Government of India Act 1935

Government of India Act, 1935

Reading a Primary Source

History-II

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Submitted to:

Prof. Hota Agni Kumar

NALSAR University of Law

Submitted by:

Anirudh Singh

2015-5LLB-71

NALSAR University of Law

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In January 1924, Labor Party assumed power in Britain. Before coming to power, it alleviated the expectations of various Indians, insinuating at dominion status for India as the necessary provision of colonial accord. But when it came to power, the policy accepted was an extension of that of the conservatives, explicitly following the current situation. Everyone, irrespective of which party he or she was a member of, asserted that Britain would not abandon its accountability to India. However, it was unclear as to what the accountability was and how and when it would be abandoned. The reappearance of the Conservative government saw the extension of established policy.

When British government unexpectedly assigned Simon Commission to assess, allegedly the implementation of 1919 Reforms some stated that this measure was to forestall the arriving government (perhaps the Labor party which was in favor of India than the Conservatives) from being compassionate towards India’s ambitions for Swaraj. Indians were barred from this commission because as Viceroy Irwin explained, Indians could not be expected to be “impartial and fair”. The Indians rejected it, claiming that no constitution made by British would be taken into consideration. The commission suggested a unitary and federal kind of government to accept all of India, and proposed that diarchy in the provinces should be eliminated.

Indian National Congress adopted Nehru Report in the Madras Session, which visualized a sovereign parliament with an Upper and Lower House with powers akin to other dominions of British empire, and a federal system and mixed electorates spread throughout the whole territory for central and provincial legislatures. Mohommad Ali Jinnah, also known as the founder of Pakistan, brought in changes relating to representation of Muslims in legislature, which were not accepted. This proposal can be said to be the herald of Indian constitution as finally drafted up. However, it made bifurcation of opinion with respect to what should be asked from British- Complete independence, or Purna Swaraj, was the vision of common masses.  

And thus, various episodes of Independence struggle started from here. The Civil Disobedience Movement and the Dandi March; the Salt Satyagrah initiated by Mahatma Gnadhi in 1930, to resist the salt tax by breaching the salt laws; the Press Ordinance by government begetting the strict terms of  rescinded Press Act of 1910; mass incarceration of Satyagrahis which included leaders and the rule of subjugation; the Round Table Conference which deliberated the terms of Simon commission report; Gandhi’s pact with Lord Irwin (which is projected as an event to show how gravely British took the INC and its spokesman) and Round Table conference, which revealed the government’s failure to answer the question of communal representation.