In the previous post, we read about the Second phase of Revolutionary Nationalism and particularly about the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. So, the second phase of Revolutionary Nationalism created pressure on the British Government. Therefore the Simon Commission, Commission recommended that administrative changes in government come before their scheduled time.
Simon Commission, 1927
In the India Council Act of 1919, the provision was that the act will be reviewed after 10 years. So, then a new set of political reforms will come to India and for Indians. Therefore Simon Commission came to India under this provision. But it came 2 years before its scheduled time.
This commission instead of satisfying Indian’s aspirations created problems for the Indians. There was no Indian member in this commission. So, leaders started Anti-Simon or Simon Go Back Movement in its response. Nationalist leaders called it all Whiteman’s Commission.
Impact of the Anti-Simon Movement
Although Britishers gave the reason that they did not include the Indian member because of the fear of coming under the rule of the conservative party in Britain. But it seems that its agenda was to revive the mass movement in India.
Lala Lajpat Rai died during the Anti-Simon protest. This incident of the death of Lala Lajpat Rai created the symbol of the Anarchists and the Brutal rule of Britishers. So, Birkenhead, the Secretary of State gave two challenges to Indians.
- To prepare the Constitution for their own.
- Every Section in India should accept that Constitution unanimously.
So, this situation led to the coming of the Nehru Report. Here, Nehru means Motilal Nehru, the father of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Nehru Report, 1928
Motilal Nehru drafted the Nehru Report. This report came with the following provisions,
This report fulfiled the first challenge, but it failed on the second challenge. Because Muhammad Ali Jinnah opposed this report on the issue of secularism. On the other side the young leaders of the Indian National Congress, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose demanded complete independence as the goal of the Indian National Movement.
Therefore, Nehru Report went in vain. After the election in Britain, Labour Party came into power. So, in this situation, Gandhi reappeared on the political platform of India and demanded dominion status.
The next important event in the freedom struggle of India was the Civil Disobedience Movement. We shall read about this in the next coming post.
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