The Simon Commission/Nehru Report/Irwin Declaration (15)

Question 1

What did British policy towards India consist of after the collapse of the 1920-22 campaign?

Answer 1

Maintaining a balance between the need to keep control at the centre while making concessions to Indian aspirations. The lines to be followed were those laid down by the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms.

Question 2

Why did the government bring the Government of India Act review forward from 1929 to 1927? (Simon Commission)

Answer 2

1929 was the year of the General Election and if Labour won the review would essentially give Congress what they wanted - due to Labours strong relationship with Congress.

Question 3

What was the aim of the Simon Commission?

Answer 3

Headed by Sir John Simon and consisted of 7 British men - none Indian. It aimed to find out whether the Gov of India Act of 1919 was working and whether it needed to be amended.

Question 4

What did the absence of Indian members of the Commission present?

Answer 4

The future of India was to be decided by Britain alone.

Question 5

How was the Simon Commission received?

Answer 5

Badly, when they arrived in Bombay they were booed by a crowd carrying banners shouting slogans like ‘Simon, go home!’, it was the same in Calcutta, Delhi, Lahore etc. The Commission were constantly met with mass demonstrations that the police could barely control.

Question 6

Who specifically opposed the Simon Commission?

Answer 6

Congress, Hindu leaders, liberal thinkers and a large section of the Muslim League led by Jinnah. They decided to boycott the Commission and refused to give evidence to its commissioners. Although Jinnah later changed his mind, initiating a period of cooperation with the British.

Question 7

Who cooperated with the Simon Commission?

Answer 7

Muslims from the provinces where they were in a majority, as did a number of Anglo-Indians, Sikhs and ‘Untouchables’. All of these minority groups hoped for a better future than the one they were anticipating under a Hindu-dominated Congress.

Question 8

What did the Simon Commission report amount to?

Answer 8

When it finally emerged in draft form, it did little more than re-assert the status quo, merely recommending now change in the ruling of India and was abandoned before publication.

Question 9

What did all the boycotters do in 1928? (Nehru Report)

Answer 9

Met at an All-Parties Conference, where a sub-committee produced a report that was really the first draft of a written constitution for India.

Question 10

Who produced the Nehru Report?

Answer 10

Two eminent lawyers:Tej Bahadur Sapru and Motilal Nehru.

Question 11

What did the Nehru Report recommend?

Answer 11

Dominion status for India on the same terms as those laid down for white self-governing countries within the British Empire, in which Princely and British India were to be joined in a federation.
There was to be no further devolution of power to the provinces - it wanted a strong federal government with weak provinces.

Question 12

What did the Nehru Reports recommendations mean?

Answer 12

The Hindus would form a permanent majority within central government.

Question 13

Why were Muslims unhappy with the Nehru Report?

Answer 13

Despite vague promises that religious freedoms would be safeguarded and new Muslim states would be formed, Muslims were deeply unhappy. They would lose the protection of their separate electoral status maintained by the British as a result of the Lucknow Pact of 1916. The fragile Hindu-Muslim alliance hung in the balance.

Question 14

How did Congress react to the Simon Commission?

Answer 14

They boycotted everything to do with the Simon Commission - ‘the only self-respecting course for India’ - and demanded immediate swaraj.

Question 15

What two motions did delegates back at the annual Congress conference in December 1928? (Simon Commission)

Answer 15

Demanded instant dominion status - as recommended by the Nehru Report - even though Jawaharlal Nehru had grave doubts.
Jawaharlal and Subhas Chandra Bose proposed another, more radical motion, that the British were to withdraw completely from India by 31st December 1929.

Question 16

What if the Congressional motions didn’t happen? (Simon Commission)

Answer 16

A renewed campaign of total disruption would begin - this was blackmail of the highest order and no one with any political sense would believe the British would fall for it. But it was a clever political manoeuvre, as the spotlight swung from the Simon Commission to Congress and the British government would have to react.

Question 17

What was the British response? (Irwin Declaration)

Answer 17

In July 1929, a Labour government was elected and the new Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, was sympathetic to Congress’ demands.

Question 18

What did Viceroy Irwin do after the election of the Labour party? (Irwin Declaration)

Answer 18

He was bent on conciliation and returned to England on his mid-term leave with two suggestions to discuss future reforms and a declaration that the Raj’s goal was dominion status for India.

Question 19

What did Viceroy Irwin’s suggestions come in the form of?

Answer 19

On the 31st October 1929, Irwin issued what became known as the Irwin Declaration. It essentially reiterated the Montagu Declaration of 1917 and asserted that its ‘natural issue’ was to be ‘the attainment of dominion status’.

Question 20

What did the Irwin Declaration assert regarding British policy towards India?

Answer 20

Dominion status was now the natural outcome and Irwin invited Indian representatives to London for a Round-Table conference where details of a new Indian constitution would be drawn up.

Question 21

How did Congress react to the Irwin Declaration?

Answer 21

They officially welcomed it and called upon the British government to demonstrate its good faith by declaring an amnesty for all Indian political prisoners.

Question 22

How did Irwin react to Congress’ request? (Irwin Declaration)

Answer 22

It was a step too far and he refused to declare amnesty for the prisoners. Indian frustration at the perceived British stubbornness resulted in more terrorist attacks, including the bombing of the Viceroy’s train and the destruction of the carriage next to the one in which he was travelling.

Question 23

What was Gandhi’s dilemma regarding the London conference?

Answer 23

To attend would be political suicide - they would be on ‘foreign soil’ and forced to follow a British agenda. Also, the British were expecting representatives of all Indian opinion - ‘Untouchables, Sikhs, princes etc. - and he regarding them as the British pawns. The chances of Congress getting what they wanted would be severely compromised.
But not attending would result in a settlement arranged that Congress wouldn’t agree with.

Question 24

What was the second problem Gandhi faced regarding attending the London conference?

Answer 24

Despite the resolutions passed (Simon Commission), Congress was deeply divided in what to do about the Raj. Another civil disobedience campaign would alienate the moderates and could result in violence again. But the ‘young hooligans’ had considerable support in the districts - particularly amongst the young and trade unionists - and amongst younger congressmen.
Should Gandhi back the militants against the moderates and risk waves of violence or back the moderates, accept dominion status and risk dividing Congress forever?

Question 25

Why did Congress need to reassert their authority?

Answer 25

The proliferation of small groups finding a voice meant Congress needed to re-emphasise its claim to speak for all of India, if they didn’t they risked allowing the British to settle with individual factions and play them off against each other. Therefore as many groups as possible had to be persuaded to come under Congress’ umbrella.

Question 26

What did Gandhi decide in Lahore in December 1929?

Answer 26

To support the young militants and after steering his policy through various Congress committees he ended up with committee of his own choice to direct Congress’ actions in the months ahead. Purna swaraj (complete independence) was India’s new political demand and India was poised for the next round of satyagrahas, due to begin on 26th January.