Mountbatten confident of India’s Destiny

Following is the full text (of the speech):

Mr President and members of the Constituent Assembly, I have a message from His Majesty the King to deliver to you today. This is His Majesty’s message: “On this historic day when India takes her place as a Free and Independent Dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations, I send you all my greetings and heartfelt wishes.

Freedom loving people everywhere will wish to share in your celebrations, for with this transfer of power by consent comes the fulfilment of a great democratic ideal to which the British and Indian peoples alike are firmly dedicated. It is inspiring to think that all this has been achieved by means of peaceful change.

Heavy responsibilities lie ahead of you, but when I consider the statesmanship you have already shown and the great sacrifices you have already made. I am confident that you will be worthy of your destiny.

I pray that the blessings of the Almighty may rest upon you and that your leaders may continue to be guided with wisdom in the tasks before them. May the blessings of friendship, tolerance and peace inspire you in your relations with the nations of the world. Be assured always of my sympathy in all your efforts to promote the prosperity of your people and the general welfare of mankind.”

It is barely six months ago that Mr Attlee invited me to accept the appointment of last Viceroy. He made it clear that this would be no easy task — since His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom had decided to transfer power to Indian hands by June 1948. At that time it seemed to many that H.M.G. had set a date far too early…

However, I had not been more than a week in India before I realised that this date of June 1948 for the transfer of power was too late rather than too early: Communal tension and rioting had assumed proportions of which I had had no conception when I left England. It seemed to me that a decision had to be taken at the earliest possible moment unless there was to be risk of general conflagration throughout the whole sub-continent.

I entered into discussions with the leaders of all the parties at once — and the result was the plan of June 3. Its acceptance has been hailed as an example of fine statesmanship throughout the world. The plan was evolved at every stage by a process of open diplomacy with the leaders. Its success is chiefly attributable to them.

I believe that this system of open diplomacy was the only one which suited the situation in which the problems were so complex and the tension so high…

At the very meeting at which the plan of June 3 was accepted, the leaders agreed to discuss a paper which I had laid before them on the administrative consequences of partition: and then and there we set up the machinery which was to carry out one of the greatest administrative operations in history — the partition of a sub-continent of 400 million inhabitants and the transfer of power to two independent Governments in less than two and a half months. My reason for hastening these processes was that, once the principle of division had been accepted, it was in the interest of all parties that it should be carried out with the utmost speed. We set a pace faster in fact than many at the time thought possible. To the Ministers and officials who have laboured day and night to produce this astonishing result, the greatest credit is due…