SIMON COMMISSION,

NEHRU REPORT, JINNAHS

14 POINTS, RTC’s
LECTURE 4
PAKISTAN STUDIES
 SIMON COMMISSION
• The British government appointed a Commission under Sir John
Simon to report the constitutional progress for India in Feb 1928.
• Since the Commission had no Indian member, the Congress and the
section of Muslim League under Quaid-i-Azam decided to boycott the
Commission.
• The people received the Commission with the slogan “Simon go back,
Simon go back”
 SIMON COMMISSION
• In spite of the non-cooperation by the people the Commission did its
work and prepared a report for constitutional reforms in India.
• A scheme of constitutional reforms on the basis of the Simon
Commission recommendations was prepared by the government.
• The report stated that diarchy should be abolished and suggested that
federation system with greater involvement of Indians should be
introduced in India
• Separate electorate should remain
• The Congress and the Muslim League both refused to accept the
recommendations of the Simon Commission.
 NEHRU REPORT
• An All Parties Conference at Delhi in February 1928.
• To draft constitutional reforms in India.
• The conference failed to reach a conclusion on the issue of the rights of
minorities.
• It was during the third session that a seven members committee under
the chairmanship of Nehru determined the basic features of the future
constitution of India and came with a report known as the Nehru
Report.
 NEHRU REPORT
• The Nehru report consisted of the following points:
• Dominion Status (India would become independent, but remain member of
Commonwealth accpeting British monarchs as Head of state)
• Separate electorate should be replaced by joint electorate. No reserved seats
for Muslims
• Full voting rights should be given.
 NEHRU REPORT
• An All Parties Conference held in December 1928 in Calcutta, Quaid-i-
Azam issued the following points as amendments to the report:
• There should be no less than one-third Muslim representation in the Central
Legislature.
• Punjab and Bengal should have seats reserved for the Muslims on population
basis.
• Sindh should be a separate province.
• Jinnah’s proposals were rejected when put to vote in All Parties
Conference
 FOURTEEN POINTS OF QUAID-I-
AZAM
• Jinnah presented his proposal in the form of Fourteen Points in Delhi
in 1929: 
• 1) Federation System
• 2) Provincial Autonomy
• 3) Separate Electorate
• 4) Minority representation in province
• 5) 1/3rd seats in Legislature
• 6) 1/3rd seats in Cabinet
• 7) Territorial changes in Bengal and Punjab shouldn’t affect Muslim majority
 FOURTEEN POINTS OF QUAID-I-
AZAM
• 8) Religious Freedom
• 9) 3/4th consent for Law enforcement
• 10) Sindh separation from Bombay.
• 11) NWFP and Baluchistan should be made separate provinces
• 12) Muslim Representation in government
• 13) Muslim rights and culture should be safeguarded
• 14) Provincial Consent for Constitutional Amendment
 FOURTEEN POINTS OF QUAID-I-
AZAM
• The reasonable demands of the 14 points were rejected by the
Hindus.
• With this the divide among Muslims British and Hindus grew deep.
• At a meeting of All India Muslim League at Allahabad in 1930 its was
highlighted that possibility of peace would be impossible between
Hindus and Muslims unless they were given a separate nation.
 FIRST ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE
Nov 1930-Jan 1931
• The first session of the RTC began in London on 12th November 1930.
• All parties were represented except the Congress (Hindus, Muslims,
Sikhs, Christians).
• The most important decision taken at the conference was the approval of
a federal system for India.
• They also agreed on giving Sindh a separate identity and for establishing
a responsible government in the province.
• The deliberations of the minorities could not reach a conclusion.
 GHANDI – IRWIN PACT
• Lord Irwin, the Viceroy invited Ghandi to discuss the future of the
subcontinent.
• Under this the Congress would discontinue the Civil Disobedience and
participate in the second RTC.
• The British government on their part would withdraw all acts relating
to offences not involving violence and would release all persons jailed
due to the Civil Disobedience.
 SECOND ROUND TABLE
CONFERENCE
Sep 1931-Dec 1931
• Ghandi was the sole representative of the Congress.
• When the minorities issue came up, Ghandi refused to accept any
rights of the minorities.
• Ghandi put forward his own scheme that minorities issues should be
resolved based on Nehru Report.
• The Second RTC thus ended without reaching any conclusion.
• On his way back to India, Ghandi resumed the Civil Disobedience
Movement.
THIRD ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE
• The third RTC began on November 24th, 1932.
• The Congress was absent as Ghandi had started the Civil
Disobedience movement and Quaid-i-Azam did not take part in the
conference.
• Like the two first conferences, little was achieved.
• A white paper came out of the conference and was published in
March 1933 that became the basis for a reform constitution.
• Parliament voted it into law two years later as the Government of
India Act 1935.
 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, 1935
• The Government of India Act 1935 consisted of two parts: One part
was provincial and the other part was federal.
• The following were the salient features of the Act:
• The provinces were given more power and authority.
• The country was divided into 11 provinces.
• Every province was given a minister whose advise was binding on the
Governor.
• Special powers were given to Governors.
• Abolished Dyarchy system
• Established Federal Reserve Bank of India and Federal Court of India
 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, 1935
• The Act of 1935 failed to win appreciation from various sectors.
• Both the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress expressed their
dissatisfaction over the Act.
• There was no guarantee of individual liberties - People were not given their
rights.
• All authority was vested in the Parliament which was under British influence.
• Authority was given to Governors which was against the rule of democracy.
• The central part of the Act could not be enforced and was suspended for
some time. However the provincial part was enforced on 1st April 1937
under which the elections of the country were to be held.
Assignment 4
Q1) RTC’s could achieve anything in particular due to the rigid behavior
of Gandhi. Explain

Q2) Why did Jinnah introduce his 14 points.

Q3) Discuss the events that led to the end of Hindu-Muslim unity.
1937 elections and Congress rule
• Both the Congress and the Muslim League were critical of the Government of
India Act, 1935, but decided to participate in the elections, which were held
during the first weeks of 1937. After the elections, Congress was able to form
ministries in eight out of eleven provinces
• ML was not successful in the elections but these election bought benefits to
them
1. First election ML had fought and it helped in unifying the party
2. ML learned how to contest elections and realized that it had to improve its
organization and planning
3. They understood that ML support was more in Muslim minority areas. Because
in Muslim majority areas they don’t feel threatened by hindu domination
Congress Rule
• Bande Matram
• Wardha Scheme
• Hindu rule: Muslims were forbidden to eat beef and were punished
for slaughtering cows. Azaan was forbidden and mosques were
attacked
Pakistan Resolution
• Allama Iqbal and Chaudri Rehmat ali were supporting the views of sir
Syed Ahmed Khan for Muslims to have their separate home land
• Quaid-i-Azam after congress rule realized that British would soon be
forced to leave India, it convinced him that it was time to consider
establishing a Muslim state
• At annual session of the Muslim league a resolution was put forward by
Maulvi Fazl-ul-Haq
• The resolution was passed unanimously and it was known as the
Lahore resolution
• Later on it was known as the Pakistan resolution
Cripps Mission
• British faced major set back in second world war, therefore they realized that they
need to have better understanding with Indians
• Sir Stafford Cripps was sent to see if compromise could be reached
• Cripps proposed that
• Indian union would be set up with dominion status
• Constituent Assembly would frame a new constitution
• Elections for constituent assembly would be held after the war
• ML rejected the proposal as it contained no reference to the establishment of Pakistan
• Congress rejected it because they demanded full autonomy. They didn’t want to wait
until the war was over and they were not sure to trust British for fulfilling their
promise
Cabinet Mission
• Cabinet mission plan was a final attempt by British government to
keep the federation . The long term plan was final give independence;
but till then a short term plan was that an interim government would
be constituted
• ML accepted the plan and agreed to join the interim government
• Congress also accepted it but said that plan wouldn’t hold once
British would leave India , and no future government would be bound
by it
• ML was alarmed by the Congress’ intentions.
 Indian Independence Act July 1947
In February 1947 it was announced that British would leave India no later than
June 1948 and for that a plan was announced on June 3rd 1947
To give legal shape to the June 3 Plan, the Indian Independence Act was
introduced (July 1947).
1. Two independent dominion states should be set on August 15, 1947
Their legislatures will have all powers to make laws for the respective states.
2. Government of India Act, 1935, to be interim constitution subject to changes
due to Indian Independence Act 1947.
3. Governor Generals can amend the Interim Constitution until March 31, 1948.
4. All arrangements between the British and the Princely states to come to an
end and they will have new arrangements with the new states.
5. British King will no longer use the title of the King of India