Abstract
ONCE again the British Government, notwithstanding the preoccupations of war, has turned aside to direct its attention to furthering the interests and promoting the welfare of a people for whom it accepts imperial responsibility. The statement of policy made by Lord Linlithgow, Viceroy of India, on August 9 and by Mr. L. S. Amery, Secretary of State for India, on the same day in the House of Commons was framed with the object of enabling the people of India to fulfil their anxious desire to contribute fully to the common cause in the present world struggle, and to ensure the triumph of our common ideals. In brief, the British Government proposes in the interests of Indian national unity, and notwithstanding the differences between parties which previous discussion has shown to be still unbridged, that the Viceroy's Council should now be expanded to include representatives of the political parties, and further that a consultative committee should be established which, as a war advisory council, will meet at regular intervals and will include representatives of the Indian States and of other interests in the national life of India as a whole. The statement of policy goes on to say that while it is clear that the present moment when the Commonwealth is engaged in a struggle for existence is not one in which fundamental constitutional issues can be decisively resolved, yet the British Government is prepared to undertake to set up at the close of the war a body representative of the principal elements of India's national life in order to devise the framework of a new constitution.
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India's Future and the Constitution. Nature 146, 225–226 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/146225d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/146225d0