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With the Indian leaders who were not in jail the Viceroy engaged in earnest discussions. But most of the time he listened. With the jailed political prisoners he carried on a correspondence marked by understanding and humanity. Indians accustomed to word-jugglery and nebulous formulas noted with surprise his crisp, matter-of-fact candor. He impressed them as a disciplined, cultured administrator sympathetic to Indian aspirations, less concerned with his office than with Indian good will. To Gandhi (then in jail) he wrote: "I am in entire accord with that aim [Indian self-government] and only seek the best means to implement it without delivering India to confusion and turmoil."
Hating publicity, Wavell was nevertheless the first Viceroy to hold a press conference. Good-humoredly, he adjured photographers to picture his "bad" eye as well as his good. In his first address to the Legislature he criticized the Moslem League's plan for Pakistan (the idea of an independent Moslem state) (see map). Said Wavell bluntly: "No man can alter geography."
For 18 months Wavell went about India, a British pilgrim in search of understanding, absorbing the atmosphere of the age-old land, trying to feel his way toward solution of its problems. India, he decided last spring, was ripe for self-government. He broached his idea for a modified Cripps Plan (TIME, June 25) to Gandhi and other leaders. Assured of their willingness to consider his scheme, the Viceroy flew to London.
The Wavell Plan. He found Britain's leaders engrossed in the war's end, and the coming general election. Said Prime Minister Winston Churchill testily: "Why trouble me about this business now? Can't you wait?" Wavell said no. Britain had pledged her word that India should have self-government when the war ended. Britain must keep her word. If she was to win Indian good will, it was vital to break the three-year political deadlock at once. The situation must not be allowed to drift dangerously while momentous events brewed in Asia. Said Wavell grimly: without a new offer backed by the Government he would not return to India at all.
For two months he cooled his heels in London, waiting for the Cabinet to approve his plan. Then it was modified and passed.
As presented to Congress and Moslem leaders, the Wavell Plan awarded to Indians all posts (except Defense) in India's Executive Council—the equivalent of a national cabinet—"on a balanced representation of the main communities, including equal proportions of Moslems and caste Hindus." The door was left open for the native states, but there would be no coercion. Dominion status, as promised in the Cripps proposals, was still the goal. The Wavell Plan brought it almost within reach.
As an earnest of his intentions, the Viceroy released eight Congress leaders interned since 1942, invited chosen representatives of all parties to Simla to discuss his plan. The talks proceeded briskly, but stalled on the clause granting organizational parity to Moslems and caste Hindus. Canny Jinnah balked at the prospect of being outvoted in a Hindu-controlled Council. Hastily the factions adjourned for further consideration.