R Krishna Das
The last viceroy of British India, Lord Mountbatten became Independent India’s first Governor General at the initiative of Mohammed Ali Jinnah only to help Pakistan.
The British transfer of power in 1947 was followed by the Partition of India. Two Nations were born, India and Pakistan. India had a Britisher as its first Governor General that Pakistan had literally denied and appointed Jinnah for the post in the Dominion of Pakistan.
Though India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was a confidante of Mountbatten, it was Jinnah who was instrumental to appoint him as Governor General. Mountbatten was never interested to stay in India soon after the transfer of power.
Mountbatten and Independent India, a book authored by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, mentioned how it all happened. In an interview with the authors, Mountbatten said he did not want to stay on after the transfer of power because to go from Viceroy to Constitutional Governor General was not a very attractive proportion.
“I was not a starter. My wife (Edwina) didn’t want to stay on; we thought we’d go out in what we hoped was a blaze of glory,” Mountbatten said, adding that Jinnah started to tell him, “We shall be completely crushed by India. They won’t give us our sterling balances, they won’t give us our munitions. They’ll give us nothing unless you stay and see it through.”
Mountbatten came out with a plan to look after the interests of Pakistan and wanted to become the Governor General of both India and Pakistan. “As head of both states, I would obviously use my influence in India to see that you got your stuff in a way I couldn’t do if I had no responsibility for you,” he told Jinnah.
Lord Ismay, Chief of the Viceroy’s Staff and the Governor General’s Staff till December 1947, went to Nehru who thought it was a very good idea and that’s how the Indians agreed on Mountbatten. But Pakistan dodged at the last moment.
“However, Jinnah later begged me to accept India’s offer despite my distress at not becoming Governor General of both nations,” Mountbatten said. Despite receiving a big jolt, Mountbatten continued to act on Jinnah’s advice and became the first Governor General of Independence India. Just within two months, India and Pakistan entered into the clash that till now continued.
In the entire history of the end of colonial rule, Mountbatten would be the only representative of a former colonial power who was asked to stay on by the leaders of a newly Independent nation.
