Mountbatten and the 3 June Plan

In February 1947 Attlee announced that Britain would leave India no later than June 1948, and he sent Lord Louis Mountbatten as the last Viceroy. After talks with Nehru, Jinnah, Vallabhbhai Patel and others, Mountbatten concluded that a united India was impossible. On 3 June 1947 he announced a plan to partition British India into two dominions, India and Pakistan, with the Muslim-majority provinces of Punjab and Bengal themselves divided.

He also brought the handover date forward dramatically to 15 August 1947, giving just over ten weeks to divide an army, a civil service, railways and treasury. The Indian Independence Act passed the British Parliament in July. Supporters argue speed prevented Britain from being trapped in a civil war; critics argue the rush left no time for careful boundary-making or protection of minorities, contributing to the catastrophe that followed.