This is a photograph of Sir Stafford Cripps taken during the 1946 Cabinet Mission to India. A British Labour MP, Cripps had been a member of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s Cabinet during World War Two. In March 1942 Churchill sent Cripps to India on what became known as the Cripps Mission, to negotiate with leaders of the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League to secure India’s co-operation and support in World War Two. During these negotiations, Cripps struggled to provide a solution that was satisfactory to both Congress and the League. Cripps’s failure to secure Indian support for the British war effort was one factor that led Mahatma Gandhi to launch the Quit India movement in August 1942.

What was the Quit India movement?

On 8 August 1942 Gandhi gave his Quit India speech at the Bombay session of the AllIndia Congress Committee. In the speech, titled ‘Do or Die’, Gandhi demanded an orderly British withdrawal from India. The Congress launched mass protests in support of Gandhi’s demands, urging the masses to act independently and not follow the orders of the British. They hoped to pressure the British government in to negotiating with Indian political leaders. However, in response, the British government jailed numerous Indian National Congress leaders, including Gandhi; many remained imprisoned until the end of World War Two in 1945.

Cripps and the 1946 Cabinet Mission

After being appointed as president of the Board of Trade in the new Labour government, Cripps returned to India in March 1946 with the Cabinet Mission. This mission of British officials, including Secretary of State for India and Burma Lord Frederick PethickLawrence and First Lord of the Admiralty Albert Victor Alexander, met with Congress and Muslim League leaders to discuss the transfer of power from the British government to Indian leadership. The Cabinet Mission’s goal was to preserve a united India, but distrust between Congress and the Muslim League led to negotiations breaking down, and ultimately no agreement was reached.