‘Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.’ Imagine if those famous words had not been spoken by Jawaharlal Nehru 75 years ago today, as Pakistan and India announced their independence, but instead by a confederation of the whole Indian subcontinent.
In this counterfactual, imagine this new united state as an independent dominion, like Canada and Australia, with the British monarch as king-emperor. It has a weak central government and strong, autonomous provinces like undivided Punjab and Bengal. Its constitution is based on the British government’s Cabinet Mission Plan of 1945, accepted by both the predominantly Hindu Congress and the separatist Muslim League.
To persuade Mohammed Ali Jinnah of the Muslim League, already dying of tuberculosis, to abandon his largely tactical demand for Pakistan, Mahatma Gandhi has given him the premiership of a coalition government at the centre.
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