Round Table Conferences

Round Table Conferences

1st Round Table Conference: • British government decided to hold a Round Table Conference • First session was started in London on 12 November, 1930 • Except Congress, all Indian political parties participated • Congress party wanted to enforce completely Nehru Report as the future constitution of India • The Muslim leaders like Mr. Jinnah Mohamamad Ali Jauhar, MaulviFazl-i-Haq, Sir Muhammad Shafi, Sir Shah Nawaz, Ch.ZafarUlIah and GhulamHussainHidayatUllah participated in the conference

Deliverables • At the conference, • approval of a federal form of government, • separate electorate for the Muslims, • cooperation of princely states for the formation of All India Federation, • Sindh as a separate administrative unit • formation of responsible governments in the provinces were the most important decisions • .It was ended on 19 January 1931.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact • The failure of congress Civil Disobedience Movement exposed its popularity in the eyes of the British • Congress realized the British that no constitutional framework would be workable without the approval of the Congress • In order to get dignity among the British eyes, the • .Lord Irwin held talks with Gandhi. • The agreement between Gandhi and Irwin was signed on 5 March, 1931

Cont… • According this pact, • Federation was to be created, • ordinance promulgated in connection with the civil disobedience movement would be withdrawn • pending prosecutions would be withdrawn • prisoners would be released • fines would be release and fines would be remitted • Congress agreed to call off its Civil Disobedience Movement immediately • Congress would attend the upcoming Second Round Table Conference

From 1st Round Table to Communal Award Second Round Table Conference • It was started on 7 September, 1931 in London ,lasted till 1 December, 1931 • The important participants of the Conference • Gandhi, Allamalqbal. While Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar died by the time when the conference was started

Cont… • Gandhi adopted a stern attitude against the Muslims and tried to give impression that India was a single state and Indians were to be considered a single nation irrespective of the followers of the different religions • He also remained adamant about not giving any rights to the minorities. • Due to Gandhi’s stubborn attitude, all the minority groups passed a resolution for their rights and Concluded at an agreement and this conference was failed without producing any results. • this conference exposed the mentality of the Nehru

Third Round Table Conference • It began on 17 November, 1932 and lasted till 24 November, 1932 • Gandhi and Jinnah did not participate in the Conference • The third Round Table Conference could not resolve the long-standing issues between the Hindus and the Muslims • It proved a mere formality • An unbridgeable gulf was now widened between the both major communities of India • This conference proved a farce

Communal Award • British efforts failed to make a future constitutional package for the Indians, • British published their own scheme known as Communal Award

Cont… • According to this award, separate electorate for the Muslims and for the other minorities was accepted • Ramsay Macdonald promised to recommend to the British Parliament the substitution for the governemnt’s decision of any agreed solution reached by the Indian leaders themselves • It failed to give Muslim an overall majority of seats in the Legislatures of Punjab and Bengal

Cont… • In the Punjab, the Muslims were given 47.6% as against a population proportion of 56.5% • In Bengal where the Muslims formed 56% of the total population, they received about 48% of the total provinces • It reduced the Muslim majority in Bengal and Punjab, which was unacceptable to Muslims • The Award failed to satisfy all the three main communities

Congress Ministries (1937-39) Election 1937

Election 1937 • Provincial elections were held in British India in the winter of 1936-37 as mandated by the Government of India Act 1935 • Elections were held in eleven provinces • Madras, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, United Provinces, Bombay Presidency, Assam, NWFP, Bengal, Punjab and Sindh • The final results of the elections were declared in February 1937 • The Indian National Congress emerged in power in all the provinces except for three - Bengal, Punjab, and Sindh • The All-India Muslim League failed to form the government in any province • The Congress ministries resigned in October and November 1939, in protest against Viceroy Lord Linlithgow's action of declaring India to be a loud-mouthed in the Second World War without consulting the Indian people

The election results were a blow to the League. • Jinnahwas offered to form coalitions with the Congress • The League insisted that the Congress should not nominate any Muslims to the ministries • (the League) claimed to be the exclusive representative of Indian Muslims • This was not acceptable to the Congress, and it declined the League's offer • In three additional provinces, Central Provinces, Bihar, and Orissa, the Congress won clear majorities. • In the overwhelmingly Muslim North-West Frontier Province, Congress won 19 out of 50 seats and was able, with minor party support, to form a ministry

Sind • Sind Legislative Assembly had 60 members • The Sind United Party emerged the leader with 22 seats, and the Congress secured 8 seats • Jinnah tried to set up a League Parliamentary Board in Sindh in 1936, but he failed, though 72% of the population was Muslim. • Though 34 seats were reserved for Muslims, the Muslim League could secure none of them • Punjab • The Unionist Party under SikanderHyat Khan formed the government in Punjab with 67 out of 175 seats. • The Congress won 18 seats and the AkaliDal, 10

Bangal • In Bengal, though the Congress was the largest party (with 52 seats), The KrishakPraja Party of A. K. FazlulHuq (with 36 seats) was able to form a coalition government • United Provinces • The UP legislature consisted of a Legislative Council of 52 and a Legislative Assembly of 228 elected members • The Congress won a clear majority in the United Provinces, with 133 seats, while the Muslim League won only 27 out of the 64 seats reserved for Muslims

Congress ministries

Outline: Congress Ministries • Introduction: • Aspects of Congress Ministries • Atrocities of Congress Ministries: • Muslim Reaction • Resignation of Congress Ministries • Impacts of Congress Ministries: • Conclusion

Congress Ministries 1939 • Introduction • The establishment of Congress Ministries was a unique episode in the Modern history of Political India • It was for the first time that the responsible government was established

Congress Ministries • Under Britain rule and for the first time, Indians were able to form their own government But the Congress rule was not free from controversy • Rule was marked by the Congress discrimination and atrocities against the Muslims • It proved to be a turning point in the history of Hindu-Muslim co-existence • Congress ministries had defining role in the alienation of Muslim India from the yoke of Hindu India

Atrocities of Congress • Congress conspiracies against All India Muslim League (AIML) • Hindu Conspiracies to erode the identity of Muslims • Economic Exploitation • Religious interference • Communal Violence

Atrocities of Congress Ministries: • Congress conspiracy against All India Muslim League (AIML) • Congress started its efforts to destroy All India Muslim League (AIML) in the subcontinent • Congress’s refusal to form government coalition with league • Congress refused to form the coalition governments with the All India Muslim League in the provinces of the subcontinent

Congress humiliating conditions for AIML in UP • UP s a province had a great importance due to four factors; like the citadel of Mughalglory, development of Hindu culture due to Hindu-Muslim social intermixture, and the ‘home province of Nehru • Ahmad Saeed wrote in his book, “Trek to Pakistan”, • “It was commonly and popularly believed that agreement between the Hindus and the Muslims in this province was bound to throw its shadow on the whole of the subcontinent.” • In the UP. Legislative Assembly, the number of elected Muslim members was 66 Mualana Azad, the, president of the Congress wrote a letter to Ch Khaliq-uz-Zaman about the formation of coalition government But this letter had the following conditions

Conditions to join Collusion Govt. • The UP Muslim League Parliamentary Party cease to exist • The existing members of the Muslim League Party in the Assembly shall become a part of the Congress Party • These new members of the Congress would abide by the code of conduct prepared by the Working Committee of the Congress • Muslim League Parliamentary Board would be dissolved and the League would not be put up its own candidates in any future elections • In the event the Congress Party deciding on resignation from the Ministry or the Assembly seats, the new members would follow suit • Muslim League, therefore, rejected these terms and a pure Congress ministry was formed in the United Provinces

Role in the fall of Sir SaadUllah government in Assam • Congress played a major role in the fall of Sir SaadUllahgovernment in Assam • Khalid bin Sayeed mentions about the remarks of Sir Harry Haig, Goyernor of UP, • “The enthusiasm of the masses for Congress Raj melted imperceptibly into idea of Hindu Raj, which were certainly prevalent throughout the Province. These ideas were deeply resented by the Muslims, who were invincibly determined not to be ruled by the Hindus.”

Nehru’s Mass contact campaign • Nehru and the Congress leaders started to build direct link with the Muslims and tried to remove their “narrow mindedness” and prejudice against the Hindus • Though they offered ministries to the Leaguers, but they had to sign unconditionally • Meanwhile Congress also hired the services of Maulvis to create split among the Muslims

Hindu Conspiracies to erode the identity of Muslims • Educational policies: • Immediately after coming to power, the Congress declared a Tri-colourflag (Taranga) as the national flag and Band-e-Matram as national anthem • WardhaEducational Scheme was prepared • Co education • Teaching of music as compulsory • The publication of books described and propagated that all the religions were genuine and, therefore, there was no need to follow any particular religion for salvation • In Behar and C.P., a new scheme known as VidhyaMandarScheme • The Muslims were supposed to study Hindi or Marhati language • The Muslims rejected such proposals and started agitation in front of the secretariat atl Nagpur in January, 1939.

Its main purpose was to prepare the generation of the Muslims devoid of knowledge and insensitive to their past cultural glory, civilization and religion • The educational policy of the Congress was aimed to put an emphasis on the hind nationalism of the Indians • Muslim students were persuaded to bow before the portrait of Gandhi

Cont… • Economic Exploitation. • The doors of employment Opportunities for the Muslims were closed by the Congress Party • Economic exploitation for the Muslims Business • Religious interference • They prohibited the cow slaughtering and introduced the criminal Jaws against the claimants of this rule, such steps were against the religious beliefs and practices of the Muslims • Communal Violence • During the Congress governed provinces communal riots started between the Muslims and the Hindus • Till august of 1939, there had been 57 communal riots with 11,100 casualties

Muslim Reaction • Muslim league tried to cope up situation through constitutional wars and tried hard to find rapprochement with Hindus • In 1938, AIML passed a resolution and asked Congress to address the major grievances of Muslims • AIML was forced to change its creed and Quaid-e presented Pir-Purreport, ShareefReport,Fazl-ul- Haq Report • Resignation of Congress Ministries: • Muslims observed 22’ October, 1939 as ‘Day of Deliverance’ • Congress resigned on the pretext that Britain inducted army in 2 World War Without the approved consent of Congress and representative institutions

The Pirpur Report: • The first report is entitled as the PIRPUR REPORT which came out on March 28, 1938, the Council of ML appointed an eight-member committee under the presidentship of Raja Syed Muhammad Mehdi of Pirpur that presented its report on, November 15, 1938. It tried to dig out the cruelties of the Congress ministries in seven provinces. The report took up the Congress support to the rival Muslim organizations, intimidation and threats to the pro-Muslim League people. This report also talks about the policies which the Congress in different provinces and how those policies adversely affected the people of those provinces. • The Sharif Report, March 1939 • There is another report the Sharif Report that was released in March 1939, and this report focuses on the province of Bihar, what was the Congress ministries doing in Bihar and how the Muslims suffered under the govt of Congress in Bihar. The ML deputed Mr. Sharif with members to investigate the injustices under the dictatorial rule of the Hindus. This report mainly collected the facts, concentrating on ill treatment of the government with the Muslims in Bihar. • The Fazl-ul- Haq Report: (December 1939) • The third report is a statement or a detailed account given by the chief minister of Bengal A. K. Fazl-ul-Haq, who published a pamphlet entitled Muslim Sufferings Under the Rule of Congress and made many alarming revelations e.g. forbidding of Azan, attacks in mosques, noisy processions of the Hindu scoundrels, forbidding of the cow-slaughter etc. This pamphlet responded the indictments by the Congress on the Muslims. At that time the chief minister was described or labeled as the premier. This report was a list of complaints and grievances which the Muslims developed against the Congress ministries in different parts of India.

Impacts of Congress Ministries • Alienation of Muslim India from Hindus • Congress ministries shattered all the dreams of united India and Hindu Muslim unity • Muslims became thoroughly alienated from India and became disillusioned from the policies of Congress • It is evident from the rising popularity of League during by polls • Exposed Hindu Mentality: • Muslims realized that Hindu! Congress could never be sincere to Muslims • Hindus want establish Ram Raj in Indian Congress ministries created among the Muslims a realization that the rule of Congress was a trailer if they occupied power, what they would do to Muslims • The Congress would reduce the Muslims to the perpetual minority, groaning under the yoke of tyrant majority

Cont…. • Deep sense of insecurity among Muslims: • Congress rule aroused a deep Muslim Suspicion that Hindu can never be their friends and it went a long way in shaping their future • Gave strong Impetus! Boost to Muslim Nationalism: • Congress rule reinforced Muslim belief in their exclusive identity • This led to tow — nation theory and specific ideology i.e. ideology of Pakistan • Transformation in the Outlook of Jinnah • Congress Ministries brought a paradigm shift in the strategy of Jinnah • In the beginning Jinnah was willing to form coalition ministries and cooperate with it, later he became champion of Muslim and Pakistan cause • He started his campaign and emerged as a s Muslim leader

Cont… • Popularity of Demand of Pakistan: • 1938 that Sind Assembly passed a resolution in favour of Pakistan. In 1938 • Jinnah instructed the Muslim Leaders to look into various partition proposals • In February, 1940 The proposal was laid open for discussion during the 27 annual session of AIML which was held between 22-24 March which is known as Lahore Resolution • Brought Muslim Provincial Leaders close to Jinnah • Those Muslim leaders like MoulviFazalHaq, Sir SikandarHayat, Sir Saadullah Khan feared the dominance of Congress and joined AIML

Jinnah emerged as an undisputed leader of Muslims: • Jinnah rose as an undisputed Muslim Leader and sole spokesman of League • He was bestowed With the title of Quaid-e during Patna session of League in 1938 • This was also synchronized in the change of Jinnah’s cap and shairwani, a typical Muslim dress which symbolized that he had changed his role from champion of Hindu-Muslim unity to the champion of Muslim separatism in India • Significance of Muslims in British eyes • This created a vacuum which was eventually filled by Muslims • British realized the importance of Muslim India as it needed Muslim support for their war efforts • British realized that there were not two parties, but three parties, Hindus, Muslims and British • This change in British outlook is also evident from the British policies in 1940s as all their offers / packages! deals for Hindu Muslim question gave Substantial weightage. to the Muslim demands. • August offer, Cripps Mission, Cabinet Mission, 3 June Plan are examples of it

Conclusion • Start of a New Phase-Muslim Seperatism • End of Hindu Muslim Unity • AIML as Sole Representative • Congress was no more a liberal Party • Dream of Hindu Raj • Muslim Nationalism • Muslim Culture (Jinnah Cap, Shirwani) • Muslim Identity in the eyes of British • Muslim Ideology • Strengthening Two Nation Theory

Round Table Conferences