India was enormous. Eventually, it was another significant contribution to the ultimate partition of India. It is that which makes the Commission’s Report of abiding interest to students of Indian constitutional history. There was a large measure of consensus in Britain regarding her India policy. The thrust of that policy and the attendant strategy, devised and directed in essentials by non-labour governments, was for underpinning imperial governance with collabo-rative structures. Therefore there was unanimity, irrespective of party affiliations, that Britain’s presence in India must be ensured for a long time to come. Thus, the declarations made by Montagu, the Secretary of State for India, on 20th August, 1917, said that the policy of His Majesty’s Government was ‘the increas¬ing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire.
Nov-Dec 1988, volume 12, No 6