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Journalism of Courage
LORD HELP THE NEXT Viceroy, who-ever he is, he will be expected to do something drastic or dramatic.8221; These words were written by Archibald Percival Wavell shortly before he found himself being shunted out to India as Viceroy, after Winston Churchill decided that he was burnt out, and unfit to continue to command a fighting army in the Second World War. The appoint-ment of Wavell was a first8212;previously, no serving soldier had been Viceroy.
It is interesting to note that of all the British commanders of World War II, Wavell is the only one to have been ignored by historians, with a slim book by Ronald Lewin as his only biogra-phy. Among the Viceroys, he alone stands in splendid isolation. No historian has focused on Wavell8217;s tenure on its own. It is always sub-sumed in studies of the Indian struggle for independence during this period, or seen through the lens of British policy during the war. This is due to the prevailing historical con-sensus that Wavell was a failure both as a warrior and viceroy.
In this, he read his man wrong. And here are the seeds for Wavell8217;s failure. Wavell hop-ed for some sop for the Indians, though he recognised early that 8220;the Cabinet is not honest in its expressed desire to make progr-ess in India8221;. Against Churchill8217;s inclinations, he released Gandhi8212;and then did not meet him. He waited for the Jinnah-Gandhi talks on a future for India to succeed8212;and was shocked by its failure. This led him to form an opinion of Indian leaders fatal to any future dealing: 8220;I have less opinion than ever of Indian capacity for leadership and states-manship.8221;
He watched helplessly as the Shimla conference for a post-war broke up. He made asinine errors8212;the INA trials. He proposed a shock plan for withdrawal to force his own government and Indian politi-cians to forge a settlement8212;only to find himself completely isolated and dismissed from office. Ironically, his successor learnt from his mistake, and asked for8212;and got8212; plenitopenary powers. And rather than a step-by-step evacuation, announced a simultaneous independence and partition of India in three months.
A 8216;failed8217; Viceroy? Yes, but only partly through his own fault. Wavell was Viceroy at a time when partition of India had become the solution. It was his tragedy that, for all his errors of judgment, no one else realised as he did, the bloodshed that could and did take place.
