Q6.

Discuss the outcomes of the three sessions of the Round Table

Conference.

Round Table Conferences

Introduction

The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of

peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian
political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These
started in November 1930 and ended in December 1932. They were
conducted as per the recommendation of Muhammad Ali
Jinnah to Viceroy Lord Irwin and Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald,[2]
[3] and by the report submitted by the Simon Commission in May 1930.
The conferences failed to generate any consensus among Indian
leaders. Due to its failure to resolve communal problem of India, the
British government was forced to introduce communal award. Its only
successful outcome of government of India, Act 1935. Largely, after the
RTC the communal problem of India was further worsened and Hindu-
Muslim relations reached at point of no return.

Background

1929 saw a spike in political fervor as Gandhi called for an act of civil
disobedience to protest the Simon Commission findings and Bhagat
Singh detonated a bomb in Meerut. In his infamous Irwin proclamation,
Viceroy Lord Irwin pledged a round table discussion following the
delivery of the Simon commission findings.

Congress agreed to abstain from the conference, start a Civil

Disobedience Movement, and set Purna Swaraj as its ultimate goal at
its Lahore session in December 1929. Jawahar Lal Nehru was the
president at the time.

The Labour Party-led British government convened the round table

talks to explore the constitutional reforms in India on an equal basis.
The administration was prepared to accede to the demands of Gandhi
and the Congress, to put an end to the movement, and to participate in
the round table discussion.

The round table conference’s goal should be to adopt the dominion

status, and the fundamental idea behind the status should be approved
right away. The conference must have representation from the majority
of the congress. Political prisoners must be given a wide amnesty and
subject to an arbitration policy. Viceroy Irwin rejected the demands
made in the Delhi Manifesto by stating that the conference was not
intended to address those issues.
There were numerous reasons that led to the first round table conference and
meeting of the Britishers and Indians. Check here the points that will take you
through the history of the first round table conference.

1. An increase in the number of members of the British polity put forth

the demand for India to be granted dominion status.
2. In India, the freedom movement was leading further, with the principles
and ideology of Gandhi for swaraj or self-rule.
3. The conferences were in accordance with Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s
request to the Viceroy of India Lord Irwin and British Prime Minister
James Ramsay MacDonald and the Simon Commission report.
4. The 1930 round table conference is remarked to be bringing the Indians
and Britishers the status of being equals for the first time in history. The
inaugural conference embarked on 12th November

First Round Table Conference

Demands for India to be given dominion status were growing in some

sectors of the British political system. In India, the swaraj, or self-rule,
movement was in full swing, with the charismatic Gandhi leading the
way.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s advice to Lord Irwin, the viceroy of India at the
time, and James Ramsay MacDonald, the British prime minister at the
time, as well as the Simon Commission report, served as the foundation
for the conferences. For the first time, Indians and Britons interacted as
“equals.” The inaugural conference started on November 12th, 1930.
Many more Indian groups were present, despite the Congress and
some notable corporate figures declining to attend.
First Round Table Conference Features

The inaugural Round Table Conference, which took place in London

between November 1930 and January 1931, was presided over by
British PM Ramsay MacDonald. The British and Indians finally met on an
equal footing at this point. The Congress and a few notable business
figures declined to attend.

The Princely States, Muslim League, Justice Party, Hindu Mahasabha,

and others were present. Little was achieved as a result of the
conference. The British government acknowledged that any discussion
regarding India’s future constitutional governance would need to
include involvement from the Indian National Congress.

First Round Table Conference Participants

The First Round Table Conference was attended by the following

individuals:

Almost 89 members attended the conference

Three British political parties sent a total of 16 delegates.

There were 74 Indian delegates in total.

58 representatives from political parties in India.

16 delegates from princely states

Universities, Burma, Sindh, landlords (from Bihar, the United Provinces,
and Orissa), and other provinces were also represented. However,
because the most of them were behind bars for their involvement in
the Civil Disobedience Movement, neither the Indian National Congress
nor any important political or economic leaders from India participated.

 Muslim Leaders: Quaid-e-Azam, Sir Agha Khan, Muhammad Ali

Jauhur, .Maulvi Fazl Haq and Sir Muhammad Shafi  

Hindu Mahasabha: B. S. Moonje and M.R. Jayakar  

Liberals: Tej Bahadur Sapru, C. Y. Chintamani and Srinivasa Sastri 

Sikh: Sardar Ujjal Singh 

Depressed Classes: B. R. Ambedkar 

Princely states: Akbar Hydari (Dewan of Hyderabad), Mirza

Ismail (Diwan of Mysore), Kailas Narain Haksar of Gwalior, Maharaja
Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda,
Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Ganga Singh of
Bikaner, Nawab Hamidullah Khan of Bhopal, K.S. Ranjitsinhji of
Nawanagar, MaharajaJai Singh Prabhakar of Alwar and the rulers
of Indore, Rewa, Dholpur, Koriya, Sangli and Sarila.

First Round Table Conference Issues

One of the topics that was covered was the structure of the federal
government.

The provincial charter was considered.

Defense Services for Minorities in Sindh and the Northwest Frontier
Provinces.

Legislative accountability of the executive

Separate electorates for “untouchables” was supported by Dr. B. R.

Ambedkar.

A national federation was suggested by Tej Bahadur Sapru. The Muslim

League supported this. The princely states agreed, provided that their
internal sovereignty is upheld.

The Muslim-Hindu differences overcastted the conference as the

Hindus were pushing for a powerful central government while the
Muslims stood for a loose federation of completely autonomous
provinces. The Muslims demanded maintenance of weightage and
separate electorates, the Hindus their abolition. The Muslims claimed
statutory majority in Punjab and Bengal, while Hindus resisted their
imposition. In Punjab, the situation was complicated by inflated Sikh
claims.

First Round Table Conference Outcome

Failed due to absence of Congress

Between 1930 and 1931, the First Round Table Conference took place.
Although the Round Table Conference (RTC) amendments were
approved, they were never put into practice. The Civil Disobedience
Movement was continued by Indian National Congress leaders during
the First RTC. The First Round Table Conference was therefore
considered a failure.

Paved way for second round table conference

The British government expressed hope for INC leaders’ attendance at

the Second Round Table Conference and acknowledged the significance
of the Congress Party’s participation in Round Table Conferences for
successful reform implementation.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact on March 5, 1931., which put an end to the Civil
Disobedience Movement and decided to participate in the Second RTC,
was signed by Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin in March 1931. The
British government administration recognised the importance of
including the Indian National Congress in discussions about India’s
future constitutional arrangements.

 The Congress would discontinue the Civil Disobedience

Movement.
 The Congress would participate in the Round Table Conference.
 The Government would withdraw all ordinances issued to curb
the Congress.
 The Government would withdraw all prosecutions relating to
offenses not involving violence.
  The Government would release all persons undergoing sentences
of imprisonment for their activities in the civil disobedience
movement.

The pact shows that the British Government was anxious to bring the
Congress to the conference table.

Sub committees on India.

Eight subcommittees were set up to deal with the details. These

committees dealt with the federal structure, provincial constitution,
franchise, Sindh, the North West Frontier Province, defense services
and minorities.

Failure to reach consensus on centre province relations

Conference failed to reach on any consensus related to division of

power between federation and provinces. In other words, the primary
muslim demand of the provincial autonomy was rejected or at least put
in the backburner for time being.

Introducing responsible government in the provinces

The conference also concluded unanimously that diarchy system in the
provinces should be abolished and that provinces should have their
own responsible governments.

Separation of Sindh and separate electorate for the Muslims

Two primary demands of Muslims that were made in the 14-Points of

Jinnah were also given nod in this conference and those were
separation of Sindh from Bombay Presidency and the continuation of
the Separate electorate.

Another consensus was related to formation All India federation

Tej Bahadur Sapru brought forth the All-India Federation during

the First Round Table Conference. The first RTC consensually
decided that India would have federal form of system comprised of All
India federation in which princely states would also be part of Plan was
approved to persuade princely states to join All-India federation. The
Muslim League was also in favor of this plan.

Demand for Separate Electorate by Dr B.R. Ambedkar

Dr B.R Ambedkar brought forth the demand for the Untouchables

to be provided electorates. The first round table conference
assented to the idea. They also suggested that the Muslims,
Christians, Sikhs and Suppressed Classes, Anglo-Indians, and
Europeans should also be represented.

Responsible government at the centre

Responsible government will be established at centre but defence and

foreign policy of India would remain under governor general of India

Second Round Table Conference

The Second Round Table Conference, which was convened in London
from 7 September 1931 to 1 December 1931 to address the
shortcomings of the First Round Table Conference, included Gandhi and
the Indian National Congress, who had been particularly invited for the
Conference.

Second Round Table Conference Participants

British PM

The participants included James PM BRITISH Ramsay MacDonald, the

British Prime Minister, and British leaders from several political parties.
the princes, maharajas, and divans of India’s numerous princely
realms.

The Maharaja of Indore, the Maharaja of Rewa, the Maharaja of

Baroda, the Nawab of Bhopal, the Maharaja of Bikaner, the Maharaja of
Patiala, Sir Muhammad Akbar Hyadi of Hyderabad, Mirza Ismail of
Mysore, and many more princes participated in the Second Round
Table Conference.

Congress…….Gandhi

Muslim participants,

Muhammad Iqbail, Aga Khan III, Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, Maulana

Shaukat Ali, and Raja Sher Muhammad Khan of Domeli.

Representatives of Hinduism: B. Diwan Bahadur Raja Narendra NAth,

M. R. Jayakar, and S. Moonje.

On behalf of the downtrodden classes:

R. Ambedkar.

SIKHS

Sardar Ujjal Singh and Sardar Sampuran Singh are the Sikh delegates.

Female

Radhabai Subbarayan and Sarojini Naidu

Liberal Representatives:
Justice Party, Parsis, Anglo-Indians, Sindhis, businesspeople,
academics, Burmese, and Europeans.

Second Round Table Conference Important Events

The main distinction between the second Round Table Conference and
the first was the inclusion of the Indian National Congress. The
conference officially started on September 7th, 1931. The Indian
National Congress, which was solely represented by Gandhi,
participated because of the Gandhi-Irwin pact.

The second significant difference was that, unlike the last conference,
Ramsay MacDonald, the British Prime Minister, was now in charge of a
National government rather than a Labor one. The British supported
creating a distinct electorate as a communal reward for the
representation of minorities in India.

Gandhi rejected this incentive because he disagreed with the notion

that minorities should be treated differently from Hindus. Gandhi and
Ambedkar presented opposing viewpoints on the communal award of a
separate electorate for the untouchables, who were regarded as a
minority and were divided based on their ideas, at this Round Table
session. With the aid of the Poona Pact, 1932, the two of them were
able to resolve this matter in the end.

Second Round Table Conference Outcomes

Due to the numerous conflicts and differences among the attendees,
the Second Round Table Conference was regarded as a failure. It was
believed that the Indian National Congress spoke for the entire nation.
The other participants and the party leaders disagreed with the Indian
National Congress’s assertion.

A Gandhi’s claim of sole representative of Indians

The main task of the conference was done through the two committees
on federal structure and minorities. Gandhi was a member of both but
he adopted a very unreasonable attitude. He claimed that he
represented all India and dismissed all other Indian delegates as non-
representative because they did not belong to the Congress.

B Gandhi rejected the right of separate electorate for the minorities

Gandhi rejected idea of separate electorate for the schedule

castes.such as Dalits, jains and untouchables. Gandhi argued that
untouchables were part of Hinduism and there was no reason to accord
them right of separate electorate as such step would threaten the
Hinduism. Gandhi threatened to go on fast till death if Dalits were
accorded separate electorate (Mon Varat)

“As far as Hindu religion is concerned, the separate electorate would

chop it into pieces”. Mohandas Gandhi.
C. Communal problem continued to haunt policymakers

The communal problem represented the most difficult issue for the
delegates. Gandhi again tabled the Congress scheme for a settlement, a
mere reproduction of the Nehru Report, but all the minorities rejected
it.

D.. Right of separate electorate for the Muslims were conditional for
Gandhi.

During second RTC, Gandhi said that he was ready to support right of
the separate electorate and could give consideration to the 14-Points if
Muslims withdrew their support for right of separate for the
untouchables. The proposal of Gandhi was rejected by the Agha Khan.

E.. Joint declaration by the minorities again Gandhi’s scheme.

As a counter to the Congress scheme, the Muslims, the depressed

classes, the Indian Christians, the Anglo-Indians, and the Europeans
presented a joint resolution against stance of Gandhi and concluded an
agreement to Minorities under the leadership of Agha Khan in which
they presented their demand of right of separate electorate for all the
Indian minorities including untouchables which were at odds with the
demands of Gandhi. As their main demands were not acceptable to
Gandhi, the communal issue was postponed for future discussion.

F.. Reports of committees were presented.

Three important committees drafted their reports; the Franchise

Committee, the Federal Finance Committee and States Inquiry
Committee.

G.. Absence of Quaid-i-azam from the second RTC.

Quaid-i-Azam did not participate in the session of the Second Round

Table Conference as he had decided to keep himself aloof from the
Indian politics and to practice as a professional lawyer in England.

H.. Civil-disobedience Movement continued.

As British government refused to accommodate the demands of Gandhi

Gandhi On his return to India, once again started Civil Disobedience
Movement and was duly arrested.

M… Exposed the mentality of Gandhi and Nehru.

This conference helped in exposing the true colours of Congress which

was always trying to impose homogenous nationalism on India through
which India could achieve unitary form of government in which
Congress saw itself at the top hierarchy of the power structure. The
congress was naked and open in its discriminatory attitude against
minorities.

N.. Communal award/Mcdonald Award was proclaimed in favour of

minorities.

The Communal Award was created by the British prime

minister Ramsay MacDonald on 16 August 1932. Also known as the
MacDonald Award, it was announced after the second Round Table
Conference. Communal Award basically extended right of separate
electorate to the untouchables of India besides continuing the right of
separate electorate for the Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Ango-Indians and
Europeans. The principle of weightage was also applied.

According to the communal award, the Muslims were granted

seats in following manner
Total Seats Muslim seats
UP 228 66
Bengal 250 119
Punjab 175 86

O. Poona Pact 1932 between Gandhi and Ambedkar

In this conference, Gandhi and Ambedkar differed on the issue of
separate electorates for the untouchables. The proclaimation of
communal award in which separate electorate was granted to the
untouchables, Gandhi went on fast to protest against Award on 30th
September 1932. Gandhi was against treating untouchables as separate
from the Hindu community. Afterwards, the leaders of INC reached an
agreement with the leaders of untouchables Dr Amedkar through
the Poona Pact 1932 which granted specific seats to the untouchables
from the Hindu general seats. In return Ambedkar ended his demand
for separate electorate.

Third Round Table Conference

The third round table discussion served as the conclusion. The incident
happened on November 17, 1932. Due to their displeasure, the Indian
National Congress made the decision to skip the convention. Both INC
and the British Labour Party declined to attend the conference. There
were just 46 people left from the summit, and some important political
figures were not present. It occurred between 17th November 1932 and
24th November 1932. The 1935 Government of India Act was suggested
to undergo a number of revisions. All of these works were completed
under the supervision of Sir Samuel Hoare.

Third Round Table Conference Participants

Only 46 delegates attended this Third Round Table conference because
the majority of the political leaders were unable to attend.

The British Labor Party declined to attend the conference,

and the Indian National Congress was not invited.

Aga Khan III represented the British Indians and the Muslims.

BR Amedkar represented the Untouchables

The princely realms of India were represented by princes and the

divans. The conference included speakers like Raja Oudh Narain Bisarya
of Bhopal, Wajahat Hussain of Jammu & Kashmir, Mirza Ismail – Dewan
of Mysore, V. T. Krishnamachari – Divan of Baroda, Nawab Liaqat Hayat
Khan of Patiala, etc. B. R. Ambedkar stood in for the downtrodden
classes.

Begum Jahanara served as the women’s representative.

A variety of people, including Europeans, Labors, Anglo-Indians, and

others, were Liberal representatives.
Third Round Table Conference Important Events

Nothing significant occurred at this conference because there weren’t

enough attendees to conduct an adequate debate. But the British
Parliament later debated its proposals.

Third Round Table Conference Outcomes

The absence of Princely states.

The absence of the political leaders and Maharajas made this round
table session ineffective, and nothing significant was discussed.

Government of India Act, 1935 was introduced.

The recommendations made at this round table conference were

written down and published in a white paper in 1933, which was then
discussed in the British Parliament. The British parliament then
examined the round table conference’s suggestions and initiatives.
Based on this, the Government of India Act of 1935 was passed which
established democratically elected responsible government first time in
Indian history at the provincial level.

Civil disobedience Movement continued in India concurrently with

RTC.

The Civil Disobedience Movement and the Round Table Conferences

were held concurrently. Irwin agreed to almost all of Gandhi’s demands
after the First Round Table, which put the British government on the
defensive for the first time. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was broken at the
second round table conference, which was conducted under the new
Viceroy. By this time, Lord Irwin had been replaced by Lord
Willingdon as viceroy in India. The Gandhi was reluctant to
grant any concessions to the minorities and wanted to impose all-
India federation on India.

Absence of Congress leaders.

Once more, the leaders of Congress were absent from the third round
table conference. The Congress boycotted third RTC as British
government decided to grant right of separate electorate to the
untouchable under its communal award. The communal award was
unacceptable to the Gandhi and Congress who went on fast until death
if separate electorate for the untouchables were not withdrawn. To
protest its anger, Congress boycotted the THIRD RTC.

Victory for untouchables.

The Community Award made B.R. Ambedkar, who attended all three
conferences, the happiest person there. Ambedkar was able to achieve
for his community for which he was striving for long.

The absence of Quaid-i-Azam

Quaid-i-Azam continued to remain out of politics and hence did not

participate in the third RTC as well.
Hindu-Muslim communal problem continued to haunt constitutional
progress of India

Third RTC failed to resolve communal problem of India, specially the

dispute of Hindu-Muslims regarding future of Indian constitution. The
AIML reaffirmed its stance of 14 Points (1929) while Congress was
striving for the Indian constitution in line with Nehru Report (1928). The
conference could not melt the ice between two parties and the Hindu-
Muslim relations kept on deteriorating throughout `1930s.

Conclusion

The Round Table Conference’s outcome was inconclusive due to the

Indian participants’ lack of cooperation.