The Mountbatten Mission

Lord Mountbatten First become well know during the war years.When Lord Wavell resigned he was appointed viceroy and governor Ganeral.Fully briefed by the labor Government before the left he came with instruction from Mr.Attle that power must be transferred before 30june 1948.

He Reached Delhi on 22 March and was sworn in as vice Roy and Governor General of India on the 24th. Immediately after the swearing in a ceremony.He made a short speech,in which he stressed the need for reaching a solution within the nest few months.

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Lord Mountbatten wasextremely intelligent and could read in to the minds of all his Indian colleagues.The moment he found Patel amenable to his idea he put out all the charm and pawer of his personality to win over the Sardar.When Sardar Patel was convinced.Lord Mout batten turned his attention to Jawaharlal.With in a month of Lord Mountbatten arrival in Jawaharlal the firm opponent of partition had become,if not a supporter at least acquiescent to the idea.

I have often wondered how Jawahar Lal was won over by Lord Mountbatten.He is man of principal but he is also impulsive and very amenable to personal influences.I think one factor rersponsible for the change was the personality of Ledy Mountbatten.She is not only extremely intelligent but has attractive an friendly temperament.She admired her husbdnd very greatly and in many cases tried to interpret his thought to those who would not at first agree with him.

(M.Ubul kalam azad)
India Wins Freedom