Short Notes From The Modern Indian History (Part 2) | History(Prelims) by UPSC Toppers PDF Download

NATIONAL MOVEMENT 1919-1939

CONTENTS

• POLICY OF CARROT AND STICK
• MONTAGU-CHELMSFORD REFORM AND GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, 1919
• THE ROWLATT ACT
• PHASE OF PASSIVE RESISTANCE OR SATYAGRAHA (1906-1914)
• CHAMPARAN SATYAGRAHA: 1ST CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
• AHMEDABAD MILL STRIKE : 1ST HUNGER STRIKE
• KHEDA SATYAGRAHA:1ST NON-COOPERATION
• JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE (APRIL 13,1919)
• KHILAFAT MOVEMENT
• NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT
• HUNTER COMMISSION
• LUCKNOW PACT
• CHAURI CHAURA INCIDENT
• IMPORTANT SESSION OF CONGRESS
• ALL INDIA TRADE UNION CONGRESS
• HINDUSTAN REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION
• CHITTAGONG GROUP
• WOMEN REVOLUTIONARIES & GROWTH OF COMMUNALISM
• WHHABI MOVEMENT IN INDIA
• SHUDDHI MOVEMENT
• HINDU MAHASABHA & RSS
• SHIMLA DEPUTATION
• ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE, COMMUNAL AWARD
• SIMON COMMISSION
• NEHRU REPORT
• CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT, DELHI PROPOSALS
• LAHORE SESSION OF INC-1929
• DANDI MARCH (SALT SATYAGRAHA)
• FIRST / SECOND / THIRD ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE
• GANDHI-IRWIN PACT
• NEHRU’S VISION, POONA PACT
• THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT 1935

Policy OF Carrot and Stick

• Here Carrot represented by the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
• And Stick represented by the Rowlatt Act

Montagu-Chelmsford Reform and Government of India Act, 1919:

In 1918, Edwin Montagu, the Secretary of State, and Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy, produced their scheme of constitutional reforms. These reforms, popularly known as Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, led to the enactment of Government of India Act of 1919 Silent features of the act are as follows:

• The Council of Secretary of State was to compromise 8-to-12 people, three of them Indian
• Dyrachy System was introduced as the provincial level. Under this system, Subjects of Administration were divided into two groups; 1. Reserved subjects and 2. Transferred subjects. Reserved subjects were under the direct control of Governors, while transferred subjects were under ministers responsible to the legislature.
• The Central Legislature was to consist of two houses: the Council of State or Up per House and the Legislative Assembly or Lowered House. Both the Houses had equal legislative powers.
• Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Christians and Europeans were also given the right to separate electorates.
• Provincial legislatures were to be unicameral.
• The legislature had virtually no control over the Governor Journal and is Executive Council
• The right to vote was severly restricted
• Part of the expenses of the office of the Secretary of State was to be met by the British government.

Government of India Act of 1919

• On August 20, 1917, the British Government declared, for the first time, that its objective was the gradual introduction of responsible government in India7. The Government of India Act of 1919 was thus enacted, which came into force in 1921. This Act is also known as Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (Montagu was the Secretary of State for India and Lord Chelmsford was the Viceroy of India).

Features of the Act

1. It relaxed the central control over the provinces by demarcating and separating the central and provincial subjects. The structure of government continued to be centralised and unitary.

2. It further divided the provincial subjects into two parts—transferred and reserved. The transferred subjects were to be administered by the governor with the aid of ministers responsible to the legislative Council. This dual scheme of governance was known as `dyarchy'—a term derived from the Greek word di-arche which means double rule. However, this experiment was largely unsuccessful.

3. It introduced, for the first time, bicameralism and direct elections in the country. Thus, the Indian Legislative Council was replaced by a bicameral legislature consisting of an Upper House (Council of State) and a Lower House (Legislative Assembly). The majority of members of both the Houses were chosen by direct election.

4. It required that the three of the six members of the Viceroy's executive Council (other than the commander-in-chief) were to be Indian.

5. It extended the principle of communal representation by providing separate electorates for Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans.

6. It granted franchise to a limited number of people on the basis of property, tax or education.

7. It created a new office of the High Commissioner for India in London and transferred to him some of the functions hitherto performed by the Secretary of State for India.

8. It provided for the establishment of a public service commission. Hence, a Central Public Service Commission was set up in 1926 for recruiting civil servants.

9. It separated, for the first time, provincial budgets from the Central budget and authorised the provincial legislatures to enact their budgets. 10. It provided for the appointment of a statutory commission to inquire into and report on its working after ten years of its coming into force

The Rowlatt Act

• Passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in 1919. The Indian members did not support the Act, but it was passed; nevertheless. The Act gave enormous powers to the government to repress political activities. It allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.
• On 6th April, 1919; Gandhiji launched a nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act. The call of strike on 6th April got huge response. People came out in support in various cities, shops were shut down and workers in railway workshops went on strike.
• The British administration decided to clamp down on the nationalists. Several local leaders were arrested. Mahatma Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi.

Indians in South Africa consisted of three categories—

• the indentured Inalan labour, mainly from had migrated to South Africa after 1890 to work on sugar plantations;
• the merchants—mostly Meman Muslims who had followed the labourers; and
• the ex-indentured labourers who had settled down witeir children in South Africa after the expiry of their contracts.

Phase of Passive Resistance or Satyagraha (1906-1914)

Satyagraha against Registration Certificates, Campaign against Restrictions on Indian Migration, Setting up of Tolstoy Farm, Campaign against Poll Tax and Invalidation of Indian Marriages

Champaran Satyagraha: 1st Civil Disobedience

• Gandhiji's first great experiment in Satyagraha came in 1917, in Champaran, in Bihar.
• European planters had involved the cultivators of Champaran in agreements that forced them to cultivate indigo on 3/20th of their holdings (known as the tinkathia system).
• Gandhiji had won his first battle of civil disobedience in India.

Ahmedabad Mill Strike : 1st Hunger Strike

• The next scene of Gandhiji's activity was in 1918 at Ahmedabad where an agitation had been going on between the labourers and the owners of a cotton textile mill for an increase of pay.
• The workers to go on strike and to demand 35% increase in wages.
• Gandhiji himself went on a "fast unto death" to strengthen the workers resolved to continue the strike.
• The strike was withdrawn and retrieval later awarded the 35% increase that the workers had demanded.
• Ambalal Sarabhai's sister, Anasuya Behn, was one of the main lieutenants of Gandhiji in this struggle in which her brother and Gandhiji's friend was one of the main advisories.

Kheda Satyagraha:1st Non-Cooperation

• In 1918, Gandhiji learned that the peasants of Kheda district in Gujarat were in extreme distress due to the failure of crops, and that their appeals for the remission of land revenue were being ignored by the government.
• As the crops were less than one fourth of the normal yield, the peasants were entitled under the revenue code to a total remission of the land revenue.
• Gandhiji organised Satyagraha and asked the cultivators not to pay land revenue till their demand for remission was met.
• The struggle was withdrawn, when the government issued instructions that revenue should be recovered only from those peasants who could afford to pay.
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the many young persons who became Gandhiji's follower during the Kheda peasant struggle.

JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE (APRIL 13,1919)

• Baisakhi day
• To protest against the arrest of their leaders, Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyaal.
• General Dyer order
• The incident was followed by uncivilised brutalities on the inhabitants of Amritsar.
• Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest.
• Gandhi by atmosphere of violence and withdrew the movement on April 18, 1919.

Khilafat Movement

• During the World War I Turkey fought against Britain as an ally of Germany. So, after Turkey’s defeat, the abolition of Khilafat was proposed. The proposal wounded the feelings of Indian Muslims. They organized a protest movement under the leadership of Khilafat leaders.
• The Khilafat movement: A deputation was given by the Khilafatists to the Viceroy whose reply was disappointing. Another deputation met Lloyd George in London experienced the same disappointment.
• Launching the movement: The ‘Khilafat Day’ was observed on 17 October 1919. Soon, the movement on an all-India scale was launched on an imposing scale. The Central Khilafat Committee organized an all-India general strike on 1 August 1920. The movement gathered momentum as many Pirs and Mullahs supported it.
• Gandhiji returned to the Viceroy the award of Kaisar-e-Hind which had been awarded by the British government for his war service. At the special session of the Congress held in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in September 1920, a resolution in favor of non-cooperation was passed.
• The end of the movement: In September 1921, the Ali brothers was arrested. Gandhiji suspended the non-cooperation movement after the Chauri Chaura incident. He was arrested in 1922. A few months after his arrest, the Caliph or the Sultan of Turkey was deposed of his power due to a revolution led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha.
•  Later on, Turkey moved towards becoming a secular state and the Khilafat issue lost itsimportance.

Importance of Khilafat Movement

•  Opportunity for the Muslim leadership: Some feel that the movement provided an opportunity for the Muslim leaders to take interest in the national affairs. They began to believe that the nation was equally concerned with problems affecting the Muslims.
• Impact on urban Muslims: The Khilafat movement brought the urban Muslims into national movement. There was nothing wrong, in principle, that a national movement should support a cause which affected a section of the community.
• Element of anti-imperialism: There was an element of anti-imperialism in both the national and Khilafat movements. These movements could have been used as common platform to fight against imperialism.

Non-cooperation Movement

• Non-cooperation movement was started by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920 to drive the British out of the country.
• Non-cooperation movement was nothing but a declaration of peaceful; and non-violent war against the atrocities of the British government which had gone back on its words.
• The Non-cooperation Movement meant active refusal to abide by the laws and regulations passed by the government.
• An appeal was made to all the Indians to surrender their titles and to boycott the law courts, the educational institutions and the election of the legislatures.
• It was thought in the beginning that this would be enough to emphasis upon the government the need for greater reforms and more amenities in the administration of the country.
• However, it was planned that, in case, it did not succeed in bringing down the Government; the payment of taxes would be refused.
• The Congress also declared that it would not be satisfied with anything less than Swarajya. Thus, for the first time the Congress had taken a revolutionary step. An organization which was wedded to constitutional means had now adopted a revolutionary policy and was even ready to work for a self rule disconnecting all relations from the government of England in case it was not granted by them willingly.

Gandhiji launched the non-cooperation movement with three clear objectives in view.

1. Remedy of the Punjab wrong and demand punishment for Gen. R. Dyer.

2. To bring about an amicable solution of Khilafat question.

3. Fulfillment of the demand of Swaraj.

The Indian National congress outlined a seven-item programme of non-cooperation.

1. Surrender of titles and honorary offices.

2. Refusal to attend government official and non-official functions.

3. Boycott of government and government-aided schools and colleges.

4. Boycott of British courts.

5. Refusal of all classes to offer themselves for service in Mesopotamia.

6. Boycott of elections to provincial and central assembly.

7. Boycott of British goods.

The constructive programme consisted of:

1. To set up national education institutions.

2. Promotion of Swadeshi industry, particularly weaving and hand-spinning industry.

3. Abolition of untouchability that was prevalent in the Hindu society.

4. Hindu-Muslim unity.

5. To raise a fund of a crore of rupees after the name of Tilak.

6. Panchayats were to be established for setting disputes.

7. To observe strict non-violence.

Gandhiji assured the nation that if the programme was fully implemented, Swaraj would be achieved

within the year.

Hunter Commission

The Hunter Commission was formed in 1882 under the leadership of Sir William Hunter during the period of Lord Ripon. The following were mentioned in the report of that commission in 1884:

• Schools and colleges will be subsidized by the Governments.
• All Government restrictions will be lifted from schools and colleges.
• The responsibility of primary education will be entrusted with municipality and the district boards.
• Special attention will be given to higher education.
• In 1902, Lord Curzon formed the Raleigh Commission under the leadership of Sir Thomas Raleigh. This was also known as ‘Indian University Commission’. Sir Gurudas Banerjee and Sued Hussain Bilgrami, the two Indians were the members of this commission.
• The University Act was passed in 1904 A.D. A commission was formed in 1917 A.D. under the guidance of Sir Michael Sadler. This is also known as the ‘Calcutta University Commission’.

Lucknow Pact 

• Lucknow Pact refers to an agreement reached between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League at the joint session of both the parties, held in Lucknow, in the year 1916.
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah, then a member of the Congress as well as the League, made both the parties reach an agreement to pressure the British government to adopt a more liberal approach to India and give Indians more authority to run their country, besides safeguardingbasic Muslim demands.
•  After the unpopular partition of Bengal, Jinnah approached the League to make it more popular among the Muslim masses. Jinnah himself was the mastermind and architect of this pact. Due to the reconciliation brought about by Jinnah between the Congress and the League, the Nightingale of India, Sarojini Naidu, gave him the title of “the Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity”.

The Lucknow Pact also established cordial relations between the two prominent groups of the Indian National Congress – the "hot faction" garam dal led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and the moderates or the "soft faction", the naram dal led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

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•  Surendranath Banerjee founded the Indian National Liberal Federation

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Chauri Chaura incident

• The Chauri Chaura incident occurred at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district of the United Province, British India on 4 February 1922, when a large group of protesters participating in the Non-cooperation movement turned violent, leading to police opening fire.
• In retaliation the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, killing all of its occupants.
• The incident led to the deaths of three civilians and 22 or 23 policemen.
• The Indian National Congress halted the Non-cooperation Movement on the national level as a direct result of this incident.
• Important session of Congress

Important session of Congress

All India Trade Union Congress

• Founded-1920
• Lala Lajpat Rai-1st Prez
• Dewan Chaman Lal-1st General Sect.
• Tilak also moving Spirits
• 1923-1st May Day was celebrated in Madras

Hindustan Republican Association

• Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) was a revolutionary organisation, also known as Hindustan Socialist Republican Army established in 1928 at Feroz Shah Kotla New Delhi by Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and others.
• Previously it was known as Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) whose written constitution and published manifesto titled The Revolutionary was produced as a witness in the Kakori conspiracy case of 1925.
• Likewise the Hindustan Republican Association, HSRA. was also a revolutionary organisation which worked more dangerously from 1928 to 1931 in the Indian subcontinent to uproot the British Raj from the country through armed struggle.
• The HRA was founded in October 1924 in Kanpur by Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee and Sachin Sanyal, with an aim to organise an armed revolution to overthrow the colonial government and establish in its place a Federal Republic of United States of India whose basic principle would be adult franchise.
• The most important "action" of the HRA was the Kakori robbery.
•  HRA's main organ Revolutionary had proposed nationalisation of railways and other means of transport and of heavy industries such as ship building and steel.
• Started On :1924 at United Provience,Punjab,Decan Provience(Maharastra),Bengal
• Ended On :1931

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Yugantar, Anushilan groups and later Chittagong Revolf Group under Surya Sen—in Bengal

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• Novels and books such as Bandi Jiwan by Sachin Sanyal and Maher Dabi by Sharatchandra Chatterjee (a Government ban only enhanced its popularity).
• Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt were asked to throw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on April 8, 1929 against the passage of the Public Safety Bill and Trade Disputes Bill aimed at curtailing civil liberties of citizens in general and workers in particular.

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Chittagong group

• Among the new "Revolt Groups", the most active and famous was the Chittagong group under Surya Sen.
• Chittagong Armoury Raid (April 1930) Surya Sen had participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement and had become a teacher in the national school in Chittagong.
• Surya Sen decided to organise an armed rebellion along with his associates—Anant Singh, Gariesh Ghosh and Lokenath Baul to show that it was possible to challenge the armed might of the mighty British Empire.

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• Bhagat Singh helped establish the Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha (1926) as an open wing of revolutionaries to carry out political work among the youth, peasants and workers, and it was to open branches in villages.
• Bhagat and Sukhdev also organised the Lahore Students' Union for open, legal work among students.

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Women Revolutionaries

• Prominent women revolutionaries in Bengal during this phase included Pritilata Waddedar, who died conducting a raid; Kalpana Dutt who was arrested and tried along with Surya Sen and given a life sentence; Santi Ghosh and Suniti Chandheri, school girls of Comilla, who shot dead the district magistrate. (December 1931); and Bina Das who fired point blank at the Governor while receiving her degree at the convocation (February 1932).

GROWTH OF COMMUNALISM

Characteristic Features of Indian Communalism

Communalism is basically an ideology which evolved through three broad stages in India—

• Communal Nationalism: the notion that since a group or a section of people belong to a particular religious community, their secular interests are the same, i.e., even those matters which have got nothing to do with religion affect all or them equally.
• Liberal Communalism: the notion that since two religious communities have different religious interests, they have different interests in the secular sphere also (i.e., in economic, political and cultural spheres).
• Extreme Communalism: the notion that not only different religious communities have different interests, but these interests are also incompatible i.e., two communities cannot co-exist because the interests of one community come into conflict with those of the other.

Whhabi Movement in India – Bengal

• The centre of the Wahhabi movement in Bengal was Narkelbaria, a village bordering on the thanas of Basirhat and Kalinga in the district of Barasat.
• Wahabi Movement under Syed Mir Nisar Ali
• Syed Mir Nisar Ali, popularly known as Titu Mir, was the leader of the Wahabi Movement in India. He was born on 26th January, 1782 in the village of Chandpur, close to Narkelbaria.
• During his pilgrimage to Mecca he came into contact with the Wahhabis and made the acquaintance of Sayyid Ahmed Khan of Rai Bareilly. Upon his return from Mecca, Titu Mir collected a large body of followers who were mostly Muslim peasants and weavers. Around Narkelbaria his main task was that of a religious reformer.
• The Wahhabi movement was a political struggle and a fight for prestige.

Shuddhi Movement

• huddhi Movement was started by Arya Samaj in earlier part of 20th century to bring back the people who transformed their religion to Islam and Christianity from Hinduism. The literal meaning of Shuddhi is purification but Arya Samajis didn’t aim at literal meaning rather they meant reconversion by the term.
• There was vast difference in the scriptural authorities of these religions as Islam and Christianity claimed divine authority for their Koran and Bible respectively while Vedas of Hinduism didn’t put up such claims. Founder of Arya Samaj, Dayananda then strived to give the Vedas the similar degree of supernatural authority.
• This process of reconverting Hindus from Islam and Christianity was accompanied by a Sanghathan movement.

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• Tilak's Ganapati and Shivaji festivals and anti-cow slaughter campaigns created much suspicion.
•  Aurobindo's vision, of an Aryanised world, Swadeshi Movement with elements like dips in the Ganga and revolutionary terrorism with oath- taking before goddesses were hardly likely to enthuse Muslims into these campaigns in a big way.

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Hindu Mahasabha

• It was a Hindu nationalist organization that was originally founded in 1915 to counter the Muslim League and the INC.
• In 1910, the leading Hindus of the Allahabad decided to organize an All India Hindu Conference.
• It was first established in Amritsar in the Punjab before 1914, and became active during the 1920s under the leadership of Pandit Mohan Malaviya (1861-1946) and Lala Lajpat Rai (1865- 1928).
• The Hindu Mahasabha established in Punjab campaigned for social reform and for the reconversion of Hindus from Islam. The Hindu Mahasabha established its headquarter at Haridwar and used to organize the Akhil Bhartiya Hindu conference at Haridwar on the occasion of important Hindu fairs.
• Hindu Mahasabha was organized with the aim to s remove the social abuses in the Hindu society. The removal of child marriage, casteism, untouchability etc was the principal concerns of the Hindu Mahasabha.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)

• Tilak's Ganapati and Shivaji festivals and anti-cow slaughter campaigns created much suspicion.
•  Aurobindo's vision, of an Aryanised world, Swadeshi Movement with elements like dips in the Ganga and revolutionary terrorism with oath- taking before goddesses were hardly likely to enthuse Muslims into these campaigns in a big way.
• Founded in 1925 by Dr. K. B. Hedgewar from Nagpur, with an aim to unite Hindus. He was the one who took the RSS to a considerable network across India.
• M. S. Golwarkar was then nominated as a successor to Mr Hedgewar in 1940, who held the charge for 33 years. The nationalistic ideology of the RSS made it popular throughout India.
• Main objective of the RSS is to safeguard the holy and moral traditions of India. According to them Hinduism is not just the religion but a way of living. As per critics, political party BJP is strongly influenced by RSS.
• Reviving Hindu tradition is the major goal of the RSS. Moreover the core ideology of the RSS is based on Hindutva, a kind of Hindu Nationalism and supports the philosophy Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudha Vadanti Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (Truth is One, Sages Call it by Many Names. The Whole Universe is one Family). Initially only upper caste Brahmins were part ofthe Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh but with time the RSS has had many Dalit and members  from middle caste. Many of these are now holding key positions in the Sangh.

Shimla Deputation

On 20th July 1906 John Morley the Secretary of State for Indian affairs, speaking on the Indian budget in the British parliament, announced that the Government wanted to increase the number of seats for the legislative councils and also their powers.

The Simla deputation was unique, because for the first time Muslims were anxious to take their share in the olitical activities as a separate identity. Another purpose of the delegation was to get a silent permission form the Government to make a political platform for the representation of Muslims, and also was to take the Government into confidence. The demand of separate electorates, which were presented through the deputation, was the foundation of all future constitutional amendments for India. The inevitable consequence of deputation was the partition of Indian and the emergence of Pakistan.

All-India Muslim League

• The All-India Muslim League (popularised as Muslim League) was a political party established during the early years of the 20th century in the British Indian Empire.
• Its strong advocacy for the establishment of a separate Muslim-majority nation- state, Pakistan, successfully led to the partition of India in 1947 by the British Empire.
• The party arose out of a literary movement begun at The Aligarh Muslim University in which Syed Ahmad Khan was a central figure.
• Sir Syed had founded, in 1886, the Muhammadan Educational Conference, but a self- imposed ban prevented it from discussing politics. At its December 1906 conference in Dhaka, attended by 3,000 delegates, the conference removed the ban and adopted a resolution to form an All Indian Muslim League political party.
• Its original political goal was to define and advance the Indian Muslim's civil rights and to provide protection to the upper and gentry class of Indian Muslims. From 1906–30s, the party worked on its organizational structure, its credibility in Muslim communities all over the BritishIndian Empire, and lacked as a mass organisation but represented the landed and commercial Muslim interests of the United Provinces (today's Uttar Pradesh).
• Following in the 1930s, the idea of a separate nation-state and influential philosopher Sir Iqbal's vision of uniting the four provinces in North-West British India further supported the rational of two-nation theory. Constitutional struggle of Jinnah and political struggle of founding fathers, the Muslim League played a decisive role in World War II in the 1940s and as the driving force behind the division of India along religious lines and the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state in 1947.

The events leading the World War II, the Congress effective protest against the United Kingdom unilaterally involving India in the war without consulting with the Indian people; the Muslim League went on to support the British war efforts, and later agitated against the Congress with the cry of "Islam in Danger".

• Separate Electorates were awarded under Morley Minto Reforms-1909
• Punjab hindu Sabha-1909, Founded by U.N.Mukherji & Lal Chand
• 14 points were laid down by Jinnah in 1928
• 1932 Communal Award accepted all muslim communal demands

Communal Award:

• On 17 August 1932 came that infamous “Communal Award” of Ramsay MacDonald, the British Prime Minister.
• By it Muslims, Sikhs and the Hindu scheduled castes were to vote separately.
• Actually this step was taken to destroy the national unity. Gandhiji strongly opposed it.
• He went on to fast till death in the prison. Ultimately, caste Hindus and the scheduled caste Hindus were united by the “Pact of Poona” in 1932 under the leadership of Dr. Ambedkar.
• Meanwhile it was clear to both Gandhiji and the other leaders that the Civil Disobedience Movement was losing its force. So in 19354 Gandhiji called off the movement.

Simon Commission

Background: Indian nationalists had declared the constitutional reforms of 1919 as inadequate. They had been demanding for an early reconsideration of the constitutional question.

Formation of Simon Commission: So, the British government appointed the Simon Commission in 1927for enquiry into the working of the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (Mont- Ford Reforms).

No Indian Member: The commission headed by Sir John Simon, had no Indian member. It was a shock to India.

Boycott of Simon Commission

The response in India was immediate and unanimous.

• Congress decision to boycott Simon Commission: At the Madras session in 1927, the Congress decided to boycott the Commission. The ground was that it had been appointed without any Indian. Indians were not thought fit to be included in the Commission.
• Call for boycott supported by other parties: Resentment and suspicion were not confined to the Congress circles alone. The call for boycott of the Commission was supported by the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League. Muhammad Ali Jinnah said, ‘Jalianwalabag was a physical butcher. The Simon Commission is the butchery of our soul’.
• Boycott turned into popular movement: The action began as soon as Simon and other members of the Commission landed at Bombay on 3 February 1928. That day, complete strike was observed in all the major cities and towns. People participated in processing and black flag demonstration. The popular slogan ‘Go back Simon’ was raised everywhere.
• Police action: The police dealt with the protesters severely. Lathi-charges were frequent. InLahore, Lal Lajpat Rai was hit on the chest and ultimately died a few days after the incident. Jawaharlal Nehru and Govind Ballabh Panth were not spared. In Lucknow, they were beaten by the police.

Nehru Report

• The Britishers claimed that the Indians were not included in the Simon Commission on account of discord among the various groups in India. The Secretary of State, Lord Birkenhead challenged the Indian leaders to draft a constitution to which all parties would agree. An all parties’ conference was held in May, 1928 which appointed a committee to draft a constitutional scheme.
• The committee was headed by Moti Lal Nehru and its report came to be known as the Nehru Report. Its other members were Subhash Chander Bose, Sir Ali Iman, Sir Tej Bhadur Sapru, G.R. Pradhan, M.S. Aney, Shuab Qureshi and Sardar Mangal Singh.
• The report was placed in the annual session of the Congress held at Lucknow on 10th August, 1928 where it was adopted unanimously. The report favoured dominion status in which India would be a federation of linguistic provinces.

As regards the communal problem, the report recommended joint electorates with reservation of seats for minorities. Moreover, it emphasised the necessity of giving much autonomy to the provinces. Powers to be divided between the centre and provinces was on the basis of federal structure.

The report, however, failed to be passed as Muhammad Ali Jinnah put forth his fourteen point demands and the Hindu Mahasabha also had reservations.

• The Congress accepted the report only under pressure from Gandhiji. The younger members led by Subhash Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru felt that acceptance of dominion status was a step from complete independence demanded at Madras in 1927.

Delhi Proposals

• 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 (December 1927), came to be known as the ‘Delhi Proposals’. These were:

1. Joint electorates in place of separate electorates with reserved seats for Muslims;

2. One-third representation to Muslims in Central Legislative Assembly;

3. Representation to Muslims in Punjab and Bengal in proportion to their population;

4. Formation of three new Muslim majority provinces— Sindh, Baluchistan and North-West Frontier Province.

Civil Disobedience Movement

Introduction: The Civil disobedience movement was an important part of Indian freedom movement. It was led by Mahatma Gandhi against certain laws and commands of the ruling British Government.

Who started the Civil disobedience movement? In India, the Civil disobedience movement was started by Mahatma Gandhi.

Why Gandhi started Civil disobedience movement? In March 1930, Gandhiji wrote in the newspaper, Young India, that he might suspend his civil disobedience or law-breaking movement if the government accepted his eleven-point demands. But Lord Irwin’s government did not respond. So, Gandhiji started the Civil Disobedience Movement.

When was Civil disobedience movement started? It was started with Dandi March (also Salt march, Salt satyagraha) by Mahatma Gandhi on 12th March, 1930. On 12 March, 1930 he along with his 78 followers began a march from the Sabarmati Ashram to “Dandi” on the Gujarat coast. It was a distance of 200 miles. At Dandi a few day s later they violated the salt laws by making salt from sea- water. Thus, began the civil disobedience Movement.

Lahore Session of INC-1929

Following are some of the main points:

1. It was the day when the tricolor was unfurled for the first time by naionalists.

2. A pledge was taken that January 26 will be celebrated as the “Independence Day” every year.

3. The people would unceasingly strive for the establishment of a Sovereign Democratic Republic of India.

4. It was held under the Presidentship of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.

(which showed the growing strengths of Leftists in the congress)

5. The signs of the imminent Civil Disobedience Movement were visible in this Congress session only.

6. A new interpretation of ‘Swaraj’ was accepted, which now meant ‘complete independence’.

7. The Congress decided not to participate in the Round Table Conference.

8. The Nehru Report was declared to be null and void in the Lahore Congress.

Dandi March (Salt Satyagraha)

• The Dandi March aroused great enthusiasm among the people. Everywhere the people began to break the law by selling banned political pamphlets, by showing defiance of section 144 and by with holding rents.
• Gandhiji called upon the women to begin spinning. In response to his call women took to spinning they also started picketing at the door of Government offices and foreign-goods shops.
• This participation of the women was a new thing in the freedom struggle.
• The movement was very tense in Bengal and the north-west. Sarojini Naidu came to the forefront during this movement.
• In the north-west (Peshawar) the most famous leader was Abdul Gaffar Khan, knick-named as “Frontier Gandhi”. Started 1st Push to Political Monthly Pukhton.
• Voluntary Brigade Khudai Khidmatgars', popularly known as the 'Red-Shirts', who were pledged to the freedom struggle and non-violence.

First Round Table Conference (November 1930 – January 1931)

• The Round Table Conference was opened officially by Lord Irwin on November 12, 1930 at London and chaired by the British Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald.
• The three British political parties were represented by sixteen delegates. There were fifty- seven political leaders from British India and sixteen delegates from the princely states. In total 89 delegates from India attended the Conference.
• However, the Indian National Congress, along with Indian business leaders, kept away from the conference. Many of them were in jail for their participation in Civil Disobedience Movement.
• The idea of an All-India Federation was moved to the centre of discussion by Tej Bahadur Sapru. All the groups attending the conference supported this concept. The princely states agreed to the proposed federation provided that their internal sovereignty was guaranteed. The Muslim League also supported the federation as it had always been opposed to a strong Centre. The British agreed that representative government should be introduced on provincial level.
• Other important discussions were the responsibility of the executive to the legislature and a separate electorate for the so-called Untouchables as demanded by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Second

Round Table Conference (September – December 1931)

• The Congress had boycotted the first conference was requested to come to a settlement by Sapru, M. R. Jayakar and V. S. Srinivasa Sastri.
•  A settlement between Mahatma Gandhi and Viceroy Lord Irwin known as the Gandhi–Irwin Pact was reached and Gandhi was appointed as the sole representative of the Congress to the second Round Table Conference. By this time, there was a coalition Government in Britain with a Conservative majority.

The second session opened on September 7, 1931. There were three major differences between the first and second Round Table Conferences. By the second:

• Congress Representation — The Gandhi-Irwin Pact opened the way for Congress participation in this conference. Mahatma Gandhi was invited from India and attended as the sole officialCongress representative accompanied by Sarojini Naidu and also Madan Mohan Malaviya, Ghanshyam Das Birla, Muhammad Iqbal, Sir Mirza Ismail (Diwan of Mysore), S.K.Dutta and Sir Syed Ali Imam. Gandhi claimed that the Congress alone represented political India; that the Untouchables were Hindus and should not be treated as a “minority”; and that there should be no separate electorates or special safeguards for Muslims or other minorities. These claims were rejected by the other Indian participants. According to this pact, Gandhi was asked to call off the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and if he did so the prisoners of the British government would be freed excepting the criminal prisoners, i.e. those who had killed British officials. He returned to India, disappointed with the results and empty-handed.
• National Government — two weeks earlier the Labour government in London had fallen. Ramsay MacDonald now headed a National Government dominated by the Conservative Party.
• Financial Crisis – During the conference, Britain went off the Gold Standard further distractingthe National Government.

Third Round Table Conference (November – December 1932)

• The third and last session assembled on November 17, 1932. Only forty-six delegates attended since most of the main political figures of India were not present. The Labour Party from Britain and the Indian National Congress refused to attend.
• From September 1931 until March 1933, under the supervision of the Secretary of State for India, Sir Samuel Hoare, the proposed reforms took the form reflected in theGovernment of India Act 1935.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact:

• The Government had called a round Table conference in 1930 in London. The congress did not join it. In order to make sure that the congress would participate in the second conference, Lord Irwin made a pact with Gandhiji in 1931.
• In this “Gandhi-Irwin Pact” the Government agreed to let off all political prisoners and to cancel the oppressive laws.
• The Second Round Table Conference was a failure from India’s point of view.
• Gandhiji’s demand for full self-government was rejected.

Poona Pact

• The Poona Pact refers to an agreement between Babasaheb Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi signed on 24 September 1932 at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune (now in Maharashtra), India. It was signed by Pt Madan Mohan Malviya and B.R. Ambedkar and som Dalit leaders to break the fast unto death undertaken by Gandhi in Yerwada prison to annul the Macdonald Award giving separate electorates to Dalits for electing members of state legislative assemblies in British India.
• To draft a new Constitution involving self-rule for the native Indians, the British invited leaders of different parties in the Round Table Conferences in 1930-32. Mahatma Gandhi did not attend the first and last but attended the second of the Conferences. The concept of separate electorates for the Untouchables was raised by Ambedkar. Similar provisions were already available for other minorities, including Muslims, Christians, Anglo-Indians and Sikhs. The British government agreed with Ambedkar's contention, and British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald's Communal Award to the depressed classes was to be incorporated into the constitution in the governance of British India.
• Gandhi strongly opposed the Communal Award on the grounds that it would disintegrate Hindu society. He began an indefinite hunger strike at Yerwada Central Jail from 20 September 1932 to protest against this Award. A compromise was reached on 24 September 1932.
• The text uses the term "Depressed Classes" to denote Untouchables who were later called Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under India Act 1935, and the later Indian Constitution of 1950.

Nehru’s Vision:

• Abolition of Capitalism
• Establishment of Socialism

THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT 1935

Provincial Part of the Act:-Introduction of Provincial Autonomy:

• The provincial part of the Act basically followed the recommendations of the Simon Commission.
• In the provinces Diarchy was abolished. There was no Reserve Subjects and no Executive Council in the provinces. The Council of Ministers was to administer all the provincial subjects except in certain matters like law and orders etc. for which the government had special responsibilities.

Federal Part of the Act:-All India Federation:

Division of Federal Subjects:

• The scheme of federation and the provincial autonomy necessitated proper division of subjects between the centre and the provinces.
• The division under 1919 Act was revised and the 1935 Act contained three lists i.e. (1)Federal, (2)Provincial(3) Concurrent Legislative Lists.

Introduction of Dyarchy at the Centre:

Protection of Minorities:

Bicameral Legislature:

Establishment of a Federal Court, Federal Railway Authority and Reserve Bank:

Communal and Separate Electorate and Reservations:

Supremacy of the British Parliament:

Burma Separation from India:

Abolition of the Indian Council of the Secretary of State:

Reorganisation of Provinces and Creation of Two New Provinces:

• Sindh was separated from Bombay
• Bihar and Orissa was split into separate provinces of Bihar and Orissa