Then why did the British leave and that too in a hurry?
Check what was the writ given to Lord Mountbatten?
Devastated by war, could not afford to hold on to its over-extended empire, why could the British not hold on to India.One explanation for the chaotic manner in which the two independent nations came into being is the hurried nature of the British withdrawal. This was announced soon after the victory of the Labour Party in the British general election of July 1945, amid the realisation that the British state, devastated by war, could not afford to hold on to its over-extended empire.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british...n1947_01.shtml
What prevented Britain?
Obviously, the unrest and clamour for Independence and which could get ugly.
There was already the mutiny in the Royal Indian Navy.
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