PARTITION OF INDIA

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22316, 29 April 1947, Page 5

PARTITION OF INDIA

PROSPECT SEEN WARNING TO ASSEMBLY FUTURE CONSTITUTION (10 a.m.) NEW DELHI, April 28. The people must be prepared for the partitioning of some of the provinces as well as of India itself, said the president of the Indian Constituent Assembly, Dr. Rajcndra Prasad, in opening the Assembly's third session. He added that the Assembly might have to draw up a constitution based on such a division. Reuter’s correspondent says that the provisional agenda for the present session sets October 31 as the deadline for drafting the new constitution. The Moslem League is still boycotting the Assembly. The Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and Indian leaders during this month’s negotiations have reached six conclusions on India’s future, says a British United Press correspondent in New Delhi. They are:— (1) The establishment of a truncated form of Pakistan. (2) The partition of four provinces, including Bengal and Punjab. (3) The holding of a plebiscite in the North-west Frontier Province on whether the people wish to join Pakistan. (4) The establishment of separate Cabinets and Legislative Assemblies in Bengal and Punjab. (5) Members of the Moslem League to leave the Government but the Moslem provinces to join in forming their own central co-ordinating Cabinet. (6) Recognition of the Constituent Assembly as the governing body for the provinces and the Indian States which participate in it. The correspondent learns that under the plan, the defence of India would remain unified for a limited period. The conclusions will be discussed at further meetings and then reported to London and announced about May 31.