Crisis Committee

Date: TBA

Topic: India-Pakistan

This conference is meant to teach delegates how to debate. Unlike the other conferences, this one will have all delegates working by themselves as they fill the role of an individual or nation. No resolutions will be written during this conference, but students will write a one page position paper ahead of the conference to prepare.

Background Guide

Parliamentary Procedures

Roles

Indian National Congress (INC) Delegation

These figures represent the dominant political force advocating a unified, secular India:

1. Jawaharlal Nehru – INC leader and Prime Minister-designate

2. Vallabhbhai Patel – Home Minister-in-waiting, pro-centralized power

3. Mahatma Gandhi – Moral compass, opposes partition

4. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad – Muslim INC member, secular nationalist

5. J.B. Kripalani – INC Working Committee Chair

6. K.M. Munshi – Legal advisor and constitutional scholar

7. Rajendra Prasad – Senior INC leader, future President of India

All-India Muslim League Delegation

Leaders of the movement for Pakistan, with strategic goals in Muslim-majority provinces:

8. Muhammad Ali Jinnah – Founder of Pakistan, Governor-General-designate

9. Liaquat Ali Khan – Senior League leader, future PM of Pakistan

10. Fatima Jinnah – Political advisor and activist

11. Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy – Premier of Bengal, controversial for direct action

12. Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman – Senior League leader from UP

13. Sir Zafarullah Khan – Legal expert and diplomat, involved in UN representation

 Sikh & Civil Society Figures

This bloc represents both organized Sikh political leadership and non-state actors:

14. Master Tara Singh – Militant Sikh leader, strong anti-partition stance

15. Baldev Singh – Sikh representative in Constituent Assembly, military interests

16. Khushwant Singh (semi-fictionalized) – Journalist and intellectual voice

17. Tarlochan Singh – Sikh community advisor

 Princely State Representatives

Rulers or representatives of autonomous states faced with decisions about accession:

18. Maharaja Hari Singh – Ruler of Kashmir (undecided at this point)

19. Nizam of Hyderabad – Muslim ruler of Hindu-majority Hyderabad

20. Nawab of Junagadh – Muslim ruler leaning toward Pakistan

21. Dewan of Travancore – Initially declared independence

22. Representative from Bhopal – Muslim-led princely state

23. Representative of Baroda – Progressive Hindu-majority state

British Administration

Neutral (on paper) but deeply influential during this transitional period:

24. Lord Louis Mountbatten – Last Viceroy of India

25. Cyril Radcliffe – Chairman, Boundary Commission

26. Major General Hastings Ismay – British military advisor

27. George Abell – Private Secretary to Mountbatten

28. British Treasury Official – Oversees division of fiscal resources

29. Sir Olaf Caroe – Expert on North-West Frontier tribal regions