The First Round Table Conference was held in London from 12 November 1930 to 19 January 1931. Congress boycotted the Conference (as it opposed the Simon Commission), but other political parties and interest groups participated in the Conference.
Repression of the Civil Disobedience Movement
The government repressed the movement brutally. Over 90,000 Satyagrahis along with several Congress leaders were imprisoned. Congress was declared illegal and restrictions were imposed on the nationalist press. When there were demonstrations by the Pathans against the arrest of Ghaffar Khan, the police refused to open fire on the protesting mob. Many police officers were severely punished for refusing to open fire on the mob. Protestors at Delhi and Kolkata were fired at.
First Round Table Conference
The First Round Table Conference was held in London from 12 November 1930 to 19 January 1931. Congress boycotted the Conference (as it opposed the Simon Commission), but other political parties and interest groups participated in the Conference.
Gandhi Irwin Pact
The government started negotiations with Gandhi (who was in jail) to bring an end to the Civil Disobedience Movement. This resulted in signing a pact between Lord Irwin, the Viceroy of India, and Gandhi which came to be known as the ‘Gandhi Irwin Pact’.
The government agreed to the following terms:
- To withdraw all ordinances and end prosecutions
- To release all political prisoners except those who were guilty of violence
- To allow peaceful picketing of shops selling liquor and foreign clothes
- To restore confiscated properties of the Satyagrahis
- To allow people living near the coast to make and manufacture salt
The Congress agreed to the following terms:
- To suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement
- To participate in the Second Round Table Conference
- Not to press for investigations into police excesses
Second Round Table Conference
It took place between 7 September and December 1931. It was attended by Gandhi. The British government refused to grant Dominion Status to India. The Conference saw the demand for separate electorates was raised not only by Muslims but also by people of depressed classes, Anglo Indians, Indian Christians, and Europeans.
Continuation of the Civil Disobedience Movement
As the Second Round Table Conference disappointed and failed, Gandhi returned to India. Further, the Great Depression of 1929–30 also hit the Indian farmers hard. Gandhi demanded talks with Viceroy Willingdon which was refused. Congress passed a resolution in January 1932 for the renewal of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Gandhi was arrested, Congress was declared illegal and ordinances were passed giving the government special powers. The government brutally suppressed the movement. Gradually, the movement died down.
Also, Read Civil Disobedience Movement