Key Developments, 1927-39 » The Simon Commission and Its Consequences

Why Britain sent the Simon Commission

Remember, the Government of India Act of 1919 promised that a commission would review the reforms after ten years, so in 1929. In November 1927 the Conservative government in London set it up two years early. There were two main causes.

• Fear of a Labour government. A general election was due by 1929. Lord Birkenhead, the Secretary of State for India (the minister in London in charge of India), feared that Labour might win it and give Indians too much. He wanted the commission chosen while the Conservatives were still in power.
• Problems in India. Dyarchy was not working well, the Swaraj Party was blocking business in the councils and communal violence was growing.

The commission had seven members, led by Sir John Simon. All seven sat in the British Parliament. One was Clement Attlee, a Labour MP who later became prime minister. Not one was Indian. The British argued that the commission reported to Parliament, so its members should come from Parliament. The viceroy, Lord Irwin, agreed.

Key terms:

• Simon Commission: the group of seven British members of Parliament sent to report on how India should be governed in future.
• Lathi: a long, heavy stick carried by Indian police.
• Nehru Report: the plan for a constitution written by Indian leaders in 1928.
• Joint electorates: voters of every religion voting together for the same candidates.
• Fourteen Points: Jinnah's list of Muslim demands, March 1929.
• Irwin Declaration: the viceroy's statement of October 1929 that India would one day gain dominion status.
• Purna Swaraj: complete independence, with no ties to the British Empire.

The boycott: 'Simon Go Back'

To Indians, an all-British commission was an insult. Outsiders would decide India's future, and Indians were not thought fit even to sit in the room. At Madras in December 1927, Congress voted to boycott the commission 'at every stage and in every form'. The Hindu Mahasabha joined the boycott. The Muslim League split. Jinnah's group boycotted, while a group led by Sir Muhammad Shafi chose to cooperate.

The commission landed at Bombay on 3 February 1928. It was met by a hartal, black flags and banners reading 'Simon Go Back'. The same happened in city after city.

At Lahore, on 30 October 1928, police charged a protest march with lathis. Its leader, the veteran nationalist Lala Lajpat Rai, aged 63, was beaten. He died on 17 November. A month later a young revolutionary, Bhagat Singh, and his companions shot dead a British police officer in Lahore in revenge.

The boycott was not total. Some Muslim groups gave evidence to the commission. So did Dr Ambedkar, on behalf of the untouchables. The commission's report came out in 1930. It suggested ending Dyarchy, but it did not mention dominion status, and by then few Indians cared what it said.

The Nehru Report, 1928

Birkenhead had dared Indians to write a constitution that all of them could accept. They took up the challenge. In 1928 an All Parties Conference set up a committee led by Motilal Nehru, the father of Jawaharlal. The Nehru Report was ready in August 1928. It asked for:

• dominion status for India (remember, self-government inside the British Empire)
• a strong central government
• the vote for all adult men and women
• a list of basic rights, including freedom of religion
• joint electorates in place of separate electorates, with seats kept for Muslims at the centre and in provinces where they were a minority, but not in the Punjab and Bengal, where they were the majority.

This was the first major attempt by Indians from many parties to draw up a constitution. But it pleased neither wing of the movement.

Jinnah's response

In December 1928 an all-parties meeting at Calcutta discussed the report. Jinnah asked for changes. He wanted one third of the central seats for Muslims, seats kept for Muslims in the Punjab and Bengal, and more power for the provinces. The meeting voted him down. He is reported to have called this 'the parting of the ways'.

In March 1929 Jinnah set out his Fourteen Points. They included:

• a federal India, with strong provinces and a weaker centre
• one third of the seats in the central assembly for Muslims
• keeping separate electorates
• full religious freedom for every community.

This was a turning point. In 1927 Jinnah had offered to give up separate electorates. Now he insisted on them. Congress ignored the Fourteen Points, and from then on Congress and the Muslim League drew up rival plans for India.

Congress demands complete independence, 1929

At its Calcutta meeting in December 1928, Congress almost split over the Nehru Report. Gandhi found a compromise. Britain would be given one year to accept the report. If it did not, Congress would demand complete independence and begin civil disobedience.

Labour won the election of 1929. On 31 October the viceroy made the Irwin Declaration. He said that dominion status was the 'natural issue of India's constitutional progress', and he promised a conference in London. But he gave no date, and there was an angry outcry from Conservatives in Britain. When Gandhi and other leaders met Irwin on 23 December, he could not promise that the conference would draw up a dominion constitution.

A few days later Congress met at Lahore. Its president was Jawaharlal Nehru, aged 40. The year was up, so Congress acted.

• It dropped the Nehru Report and dominion status. Purna Swaraj was now its firm demand, not just a distant goal as at Madras in 1927.
• It told its members to leave the councils and refused to attend the London conference.
• It gave permission for a new campaign of civil disobedience.

At midnight on 31 December 1929, Nehru raised the Congress flag beside the River Ravi. On 26 January 1930, crowds across India took a pledge of independence. What Gandhi did next is covered in The Salt March and Civil Disobedience, 1930-31.

Exam-style question

Extract A (a practice extract written for this lesson, in the style of a modern history book)

The Simon Commission was a blunder from the very start. With astonishing arrogance, the British government sent seven men to decide the future of India and did not include a single Indian among them. The insult pulled a quarrelling nationalist movement back together. Wherever the commissioners went they were met by black flags, closed shops and cries of 'Simon Go Back'. Far from calming India, this clumsy mission pushed Congress towards its demand for complete independence.

What impression does the author give about the Simon Commission? You must use Extract A to explain your answer. [6 marks]