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Wish we could have been a Federation as originally envisioned by Jinnah

Actually, they did not want to leave. Churchill was dead against it. But Churchill lost the election and Attlee came in. And even then there was only talk of dominion status. What convinced the British that they had lost India were two things -

1. Bombay Naval Mutiny - which quickly spread across India. Elements in Indian military refused to obey British officers - they flew flags of Congress and Muslim League from the ships after taking of Union Jacks

2. Red Fort Trials - To make an example of Bose's Indian National Army - A Hindu, a Muslim and a Sikh officer of the INA faced court martial proceedings in Delhi in the Red Fort. Their popularity was so high that Nehru and Jinnah both defended the INA officers and despite being convicted, the Brits had to release them.


if they really wanted to keep an imperial hold on india they could have done so using the same methods that were quite successful for them the past 2 hundred yearss, instead they let go, churchill may have been against it but he was a minority voice (there are some letters that suggest he was happy with the creation of pakistan, why do you think).

the prevailing mood, and belief was that naked imperialism is not a good method for their aims.

the british elite had envisioned what we know as globalisation decades (maybe centuries) before it occurred, imperialism does not help this so they gave the illusion of independence to their former colonies, but left in charge a brain washed and weak elite who only knew how to think, talk and act in the way of their former imperial masters told them to.

in effect they were still "imperial" subjects but took their orders in places like the UN, world bank, imf or diplomatic talks.
 
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The problem wasn't that there was a partition. Perhaps it was necessary; perhaps it wasn't. The problems arose in the haphazard way in which the Partition was carried out. On independence day, neither country knew of the Radcliffe award. If the Partition had occurred without bloodbath - things would have been much better. It is ridiculous that guys like Jinnah and Nehru were sitting in their air-conditioned rooms in Bombay and Delhi demanding their pound of flesh not really caring about the way the Partition happened. The biggest culprit in this was Mountbatten - the British Govt. had given him till July 1948 to "free" India - instead of doing it surgically by then - he did it like a butcher in 1947 itself.

exactly! this is the CORE issue. Mountbatten rushed it and ran for it. Radcliffe Line decided the fate of 88 MILLION people & none of them got a say in it!

if partition had been done by 1948 as suggested things might have been peaceful & maybe just maybe today india & pakistan might have enjoyed a good relationship like singapore & malaysia! but fast tracking partition destroyed everything.
 
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exactly! this is the CORE issue. Mountbatten rushed it and ran for it. Radcliffe Line decided the fate of 88 MILLION people & none of them got a say in it!

if partition had been done by 1948 as suggested things might have been peaceful & maybe just maybe today india & pakistan might have enjoyed a good relationship like singapore & malaysia! but fast tracking partition destroyed everything.



I totally concur and because of moving the goal post from 1948 to 1947 by Mountbatten, millions lost their lives or were injured. Britain has never acknowledged their role in this debacle.
 
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