Question 8: How successful was the Pakistan Movement in

the years 1927 to 1939?

1. Describe Simon Commission of 1927? [4]
Simon commission was made in 1927. It was headed by John
Simon. It was formed to consider the situation in India. All
members were British and none of them was Indian. This thing
angered many Indians who went against it. In fact in 1919 the
Government of India act stated that a commission would be
formed after 10 years to look for the situation India. It was
considered as an insult to India and many parties and Indian
rose against it.

2. Describe the Nehru Report of 1928? [4]

Nehru report was made in 1928. It was made by all parties
conference in opposition for the Simon Commission. It was
supported by about all Non-Muslims. It stated that India to be
a federation. It said that protection of minorities should be
done. It also stated immediate dominion status for India vote
right for all adult male and female. British were given one year
to accept the recommendation for the report or non
cooperation was to be started.

3. Why did Jinnah produce his 14 points of 1929? [7]

Jinnah decided to issue 14 points in response to Nehru
Report (1928) which was a scheme of constitution for
India. It included several points which were against
Muslim interests. The Nehru Report suggested joint
electorate (in place of separate electorate for Muslims),
unitary form of government (in place of federal form of
government) and Hindi as national language for India.
These points were clearly against Muslim interests and
were not liked by the Muslims.
Jinnah suggested three amendments to the Nehru Report
but these were rejected by the Congress. It clearly
showed that the Congress was not sincere with the
Muslims.

 At the annual meeting of Muslim League in March 1929 at

Delhi. Jinnah gave his points in order to safeguard and
protect the rights and interests of the Muslims. The 14
Points were the first ever demand of the Muslim League
put to the British. These demands covered all aspects of
Muslim interests at the time.

Jinnah 14 Points [14]

1. Any future constitution should be federal, power resting
with the provinces.
2. All Provinces should have the same amount of autonomy.
3. All legislatures and local bodies should be constituted with
adequate representation of minorities.
4. Muslims should have one-third of the seats in the Central
Assembly.
5. Election should be by separate electorates.
6. Any territorial changes should be affect the Muslim majority
in Bengal, the Punjab and the NWFP.
7. Full liberty of belief and worship shall be granted to all
communities.
8. No Bill shall be passed in any elected body if of any
community in that body opposed it.
9. Sindh shall be separated from Bombay.
10. There should be reforms in the NWFP and Baluchistan to
put them on the same footing as other provinces.
11. Muslims should have an adequate share in the services of
the state.
12. Muslim culture, education, language, religion and charities
should be protected by the constitution.
13. All cabinets (at central or local level) should have at least
1/3 Muslim representation.
14. The Federation of India must not change laws without the
consent of the provinces.

4. How successful were the three Round Table Conference

of 1930-1932? [14]
Round Table Conferences were successful only to some extent.
The
Round Table Conferences were held in London in 1930, 1931
and 1932. But neither Gandhi nor Jinnah attended all of them.
The Round Table Conferences were held to consider the Simon
Commission Report and to suggest reforms to solve the
constitutional problem of India. On the whole the Conferences
did not achieve much and the constitutional problem was not
resolved.
The First Round Table Conference (1930) was successful in the
sense that it was agreed that Federal System of government
would be adopted for India and responsible representative
government would be set up in provinces. This was a great
achievement because the Congress had suggested Unitary
Form of government in provinces was a good step forward for
self-rule. But Congress did not attend this conference because
congress leaders were in jail on account of non-cooperation
movement.
Secondly, the princely states also agreed to join the
federation. Also several committees were formed to discuss
different issues.
The Second Round Table Conference (1931) was attended by
the Congress with high hopes of progress. Mr. Gandhi

represented the Congress but he declared that the Congress

was the only political party which could speak for all the Indian
people. He also declared that there was no minority problem in
India. Muslims and other minority leaders did not agree with
Mr. Gandhi. Therefore on account of Mr. Gandhi stubborn and
unfair attitude the conference could not achieve much but its
success was that it was declared that Orissa, NWFP and Sind
(after separation from Bombay) would be given full provincial
status. The minorities issue remained unresolved.
The Third Round Table Conference was held in November 1932.
It was again not attended by Congress. Mr. Jinnah also did not
attend. The Conference proved to be a mere formality. It only
finalized the reports and broke up without achieving anything
of substance.
In the light of above facts, it can be said that although the
Round Table Conference did not achieve much on the whole,
yet the first conference of 1930 was more successful than the
other two.

5. Describe the Communal Award of 1932? [4]

On August 1932 the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald
announced that British government would give position to the
minorities. The Muslim were given weight age in Hindu
dominated provinces, but Muslims majority in Punjab and
Bengal was reduced.

6. How important was the Government of India Act 1935?

[14 Marks]
Despite the failure of the Round Table Conferences, in March
1933 the British government gave the Joint Select Committee
the task of formulating the new Act for India. The Committee
comprised of 16 members each from the House of Commons
and House of Lords, 20 representatives from British India and
seven from the princely states. Lord Linlithgow was appointed
as the president of the Committee. After a year and a half of
deliberations, the Committee finally came out with a draft Bill
on December 1934. The Bill was discussed in the House of

Commons for 43 days and in the House of Lords for 13 days

and finally, after being signed by the King, was enforced as the
Government of India Act, 1935, in August 1935.
The main features of the Act of 1935 were:
1. A federation of India was promised for, comprising both
provinces and states. The provisions of the Act establishing
the federal central government were not to go into operation
until a specified number of rulers of states had signed
Instruments of Accession. Since, this did not happen, the
central government continued to function in accordance with
the 1919 Act and only the part of the 1935 Act dealing with the
provincial governments went into operation.
2. The Governor General remained the head of the central
administration and enjoyed wide powers concerning
administration, legislation and finance.
3. No finance bill could be placed in the Central Legislature
without the consent of the Governor General.
4. The Federal Legislature was to consist of two houses, the
Council of State (Upper House) and the Federal Assembly
(Lower House).
5. The Council of State was to consist of 260 members, out of
whom 156 were to be elected from the British India and 104 to
be nominated by the rulers of princely states.
6. The Federal Assembly was to consist of 375 members; out of
which 250 were to be elected by the Legislative Assemblies of
the British Indian provinces while 125 were to be nominated by
the rulers of princely states.
7. The Central Legislature had the right to pass any bill, but
the bill required the approval of the Governor General before it
became Law. On the other hand Governor General had the
power to frame ordinances.
8. The Indian Council was abolished. In its place, few advisers
were nominated to help the Secretary of State for India.
9. The Secretary of State was not expected to interfere in
matters that the Governor dealt with, with the help of Indian
Ministers.
10. The provinces were given autonomy with respect to
subjects delegated to them.
11. Diarchy, which had been established in the provinces by
the Act of 1919, was to be established at the Center. However
it came to an end in the provinces.
12. Two new provinces Sindh and Orissa were created.

13. Reforms were introduced in N. W. F. P. as were in the other

provinces.
14. Separate electorates were continued as before.
15. One-third Muslim representation in the Central Legislature
was guaranteed.
16. Autonomous provincial governments in 11 provinces, under
ministries responsible to legislatures, would be setup.
17. Burma and Aden were separated from India.
18. The Federal Court was established in the Center.
19. The Reserve Bank of India was established.
Both the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League
opposed the Act, but participated in the provincial elections of
winter 1936-37, conducted under stipulations of the Act. At the
time of independence, the two dominions of India and Pakistan
accepted the Act of 1935, with few amendments, as their
provisional constitution.

7. Why was Congress Rule of 1937-1939 unpopular with

many Muslims?
Congress Ministries were formed in 8 out of 11 provinces of
India in 1937 and they worked under the instructions of the
Congress High Command, which was controlled by Mr. Gandhi
and some other leaders. The Congress Rule was hated because

it adopted policies which harmed and hurt the Muslims in many

ways. Some of the steps taken by Congress Ministries were:
1. Song of Bande Matram which clearly hurt Muslim feelings,
adopted as National Anthem.
2. Wardha Scheme was educational schemes which encouraged
Hindu religion and culture. Teaching was to be in Hindi with no
religious education which meant that Muslim students were at
a disadvantage.
3. Muslim children were required to show reverence for
Gandhis portrait which was hung up in schools.
4. Ban on cow slaughter was enforced.
5. Frequent occurrences of Hindu-Muslim riots in which always
the Muslims were made victims.
The Congress Rule was hated on account of these anti-Muslim
policies and the Muslims heaved a sigh of relief. When the
Congress Ministries adopted in November 1939.