APPSC GROUP-1, GROUP-2/ TSPC/ UPSC

MODERN HISTORY
NATIONAL MOVEMENTS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF INDIA
PART - 2

Montague-Chelmsford Reforms or the Government of India act, 1919

• The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms were reforms introduced by the British Government in

India to introduce self-governing institutions gradually to India.

• The reforms were outlined in the Montagu-Chelmsford Report prepared in 1918 and formed
the basis of the Government of India Act 1919.

The main features of the Montford Reforms

(1) Provincial Government—Introduction of Dyarchy:

(a) Executive:

• Dyarchy, i.e., rule of two—executive councillors and popular ministers—was introduced.

The governor was to be the executive head in the province.

• Subjects were divided into two lists: “reserved” which included subjects such as law and
order, nance, land revenue, irrigation, etc., and “transferred” subjects such as education,
health, local government, industry, agriculture, excise, etc

• The “reserved” subjects were to be administered by the governor through his executive
council of bureaucrats, and the “transferred” subjects were to be administered by ministers
nominated from among the elected members of the legislative council.

• The ministers were to be responsible to the legislature and had to resign if a no-
con dence motion was passed against them by the legislature, while the executive councilors
were not to be responsible to the legislature.

• In case of failure of constitutional machinery in the province the governor could take over
the administration of “transferred” subjects also.

• The secretary of state and the governor-general could interfere in respect of “reserved” subjects
while in respect of the “transferred” subjects; the scope for their interference was restricted.

(b) Legislature:

• Provincial Legislative Councils were further expanded—70% of the members were to be

elected.
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• The system of communal and class electorates was further consolidated.
• Women were also given the right to vote.

• The Legislative Councils could initiate legislation but the governor’s assent was required.
The governor could veto bills and issue ordinances.

• The Legislative Councils could reject the budget but the governor could restore it, if
necessary.

• The legislators enjoyed freedom of speech.

(2) Central Government—Still Without Responsible Government:

(a) Executive:

• The governor-general was to be the chief executive authority. There were to be two lists for
administration– central and provincial.

• In the viceroy’s executive council of 8, three were to be Indians.

• The governor-general retained full control over the “reserved” subjects in the provinces.
The governor-general could restore cuts in grants, certify bills rejected by the Central
Legislature,summon, prorogue, dissolve the Chambers, and issue ordinances.

(b) Legislature:

• A bicameral arrangement was introduced. The lower house or Central Legislative Assembly
would consist of 144 members and the upper house or Council of State would have 60
members.

• The Council of State had tenure of 5 years and had only male members, while the Central
Legislative Assembly had tenure of 3 years.

• The legislators could ask questions and supplementaries pass adjournment motions and
vote a part of the budget, but 75% of the budget was still not votable.

• In 1921 another change recommended by the report was carried out when elected local
councils were set up in rural areas, and during the 1920s urban municipal corporations were
made more democratic and “Indianized.

The 1919 reforms did not satisfy political demands in India. The British repressed opposition,
and restrictions on the press and on movement were re-enacted in the Rowlatt Acts introduced in
1919. These measures were rammed through the Legislative Council with the unanimous
opposition of the Indian members. Several members of the council including Jinnah resigned
in protest. These measures were widely seen throughout India of the betrayal of strong
support given by the population for the British war e ort.
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Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919)

• The Rowlatt Act was passed in March 1919 by the Central Legislative Council to control
the militant nationalist struggles and curtailed the liberty of the people.

• The Bill provided for speedy trial of o ences by a special court and had no appeal.

• The provincial government had powers to search a place and arrest a suspected person
without warrant. These gave unbridled powers to the government to arrest and imprison
suspects without trial for two years maximum.

• It caused a wave of anger in all sections spreading a country-wide agitation by Gandhiji

and marked the foundation of the Non-Cooperation Movement. Gandhiji organised the
Satyagraha on 14th February, 1919. On 8th April, 1919 Gandhiji was arrested.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also called Massacre of Amritsar was an incident in which
British troops red on a large crowd of unarmed Indians in an open space known as the
Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in Punjab.

• April 13, 1919, marked a turning point in the Indian freedom struggle. It was Baisakhi
that day, a harvest festival popular in Punjab and parts of north India.

• Local residents in Amritsar decided to hold a meeting that day to discuss and protest
against the con nement of Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, two leaders ghting for
Independence, and implementation of the Rowlatt Act, which armed the British government
with powers to detain any person without trial.

• While the meeting was on, Brigadier-General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, who had crept
up to the scene wanting to teach the public assembled a lesson, ordered 90 soldiers he
had brought with him to the venue to open re on the crowd.

• Many tried in vain to scale the walls to escape. Many jumped into the well located inside
the park.

Response of the Indians:

• Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in his letter of protest renounced the knighthood
conferred on him, condemning the brutal act of Britishers.

• Gandhiji relinquished his title ‘Kaiser-e-hind’ bestowed on him by the British for his
services during the Boer War in South Africa.

• In December 1919, the congress session was held at Amritsar. It was attended by a large
number of people, including peasants.
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 • As the people began to willfully break the laws made by the state, the state itself became
illegitimate. Now people actively started demanding for purna swaraj

Khilafat Movement

• The main objective of the Khilafat movement was to force the British government
change its attitude towards Turkey and restore the Khalifa to his former position.

• Turkey was defeated in the First World War and the harsh terms of the Treaty of Sevres
(1920) was felt by the Muslims as a great insult to them.

• The Muslims in India were upset over the British attitude against Turkey and launched
the Khilafat Movement which was jointly led by the Khilafat leaders and the
Congress.Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, M.A. Ansari, Saifuddin Kitchlew and the Ali
brothers were the prominent leaders of this movement.

• On 9 June, 1920 the Khilafat Committee at Allahabad unanimously accepted the

suggestion of non-cooperation and asked Gandhiji to lead the movement.

• 4 stages of non-cooperation were surrender of titles and honorary positions, resignation

from civil services under the Government, resignation from Police and Army services
and non-payment of taxes

• Subsequently, the Khilafat Movement merged with the Non-Cooperation Movement

launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920. During this period he became the undisputed
leader of the National Movement.

The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22)

• Non-Cooperation Movement was a signi cant phase of the Indian independence

movement from british rule. It was led by Mahatma Gandhi after the Jallianwala Bagh
Massacre. It aimed to resist British rule in India through nonviolent means.

• The programme of non-cooperation included within its ambit the surrender of titles
and honours. Boycott of government a liated schools and college, law courts.

• Boycott could be extended to include resignation from government service and mass
civil disobedience including the non-payment of taxes. National schools and colleges
were to be set up.
• Kisan sabhas:-
◦ In the Avadh area of U.P., where kisan sabhas and a kisan movement had been
gathering strength since 1918 and with Non-cooperation propaganda it became
di cult to distinguish between a Non cooperation meeting and a kisan
meeting.
• In Malabar in Kerala, Non cooperation and Khilafat propaganda helped to arouse
the Muslims tenants against their landlords.
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 • De ance of forest laws became popular in Andhra. Peasants and tribals in some of
the Rajasthan states began movements for securing better conditions of life.
• Akali movement:-
◦ In Punjab, the Akali Movement for taking control of the gurudwaras from the
corrupt mahants (priests) was a part of the general movement of Non-
cooperation, and the Akalis observed strict non-violence in the face of tremendous
repression.
Success:-

• The most successful item of the programme was the boycott of foreign cloth and
khaki was promoted, communal harmony.

Nagpur Session of Congress

• This session was held at a time when major program of Non-Cooperation was initiated
in 1920
• The Indian National Congress attempted to strengthen the Non-Cooperation
Movement at its Nagpur session held in December 1920

The following resolutions were adopted at the Nagpur Session:

• The programme of non-cooperation was endorsed

• An important change was made in the Congress: now, instead of having the attainment of
self-government through constitutional means as its goal, the Congress decided to have the
attainment of swaraj through peaceful and legitimate means, thus committing itself to
an extraconstitutional mass struggle.

• Some important organisational changes were made:

• a congress working committee (CWC) of 15 members was set up to lead the Congress
from now onwards;
• provincial congress committees on linguistic basis were organised

• When the session concluded on December 31, 1920, history had been created.
◦ The historic Nagpur Session not only saw solid emergence of Mahatma Gandhi
in national politics but also passage of all-important resolution on non-
cooperation movement.
• A galaxy of eminent leaders of time Mahatma Gandhi, Mohd Ali Jinnah, Pt Motilal
Nehru, Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya, Sardar Patel, C R Das, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin
Chandra Pal, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and a host of others arrived in the city and
debated and discussed various important matters to shape India’s freedom struggle.

• In the words of Dr B Pattabhi Sitaramayya, known as historian of Congress, “The

Nagpur Congress really marked a new era in recent Indian history.
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Swaraj Party

• The Swaraj Party, established as the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party, was a political
party formed in India on 1 January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference in December
1922 of the National Congress, that sought greater self-government and political freedom
for the Indian people from the British Raj

• In 1922, in the Gaya session of the Congress, C R Das (who was presiding over the
session) moved a proposal to enter the legislatures but it was defeated
◦ Das and other leaders broke away from the Congress and formed the Congress-
Khilafat Swarajaya Party with Das as the president and Nehru as one of the
secretaries

Objectives of Swaraj party

• Speedy attainment of dominion status, Obtaining the right to frame a constitution

adopting such machinery and system, Establishing control over the bureaucracy.

• Attaining Swarajya (self-rule), Organising industrial and agricultural labour, Establishing

a federation of Asian countries to promote trade and commerce.

Simon Commission,1927

Simon Commission was the Indian Statutory Commission, which was a group of seven
Members of Parliament under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon.

• The commission arrived in British India in 1928 to study constitutional reform in

Britain’s largest and most important possession

• The Government of India Act of 1919 provided for the appointment of a commission to
study the progress of the governance scheme and suggest new steps after ten years.
Since the British administration had failed to include even a single Indian in the
Commission, it was strongly opposed by national leaders and freedom

• Recommendations include:

• The special power for the safeguarding of province and the protection of minorities comes
under the Governor powers
• The representation of provinces and other areas constituted on the basis of population
at the Federal Assembly ( at the Centre)
• Recommended Dominion Status for Burma and should be provided its own Constitution
• Recommended the representation of Council of State could not be chosen on the basis
of Direct Election but by Indirect Election through Provincial Council which is more or
less just like Modern day election procedure as Proportional Representation.
 People in India were infuriated and felt insulted, for the Commission, which had been
constituted to analyse and recommend constitutional reforms for India, did not have a
single Indian member.

Protests and death of Lala Lajpat Rai

• The Commission, headed by Sir John Allsebrook Simon, reached India on February 3,
1928.
◦ As soon as the Commission’s arrived in Bombay, it was greeted by thousands of
protestors, who demanded the Commission to go back. Many were seen holding
placards and other sign boards that had the words ‘Go Back Simon’ written on
them.
◦ There were nation-wide strikes and people greeted the Commission with black
ags. Wherever the commission went, it received the same response.
◦ In order to make way for commission local police beat protesters, Lala Lajpat
Rai was critically injured, and never recovered later and died of cardiac arrest
on 17 November 1928

Aftermath of the Commission

• In its May 1930 report, the Commission proposed the eradication of diarchy system and
suggested the establishment of representative government in various provinces.

• Much before the Simon Commission’s report, Motilal Nehru submitted his ‘Nehru
Report’ in September 1928 to counter the Commission’s charges, which suggested that
Indians still lacked constitutional consensus.
◦ The ‘Nehru Report’ pushed for dominion status for India with complete internal
self-government.
◦ The Government of India Act 1935 was a result of the recommendations of the
Simon Commission.

Bardoli Satyagraha, 1928

• The movement was a truly participative and secular peasants movement guided
by Sardar Vallabhai Patel and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the non-violent Bardoli
Satyagraha laid the blueprint of what followed.

• Also, the movement was further went on to pave way for the Civil Disobedience
Movement, two years later, highlighted by the game changing Dandi March

Causes that led to the Resolution

• The trigger was the Bombay Presidency’s Government decision to impose an

exorbitant 30% increase in land revenue assessment
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 How did the struggle unfold?

• When the Governor of Bombay ignored Patel’s letter asking to reduce taxes, he then
instructed all the farmers of Bardoli taluka to refuse payment of their taxes
• Aided by Narhari Parikh, Ravi Shankar Vyas and Mohanlal Pandya, he divided Bardoli into
several zones, each with a leader and volunteers speci cally assigned
• Patel instructed the farmers to remain completely nonviolent and not to respond physically
to any incitements or aggressive actions from o cials
• The Government then began supressing the revolt:
◦ The government began to auction the houses and the lands
◦ Bands of Pathans were gathered from northwest India to seize the property of the
villagers and terrorize them

Bardoli Resolution

• In 1928, an agreement was nally brokered

◦ It agreed to restore the con scated lands and properties, to cancel revenue
payment for the year and to cancel the 22% raise until after the succeeding
year.
• The government had appointed the Maxwell-Broom eld Commission to look in to the
matter
◦ After a rigorous survey, the raise in taxes was decided to be just 6.03%

Nehru Report, 1928

• The Nehru Report of 15 August 1928 (approved on 28 August) was a memorandum to

appeal for a new dominion status and a federal set-up of government for the
constitution of India.
• In December 1927, at its Madras session, the Indian National Congress set up an All Parties
Conference to draft a Constitution for India
◦ On May 19, 1928 at its meeting at Bombay, the All Parties Conference
appointed a committee with Motilal Nehru as its chairman

Recommendations of Nehru Report

• India should be given Dominion Status with the Parliamentary form of Government
with bi-cameral legislature that consists of senate and House of Representatives
• It recommended Responsible government at the Centre and in provinces—
◦ The senate were to comprise of two hundred members elected for seven years, while
the House of Representatives should consist of ve hundred members elected for
ve years. Governor-General will act on the advice of executive council. It was
to be collectively responsible to the parliament
◦ Provincial councils to have a 5-year tenure, headed by a governor acting on the
advice of the provincial executive council
• There should be Federal form of Government in India with Residuary powers to be
vested in Centre.
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 • There were to be no separate electorate for minorities because it awakens communal
sentiments therefore it should be scrapped and joint electorate should be introduced
• It recommended Nineteen fundamental rights including equal rights for women, right to
form unions, and universal adult su rage
• Full protection to cultural and religious interests of Muslims.
• Complete dissociation of State from religion

Muslim League reject the Nehru Report and Mohammad Ali Jinnah drafted 14 points in 1929
which became core demands of Muslim community.

Conclusion

• The Nehru Report demanded that the Fundamental Rights for the people of India
wouldn’t be subjected to forfeiture.
• The report was an inspiration from the American bill of rights, which laid to the
foundation of Fundamental Rights provision in the Indian Constitution.

• Unfortunately, the Nehru Report was not adopted by the All Party Convention in
Calcutta in December 1928. Some communal leaders from the Muslim League, the
Hindu Mahasabha, and the Sikh League objected

Jinnah’s Fourteen Points

• The Fourteen Points of Jinnah were proposed by Muhammad Ali Jinnah during all
parties meeting of 1928, in response to Nehru report.
• It basically consisted of four Delhi proposals, the three Calcutta amendments and demands
for continuation of separate electorates and reservation of seats for Muslims in government
services and self-governing bodies

The Fourteen Points

1. The form of the future constitution should be federal, with the residuary powers vested
in the provinces
2. All provinces must be given equal Autonomy
3. All legislatures in the country and other elected bodies shall be constituted on the de nite
principle of adequate and e ective representation of minorities in every province without
reducing the majority in any province to a minority or even equality
4. In the Central Legislature, Muslim representation shall not be less than one-third
5. Representation of communal groups shall continue to be by means of the separate
electorate at present it shall be open to any community, at any time, to abandon its
separate electorate in favour of joint electorate
6. Any territorial distribution that might at any time be necessary shall not in any way a ect the
Muslim majority in Punjab, Bengal and NWFP provinces
7. Full religious liberty shall be guaranteed to all communities
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 8. No bill or resolution shall be passed in any legislature if three-fourths of the members
of any community in that body oppose the bill
9. Separation of Sindh from Bombay
10. Reforms should be introduced in the NWFP and Balochistan on the same footings as
in the other provinces
11. Muslims should be given an adequate share in all services, having due regard to the
requirement of e ciency
12. The Constitution should embody adequate safeguards for the protection of Muslim culture,
education, language, religion and personal laws, as well as for Muslim charitable institutions
13. One-third representation shall be given to Muslims in both central and provincial
cabinets
14. No change will be made in the constitution without the consent of the provinces

• The amendments as proposed by Jinnah were not accepted by the Congress. So

Jinnah refused to participate further. Further, the League leaders motivated Jinnah to revive
the Muslim League and give it direction. As a result, these points became the demands of
the Muslims and greatly in uenced the Muslims’ thinking for the next two decades till
the establishment of Pakistan in 1947

Lahore Session, 1929

• The Indian National Congress, on 19 December 1929, passed the historic ‘Purna
Swaraj’ – (total independence) resolution – at its Lahore session.
• A public declaration was made on 26 January 1930 – a day which the Congress Party
urged Indians to celebrate as ‘Independence Day’.
• The declaration was passed due to the breakdown of negotiations between leaders of the
freedom movement and the British over the question of dominion status for India
• In 1929, Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy of India, made a vaguely announced – referred to
as the Irwin Declaration – that India would be granted dominion status in the future
◦ The Irwin Declaration triggered a backlash in England: politicians and the general
public were not in favour of India obtaining dominion status
◦ Under pressure, Lord Irwin, at a meeting with Jinnah, Nehru, Gandhi and Sapru, told
Indian leaders that he could not promise dominion status anytime soon.
◦ It was at this time the Lahore session of the Congress was held

Lahore Congress Session 1929

Jawaharlal Nehru was chosen as the President

• The Round Table Conference was to be boycotted

• Complete independence was declared as the aim of the Congress
• Congress Working Committee was authorised to launch a programme of civil
disobedience including non-payment of taxes and all members of legislatures were asked to
resign their seats
◦ January 26, 1930 was xed as the rst Independence (Swarajya) Day, to be
celebrated everywhere
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 • At midnight on New Year’s Eve, President Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the tricolour ag
of India upon the banks of the Ravi in Lahore

Civil Disobedience Movement (1930 -1931)

The Civil Disobedience Movement in India was a time when people decided not to follow
some rules made by the government, on purpose and without causing any harm. They did
this to show they were not happy with those rules.

The Civil Disobedience Movement in India began with the historic Dandi March, also known
as the Salt Satyagraha, in March 1930. This was Gandhi's direct action campaign against the
British salt tax, which he considered exploitative and oppressive.

Causes of the Civil Disobedience Movement

Exploring the causes of the Civil Disobedience Movement allows us to comprehend the discontent
brewing amongst the Indian population. Some of the key factors that sparked this movement
include:

• Salt Tax: The British salt tax was a severe burden on the Indian population, particularly the poor.
The British monopoly over the production and sale of salt was seen as a stark example of
their exploitative economic policies.

• Simon Commission: The commission, sent to India in 1928 to recommend constitutional

reforms, was boycotted and widely criticized by Indians for its all-British composition.

• Demand for Purna Swaraj: The Indian National Congress's declaration of Purna Swaraj, or total
self-rule, on 26th January 1930, was a critical precursor to the Civil Disobedience Movement.

• Repression by British Government: The harsh and repressive measures taken by the
British government, including the Rowlatt Act, further fuelled the Indian populace's anger and
frustration.

Impact of the Civil Disobedience Movement

• Within India: The movement succeeded in mobilising a broad base of the Indian
population. It sparked unity and fostered a spirit of nationalism among Indians. Furthermore, the
movement disrupted the British government's functioning by widespread boycotts of British
goods and institutions.
• Globally: The peaceful and non-violent nature of the Civil Disobedience Movement drew
global attention to India's freedom struggle, causing international pressure on the British
government. It inspired various civil rights movements worldwide, including the American Civil
Rights Movement.
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 • The important demands were:
◦ The rupee-Sterling ratio should be reduced
◦ Land revenue should be reduced by half and made a subject of legislative
control
◦ Salt tax should be abolished and also the government salt monopoly
◦ Salaries of the highest grade services should be reduced by half
◦ Military expenditure should be reduced by 50% to begin with
◦ Protection for Indian textiles and coastal shipping
◦ All Political prisoners should be discharged

Dandi March

• Gandhi took the decision to start the movement. On 12 March 1930 Gandhi started the
Historic Salt March from his Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi beach accompanied by his 78
selected followers.
• There Gandhi and his followers broke the law by manufacturing salt from the sea. The
Programme of the movement was as follows:
1. Salt law should be violated everywhere.
2. Students should leave colleges and government servants should resign from service.
3. Foreign clothes should be burnt.
4. No taxes should be paid to the government.
5. Women should stage a Dharna at liquor shops, etc.
• Thus, the historic march, marking the launch of the Civil Disobedience Movement, began on
March 12, and Gandhi broke the salt law by picking up a lump of salt at Dandi on April 6

Spread of Movement

• Tamil Nadu
◦ In April 1930, C. Rajagopalachari organised a march from Thiruchirapalli to
Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore (or Thanjavur) coast to break the salt law.
◦ The event was followed by widespread picketing of foreign cloth shops and anti-
liquor campaign
• Malabar
◦ Kelappan, a Nair Congress leader famed for the Vaikom Satyagraha, organised
salt marches
• Andhra Region
◦ District salt marches were organise in east and west Godavari, Krishna and
Guntur. A number of sibirams (military style camps) were set up to serve as the
headquarters of the Salt Satyagraha.
• Bengal
◦ Bengal provided the largest number of arrests as well as the highest amount of
violence.
◦ Midnapur, Arambagh and several rural pockets witnessed powerful movements
developed around salt satyagraha and chaukidari tax.
 ◦ During the same period, Surya Sen’s Chittagong revolt group carried out a raid on
two armouries and declared the establishment of a provisional government
• Bihar
◦ Champaran and Saran were the rst two districts to start salt satyagraha
◦ However, very soon, a very powerful non-chaukidari tax agitation replaced the salt
satyagraha (owing to physical constraints in making salt)
• Peshawar
◦ Here, Khan Abdul Ga ar Khan’s educational and social reform work among the
Pathans had politicised them. Ga ar Khan, also called Badshah Khan and Frontier
Gandhi, had started the rst Pushto political monthly Pukhtoon and had organised a
volunteer brigade ‘Khudai Khidmatgars’, popularly known as the ‘Red-Shirts’, who
were pledged to the freedom struggle and non-violence
• Dharasana
◦ On May 21, 1930, Sarojini Naidu, Imam Sahib and Manilal (Gandhi’s son) took up
the un nished task of leading a raid on the Dharasana Salt Works.
◦ The unarmed and peaceful crowd was met with a brutal lathicharge
• United Provinces
◦ A no-revenue campaign was organised; a call was given to zamindars to refuse to
pay revenue to the government. Under a no-rent campaign, a call was given to
tenants against zamindars

When almost all leading Congress leaders were put behind bars, this was probably the context for
Gandhi’s rather sudden retreat. He initiated a talk with Irwin on 14 February 1931, which
culminated in the Delhi Pact of 5 March 1931. The pact is popularly called Gandhi-Irwin
pact.

First Round Table Conference, 1930

• The Round Table Conferences (RTC) of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences
organised by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss
constitutional reforms in India.

• The conference resulted from a review of the Government of India Act of 1919, undertaken
in 1927 by the Simon Commission, whose report was published in 1930

• The conferences were based on the recommendation of Muhammad Ali Jinnah to Lord
Irwin, the then Viceroy of India and James Ramsay MacDonald, the then British Prime
Minister, and the Simon Commission report.

• It was for the rst time that the Indians and the British were meeting as ‘equals’. The
rst conference started on November 12th, 1930

• Ramsay MacDonald presided over the rst Round Table Conference

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 • The Indian National Congress decided not to participate in the conference. Many of the
INC leaders were imprisoned due to their involvement in the civil disobedience
movement.

Issues discussed in the First Round Table Conference

• Dr B R Ambedkar demanded separate electorates for the ‘untouchables’.

• Federal structure
• Provincial constitution
• Provinces of Sindh and NWFP
• Minorities
• Defence services
• Franchise
• Executive responsibility to the legislature
• Tej Bahadur Sapru moved the idea of an All-India Federation. This was supported by
the Muslim League. The princely states also supported this on the condition that their
internal sovereignty is maintained.

Outcome

• Nothing much was achieved at the conference.

• It was generally agreed that India was to develop into a federation, there were to be
safeguards regarding defence and nance, while other departments were to be transferred
◦ But, little was done to implement these recommendations and civil disobedience
continued in India
◦ As a result, the First Round Table Conference was deemed a failure
• Its principal achievement was an insistence on parliamentarianism—an acceptance by all,
including the princes, of the federal principle—and on dominion status as the goal of
constitutional development
• Eventually, the British government realised that the participation of the Indian National
Congress was necessary in any discussion on the future of constitutional government
in India

Gandhi-Irwin Pact, 1931

• Gandhi-Irwin Pact, was an agreement signed on March 5, 1931, between Mohandas K.

Gandhi, leader of the Indian nationalist movement, and Lord Irwin, British viceroy
(1926–31) of India
• It marked the end of a period of civil disobedience (satyagraha) in India against British
rule that Gandhi and his followers had initiated with the Salt March (March–April 1930)

• Before the pact, Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, had announced in October 1929 a vague o er of
‘dominion status‘ for British-occupied India in an unspeci ed future and a Round Table
Conference to discuss a future constitution
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 • Gandhiji was released from custody in January 1931, and the two men began
negotiating the terms of the pact

• Gandhiji was authorised by the then President of the Congress, Sardar Vallabh Bhai
Patel and Congress Working Committee (CWC), to negotiate with Lord Irwin

• Also, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, also known as the Delhi Pact, equalised Congress and the
government and was to lay the groundwork for the Round Table Conference to be held
in England

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact

• Irwin on behalf of the government agreed on:

- immediate release of all political prisoners not convicted of violence
- remission of all nes not yet collected
- return of all lands not yet sold to third parties
- lenient treatment to those government servants who had resigned;
- right to make salt in coastal villages for personal consumption (not for sale);
- right to peaceful and non-aggressive picketing; and
- withdrawal of emergency ordinances

• The viceroy, however, turned down two of Gandhi’s demands:

◦ public inquiry into police excesses, and
◦ Commutation of Bhagat Singh and his comrades’ death sentence to life
sentence.

Karachi session,1931

• The Karachi Congress Session in 1931, was held following the Gandhi–Irwin Pact and
in the immediate aftermath of Bhagat Singh’s execution

• As a result, throughout Gandhi’s route to Karachi, he was greeted with black ag

demonstrations by the Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha, in protest against his failure to
secure commutation of the death sentence for Bhagat and his comrades.

Two resolutions were adopted

The Resolution on Fundamental Rights guaranteed:

◦ free speech and free press

◦ right to form associations
◦ right to assemble
◦ universal adult franchise
◦ equal legal rights irrespective of caste, creed and sex
◦ neutrality of state in religious matters
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 ◦ free and compulsory primary education
◦ protection to culture, language, script of minorities and linguistic groups

• The Resolution on National Economic Programme included:

◦ substantial reduction in rent and revenue in the case of landholders and

peasants
◦ exemption from rent for uneconomic holdings
◦ relief from agricultural indebtedness
◦ control of usury
◦ better conditions of work including a living wage, limited hours of work and
protection of women workers in the industrial sector
◦ right to workers and peasants to form unions
◦ state ownership and control of key industries, mines and means of transport

Signi cance of Karachi Session

• The socio-economic provision in the Karachi Resolution went on to in uence the

Constituent Assembly in drawing up Part IV of the Indian Constitution – the Directive
Principles of State Policy

• The Karachi Congress met at a time when Gandhi called a ‘truce’ with the British
government to negotiate a pact with the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, in February 1931.
◦ The primary agenda for the Karachi Congress was to ratify the Gandhi-Irwin
Pact, which was greatly criticised by nationalists for its compromising nature

• The in uence of this resolution can also be found in the formation and
recommendation of National Planning committee headed by Subhash Chandra Bose
(1938)

Outcome of Second RTC

• The lack of agreement among the many delegate groups meant that no substantial
results regarding India’s constitutional future would come out of the conference
• The session ended with MacDonald’s announcement of:
◦ two Muslim majority provinces—North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and
Sindh;
◦ the setting up of an Indian Consultative Committee;
◦ setting up of three expert committees— nance, franchise and states; and
◦ the prospect of a unilateral British Communal Award if Indians failed to agree
• Further, the government refused to concede the basic Indian demand of freedom
Second Phase of Civil Disobedience Movement

The Truce Months, March-December 1931

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 • Around September-October 1930, Civil Disobedience movement entered a second, more
contradictory phase, as:
◦ Pressures were mounting as the Depression began having major impact
◦ Incidents of poor peasant and tribal militancy and violence multiplied in many areas
◦ O cial reports began speaking of a marked decline of enthusiasm and support
among urban traders, many of whom started breaking earlier pledges not to sell
imported goods
◦ Almost all leading Congress leaders were put behind bars
• With the signing of Gandhi-Irwin pact in 1931, the Congress withdrew the Civil
Disobedience Movement immediately
• Also, Gandhi agreed to attend the second Round Table Conference, more or less on British
terms, in sharp contrast to his stand until the end of January 1931
• Even Gandhiji’s request for remitting the death sentence on Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and
Rajguru was turned down by the Viceroy, and they were executed on 23rd March 1931
• Thus, Civil Disobedience had died a sudden death, ending “not with a bang but a whimper”,
according to Nehru
• On the other hand, the impact of the Pact and Truce months was not entirely negative, as:
◦ The British, after all, had to negotiate with Gandhi on terms of equality and courtesy
for the rst time, and this was something deeply resented by many die-hard o cials
• The released Congressmen seem to have gone back to their villages and towns with
undiminished con dence, almost as victors
• The Congress at this time was in fact was seeking to establish itself as the alternative, more
legitimate centre of authority, starting arbitration courts to settle local disputes, and trying to
mediate con icts

1932-34: Civil Disobedience Again

• Changed Government Attitude After Second RTC

◦ The higher British o cials had drawn their own lessons from the Delhi Pact which
they thought had raised the political prestige of the Congress and the political morale
of the people and had undermined British prestige.
◦ There were three main considerations in British policy:
▪ Gandhi would not be permitted to build up the tempo for a mass movement
again.
▪ Goodwill of the Congress was not required, but the con dence of those who
supported the British against the Congress, government functionaries,
loyalists, etc. was very essential.
▪ The national movement would not be allowed to consolidate itself in rural
areas
◦ At this time, the Congress Working Committee decided to resume the Civil
Disobedience Movement
◦ As a consequence, on January 4, 1932, Gandhi was arrested
• Government Action
◦ A series of repressive ordinances were issued which ushered in a virtual martial law,
though under civilian control, or a ‘Civil Martial Law’, under which
▪ Congress organisations at all levels were banned
▪ arrests were made of activists, leaders, sympathisers;
▪ properties were con scated
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 ▪ Gandhi ashrams were occupied
• Response of Indians
◦ People responded with anger. Though unprepared, the response was massive. In the
rst four months alone, about 80,000 satyagrahis, mostly urban and rural poor, were
jailed
◦ As a result, Gandhi decided to withdraw the Civil Disobedience movement in April
1934
• Notable gains made during this phase
◦ As the mass movement gradually declined in face of ruthless repression, political
‘realism’ combined with economic calculation of certain sections of Indians pushed
Indian big business towards collaboration with the British
◦ Bombay Millowners concluded the Lees-Mody Pact in October 1933, aligning with
Lancashire out of fear of Japanese competition

Aftermath of Civil Disobedience Movement

• The British Government’s sense of Illusionary Victory was quickly, swept when the Congress
captured the polls in most provinces in 1937
• The Congress had been defeated by superior brute force, but its mass prestige was
high as ever
• On the whole, after the end of Civil Disobedience Movement, though crucial political
controls within the national movement remained elsewhere, much of the Congress language
and rhetoric, and some actual policies, did have to take a Leftward direction as a
consequence of the growing assertiveness of these sections of Indian society.

Third Round Table Conference, 1932

• The third Round Table Conference, held between November 17, 1932 and December
24, 1932, was not attended by the Indian National Congress and Gandhi.
• Also, It was ignored by most other Indian leaders
• Further, it proved fruitless as most of the national leaders were in prison.
◦ But, the discussions led to the passing of the Government of India Act, 1935.
• Following the publication of Communal Award, the third Session, or “the Pocket”
R.T.C. met in London to discuss a xed agenda in private
• Also, On the failure of the second Round Table Conference, the Congress Working
Committee decided on December 29, 1931 to resume the civil disobedience movement

Communal Award

• The communal Award (also known as MacDonald Award) was created by the British
prime minister Ramsay MacDonald on 16 August 1932; and was announced after
the Round Table Conference (1930–32)
• This was Britain’s unilateral attempt to resolve the various con icts among India’s
many communal interests
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 • The Communal Award, based on the ndings of the Indian Franchise Committee (also
called the Lothian Committee), established separate electorates and reserved seats
for minorities, including the depressed classes which were granted seventy-eight reserved
seats

Main Provisions of the Communal Award

• Muslims, Europeans, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo- Indians, depressed classes,

women, and even the Marathas were to get separate electorates. Such an arrangement
for the depressed classes was to be made for a period of 20 years.
• In the provincial legislatures, the seats were to be distributed on communal basis.
• The existing seats of the provincial legislatures were to be doubled.
• The Muslims, wherever they were in minority, were to be granted a weightage.
• Except in the North West Frontier Province, 3 per cent seats were to be reserved for women
in all provinces.
• The depressed classes to be declared/accorded the status of minority
• The depressed classes were to get ‘double vote’, one to be used through separate
electorates and the other to be used in the general electorates
• Allocation of seats were to be made for labourers, landlords, traders and industrialists.
• In the province of Bombay, 7 seats were to be allocated for the Marathas.

Response of Indians - congress and Gandhi disagreed, Ambedkar supported the communal
award.

Thus, on the whole, the Communal Award was nothing but ‘a sign of determination [of the
British Government] to warp the Indian question towards electoral politics’

Poona Pact, 1932

• Poona Pact, (September 24, 1932) was an agreement between Hindu leaders in India
granting new rights to Dalits, which resulted in the reservation of electoral seats for
the depressed classes in the legislature of British India in 1932
• The pact, signed at Poona, resulted from the Communal Award of August 4, 1932, a
proposal by the British government which would allot seats in the various legislatures of
India to the di erent communities in an e ort to resolve the various tensions between
communal interests
• It was signed by Ambedkar on behalf of the depressed classes and by Madan Mohan
Malviya on behalf of Hindus and Gandhi, as a means to end the fast that Gandhi was
undertaking in jail

Terms of Poona Pact

• There shall be electoral seats reserved for the Depressed Classes out of general
electorate
• Election to these seats shall be by joint electorates subject to following procedure:
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 ◦ Where, all members of the Depressed Classes registered in the general electoral roll
of a constituency were to form an electoral college, which would elect a panel of four
candidates, belonging to the Depressed Classes for each of such reserved seats by
the method of the single vote, and four persons getting the highest number of votes
in such primary elections shall be the candidates for election by the general
electorate
• The representation of the Depressed Classes in the Central Legislature shall likewise be on
the principle of joint electorates
◦ In the Central Legislature, 18% of the seats allotted to the general electorate
for British India in the said legislature shall be reserved for the Depressed
Classes
• The seats reserved for the depressed classes were increased from 71 to 147 in
provincial legislatures

• In every province out of the educational grant, an adequate sum shall be earmarked for
providing educational facilities to the members of Depressed Classes.

Signi cance of the Poona Pact

• The Poona Pact was an emphatic acceptance by upper-class Hindus that the depressed
classes constituted the most discriminated sections of Hindu society.
◦ It was also conceded that something concrete had to be done to give them a
political voice as well as a leg-up to lift them from a backwardness they could not
otherwise overcome
• The concessions agreed to in the Poona Pact were precursors to the world’s largest
a rmative programme launched much later in independent India.
◦ A slew of measures were initiated later to uplift Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes, post-independence
• It sealed Ambedkar as the o cial leader of depressed classes across India
◦ He made the entire country, and not just the Congress Party, morally
responsible for the uplift of the depressed classes
◦ Most of all he succeeded in making the depressed classes a formidable
political force for the rst time in history

Government of India Act, 1935

• The Act was based on the facts and considerations of several experiences and
outcomes which, inter alia, include
◦ the Simon Commission Report
◦ the recommendations of the Round Table Conferences
◦ the White Paper published by the British government in 1933 (based on the
Third Round Table Conference
◦ the Report of the Joint Select Committees
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Salient Features of the Government of India Act, 1935

• All India Federation

◦ It provided for the establishment of an All India Federation consisting of provinces
and princely states as units.
◦ The Act divided the powers between the Centre and units in terms of three lists,
Federal List (for Centre containing 59 items), Provincial List (for provinces
containing 54 items) and the Concurrent List (for both containing 36 items).
• Residuary powers were given to the Viceroy.
• However, the federation never came into being as the princely states did not join it. But this
has formed the basis of Schedule VII of the Constitution of India, 1950.

• Provincial Autonomy
◦ It abolished diarchy in the provinces and introduced ‘provincial autonomy’ in its
place.

• Bicameralism
◦ The Act introduced bicameralism in six out of eleven provinces.
◦ The term of the assembly was ve years but it could be dissolved earlier also.

• Diarchy at the Centre

◦ The Act of 1935 abolished diarchy at the Provincial level and introduced it at the
Centre.
• Consequently, the federal subjects were divided into reserved subjects and transferred
subjects
◦ Religious a airs, defence, administration of tribal areas and external a airs
were included in the reserved subjects.
• The Transferred subjects were to be administered on the advice of ministers and the number
of ministers could not exceed ten.
• Communal/Class Representation
◦ The Act further extended the principle of communal representation by providing
separate electorates for depressed classes (scheduled castes), women and
labourers (workers).
◦ Further, under the Act the Muslims got 33 percent (1/3 of the seats) in the
Federal Legislature
• Other features
• It abolished the Council of India, established by the Government of India Act of 1858.
The secretary of state for India was provided with a team of advisors.
• It provided for the establishment of a Reserve Bank of India to control the regulation of
currency and credits of the country.
• The franchise (voting rights) was extended further from 3% to 14% of the total
population.
• It provided for the establishment of not only a Federal Public Service Commission,
Provincial Public Service Commission and Joint Public Service Commission for two or
more provinces.
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 • It provided for the establishment of a Federal Court, set up in 1937, which continued to
function till the establishment of the Supreme Court of India after the attainment of
independence (1950).
• This Act gave the authority and command of the railways in India in the hands of a newly
established authority called “Federal Railway” consisting of seven members who were
free from the control of councillors and ministers. The authority directly reported to the
Governor-General of India
• The Act also paved the way for reorganisation of certain parts including the Sindh being
carved out of Bombay Presidency, split of Bihar and Orissa and the severance of Burma
from India.

• Signi cance of the Act

• The Government of India Act of 1935 marked the second milestone towards a completely
responsible government in India after the Act of 1919.
• The Act of 1935 served some useful purposes by the experiment of provincial autonomy,
thus we can say that the Government of India Act 1935 marks a point of no return in the
history of constitutional development in India.
• The Government of India Act 1935 curtailed the powers concentrated in the hands of the
Central Government and distributed it by ensuring that a decentralised form of government
takes shape in India
• Separate electorates for women, although they had not asked for it, was quite good for the
advancement of women in the decision making process
• This Act was the rst attempt to give the provinces an autonomous status by freeing them
from external interference
• The Act also holds great importance in the Indian history because it eventually culminated in
the fact of the Dominion Status which urged the need for Independence again in the minds
of the people

Criticism of the Act

• As a result, the 1935 Act was condemned by nearly all sections and unanimously rejected
by the Congress
◦ The Congress demanded, instead, the convening of a Constituent Assembly elected
on the basis of adult franchise to frame a constitution for independent India
• Further, Nehru called it “a machine with strong brakes but no engine”. He also called it
a “Charter of Slavery”

Provincial Elections and Formation of popular Ministries in Provinces, 1937

• Provincial elections were held in British India in the winter of 1936-37 as mandated by
the Government of India Act 1935.
• Elections were held in eleven provinces – Madras, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa,
United Provinces, Bombay Presidency, Assam, NWFP, Bengal, Punj
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 • The delay had disproved the election time propaganda against the Congress that they were
o ce hungry and would jump at the rst opportunity to form ministries. I’m
• Governors would think several times before intervening in the work of ministers.

Many opportunists joined the Congress during this period in order to seek advantages of
o ce

◦ In many regions, a drive was made to free the Congress from such elements
• Then came in the issue at the Tripuri Session of the Congress in 1939
◦ Bose winning the presidential post of Congress, was regarded as a victory of the Left
wing
◦ Even Gandhi regarded this defeat as his own defeat
◦ Further, there were problems in the formation of the Working Committee and
eventually Bose resigned from the Presidentship
• Further, the Congress Ministries resigned o ce in November, 1939 on the ground that the ”
Viceroy on its own had made India a participant in the imperialist was without consulting the
Congress”

Signi cance of the Congress Rule

• The contention that Indian self-government was necessary for radical social
transformation got con rmed.
• Congressmen demonstrated that a movement could use state power to further its
ends without being co-opted.
• The ministries were able to control communal riots.
• The morale of the bureaucracy came down.
• Council work helped neutralise many erstwhile hostile elements (landlords, etc).
• People were able to perceive the shape of things to come if independence was won.
• Administrative work by Indians further weakened the myth that Indians were not t to
rule
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