Tag: poorna swaraj and civil disobedience

The first Round Table Conference convened by Labour Government Prime Minister Ramsay McDonald from 12 November 1930 to 19 January 1931 in London. While the Congress and most business leaders boycotted it, the Muslim League, the Hindu Mahasabha, the Liberals, and princes attended it. Prior to the Conference, M. K. Gandhi had initiated the Civil Disobedience Movement on behalf of the Indian National Congress and did not attend the conference.

Gandhi inaugurated the Civil Disobedience Movement by conducting the historic Dandi Salt March starting from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi where he went on to break the Salt Law imposed by the British Government. Along with this activity, activities like no tax campaign, no revenue, and no rent (land tax) campaign became very popular in different parts of India. The movement was very tense in Bengal and the north-west.

The first Round Table Conference convened by Labour Government Prime Minister Ramsay McDonald from 12 November 1930 to 19 January 1931 in London. The Round Table Conference officially inaugurated by His Majesty George V on November 12, 1930, in Royal Gallery House of Lords at London. While the Congress and most business leaders boycotted it, the Muslim League, the Hindu Mahasabha, the Liberals, and princes attended it. The outcomes of the first Round Table Conference were minimal and the British Government realized that the Indian National Congress needed to be part of deciding the future of constitutional government in India.

Simon Commission was a group appointed in November 1927 by the British Conservative government to report on the working of the Indian constitution established by the Government of India Act of 1919. It was highly protested as it did not include a single Indian as its member. The Viceroy at the time was Lord Irwin.

Simon Commission was a group appointed in November 1927 by the British Conservative government to report on the working of the Indian constitution established by the Government of India Act of 1919. It had 7 members and was under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon. It was highly protested as it did not include a single Indian as its member.

The second RTC (September–December 1931) was attended by Mahatma Gandhi as the Congress representative. It failed to reach an agreement, either constitutionally or on communal representation. The session got deadlocked on the question of the minorities. All minorities came together in a “Minorities’ Pact”. Gandhi fought desperately against this concerted move to make all constitutional progress conditional on the solving of this issue.

Gandhi inaugurated the Civil Disobedience Movement by conducting the historic Dandi Salt March starting from Sabarmati Ashram in 1930.  On the morning of April 6, Gandhi and his followers picked up handfuls of salt along the shore, thus technically producing salt and breaking the law.

The second session (September–December 1931) was attended by Mahatma Gandhi as the Congress representative. It failed to reach an agreement, either constitutionally or on communal representation. The Government failed to concede the basic Indian demand of freedom and Gandhi returned to India on December 28, 1931, and decided to resume the civil disobedience movement.

The Civil Disobedience Movement was suspended, when Mahatma Gandi withdrew mass satyagraha on July 14th, 1933. He decided to focus on constructive work after the failure of the Civil Disobedience movement. The programme of constructive activities included khadi work, temple entry agitation, Communal Unity, Removal of Untouchability, etc.