 Jinnah feared that at the end of the British presence in India , they would turn control over to the Congress @-@ dominated constituent assembly , putting Muslims at a disadvantage in attempting to win autonomy . He demanded that Mountbatten divide the army prior to independence , which would take at least a year . Mountbatten had hoped that the post @-@ independence arrangements would include a common defence force , but Jinnah saw it as essential that a sovereign state should have its own forces . Mountbatten met with Liaquat the day of his final session with Jinnah , and concluded , as he told Attlee and the Cabinet in May , that " it had become clear that the Muslim League would resort to arms if Pakistan in some form were not conceded . " The Viceroy was also influenced by negative Muslim reaction to the constitutional report of the assembly , which envisioned broad powers for the post @-@ independence central government . 
