White Paper on Indian States (1950)/Foreword to the First Edition
In the opening paragraph of its report the Butler Committee observed:
2. That is how 19 years ago the problem of the Indian States presented itself to the authors of this important report on the Indian States. But were there really two Indias? And was the problem merely to hold them together?
3. A glance at the map showed that geographically India was one and indivisible. The territories of the Indian States were dovetailed into, and closely interwoven with, those of what was then British India. Even where the map showed solid blocks of the Indian States the territories were so irregular that the States had enclaves in the Provinces and vice versa.
4. The main part of the communications essential to the welfare of the whole of the country passed in and out of the territories of the Indian States. A community of interests in the wider economic field linked the States with the Provinces. If the States and the Provinces failed to co-operate in implementing policies on matters of common concern, there was a vacuum which rendered it impossible to enforce effective measures in respect of such matters in any part of the country.
5. The geographical set-up of the Indian States did not coincide with any ethnic, racial or linguistic divisions. The peoples of the Provinces and the States had suffered alike from the waves of foreign invasions and foreign domination. Close ties of cultural affinity, no less than those of blood and sentiment, bound the people of the States and the Provinces together.
6. What was it then that separated the Indian States from the rest of India? Firstly, the historical factor that unlike the Provinces the States had not been annexed by the British Government. Secondly, the political factor that the States maintained the traditional monarchical form of Government.
7. Did these factors, however, really segregate the States from the Provinces and create an impassable political barrier between them? The freedom of the Indian States from foreign subjugation was only relative; the Paramount Power controlled the external affairs of the States and exercised wide powers in relation to their internal matters. The whole of the country was, therefore, in varying degrees under the sway of the British Government. Besides, in the context of the demand for India's freedom the degree of control exercised by the British ceased to have any meaning. Nor was there any reason to over-emphasize the political difference between the States and the Provinces. There was nothing incompatible between the systems of governance in the Provinces and the States provided the supremacy of the common popular interests was recognised and representative and responsible Governments were established in the States.
8. India was, then, not only a geographical and cultural continuum but also one economic and political entity. The problem of statesmanship in that case could not merely be to hold the two Indias together. The real problem was how to bring about a clearer appreciation on the part of all political elements in India that they were heirs to the heritage of the common culture of India, and how to weld the States and the Provinces together to raise India to her full stature.
9. On 3rd June, 1947, the plan for the partition of India was announced, and accepted by the principal political parties in India. The period of one year following that fateful day will go down as a most momentous one in India's history not only because it was during this year that India attained her freedom, but also because it has witnessed a mighty interplay of two powerful forces. One has been the disruptive force of communal exclusiveness which has led to the secession from India of certain territories and their constitution into an independent State. The other has been the revitalising and uniting force of enlightened mutual interests in a free and resurgent India which has swept away the barriers that separated the Indian States and the Provinces. How far in balance one process has set off the other is for the future to unfold.
10. During the recent months, a tremendous change has come over the Indian States. This change has been brought about by a process of two-fold integration, firstly, consolidation into sizable and viable administrative units, and, secondly, growth of democratic institutions and responsible governments. This bloodless revolution has been brought about, on the one hand, by the operation of democratic forces unleashed by freedom, and, on the other, by the patriotic attitude of the Rulers who have been quick to appreciate the change.
11. It has been the policy of the Government of India to appropriate the sentiments and the wishes of the people and the sense of public service and patriotism of the Rulers, towards the attainment of the objective that they have had before themselves, namely, the integration of the Provinces and the States in a strong and united India in which the peoples of the States and the Provinces would partake in the fullest measure in the enjoyment of the fruits of freedom.
12. The purpose of this White Paper is to present information, supported by documents, regarding the policy of the Government of India towards the Indian States and the developments that have taken place in respect of the States since 5th July 1947, when the States Department of the Government of India was set up. An analysis of the historical and political background of the problem of the States will be helpful in taking stock of the great change that has come over them during the recent months. This is contained in the first two of the four parts into which this White Paper is divided. The first part gives statistics about the States and outlines their position under the paramountcy of the British Crown. The second part surveys the course of developments since the promulgation of the Government of India Act, 1935, till the Statement issued by His Majesty's Government on 3rd June, 1947. The third part deals with the events leading up to the accession of the States to the Dominion of India. The fourth part deals with subsequent developments in the direction of the integration and democratisation of the States.
13. This White Paper surveys the political trends and developments in respect of the Indian States generally; it does not deal with the States of Hyderabad, Kashmir and Junagadh, where the course of events has been affected by special factors.
July 5, 1948.