the three Round Table Conferences, the
Communal Award and Government of India
Act 1935
1.1b
Round Table Conferences 1930-32
Why needed?
The Simon Commission 1927, Gave its two volume report , It accepted Muslims -demand
of Separate Electorates however it rejected them 1/3 seats in the Central assembly and
separation of Sindh from Bombay presidency. This annoyed the Muslims and they had
reservations about this report. Thus RTC's were organized by the British in order to
discuss the report with the Indians.
NR of 1928, was anti Muslim and was rejected by Muslim Leaggue. Also, Jinnah's 14
points were rejected by the Congress. This created a complete deadlock between the
two parties and the reforms couldn't be finalized for the constitution. Thus RTC's were
organized to finish the deadlock between two parties.
• Thirdly, the previous reforms like MMR and MFR were criticized by the
Indians because the Indians weren't consulted regarding these
reforms. The British didn't want such criticism for the new
constitution. Thus,that RTC was organized so the main Political parties
of India could unanimously agree on the future constitution.
the First RTC (1930)
• The first session of the conference opened in London on November 12, 1930.
• Muslim decided to attend the Congress in spite of Congress boycott. Muslim
delegation included Sir Aga Khan, M.A Johar, Maulvi Fazaal-ul-Haq and M.A
Jinnah
(+ and -)
• In the first RTC of 1930, British accepted Muslim demand of Provincial
autonomy. This delighted the Muslims as it was the main demand of
Jinnah's 14 points and now Muslim were able to rule their Muslim
majority area's without the inference of British and Hindu dominance.
• In 1930, Congress refused to attend the first RTC unless there was a
guarantee that anything agreed at the conference would be
implemented. No such guarantee was given , Congress has also
started non-cooperation. Thus, the first RTC failed to make any
significant progress, as Congress, the largest political party in India ,
was absent.
Gandhi-Irwin Pact
• After the conclusion of the First Round Table Conference, the British
government realized that the cooperation of the Indian National
Congress was necessary for further advancement in the making of the
Indian constitution. Thus, Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, extended an
invitation to Gandhi for talks. Gandhi agreed to end the Civil
Disobedience Movemen.t
Terms
• The Congress would discontinue the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• The Congress would participate in the Round Table Conference.
• The Government would withdraw all ordinances/laws issued to
curb/restict the Congress.
• The Government would release all persons undergoing sentences of
imprisonment for their activities in the civil disobedience movement.
2nd RTC(+ and -)
• In the Second RTC of 1931, it was decided that NWFP and Sindh
should be made provinces with their own Governors. This was a
success as firstly, it improved B-M relations as Muslims saw that
British were being considerate towards them and this would later
help in negotiating independence.
• Secondly, these provinces later became part of Pakistan. RTC
indirectly helped in the creation of Pakistan, because these provinces,
especially Sindh, played a vital role in the creation of Pakistan. this
helped Muslims in protecting their rights in Muslim majority areas
and the political strength of Muslims increased immensely. Hence it
can be rightly said that RTC crafted the map of Pakistan.
2nd RTC
• There was a change in government in Britain. The Pro-Indian labour party was
replaced by a hard-line coalition Government, which was reluctant to grant
Indians their due rights. Thus, when the organizers were not interested in
granting Indians their rights, the conference was bound to fail.
• Gandhi took a hard-line and refused to grant the rights of minorities e.g. no
separate electorates for minorities. On the other hand, Minorities including
Muslims insisted that their rights should be considered first. This created a
deadlock between the Indians, and led to the failure of the 2nd RTC.
• Gandhi wanted the recommendations of Nehru report (1928) to be included in
the new constitution which were rejected by Muslim league as N.R was anti-
Muslim while Muslims wanted Jinnah's 14 points to be included which were
rejected by Congress. Thus the non-compromising attitude of the two political
parties of India led to the failure of 2nd RTC.
Communal awards
• It was announced on 16th August 1932 by the British PM Ramsay
MacDonald after the failure of the second RTC as he wanted to resolve
the political crisis of India.
• It gave the right of separate electorates to all the minorities in India and
the principle of weightage was also applied.
• Though, Muslim majority in Bengal and Punjab was reduced, the ML
accepted it in order to reach a political settlement for the future of India.
• The INC rejected it and Gandhi protested against the declaration of the
Untouchables as a minority. He began a strike of Maran Bharatt (fasting
unto death).
3rd RTC
• Congress restarted the non-cooperation movement and boycotted the third RTC.
As congress was the main political party of India so no major decision could be
made in its absence, thus the failure of 3rd Round Table Conference was
inevitable.
• there was a change in viceroy and the previous Pro- Indian, Lord Irwin was
replaced by Lord Willington who was less prepared to give concession. He
adopted a policy of repression against the Indian e.g. he imprisoned Congress
leaders of the Non-cooperation movement. Thus, the Indians were reluctant to
attend the 3rd Round Table Conference, as they expected no positive outcome
because of the rigid attitude of the viceroy.
• Jinnah was not invited in the 3'd RTC and he went into voluntary exile
as he was disappointed by the lack of progress in the previous RTC's.
It was attended by only 46 members. Thus, the 3rd Round Table
Conference was just a formality and its failure was inevitable because
no decision regarding the future of Muslims could be taken in the
absence of main leaders like Jinnah.
Why were the RTC's important for the Muslims of India?
• In the first RTC of 1930, British accepted Muslim demand of Provincial
autonomy. This delighted the Muslims as it was the main demand of
Jinnah's 14 points and now Muslim were able to rule their Muslim
majority area's without the inference of British and Hindu dominance.
• In the Second RTC of 1931, it was decided that NWFP and Sindh
should be made provinces with their own Governors. This was a
success as firstly, it improved B-M relations as Muslims saw that
British were being considerate towards them and this would later
help in negotiating independence.
• In the Second RTC of 1931, Gandhi took a hardline and refused to
accept the rights of minorities e.g. separate electorate for minorities.
On the other hand, the minorities like Muslims wanted their rights to
be protected. This created a deadlock between the two, and widened
the gulf between two sides, strengthening the TNT of SSAK, which
later became the base for creation of Pakistan
