Spectrum Test: Simon Commission & the Nehru Report - UPSC MCQ

• Those who decided to support the Congress call of a boycott of the Simon Commission included the liberals of the Hindu Mahasabha and the majority faction of the Muslim League under Jinnah. 

• The Muslim league had two sessions in 1927 - one under Jinnah at Calcutta where it was decided to oppose the Simon Commission, and another at Lahore under Muhammad Shafi, who supported the government. 

• Some others, such as the Unionists in Punjab and the Justice Party in the south, decided not to boycott the commission.

• The Indian response to the Simon Commission was immediate and nearly unanimous. 

•  

  What angered the Indians most was the exclusion of Indians from the commission and the basic notion behind the exclusion that foreigners would discuss and decide upon India's self-government fitness. 

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  This notion was seen as a violation of the principle of self-determination, and as a deliberate insult to the self-respect of Indians.

The correct answer is 1927

Key Points

• At its Madras Session in 1927, presided over by Dr. Ansari (not by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad), the Indian National Congress decided to boycott the Simon Commission. 
• The Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha decided to support the Congress decision.
• Also, an Adoption of a resolution on Purna Swaraj took place in this session.

• The correct answer is option D: All of them.

  The Nehru Report, prepared by a committee headed by Motilal Nehru in 1928, presented a comprehensive plan for India's future constitutional development. Its recommendations included:

• Dominion status for India, with the freedom to determine its own political destiny within the British Empire.

• The rejection of separate electorates, which had been introduced by the British to give reserved seats to Muslims and other minorities.

Therefore, all three statements are correct.

Key Points 

• The Hindu Mahasabha was vehemently opposed to the proposals for creating new Muslim-majority provinces and reservation of seats for Muslims majorities in Punjab and Bengal (which would ensure Muslim control over legislatures in both). 

• It also demanded a strictly unitary structure—this attitude of the Hindu Mahasabha complicated matters. 

• Compromises: In the deliberations of the All Parties Conference, the Muslim League dissociated itself and stuck its demand for reservation of seats for Muslims, especially in the central legislature and in Muslim majority provinces. 

• Thus, Motilal Nehru and other leaders drafting the report found themselves in a dilemma: if the demands of the Muslim communal opinion were accepted, the Hindu communalists would withdraw their support, if the latter were satisfied, the Muslim leaders would get estranged. 

• The concessions made in the Nehru Report to Hindu communalists included the following: Joint electorates proposed everywhere but reservation for Muslims only where in the minority; Sindh to be detached from Bombay only after dominion status was granted and subject to the weightage given to Hindu minority in Sindh; Political structure proposed broadly unitary, as residual powers rested with the centre.

Hence , the correct option is 'B'. 

Key Points

• In December, 1927 a large number of Muslim leaders had met at Delhi at the Muslim League session and evolved four proposals for Muslim demands to be incorporated in the draft Constitution.
• These proposals which were accepted by the Madras session of the Congress, 1927 came to be known as 'Delhi Proposals'.
• These were:
  • Joint electorate in place of separate electorates with reserved seats for muslims.
  • Representation to muslims in Bengal and Punjab in proportion to thier population.
  • Formation of three Muslim majority provinces- Sindh, Baluchistan, North-West Frontier province.
  • One third represtation to Muslims in Central legislative assembly.

Hence, the correct option is 'A'.

At the All Parties Conference held at Calcutta in December 1928, Mohammad Ali Jinnah proposed three amendments to the Nehru Report on behalf of the Muslim League. These amendments were:

1. One-third representation to Muslims in the Central legislature: This proposal was indeed made by Jinnah.
2. Reschedule powers to provinces: This was another proposal by Jinnah to ensure more autonomy for provinces.
3. Reservation to Muslims in Bengal and Punjab legislatures proportional to their population: This was also a proposal made by Jinnah.

Thus, all three statements about Jinnah's proposals are correct.

The correct option is:

       4.  All of them

• To answer Lord Birkenhead's challenge, an All-Parties Conference met in February 1928 and appointed a sub-committee under Motilal Nehru's chairmanship to draft a constitution. 

• This was the first major attempt by the Indians to draft a constitutional framework for the country. 

• The committee included Tej Bahadur Sapru, Subhash Bose, M.S. Aney, Mangal Singh, Ali Imam, Shuaib Qureshi and G.R. Pradhan members. The report was finalized by August 1928. 

• The Nehru Committee's recommendations were unanimous except in one respect—while the majority favoured the "dominion status" as the basis of the Constitution, a section of it wanted "complete independence" as the basis, with the majority section giving the latter section liberty of action.

1. Federal Constitution with residual powers to provinces. 

2. Provincial autonomy. 

3. No constitutional amendment by the centre without the concurrence of the states constituting the Indian federation. 

4. All legislatures and elected bodies to have adequate representation of Muslims in every province without reducing a majority of Muslims in a province to a minority or equality. 

5. Adequate representation to Muslims in the services and in self-governing bodies. 

6. One-third of Muslim representation in the central legislature. 

7. In any cabinet at the centre or in the provinces, one-third to be Muslims. 

8. Separate electorates. 

9. No bill or resolution in any legislature to be passed if three-fourths of a minority community consider such a bill or resolution to be against their interests. 

10. Any territorial redistribution not to affect the Muslim majority in Punjab, Bengal and NWFP. 11. Separation of Sindh from Bombay. 12. Constitutional reforms in the NWFP and Baluchistan. 

13. Full religious freedom to all communities. 

14. Protection of Muslim rights in religion, culture, education and language.

The correct answer is option B: 2 only.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The Simon Commission was not set up under Sir John Simon's prime ministership. He was appointed as the chairman of the commission, but he was not the prime minister at the time. The commission was set up by the British government under the leadership of Conservative Party Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in 1927.

Statement 1 is correct. The Simon Commission was an all-white, seven-member Indian Statutory Commission that was appointed to review the Government of India Act 1919 and suggest changes to the governance of India. It was popularly known as the Simon Commission after its chairman, Sir John Simon.

Therefore, the correct answer is option B: 2 only.