Question 8: How successful was the Pakistan Movement in the years 1927 to 1939?              

1. Describe Simon Commission of 1927? [4]

Simon commission was made in 1927. It was headed by John Simon. It was formed to consider the situation in India. All members were British and none of them was Indian. This thing angered many Indians who went against it. In fact in 1919 the Government of India act stated that a commission would be formed after 10 years to look for the situation India. It was considered as an insult to India and many parties and Indian rose against it.

2. Describe the Nehru Report of 1928? [4]

Nehru report was made in 1928. It was made by all parties’ conference in opposition for the Simon Commission. It was supported by about all Non-Muslims. It stated that India to be a federation. It said that protection of minorities should be done. It also stated immediate dominion status for India vote right for all adult male and female. British were given one year to accept the recommendation for the report or non cooperation was to be started.

the nehru report was drafted by the nehru commitee headed by motilal nehru.it recommended a federal form of government for india with bicameral set up (2chamber parliament).rights of vote for all.constitutional protection of minoritiesand fundamental rights .it also demanded dominion status for india,with the central government responsible for peace and order.muslim league rejected it.

3. Why did Jinnah produce his 14 points of 1929? [7]

·        Jinnah decided to issue 14 points in response to Nehru Report (1928) which was a scheme of constitution for India. It included several points which were against Muslim interests. The Nehru Report suggested joint electorate (in place of separate electorate for Muslims), unitary form of government (in place of federal form of government) and Hindi as national language for India. These points were clearly against Muslim interests and were not liked by the Muslims.

·        Jinnah suggested three amendments to the Nehru Report but these were rejected by the Congress. It clearly showed that the Congress was not sincere with the Muslims.

·        At the annual meeting of Muslim League in March 1929 at Delhi. Jinnah gave his points in order to safeguard and protect the rights and interests of the Muslims. The 14 Points were the first ever demand of the Muslim League put to the British. These demands covered all aspects of Muslim interests at the time.

Jinnah 14 Points [14]

1. Any future constitution should be federal, power resting with the provinces.

2. All Provinces should have the same amount of autonomy.

3. All legislatures and local bodies should be constituted with adequate representation of minorities.

4. Muslims should have one-third of the seats in the Central Assembly.

5. Election should be by separate electorates.

6. Any territorial changes should be affect the Muslim majority in Bengal, the Punjab and the NWFP.

7. Full liberty of belief and worship shall be granted to all communities.

8. No Bill shall be passed in any elected body if ¾ of any community in that body opposed it.

9. Sindh shall be separated from Bombay.

10. There should be reforms in the NWFP and Baluchistan to put them on the same footing as other provinces.

11. Muslims should have an adequate share in the services of the state.

12. Muslim culture, education, language, religion and charities should be protected by the constitution.

13. All cabinets (at central or local level) should have at least 1/3 Muslim representation.

14. The Federation of India must not change laws without the consent of the provinces.

 4. How successful were the three Round Table Conference of 1930-1932? [14]

Round Table Conferences were successful only to some extent. The

Round Table Conferences were held in London in 1930, 1931 and 1932. But neither Gandhi nor Jinnah attended all of them.

The Round Table Conferences were held to consider the ‘Simon Commission Report’ and to suggest reforms to solve the constitutional problem of India. On the whole the Conferences did not achieve much and the constitutional problem was not resolved.

The First Round Table Conference (1930) was successful in the sense that it was agreed that Federal System of government would be adopted for India and responsible representative government would be set up in provinces. This was a great achievement because the Congress had suggested ’Unitary Form’ of government in provinces was a good step forward for self-rule. But Congress did not attend this conference because congress leaders were in jail on account of non-cooperation movement. 

Secondly, the princely states also agreed to join the federation. Also several committees were formed to discuss different issues.

The Second Round Table Conference (1931) was attended by the Congress with high hopes of progress. Mr. Gandhi represented the Congress but he declared that the Congress was the only political party which could speak for all the Indian people. He also declared that there was no minority problem in India. Muslims and other minority leaders did not agree with Mr. Gandhi. Therefore on account of Mr. Gandhi stubborn and unfair attitude the conference could not achieve much but its success was that it was declared that Orissa, NWFP and Sind (after separation from Bombay) would be given full provincial status. The minorities issue remained unresolved.  

The Third Round Table Conference was held in November 1932. It was again not attended by Congress. Mr. Jinnah also did not attend. The Conference proved to be a mere formality. It only finalized the reports and broke up without achieving anything of substance.

In the light of above facts, it can be said that although the Round Table Conference did not achieve much on the whole, yet the first conference of 1930 was more successful than the other two.       

5. Describe the Communal Award of 1932? [4]

On August 1932 the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announced that British government would give position to the minorities. The Muslim were given weight age in Hindu dominated provinces, but Muslims majority in Punjab and Bengal was reduced.  

6. How important was the Government of India Act 1935? [14 Marks]

Despite the failure of the Round Table Conferences, in March 1933 the British government gave the Joint Select Committee the task of formulating the new Act for India. The Committee comprised of 16 members each from the House of Commons and House of Lords, 20 representatives from British India and seven from the princely states. Lord Linlithgow was appointed as the president of the Committee. After a year and a half of deliberations, the Committee finally came out with a draft Bill on December 1934. The Bill was discussed in the House of Commons for 43 days and in the House of Lords for 13 days and finally, after being signed by the King, was enforced as the Government of India Act, 1935, in August 1935.

The main features of the Act of 1935 were:

1. A federation of India was promised for, comprising both provinces and states. The provisions of the Act establishing the federal central government were not to go into operation until a specified number of rulers of states had signed Instruments of Accession. Since, this did not happen, the central government continued to function in accordance with the 1919 Act and only the part of the 1935 Act dealing with the provincial governments went into operation.

2. The Governor General remained the head of the central administration and enjoyed wide powers concerning administration, legislation and finance.

3. No finance bill could be placed in the Central Legislature without the consent of the Governor General.

4. The Federal Legislature was to consist of two houses, the Council of State (Upper House) and the Federal Assembly (Lower House).

5. The Council of State was to consist of 260 members, out of whom 156 were to be elected from the British India and 104 to be nominated by the rulers of princely states.

6. The Federal Assembly was to consist of 375 members; out of which 250 were to be elected by the Legislative Assemblies of the British Indian provinces while 125 were to be nominated by the rulers of princely states.

7. The Central Legislature had the right to pass any bill, but the bill required the approval of the Governor General before it became Law. On the other hand Governor General had the power to frame ordinances.

8. The Indian Council was abolished. In its place, few advisers were nominated to help the Secretary of State for India.

9. The Secretary of State was not expected to interfere in matters that the Governor dealt with, with the help of Indian Ministers.

10. The provinces were given autonomy with respect to subjects delegated to them.

11. Diarchy, which had been established in the provinces by the Act of 1919, was to be established at the Center. However it came to an end in the provinces.

12. Two new provinces Sindh and Orissa were created.

13. Reforms were introduced in N. W. F. P. as were in the other provinces.

14. Separate electorates were continued as before.

15. One-third Muslim representation in the Central Legislature was guaranteed.

16. Autonomous provincial governments in 11 provinces, under ministries responsible to legislatures, would be setup.

17. Burma and Aden were separated from India.

18. The Federal Court was established in the Center.

19. The Reserve Bank of India was established.

Both the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League opposed the Act, but participated in the provincial elections of winter 1936-37, conducted under stipulations of the Act. At the time of independence, the two dominions of India and Pakistan accepted the Act of 1935, with few amendments, as their provisional constitution.

7. Why was Congress Rule of 1937-1939 unpopular with many Muslims?

Congress Ministries were formed in 8 out of 11 provinces of India in 1937 and they worked under the instructions of the Congress High Command, which was controlled by Mr. Gandhi and some other leaders. The Congress Rule was hated because it adopted policies which harmed and hurt the Muslims in many ways. Some of the steps taken by Congress Ministries were:

1. Song of Bande Matram which clearly hurt Muslim feelings, adopted as National Anthem.

2. Wardha Scheme was educational schemes which encouraged Hindu religion and culture. Teaching was to be in Hindi with no religious education which meant that Muslim students were at a disadvantage.

3. Muslim children were required to show reverence for Gandhi’s portrait which was hung up in schools.

4. Ban on cow slaughter was enforced.

5. Frequent occurrences of Hindu-Muslim riots in which always the Muslims were made victims.

The Congress Rule was hated on account of these anti-Muslim policies and the Muslims heaved a sigh of relief. When the Congress Ministries adopted in November 1939.