Political Scenario and Background

The following acted as the background-

Appointment of Simon Commission

India was Britain’s most priced colony, to win the election against Labour Party in Britain, the Conservative Government, also in power, under prime minister Stanley Baldwin appointed an each-white seven Indian Statutory Commission on November 8, 1927, to review the Government of India Act 1919 and to go into the question of further indigenous reform. The Commission was popularly known as Simon Commission as it was headed or chaired by Sir John Simon. At that, time the British government was not in the mood of accepting the demand of Swaraj. The Commission’s rejection of indigenous peoples enraged the Indians and the introductory idea behind this rejection was that non-natives would argue and infer India’s suitability for self-determination, which is viewed as a deliberate insult to Indians‘ self-respect.

Response of the Congress

After the appointment of the Simon Commission, Congress at its Madras session in December 1927, under the administration of Dr. M.A. Ansari figured out to boycott the Commission “at every stage and in every form”. Jawahar Lal Nehru came out to pass a quick resolution at that session publicizing full independence as a matter of Congress.

Response of the Muslim League 

The Muslim League decided to support Congress’s call for the boycott of the Commission. The Muslim League attained two sessions in 1927, one under Muhammad Ali Jinnah at Calcutta and another at Lahore under Muhammad Shafi. Where Jinnah who enjoyed the majority faction of the League decided to support the congress and opposed the Simon Commission, on the other hand, Muhammad Shafi decided to support the British government‘s decision of appointing the Simon Commission for the future of India.

Police Repression

The appointment of the Commission sparked off a surge of kicking all over the country. Congress and the  Muslim League had decided to boycott the Commission, to support their leaders the entire country adhered to hartals when the Commission appeared in India on 3 February 1928. The commission faced massive kicks and hartals wherever they advanced, by demonstrators. All over the country the hoots of” Simon go back” were voiced. The police resorted to cathartic measures, thousands of people were beaten up, and there was firing and Lathi charges at numerous places, not sparing even the senior leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Govind Ballabh Pant was beaten up in Lucknow. The lathi beating paralyzed Govind Ballabh Pant for life. In October 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai, Sher-e-Punjab admitted beatings to the chest and died on November 17, 1928. 

The blows, which fell  me on today, are the last nails driven into the coffin of British Imperialism.

                                                                                                                                   -Lala Lajpat Rai

Challenge Given And Accepted

In response to the boycott, India’s Foreign Minister Lord Birkenhead, who had always believed that the Indians were unable to come up with a solid plan for constitutional reform and were responsible for appointing the Simon Commission, urged Indian politicians to have an accepted constitution elaborate from different political sections. In reaction to Lord Birkenhead’s challenge, all parties, inclusive of Congress and the Muslim League, met at the All-Party Conference on 19th May 1928 and appointed a committee headed by Motilal Nehru, to draft a constitution, the Indian’s first most important attempt.

Delhi Proposals of Muslim League

In December 1927 in Delhi, the Muslim League, at its meeting of the Muslim League, developed four proposals for inclusion in the draft constitution, proposals that were adopted by the Madras Congress session, known as the Delhi Proposals:

• Common electorate rather than separate electorate with seats for Muslims;
• Representation of a third of Muslims in the Central Legislative Assembly;
• Representation of Muslims in Punjab and Bengal about their population;
• Suggested Sindh, Balochistan, and North-West North-West province new Muslim majority provinces;

The Nehru Report proceeded with the primary aim of assigning Dominion status to India, situated under the British Commonwealth. The major components of the Nehru Report would include:

1. Bills of Rights
2. Assignment of Equal Rights to men and women as citizens
3. Formation of a federal form of government with the help of residuary powers within the hands of center
4. Proposal for the development of a Supreme Court.

In order to broaden and review the British Raj and the Government of India Act, of 1919 a seven-member Statutory Commission was set up by the British government to examine the issue of further constitutional reform. The two mainstream parties, Congress and the Muslim League, countered the commission in their own way and received full public support when the commission landed in Bombay, through rallies, boycotts, and hartals. The Indians were challenged to draft a constitution that was acceptable to all Indians, all parties, and all provinces. The challenge was taken seriously and the All-Party Conference took place, with all parties, including Congress and the Muslim League, working enthusiastically and collectively to finalize the recommendations of the report popularly known as the Nehru Report.