C. R. formula

[13] However, both the Viceroy and the Secretary of State for India (Leo Amery) openly disliked Indian National Congress and its leaders including Gandhi and Nehru.

[12] Moreover, since the British Indian army was dominated by Muslims and Sikhs, the government in London was keen to get both these parties' support rather than appeasing Congress.

[14] Eventually the British administration concluded that no progress towards Indian statehood could be made unless Congress and the League reached an agreement.

[15] While the Congress demanded a unified India and that the issue of a Muslim nation be resolved after independence, the League preferred that separate dominions be created first.

[21] Cripps' mission however failed as the Congress declared that he was assuming different stances in private and public with regard to Indian self-governance.

[22] Cripps' failure Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (or Rajaji as he was commonly referred to) was a prominent Congress leader from Madras.

[10] In April 1942, parts of the Madras Presidency were bombed by Japanese warplanes operating from the aircraft carrier Ryūjō.

[28] This proposal, which was called the CR formula by the popular press[29] was to recognise the demand for Pakistan in principle and to act as a basis for talks between the League and the Congress.

[34][full citation needed] After his release Gandhi proposed talks with Jinnah on his two-nation theory and negotiating on issue of partition.

This, according to Ayesha Jalal (a Pakistani-American sociologist and historian), might well have diluted the enthusiasm of the people of these provinces about going partition.

[16] While the formula retained most of the essential services, Jinnah wanted a full partition and any relations would be dealt via treaty alone.

[37] Although a failure the CR formula was seen as Congress' betrayal of the Sikhs by Akali Dal leaders like Master Tara Singh.

[29] The proposal had been attacked by other leaders such as V. D. Sarvarkar[39] and Syama Prasad Mookerjee of the Hindu Mahasabha and Srinivas Sastri of National Liberal Federation.

[30] However, Wavell the then viceroy of India who had earlier insisted on the geographic unity of India,[32] stated that the talks based on the CR formula failed because Gandhi himself did "not really believe" in the proposal nor Jinnah was ready to "answer awkward questions" which would reveal that he had "not thought out the implications of Pakistan".