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- B.C. Dutt, a rating in the HMIS Talwar was arrested for scribbling ‘Quit India’ on the panel of the ship.
- Dutt’s arrest served as the trigger for the on February 18, 1946.
- The Royal Indian Navy ratings revolted at Bombay in February 1946.
- HMIS Hindustan of Karachi and other naval ratings of Karachi involved in Protest.
- It soon spread to other stations involving more than 20,000 ratings of 78 ships went on strike.
- The ratings hoisted flags of Congress, Communist and Muslim League.
- Indian Air Force station of Bombay, Poona, Calcutta, Jessore and Ambla and the Indian Signal Corps at Jabalpur also involved in strike.
- The trade unions in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta called for a sympathy strike and the two cities turned into war zones.
- The British Government took brutal methods for suppression of revolt
- Sardar Vallabhai Patel, then in Bombay, took the initiative to bring the revolt to an end.
- Thus the British hegemonic control ceased even in the armed forces.
- All the political leaders were released and the ban on Congress was lifted.
Rajaji Plan
- Demand for a Separate Nation, the communal challenge persisted and the Muslim League pressed with its demand for a separate nation
- Mohammed Ali Jinnah was asserting this right as the sole spokesperson of the community.
- After his release from prison, Gandhi, in July 1944, proposed talks with Jinnah based on what came to be the ‘Rajaji formula’ and the proposal was not further developed and failed.
Rajaji’s Proposals
- A post-war commission to be formed to demarcate the contiguous districts where the Muslims were in absolute majority and a plebiscite of the adult population there to ascertain whether they would prefer Pakistan;
- In case of a partition there would be a mutual agreement to run certain essential services, like defence or communication;
- The border districts could choose to join either of the two sovereign states;
- The implementation of the scheme would wait till after full transfer of power.