Category Mahatma Gandhi

          The Failure of the First Round Table Conference was marked by the absence of the Indian National Congress.

          The Second Round Table Conference was held in a less favourable environment. In India, Lord Irwin had been succeeded by Lord Willingdon. In England, The Labour Government was now replaced by a National Coalition Government. Samuel Hoare was the Secretary of State for the Government of India.

          Meanwhile, there was a robust protest in India against the statement of Winston Churchill who called Gandhi a ‘Naked Seditious Fakir’. The Second Round Table Conference opened on September 7th00, 1931. Gandhiji represented the Indian National Congress and Sarojini Naidu represented Indian women. Madan Mohan Malaviya, Ghanshyam Das Birla, Muhammad lqbal, Sir Mirza Ismail, S.K. Dutta and Sir Syed Ali Imam were among the other people who attended the conference.

          This session witnessed a prodigious number of Indian delegates. These included loyalists, landlords, representatives of the princes etc. Gandhiji put forth many demands being the only official representative of the Congress.

          Introduction of a responsible government in India was one of the many demands. But, it remained a dream till our independence. Gandhiji opposed the demand to treat the Dalits as a minority separate from the Hindu community and on this issue he had a clash with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The conference was concluded on December 11th, 1931 and Gandhiji returned almost empty handed.

            The rising intensity of the civil disobedience movement worried the British. Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy of India, initiated negotiations with Gandhiji, which led to the signing of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact on 5th March in 1931 before the Second Round Table Conference in London. There were many provisions in the pact.

            One of the main provisions was to stop the civil disobedience movement. Another proposal was the participation of the Indian National Congress in the Round Table Conference. The pact also stated that the British government was also ready to lift the ban on the Indian National Congress. Peaceful picketing was allowed, but picketing for the boycott of foreign goods was not to be allowed beyond a limit permitted by law.

            The Congress agreed to join the Second Round Table Conference to sketch the constitutional reforms. Some of the other conditions were that the British would retract all orders imposing curbs on the activities of the Indian National Congress. They also agreed to withdraw trials except those involving violence and to release of prisoners arrested for participating in the civil dis-obedience movement. It was also agreed that the British would remove the tax on salt, and allow Indians to produce, trade and sell salt legally and for their own use.

       The Round Table Conferences were a series of conferences aimed to discuss the future of India.

            Demands for Swaraj or self-rule had been growing across India. By the 1930s, many British politicians believed that India needed to move towards a dominion status. In order to make decisions regarding this, they conducted three Round Table Conferences in London. 

   The first one among these was organized in England on November 12th, 1930. There were 89 delegates from India who attended the conference. Indian delegates also made their presence felt in the conference, but no member of the Indian National Congress was invited. It was also true that many of the Indian leaders were imprisoned for their participation in the civil disobedience movement.

          Later, the British realized that they would have to work with the Congress as it was India’s most prominent party. As a gesture of goodwill, Gandhiji and other Congress leaders were released. 

        The participation of women in the freedom fight was not notable, until the Dandi March. But the Salt Satyagraha changed the whole scenario. Thousands of women, from urban to rural areas began to actively participate in Satyagraha. Gandhiji had asked only men to be part of Dandi March. But the radical action inspired the women of the country as well.

          Sarojini Naidu, the nightingale of India, led 2500 volunteers in a march to Dharasana salt works on 21st May. The salt work was guarded by the police. They attacked the satyagrahis with lathis. Not a single person raised his hand against the police. Sarojini Naidu was arrested, and sent to jail.

          The participation of women in Salt Satyagraha was rapidly growing day by day. The Salt Satyagraha earned glory because of the massive participation from all walks of society.

          Civil Disobedience spread like fire all around India. The new visible spirit strengthened the minds of millions of Indians. Members of the public dared to make salt by themselves by breaking the Salt Law of the British.

          Salt was sold illegally all over the coastal regions of India. About eighty thousand people were arrested in response to the aggressive violation of the Salt Law by the end of the month.

          The Civil Disobedience had its beginning in Salt Satyagraha. It grew into mass Satyagraha later. This movement included actions like boycotting British clothes and goods.

          Peasants refused to pay taxes at the cost of losing their crops and land. The British used every means to suppress all forms of rebellion against the government and even declared the Congress and its associate organizations as unlawful.

          None of these measures weakened the Movement. On the other hand, the British government was shaken by Satyagraha. The non-violent activism of Gandhiji left the British confused whether or not to arrest him.

            The Dandi March was indeed a march towards India’s Independence. It was covered extensively through newspapers and documentaries. This historic event grabbed the attention of newspapers internationally and they wrote editorials about it. It gave momentum to the nationwide civil disobedience. This march was an organized challenge to the British authority and in a way, a blow to their esteem.

            The Dandi March, which was followed by the Non-cooperation movement and the declaration of Purna Swaraj, also occupied a significant place in the pages of India’s history.

            Do you know what happened on that day? Gandhiji started a march from his ashram in Sabarmati, to Dandi Beach in Gujarat. The march lasted for 24 days. It began on 12th March, 1930, and ended on 6th April, 1930. About 79 people accompanied Gandhiji for the march of 390 Km to the Dandi beach. Many people gathered and joined them on the way and the small group had grown into a huge procession as they reached Dandi. When Gandhi broke the Salt Law at 6:30 am on 6th April 1930, by making salt, it ignited large scale acts of civil disobedience against the British Salt Law by millions of Indians.