After the fall of Rangoon to the Japanese the British decided to send the Cripps Mission to India for constitutional proposals, which included:
1. Dominion status to be granted after the war with the right to secede (Any province could, if it so desired, remain outside the Indian Union and negotiate directly with Britain).
2. Constitution making body to be elected from Provincial Assemblies and Princes’ nominees after the War.
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3. Individual princes could sign a separate agreement with the British which in effect accommodated the Pakistan demand.
4. British would however, control the Defence for war period.
The Congress did not want to rely upon future promises. It wanted a responsible government with full powers and also a control over the country’s defence.
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Gandhi termed the proposals as a post dated cheque in a crashing bank. Cripps Mission failed to satisfy Indian nationalists and turned out to be merely a propaganda device for US and Chinese consumption.
But above all the Cripps Proposals brought in ‘Pakistan’ through the backdoor via the ‘local option’ clause. Though the Cripps Mission failed, Cripps Proposals provided legitimacy to the Pakistan demand by accommodating it in their provision for provincial autonomy.