My Mother — Page 85
Fulfilment of Dream (A) 85 Lord Linlithgow had been Chairman of the Joint Select Com - mittee of both Houses of Parliament which had been set up in 1933 to consider and report on the White Paper which had been submitted to Parliament embodying proposals on Constitutional Reforms in India. I was a member of the Indian delegation that was associated with the Joint Select Committee during the stage of the examination of witnesses. I had understood that the Chairman appreciated my contribution to the work of the Committee. Lord Linlithgow succeeded Lord Willingdon as Viceroy and Governor-General of India in 1936. I was then a Member of the Governor-General’s Executive Council. He was throughout most kind to me, encouraged me and gave me his confidence. I was loath to disappoint him in the matter of my choice to go to the Federal Court, but I was con- vinced that my three dreams were a Divine directive which must be complied with. Despite his genuine disap pointment, however, he did not withdraw his confidence from me. In conformity with my own suggestion the Executive Council was to be enlarged and my two portfolios, Law and Supply, would be held by two members. The Governor-General asked me to suggest names of suitable persons who should succeed me and accepted both my suggestions. He then instructed me to procure their acceptances in confidence, which I did. In February 1942, Chiang Kai Shek, President of China, came on an official visit to Delhi. Among matters agreed upon between him and the Viceroy, one was that the two countries should estab- lish direct diplomatic relations with each other. In March, Lord Linlith gow wrote a long letter in his own hand to me urging me to agree to go to Chung King, where under Japanese pressure the