3B. Consultation of the 1930s

Question 1

When was the 1st Round Table Conference?

Answer 1

November 1930

Question 2

Who was present at the 1st Round Table Conference?

Answer 2

• Opened by Lord Irwin and chaired by Ramsay MacDonald (PM)
• Three British political parties represented by 16 delegates
• 58 delegates from India selected by the Viceroy to portray various shades of Indian opinion (except Congress)
• 16 representatives sent by princes

Question 3

What was agreed upon in the 1st Round Table Conference?

Answer 3

• India was to be run as a type of Dominion
• Dominion would take the form of a federation of princely states and 11 British provinces
• There would be Indian participation at all levels of government

Question 4

What happened in February 1931?

Answer 4

The British formally inaugurated New Delhi as the administrative capital of the Raj

Question 5

When was the 2nd Round Table Conference?

Answer 5

September-December 1931

Question 6

Which candidates attended the 2nd Round Table Conference?

Answer 6

Similar mix of delegates to the first conference, however Gandhi could attend the conference to represent Congress as a result of the 1931 Gandhi-Irwin Pact.

Other sections of Indian society were represented by the following:

• Muslim League = Jinnah and Iqbal the Aga Khan
• Sikhs = Master Tara Singh
• Untouchables = Dr Ambedkar

Question 7

What was the significance of Gandhi’s attendance to the 2nd Round Table Conference as the sole Congress representative?

Answer 7

• Hoped to symbolise the unity of the Indian nationalist movement in a claim that Congress alone represented political India.
• Gandhi had swung his support behind young hooligans → purna swaraj, could not accept dominion status / result of 1st Round Table Conference
• Gandhi did not consider the effect of his claims on other Indian delegates with different agendas than his

Question 8

When was the 3rd Round Table Conference?

Answer 8

November-December 1932

Question 9

Why was the 3rd Round Table Conference doomed to fail?

Answer 9

• Only 46 delegates attended, and none from the British Labour Party or Congress.
• The Conference discussed franchise, finance and the role of the princely states but could not reach any definite conclusion.

Question 10

How did the actions of Congress cause the Round Table Conferences to fail?

Answer 10

• Congress had not been represented at the 1st RTC (Nehru and Gandhi were in jail)
• At the 2nd RTC, Gandhi maintained that he (and Congress) alone could speak for all India, including Muslims. This alienated all other delegates representing their various communities.

Question 11

How did divisions over separate electorates cause the Round Table Conferences to fail?

Answer 11

• Jinnah was firm in his support for separate electorates and was supported by the representatives of other minority groups.
• Gandhi took particular exception to separate electorates for Untouchables, as they were Hindus and thus, he argued, should be represented by Congress, leading to strong disagreement between him and representatives of the Untouchables.
• The situation was complicated as Jinnah played each group off against each other to gain further concessions for Muslims.
• The British government supported the idea of separate electorates, drawing them into contention with Gandhi.

Question 12

Why did the British political situation cause the Round Table Conferences to fail?

Answer 12

In August 1931, the Labour government resigned after splitting, and was replaced by a Tory-dominated coalition (the National Government) facing a depression, unemployment and economic collapse:

• These seemed more pressing than reform in India

By the end of 1932, Ramsay MacDonald had lost the support of his own Labour Party

• Only able to continue through the National Government, supported by his political opponents.

With so many internal issues, the Labour Party did not send any representatives to the 3rd RTC.

Question 13

Why did conservative British attitudes cause the Round Table Conferences to fail?

Answer 13

Secretary of State for India, Sir Samuel Hoare, had more reservations about self-government for India than predecessor William Wedgewood Benn

• These reservations were also shared by many within the Conservative Party

Question 14

What was the British reaction to failure of consultation?

Answer 14

Viceroy Willingdon followed the British government’s instructions that he should only conciliate the elements of Indian opinion prepared to work with the British government:

• 4 January 1932 = Gandhi arrested and imprisoned one week after returning to India from end of 2nd RTC
• Congress was outlawed
• All members of Congress’ Working Committee and the Provincial Committees were rounded up and imprisoned
• Youth organisations were banned

Question 15

What were the effects of the British reaction to the failure of consultation?

Answer 15

• Within four months, over 80,000 people, mostly Congress members, were in prison.
• A swift reaction of civil disobedience broke out throughout India but was uneven and disorganised without Congress and Gandhi. Boycotts of British goods and non-payment of taxes were common.
• Youth organisations, although banned, became extremely popular and terrorist activity increased
• The NW Frontier Province and United Provinces, as well as the cities of Meerut and Peshawar saw significant unrest, but order was generally maintained.

Question 16

When was the Communal Award announced?

Answer 16

16 August 1932

Question 17

What was the Communal Award?

Answer 17

On 16 August 1932, PM Ramsay MacDonald announced the Communal Award, to be incorporated into any new Indian constitution.

• Sikhs, Indian Christans, Anglo-Indians and Untouchables were separate classes (alongside Muslims), and thus would be entitled to separate electorates in any new Indian constitution.

Question 18

How did Gandhi respond to the Communal Award?

Answer 18

Gandhi was furious!

• Removal of the stigma of untouchability had long been one of his missions
• All untouchables were Hindus
• Thought the British government was trying to weaken Congress by separating Untouchables , and feared that this would fragment Hindu society.

Gandhi launched a fast-unto-death to blackmail the British government into withdrawing the Communal Award

Question 19

How was the Yeravda / Poona Pact created?

Answer 19

A wide spectrum of Hindu leaders met in Bombay, including representatives of the Untouchables, and created a set of proposals which they took to Gandhi in Yeravda jail, Poona.

After several days of discussing the proposals, an agreement was reached, which was accepted by the British.

Question 20

What did the Yeravda / Poona Pact suggest?

Answer 20

British government Communal Award proposal was for an allocation of 71 seats on provincial legislatures to the Untouchables:

• Gandhi and the delegation settled on a total of 148, elected by a system of primary and secondary elections for seats allocated to Untouchables
• Only Untouchables would be able to vote in the relevant primary elections
• Untouchables would be allocated 18% of Central Assembly seats, so long as they stood for election by the votes of the general electorate.

Question 21

What were the effects of the Yeravda / Poona pact?

Answer 21

The Yeravda / Poona Pact undermined separate electorates because, although there were reserved seats, voting for these was done by the general electorate.

Question 22

How did Hindu leaders celebrate the Yeravda / Poona pact?

Answer 22

Gandhi ended his fast one week after it had begun, and the following week was celebrated as Untouchability Abolition Week (although Untouchability was only legally abolished 20 years later and still continues to this day)

Question 23

What was the India Defence League?

Answer 23

The India Defence League was a British pressure group founded in June 1933 dedicated to keeping India within the British Empire.

Question 24

Who supported the India Defence League?

Answer 24

The group was joined by many ex-general and former civil servants, as well as Conservative politicians, notably Winston Churchill. Rudyard Kipling also served as vice-president.

The India Defence League was also supported by the Daily Mail and its proprietor Lord Rothermere, who used disinformation campaigns such as the articles ‘If we lose India’ as well as falsified photography to support opposition to reform in India.

Question 25

Which clauses of the Government of India Act 1935 were actually implemented?

Answer 25

The Government of India Act proposed the creation of a federation of India, but this was never put into effect.
Only the clauses dealing with provincial governments were actually implemented:

India was divided into 11 provinces,

• Each province would have a legislative assembly and a provincial government.
• The provinces would control almost everything except defence and foreign affairs.

Each province would have a governor, who retained the power to act in an emergency

• Burma separated from India and given its own government
• Two new provinces, Sindh and Orissa, were created.
• Dyarchy, the system in which provincial government was divided between appointed officials and elected representatives, was abolished.
• Separate electorates were to continue as before.

Question 26

How would the position of viceroy be controlled after the 1935 Government of India Act?

Answer 26

The viceroy would still be appointed by the British government and would be in control of defence and foreign affairs.

However, he would have to follow the advice of an Executive Committee which was made up of mostly Indians.

Question 27

Why was the 1935 Government of India Act only partially implemented?

Answer 27

Outbreak of WW2

Question 28

Why did Congress object to the 1935 Government of India Act?

Answer 28

• Congress wanted purna swaraj, not dominion status
• Congress wanted India to have a strong central government, which would inevitably be strongly Hindu - they could not support strong provincial governments as laid down in the Government of India Act as some provincial governments might end up being Muslim-dominated.
• Congress did not like the continuation of separate electorates for minority groups.

Question 29

Why did the Muslim League object to the 1935 Government of India Act?

Answer 29

• Act did not offer enough power to Muslims in either central or provincial legislatures
• No guarantees offered for the protection of the rights of Muslims

Question 30

How did the princes represent an issue to the 1935 Government of India Act?

Answer 30

All-India federation would diminish the power of the princes who would then become a significant obstacle to the passing of further legislation:

• London government had dissuaded Viceroy from pushing princes too hard → they would refuse to cooperate altogether and the act would fail
• Lord Zetland, Conservative Secretary of State for India, warned that the princes might join more extreme Tories like Winston Churchill → prevent implementation of act and embarrass government.

Question 31

Which states did Congress win in the 1937 elections?

Answer 31

Congress was highly successful:

• Gained overall control of the United and Central Provinces, Orissa, Bombay and Madras.
• Became the largest single party in Assam and the North-West Frontier
• Only outvoted in Bengal, Punjab and Sind

Question 32

How many seats did Congress win in the 1937 elections?

Answer 32

From the total 1,585 contested provincial legislative seats,Congress won:

• all the general electorate seats,
• 59 from the separate electorates,

…thus ending up with 716 legislative members.

Question 33

How was the Muslim League affected by the 1937 provincial elections?

Answer 33

The Muslim League fared badly.

Question 34

Why did the Muslim League perform so poorly in the 1937 provincial elections?

Answer 34

• No strong leadership until 1935 when Jinnah returned from England
• Not enough time for Jinnah to rally co-ordinated and focused support for the Muslim League
• Though Jinnah worked hard to build a powerbase in the time available, he was not able to find enough candidates to contest all the reserved Muslim seats

Question 35

How did Muslim disapproval of Congress demonstrate itself in the results for the 1937 elections?

Answer 35

• Polling figures showed that Muslim voters did not significantly support (Muslim) Congress candidates, except for the North-West Frontier
• Non-Congress ministries were formed in Assam, Bengal, Punjab and Sind

Question 36

How did Congress misuse its power after its success in the 1937 provincial elections?

Answer 36

Many new Congress exploited power success by:

• appointing relatives and fellow caste members to positions they controlled
• ignoring minorities and behaving spitefully towards enemies (↓).

Examples include:

• The creation of fiscal policies to hurt Muslim landowners
• A ban on cow slaughter in Bihar
• The hoisting of Congress flags onto public buildings where there was a substantial Muslim minority

These actions alienated Muslims, who no longer felt represented by Congress or that their rights were being safeguarded

Question 37

How did Jinnah use campaign tactics to revitalise the Muslim League after the 1937 elections?

Answer 37

• He began a series of carefully orchestrated personal appearances, mass rallies and press interview
• These deliberately harkened back to the days of the Mughal Empire
• Among other memorabilia, a ‘Tipu Sultan Day’ was inaugurated in honour of the Muslim Sultan of Mysore who defeated the British in 1782.
• He persuaded university students that success in their future careers would only occur if they supported the ML
• He sought to embody a Muslim identity, hopes and dreams to attract thousands of Muslim votes

Question 38

How did final rapprochement between the League and Congress fail after the election of Bose in 1938?

Answer 38

Jinnah met briefly with Gandhi, Nehru and Bose, but talks broke down because of Jinnah’s insistence that the Muslim League be recognised by Congress as the sole party of India’s Muslims.

Congress liked to think they were an inclusive party capable of representing all religious groups within India - even Muslims.

Question 39

What did Congress supporters of Gandhi believe in, as opposed to Congress supporters of Nehru?

Answer 39

Gandhi supporters believed in parliamentary tactics, even though this may mean temporarily supporting the Raj, to obtain purna swaraj

Nehru supporters hated working with a constitution they disliked, and accepting that ultimate power still remained with the British

Question 40

What was the original issue that caused Congress infighting over its presidency in 1938?

Answer 40

At the end of 1938, there was considerable pressure on Bose to quit - Gandhi didn’t trust him and neither did the old guard of Congress.

However, Nehru refused to stand in his place and Bose refused to step aside for Gandhi faction nominee Pattabhi Sitaramayya.

Question 41

How did the issue over Congress presidency in 1938 develop?

Answer 41

Bose knew he had the support of student, peasant and worker delegates, and won the election for his presidency by 1,580 to 1,375.

As a result, twelve members of the Gandhi faction resigned immediately from the Congress Working Committee in protest at Bose’s victory.

This left a huge rift in the senior echelons of the Party, preventing it from functioning. Gandhi ignored Bose’s pleas for help and Nehru’s attempts at mediation failed.

Finally, this forced Bose to resign, replaced by Rajendra Prasad who rose from the Working Committee.

Question 42

How did Indian attitudes towards the Raj develop from 1930-39?

Answer 42

• Seemed less and less like the natural government of India

BUT

• Gained brief popularity from the 1935 Government of India until the outbreak of war in 1939
• No obvious alternative was accepted by all Indians
• Congress chief ministers looked towards administrative structures of the Raj for guidance
• ICS recruitment boomed, but not enough to make up for earlier shortfalls and ease the workload.