the Wavell Plan Demand for a Separate Nation Meanwhile, the communal challenge persisted and the Muslim League pressed with its demand for a separate nation. The Lahore resolution of the Muslim League in March had altered the discourse from the Muslims being a ‘minority’ to the Muslims constituting a ‘nation’. Mohammed Ali Jinnah was asserting this right as the sole spokesperson of the community. Rajaji’s Proposals In April , when the Congress leaders were in jail, C.Rajaji put out a proposal to resolve the issue.
It contained the following: was joined by the ratings in the Fort Barracks and the Castle and a large number of them went into the Bombay cities in commandeered trucks waving Congress flags and shouting anti-British slogans. Royal Indian Navy Revolt Soon, the workers in the textile mills of Bombay joined the struggle. The trade unions in Bombay and Calcutta called for a sympathy strike and the two cities turned into war zones. Barricades were erected all over and pitched battles fought.
Shopkeepers downed shutters and hartals became the order of the day. Trains were stopped in the two cities with people sitting on the tracks. On news of the Bombay revolt reaching Karachi, ratings in the HMIS Hindustan and other naval establishments in Karachi went on a lightning strike on February . The strike wave spread to almost all the naval establishments across India and at least , ratings from ships and shore establishments ended up revolting in the days after February , .
There were strikes, expressing support to the ratings in the Royal Indian Air Force stationed in Bombay, Poona, Calcutta, Jessore and Ambala units. The Sepoys in the army cantonment station at Jabalpur too went on strike. The ratings, in many places, hoisted the Congress, the Communist, and the Muslim League flags together on the ship masts during the revolt. The colonial government’s response was brutal repression.
It was, indeed, a revolt without a leadership; nor did the ratings move Last Phase of Indian National Movement council