to either of the new Dominions by subsection (2) of this section and the orders therein referred to, operates to limit the power of the legislature of that Dominion shall, unless and until other provision is made by or in accordance with a law made by the Constituent Assembly of the Dominion in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, have the like effect as a law of the Legislature of the Dominion limiting for the future the powers of that Legislature.

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It should never be out of our mind’s sight that the Government of India Act, 1935, is the legacy of an Empirical Government designed to Rule the Colonial Subjects descending down since 1860, and as such it can never be the deliverer of the aspirations of the people of a free sovereign democratic republic.

As per hidden agreement on 2nd September 1946, the Interim Government of India was formed, with Nehru as its head. The Constituent Assembly approved the aforesaid allegiance to British Rule in Article 147 of the Constitution of India to ensure that Supreme Court and High Courts in India cannot interpret anything beyond the scope of the interpretation of the Government of India Act, 1935, thus provision was provided that “In this Chapter (Chapter V of Part VI) and in Chapter V of Part VI, references to any substantial question of law as to the interpretation of this Constitution shall be construed as including references to any substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Government of India Act, 1935 (including any enactment amending or supplementing that Act) , or any Order in Council or Order made there under, or of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, or of any order made there under.”

As per the unconfirmed reports, initially some preconditions were laid for the Transfer of the Power implying that the British Statutes will continue at least for the next 50 years. This time period expired on 15th August 1997, and the unconfirmed reports virtually confirmed from the speech made on 15th August 1997 by the then Prime Minister of India Shri Inder Kumar Gujral, when he announced from the Red Fort that about 3,000 Laws having become ineffective and defunct and would now be removed. This needs to be answered and clarified as to how all of a sudden he became aware that such a large number of 3,000 Laws have become defunct overnight or that the said date i.e., 15th August 1997 made him automatically free from the said hidden condition that was laid down by the secret Indian Independence Treaty which impelled him to make such an impromptu announcement. Again, on the night of 15th August 1997, when the Indian Parliament celebrated 50 years of so-called Freedom, the British Queen Elizabeth was very much there as the Guest of Honor, perhaps to bear  witness to the freedom that was being attained from such condition.

According to the aforesaid Secret Indian Independence Treaty, Government of India was also responsible to allow several companies to continue their business in India, on those very terms and conditions that were prevailing during the British Rule. For instance, A. H. Wheeler ran its business as usual without any let or hindrance, on the basis of the absolute and exclusive allotments of Stalls at the different important Railway Stations in India on the prevailing rates and conditions since the days of British Rule in India, and the Company continued to be allowed to earn huge profits and to transfer the same to Britain, without any Tax Liability in India. The result was that these Companies used to pay Income Tax in Britain on the Income that was earned in India, which in fact was a virtual Royalty paid to the British Government by the Government of India against the Transfer of the Powers.

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By Milap Choraria

milapchoraria-at-hotmail.com