M.C. Davar's Behind-the-Scenes Role in Trying to Stop Partition

The Wire

a day ago

Excerpted with permission from He Almost Prevented Partition: The Life and Times of M.C. Davar (Speaking Tiger).
Why the Shimla Conference failed is recorded by [then Viceroy Lord] Wavell: 'He (Jinnah ) refused even to discuss names unless he could be given the absolute right to select all Muslims and some guarantee that any decisions which the Muslims opposed in Council could only be passed by a two-thirds majority – in fact a communal veto. I said these conditions were entirely unacceptable.'
Praveen Davar
He Almost Prevented Partition: The Life and Times of M.C. Davar
Speaking Tiger, 2025
Dr [M.C.] Davar, who was so passionately devoted to the prevention of Partition, made sure that he was present in Shimla for the entire duration of the Conference which lasted for almost 15 days in June-July 1945. While he was there, staying at the house of Sanjiva Roy, Chairman of the Federal Public Service Commission, one day at 11 PM, he got a telephone call from Mrs Rajen Nehru asking him to reach the Grand Hotel. When Dr Davar reached within less than twenty minutes, he found her hotel room packed: it was full of a dozen frontline leaders of the Muslim League – all members of the League Working Committee. They included Khaliq-ur-Rahman, Mohd. Ismail and Abdul Majid Sindhi. Rajen Nehru wanted Davar to convey to Pt Nehru that these Muslim League members were prepared to resign from the working committee of their party if Jinnah remains adamant on his condition of having only Muslims from the League. On being asked by Davar why she couldn't speak to Jawaharlal herself being a close relative, Rajen replied that 'your work in this field is well known and you will be able to convince Panditji.'
So under tremendous pressure from Rajen Nehru, Davar after speaking to the League leaders left for Armsdale, where Nehru was staying. When he reached there at almost twenty minutes past midnight, he found Dharam Yash Dev, a local personal assistant of Nehru's, waiting for Panditji to return from dinner at Mashobra from where he was, as per his habit, walking back. It was thirty minutes past midnight when Panditji reached, he asked Dharam the purpose of being awake so late. Dharam replied pointing towards Davar that 'Doctor Sahib's business seems to be more important.' Panditji then said: 'Davar, come in' while entering the house. But he could not find the switch to put on the light. Then Dharam Yash Dev came to his rescue and found the switch at the bottom of a wall while Nehru and Davar were trying to locate the switch on the middle of the wall.
Davar narrates: 'Now Panditji said, 'sit down Davar.' We sat down on the sofa, and he asked what brought me here to which I replied 12 League members are at Grand Hotel and want to meet you… 'What for do they want to meet me? ' asked Panditji. I said: 'Jinnah is pressing for 5 seats as Liaqat Ali got in writing from Bhulabhai Desai that League will get 5, Congress 5 and others 3. Now Maulana Azad is demanding one seat for Nationalist Muslims as also the Unionist Party of Khizar Hayat Khan. So Jinnah is adamant…he wants all five Muslim seats…that is why this Conference seems to fail and that is why they want to meet you.'
Then Panditji asked why should they not meet Maulana? (Davar narrated to Panditji details of his meeting with Azad five years ago at Kolkata wherein Maulana after great persuasion had agreed to bless his efforts for Congress-League unity but now seemed to be backing out.) But Panditji, though partially convinced, kept insisting that they must Maulana and that 'I will not interfere in Maulana's work.' (Despite Davar telling Nehru that Muslims of India had more faith in him than any leader, and these 12 League leaders were ready to ditch Jinnah provided he 'holds their hand ', Nehru refused to listen). [Davar says,] 'When I told him that I was the original author of the Liaqat-Desai formula, which actually is Davar -Sultan formula, Panditji remarked: 'Oh, then you are the person who has put us in trouble.' After I left I rang up Dharam Yash as I had left my umbrella there. Dharam told me Panditji had guessed it was your umbrella which is lying safely, but your discussion with him created a deep impression on him, and he kept asking me about you, though he appeared to know about your homoeopathic and revolutionary background.'
Deeply disappointed, Davar left Simla in the morning, but before doing so dropped a line at Wavell's house telling the Viceroy about his meeting with Pt Nehru who did not agree to his suggestion of meeting the Muslim League members. He therefore concluded that the Simla Conference would fail. That it failed was not only due to Jinnah's intransigence, equally it was because of Wavell's lack of firmness. HV Hodson, who was the Reforms Commissioner in 1941-42, wrote in his memoirs, The Great Divide : 'Lord Wavell had in effect capitulated to Jinnah… Mr Jinnah's control of the Muslim League was at that time far from complete. The Unionist Party was still strong, and Mr Liaqat Ali Khan favoured a settlement. There were still many uncommitted Muslims in the country. It is arguable that if the Viceroy had been as adamant as Mr Jinnah, the latter would have been obliged to give in; that the destruction of the Unionist Party, which paved the way for partition of Punjab,would have averted.'
But probably Wavell also could not forget so soon that it was the Congress which had challenged the Empire with the Quit India Movement during the period when he, as the Commander-in-Chief himself, had to bear the brunt, and hence he let Jinnah sabotage the Conference which would also please Churchill who was, naturally, in sympathy towards the 'enemy's enemy'. But within two weeks, Churchill's Conservative Party lost elections, displaying the maturity of the British electorate that victory in war was no passport to better governance in peace times.
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