imported>Materialscientist: Reverted edits by 103.195.201.121 (talk) (HG) (3.4.10)

2021-08-27T08:28:37Z

Reverted edits by 103.195.201.121 (talk) (HG) (3.4.10)

New page

{{About|Anglo-Indian round table conferences|Dutch-Indonesian round table conference|Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference|other uses|Round Table (disambiguation)}}

The three '''Round Table Conferences''' of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences organized by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British Government]] and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in [[British raj|India]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Legg|first=Stephen|date=2020|title=Imperial Internationalism: The Round Table Conference and the Making of India in London, 1930–1932|journal=Humanity |volume=11|issue=1|pages=32–53|doi=10.1353/hum.2020.0006|issn=2151-4372|doi-access=free}}</ref> These started in November 1930 and ended in December 1932. They were conducted as per the recommendation of [[Jinnah]] to [[Viceroy of India|Viceroy]] [[Lord Irwin]] and [[Prime Minister of Great Britain|Prime Minister]] [[Ramsay MacDonald]],<ref name="Jinnah of Pakistan">{{cite book|last1=Wolpert|first1=Stanley|title=Jinnah of Pakistan|date=2013|publisher=University Press|location=Karachi, Pakistan|isbn=978-0-19-577389-7|page=107|edition=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Wolpert|first1=Stanley|title=Shameful Flight|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Karachi, Pakistan|isbn=978-0-19-906606-3|page=5|edition=1st}}</ref> and by the report submitted by the [[Simon Commission]] in May 1930. Demands for [[Swaraj]], or self-rule, in India had been growing increasingly strong. [[B. R. Ambedkar]], [[Mohammad Ali Jinnah]], Sir [[Tej Bahadur Sapru]], [[V. S. Srinivasa Sastri]], Sir [[Muhammad Zafrulla Khan]], [[K. T. Paul]] and [[Mirabehn]] are key participants from [[India]]. By the 1930s, many British politicians believed that India needed to move towards [[dominion status]]. However, there were significant disagreements between the Indian and the British political parties that the Conferences would not resolve. The key topic was about constitution and India which was mainly discussed in that conference. There were three Round Table Conferences from 1930 to 1932.

== <big></big>First Round Table Conference (November 1930 – January 1931)==
The Round Table Conference officially inaugurated by His Majesty [[George V]] on November 12, 1930 in Royal Gallery [[House of Lords]] at [[London]]<ref name="Jinnah of Pakistan"/> and chaired by the Prime Minister. [[Ramsay MacDonald]] was also chairman of a subcommittee on minority representation, while for the duration his son, [[Malcolm MacDonald]], performed liaison tasks with [[John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey|Lord Sankey]]'s constitutional committee.<ref>Ramsay Macdonald, ''The Awakening of India'' (1909) advocated progress towards Indian self-government.</ref> One of the foremost advisers was Sir [[Malcolm Hailey]], an Indian civil servant with thirty years experience. The leading Liberal on the committee, [[Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading|Lord Reading]] was "well aware of the troubles which might arise if an when India became independent."<ref>MacDonald Papers file 112/1/67, C Sanger, ''Malcolm MacDonald: End of Empire'' (1995), p.79.</ref> [[Clement Attlee]], who served on the [[Simon Commission]], wanted an early resolution but was baulked by the Conservatives in government until 1945. Sir [[Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood|Samuel Hoare]] wrote the cabinet a memo recommending a federal formula for the Government of India to "make it possible to give a semblance of responsible government and yet retain the realities and verities of British control."<ref>12 December 1930, Carl Bridge, ''Holding India to the Empire: the British Conservative Party and the 1935 Constitution'' (new Delhi: Sterling, 1988). Hoare was in direct correspondence with Viceroy Lord Irwin and Sir Malcolm Hailey, Governor of United Provinces, where Gandhi lived.</ref> The idea was proposed by the [[princely states]] and other Liberal Indian leaders including Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru would welcome it. The minority Labour government hoped to win the support of Liberal and Conservative colleagues in parliament for a "responsive" Indian government at central and provincial levels and a conservative legislature.

The eight British political parties were represented by sixteen delegates. There were fifty-eight political leaders from British India and sixteen delegates from the princely states. In total 74 delegates from India attended the Conference. However, the [[Indian National Congress]], along with Indian business leaders, kept away from the conference. Many of them were in jail for their participation in [[Civil Disobedience Movement]].<ref name=IRTCP>{{cite book|title=Indian Round Table Conference Proceedings|year=1931|publisher=Government of India|url=https://archive.org/details/indianroundtable029616mbp}}</ref> Lord Irwin made a controversial statement declaring that India should be eventually granted Dominionship. After a discussion in Delhi in December 1929, Gandhi had refused to attend the London meetings. In accordance with the law the Viceroy arrested Gandhi sending him to prison. However the Mahatma's presence would prove vital for the conference success. The culmination of events were settled by the [[Gandhi–Irwin Pact]] (1931). A chastised Gandhi wanted the peaceful end to civil disobedience demanded by the Viceroy and his Council. Lord Irwin was triumphant but the Simon Commission had failed to gauge the determination of Indian opinion to ultimately bring independence.<ref>Christopher Lee (2018), ''Viceroys: the creation of the British''(London: Constable)</ref> The Conservatives were disgusted: "the whole conference was manipulated and manoeuvred by the Socialist Party, said Churchill, "to achieve the result they had set before themselves from the beginning, namely the conferring of responsible government at the centre upon Indians."<ref>Speech March 1931, Constitutional Club, W S Churchill</ref>

===Participants===
* '''British Representatives:'''
** Labour: [[Ramsay MacDonald]], [[John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey|Lord Sankey]], [[William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate|Wedgwood Benn]], [[Arthur Henderson]], [[James Henry Thomas|J. H. Thomas]], [[William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt|William Jowitt]], [[Hastings Lees-Smith]], [[Frank Russell, 2nd Earl Russell|Earl Russell]]
** Conservative: [[William Peel, 1st Earl Peel|Earl Peel]], [[Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland|Marquess of Zetland]], [[Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood|Samuel Hoare]], [[Oliver Stanley]]
** Liberal: [[Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading|Marquess of Reading]], [[Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian|Marquess of Lothian]], [[Robert Hamilton (Liberal politician)|Sir Robert Hamilton]], [[Isaac Foot]]
* '''Muslim League''': [[Aga Khan III]] (leader of British-Indian delegation), [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], [[Mohammad Ali Jouhar|Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar]], [[Muhammad Shafi (politician)|Muhammad Shafi]], [[Muhammad Zafarullah Khan]], [[Abdul Halim Ghaznavi|Sir Abdul Halim Ghuznavi]], [[Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah|Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah]], [[A. K. Fazlul Huq|A. K. Fazl-ul-Huq]], Dr. Shafa'at Ahmad Khan, Raja Sher Muhammad Khan of Domeli<ref name="Pakistan studies">{{cite book|last1=Prof M. Ikram|first1=Rabbani|title=Pakistan studies|publisher=Caravan Book house|location=Lahore, Pakistan|pages=100–101|edition=2nd }}</ref>
* '''Indian States' Representatives:''' [[Jai Singh Prabhakar|Maharaja of Alwar]], [[Sayajirao Gaekwad III|Maharaja of Baroda]],[[Kameshwar Singh|Maharaja of Darbhanga]], [[Hamidullah Khan|Nawab of Bhopal]], [[Ganga Singh|Maharaja of Bikaner]], [[Udaybhanu Singh|Rana of Dholpur]], [[Hari Singh|Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir]], [[Ranjitsinhji|Maharaja of Nawanagar]], [[Bhupinder Singh of Patiala|Maharaja of Patiala]] (Chancellor of the [[Chamber of Princes]]), Maharaja of Rewa, Chief Sahib of Sangli, Sir [[Prabhashankar Pattani]] (Bhavnagar), [[Manubhai Mehta]] (Baroda), Sardar Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Khan (Gwalior), [[Akbar Hydari]] (Hyderabad), [[Mirza Ismail]] (Mysore), Col. Kailas Narain Haksar (Jammu and Kashmir)
* '''British-Indian Representatives:'''
** Hindus: [[B. S. Moonje]], [[M. R. Jayakar]], Diwan Bahadur Raja Narendra Nath
** Liberals: J. N. Basu, [[Tej Bahadur Sapru]], [[C. Y. Chintamani]], [[V. S. Srinivasa Sastri]], [[Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad]]
** Justice Party: [[Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar]], Bhaskarrao Vithojirao Jadhav, Sir [[A. P. Patro]]
** Depressed Classes: [[B. R. Ambedkar]], [[Rettamalai Srinivasan]]
** Sikhs: [[Sardar Ujjal Singh]], Sardar Sampuran Singh
** Parsis: Phiroze Sethna, [[Cowasji Jehangir]], [[Homi Mody]]
** Indian Christians: [[K. T. Paul]] ([[All India Conference of Indian Christians]])
** Europeans: Sir Hubert Carr, [[Oscar de Glanville|Sir Oscar de Glanville]] (Burma), T. F. Gavin Jones, C. E. Wood (Madras)
** Anglo-Indians: [[Henry Gidney]]
** Women: [[Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz]], [[Radhabai Subbarayan]]
** Landlords: [[Kameshwar Singh|Maharaja Kameshwar Singh]] of [[Darbhanga Raj|Darbhanga]] (Bihar), [[Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan Chhatari]] (United Provinces), [[Krushna Chandra Gajapati|Raja of Parlekhmundi]] (Orissa), Provash Chandra Mitter
** Labour: [[N. M. Joshi]], [[B. Shiva Rao]]
** Universities: [[Syed Sultan Ahmed]], Bisheshwar Dayal Seth
** Burma: U Aung Thin, [[Ba U]], M. M. Ohn Ghine
** Sindh: [[Shah Nawaz Bhutto]], [[Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah]]
** Other Provinces: [[Chandradhar Barua]] (Assam), [[Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum]] (NWFP), [[S. B. Tambe]] (Central Provinces)
** Government of India: Narendra Nath Law, [[Bhupendra Nath Mitra]], [[C. P. Ramaswami Iyer]], M. Ramachandra Rao
* '''Officials attending in consultative capacity:''' [[Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey|W. M. Hailey]], [[Charles Alexander Innes|C. A. Innes]], A. C. MacWatters, Sir Henry G. Haig, L. W. Reynolds
* '''Indian States Delegation Staff:'''
** Hyderabad: Sir Richard Chenevix-Trench, Nawab Mahdi Yar Jung, [[Ahmed Hussain, Nawab Sir Amin Jung Bahadur]], Sir Reginald Glancy
** South Indian States: [[T. Raghavaiah]]
** Baroda: [[V. T. Krishnamachari]]
** Alwar: [[Fateh Naseeb Khan]]
** Orissa States: [[K. C. Neogy]]
** Nominated by the Chamber of Princes Special Organisation: [[L. F. Rushbrook Williams]], Qazi Ali Haidar Abbasi, Jarmani Dass, A. B. Latthe, D. A. Surve
* '''Secretariats:''' S. K. Brown, V. Dawson, K. S. Fitze, W. H. Lewis, R. J. Stopford, [[John Coatman]], [[Marmaduke Pickthall]], [[Kavalam Madhava Panikkar|K. M. Panikkar]], N. S. Subba Rao, [[Geoffrey Corbett]], A. Latifi, [[Girija Shankar Bajpai]]
* '''Secretariat-General:''' R. H. A. Carter, [[Mian Abdul Aziz]], W. D. Croft, G. E. J. Gent, [[B. G. Holdsworth]], R. F. Mudie, G. S. Rajadhya

===Proceedings===
The conference started with six plenary meetings where delegates put forward their issues nine sub-committees were formed to deal with several different matters including federal structure, provincial constitution, province of [[Sindh]] and [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|NWFP]], defense services and minorities e.t.c.<ref name="Pakistan studies"/> These were followed by discussions on the reports of the sub-committees on Federal Structure, Provincial Constitution, Minorities, [[Burma]], [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North West Frontier Province]], Franchise, Defense services and [[Sindh]]. These were followed by 2 more plenary meetings and a final concluding session.<ref name=IRTCP/> It was difficult for progress to be made in the absence of the [[Indian National Congress]] but some advances were made. The Prime Minister wrote his diary "India has not considered. It was communalism and proportions of reserved seats" that exposed the worst side of Indian politics.<ref>15 December 1930, Macdonald Diary; David Marquand, ''Ramsay MacDonald'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1977)</ref>

The idea of an All-India Federation was moved to the centre of discussion by [[Tej Bahadur Sapru]].<ref name=TOPMenon>{{cite book|last1=Menon|first1=V.P.|title=Transfer of Power in India|date=1957|publisher=Orient Longman Ltd|page=44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FY5gI7SGU20C&pg=PA51|access-date=2015-05-29|isbn=9788125008842}}</ref> All the groups attending the conference supported this concept. The princely states agreed to the proposed federation provided that their internal sovereignty was guaranteed. The Muslim League also supported the federation as it had always been opposed to a strong Centre. The British agreed that representative government should be introduced on provincial level.

=={{anchor|Second Round Table Conference}}Second Round Table Conference (September 1931 – December 1931)==
The Congress, which had killed and boycotted the first conference, was requested to come to a settlement by [[Tej Bahadur Sapru|Sapru]], [[M. R. Jayakar]] and [[V. S. Srinivasa Sastri]]. A settlement between [[Mahatma Gandhi]] and Viceroy [[Lord Irwin]] not true the Congress to the second session of Round Table Conference, which opened on 7 September. Although MacDonald was still Prime Minister of Britain, he was by this time heading a coalition Government (the "National Government") with a Conservative majority, including Sir Samuel Hoare as a new Secretary of State for India. On 7 November 1931 Gandhi secretly met with Malcolm MacDonald in his rooms at Balliol College, Oxford. He took the opportunity to gain publicity from a tour of the East End and visit to Lancashire cotton mills, but could not persuade the government to grant self-rule: of more urgency was the gathering Agrarian Crisis and Congress newest campaign for a Fair rent.

The discussion led to the passing of the [[Government of India Act 1935]], yet the Governor of United Provinces was happy to be rid of Gandhi's campaigns "playing havoc with six or seven million tenants in the UP."<ref>Robert D Pearce, ''The Turning Point in Africa: British Colonial Policy 1938-1948'' (London: Cass, 1982), p.43.</ref> When Nehru decried that the famine relief programme was pitiful, he was already asking for a kisan rent strike, and Patel called for a [[satyagraha]]. When quizzed in London about his intentions for the conference, Gandhi averred he could do nothing about agrarian problems from England. Little was achieved other than the Government realised they had to tackle absentee landlordism in India to avert disaster.

===Participants<ref>{{cite book|title=Indian Round Table Conference (Second Session) Proceedings of the Plenary Sessions|year=1932|url=http://www.irps.in/rtc1931.pdf}}</ref>===
* '''British Representatives:'''
** Labour: [[Ramsay MacDonald]], [[William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate|Wedgwood Benn]], [[Arthur Henderson]], [[William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt|William Jowitt]], [[Hastings Lees-Smith]], [[Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence|F. W.hick-Lawrence]], [[John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey|Lord Sankey]], [[Harry Snell, 1st Baron Snell|Lord Snell]], [[James Henry Thomas|J. H. Thomas]]
** Conservative: [[Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham|Viscount Hailsham]], [[Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood|Samuel Hoare]], [[William Peel, 1st Earl Peel|Earl Peel]], [[Oliver Stanley]], [[Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland|Marquess of Zetland]]
** Scottish Unionist: [[Walter Elliot (Scottish politician)|Walter Elliot]]
** Liberal: [[Isaac Foot]], [[Henry Graham White]], [[Robert Hamilton (Liberal politician)|Robert Hamilton]], [[Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian|Marquess of Lothian]], [[Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading|Marquess of Reading]],
* '''Indian States' Representatives:''' [[Jai Singh Prabhakar|Maharaja of Alwar]], [[Sayajirao Gaekwad III|Maharaja of Baroda]], [[Kameshwar Singh|Maharaja Of Darbhanga]] , [[Hamidullah Khan|Nawab of Bhopal]], [[Ganga Singh|Maharaja of Bikaner]], [[Khengarji III|Maharao of Kutch]], [[Udaybhanu Singh|Rana of Dholpur]], [[Yeshwantrao Holkar II|Maharaja of Indore]], [[Hari Singh|Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir]], [[Jagatjit Singh|Maharaja of Kapurthala]], [[Ranjitsinhji|Maharaja of Nawanagar]], [[Bhupinder Singh of Patiala|Maharaja of Patiala]], Maharaja of Rewa, Chief Sahib of Sangli, Raja of Korea, Raja of Sarila, Sir [[Prabhashankar Pattani]] (Bhavnagar), [[Manubhai Mehta]] (Baroda), Sardar Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Khan (Gwalior), [[Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari|Sir Muhammad Akbar Hydari]] (Hyderabad), [[Mirza Ismail]] (Mysore), Col. K.N. Haksar (Jammu and Kashmir), [[T. Raghavaiah]] (Travancore), [[Liaqat Hayat Khan]] (Patiala)
* '''Muslim Representatives:''' Allama Iqbal joined in with other Muslim leaders
* '''British-Indian Representatives:'''
** Government of India: [[C. P. Ramaswami Iyer]], Narendra Nath Law, M. Ramachandra Rao
** Indian National Congress: [[Mahatma Gandhi]] (He was the sole representative of the Congress).
** Muslims: [[Aga Khan III]], [[Maulana Shaukat Ali]], [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], [[A. K. Fazlul Huq]], Sir [[Muhammad Iqbal]], [[Muhammad Shafi (politician)|Muhammad Shafi]], [[Muhammad Zafarullah Khan]], Sir Syed Ali Imam, Maulvi [[Muhammad Shafi Daudi]], Raja [[Sher Muhammad Khan]] of Domeli, A. H. Ghuznavi, Hafiz Hidayat Hussain, Sayed Muhammad Padshah Saheb Bahadur, Dr. Shafa'at Ahmad Khan, Jamal Muhammad, Khwaja Mian Rowther, Nawab Sahibzada Sayed Muhammad Mehr Shah
** Hindus: [[M. R. Jayakar]], [[B. S. Moonje]], Diwan Bahadur Raja Narendra Nath
** Liberals: J. N. Basu, [[C. Y. Chintamani]], [[Tej Bahadur Sapru]], [[V. S. Srinivasa Sastri]], [[Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad]]
** Justice Party: [[Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili|Raja of Bobbili]], [[Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar]], Sir [[A. P. Patro]], Bhaskarrao Vithojirao Jadhav
** Depressed Classes: [[B. R. Ambedkar]], [[Rettamalai Srinivasan]]
** Sikhs: [[Sardar Ujjal Singh]], Sardar Sampuran Singh
** Parsis: [[Cowasji Jehangir]], [[Homi Mody]], Phiroze Sethna
** Indian Christians: [[Surendra Kumar Datta]], [[A. T. Pannirselvam]]
** Europeans: E. C. Benthall, Sir Hubert Carr, T. F. Gavin Jones, C. E. Wood (Madras)
** Anglo-Indians: [[Henry Gidney]]
** Women: [[Sarojini Naidu]], the Nightingale of India;[[Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz]], [[Radhabai Subbarayan]]
** Landlords: [[Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan Chhatari]] (United Provinces), [[Kameshwar Singh|Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga]] (Bihar), [[Krushna Chandra Gajapati|Raja of Parlakimedi]] (Orissa), Sir Provash Chandra Mitter
** Industry: [[Ghanshyam Das Birla]], [[Sir Purshottamdas Thakurdas]], Maneckji Dadabhoy
** Labour: [[N. M. Joshi]], [[B. Shiva Rao]], [[V. V. Giri]]
** Universities: [[Syed Sultan Ahmed]], Bisheshwar Dayal Seth
** Burma: [[Padamji Ginwala|Sir Padamji Ginwala]]
** Sindh: [[Shah Nawaz Bhutto]], [[Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah]]
** Other Provinces: [[Chandradhar Barua]] (Assam), [[Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum]] (NWFP), [[S. B. Tambe]] (Central Provinces)
* '''Indian States Delegation Staff''': [[V. T. Krishnamachari]] (Baroda), Richard Chenevix-Trench (Hyderabad), Nawab Mahdi Yar Jung (Hyderabad), S. M. Bapna (Indore), Amar Nath Atal (Jaipur), J. W. Young (Jodhpur), [[Ram Chandra Kak]] (Jammu and Kashmir), Sahibzada Abdus Samad Khan (Rampur), [[K. C. Neogy]] (Orissa states), [[L. F. Rushbrook Williams]], Jarmani Dass, [[Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari]], [[Kavalam Madhava Panikkar|K. M. Panikkar]], [[N. Madhava Rao]]
* '''British Delegation Staff:''' [[Harry Graham Haig|H. G. Haig]], V. Dawson, K. S. Fitze, J. G. Laithwaite, W. H. Lewis, P. J. Patrick, [[John Coatman]], G. T. Garratt, R. J. Stopford
* '''British Indian Delegation Staff:''' [[Geoffrey Corbett]], A. Latifi, [[Girija Shankar Bajpai]], [[Benegal Rama Rau]], [[Amjad Ali (civil servant)|Syed Amjad Ali]], [[Prince Aly Khan]], A. M. Chaudhury, [[Mahadev Desai]], [[Govind Malaviya]], [[K. T. Shah]], P. Sinha
* '''Secretariat-General:''' R. H. A. Carter, K. Anderson, [[C. D. Deshmukh]], J. M. Sladen, Hugh MacGregor, G. F. Steward, A. H. Joyce, [[Amjad Ali (civil servant)|Syed Amjad Ali]], Ram Babu Saksena

===Proceedings===
The Second Session opened on September 7, 1931. There were three major differences between the first and second Round Table Conferences. By the second:
[[File:Gandhi in London meeting, 1931.jpg|right|thumb|200x200px|The Second Round Table Conference (September 7, 1931)]]
* ''Congress Representation'' — The [[Gandhi-Irwin Pact]] opened the way for Congress participation in this conference. Gandhi was invited from India and attended as the sole official Congress representative accompanied by [[Sarojini Naidu]] and also [[Madan Mohan Malaviya]], [[Ghanshyam Das Birla]], [[Muhammad Iqbal]], [[Sir Mirza Ismail]] ([[List of Diwans of Mysore|Diwan of Mysore]]), [[Surendra Kumar Datta|S.K. Dutta]] and Sir Syed Ali Imam. Gandhi claimed that the Congress alone represented political India; that the Untouchables were Hindus and should not be treated as a “minority”; and that there should be no separate electorates or special safeguards for Muslims or other minorities. These claims were rejected by the other Indian participants. According to this pact, Gandhi was asked to call off the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and if he did so the prisoners of the British government would be freed except the criminal prisoners, i.e. those who had killed British officials. He returned to India, disappointed with the results and empty-handed.
* ''National Government'' — two weeks earlier the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government in London had fallen. [[Ramsay MacDonald]] now headed a National Government dominated by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]].
* ''Financial Crisis'' – During the conference, Britain went off the Gold Standard further distracting the National Government.

At the end of the conference Ramsay MacDonald undertook to produce a [[Communal Award]] for minority representation, with the provision that any free agreement between the parties could be substituted for his award.

Gandhi took particular exception to the treatment of untouchables as a minority separate from the rest of the Hindu community. Other important discussions were the responsibility of the executive to the legislature and a separate electorate for the [[Dalit|Untouchables]] as demanded by Dr. [[B.R. Ambedkar]].<ref>"mr Gandhi demanded that as one of the conditions for his accepting their fourteen points, they should oppose the claims of the Depressed Classes, and the smaller minorities." Dr.Ambedkar letter to ''The Times of India'', 12 October 1931.</ref>
Gandhi announced that henceforth he would work only on behalf of the ''Harijans'': he reached a compromise with the leader of depressed classes, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, over this issue; the two eventually resolved the situation with the [[Poona Pact]] of 1932.<ref>''Collected Writings of Mahatma Gandhi'', 51.; Robin J.Moore, ''The Crisis of Indian Unity 1917-1940,'' p.289.</ref> But not before the conference of All-India Depressed Classes had specifically 'denounced the claim made by Gandhi.'<ref>C.Keer, ''Dr Ambedkar: Life and Mission'', (1971) p.178-9.</ref>

=={{anchor|Third Round Table Conference}}Third Round Table Conference (November – December 1932)==
The third and last session assembled on November 17, 1932. Only forty-six delegates attended since most of the main political figures of India were not present. The Labour Party from Britain and the Indian National Congress refused to attend.

From September 1931 until March 1933, under the supervision of the Secretary of State for India, [[Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood|Sir Samuel Hoare]], the proposed reforms took the form reflected in the [[Government of India Act 1935]].

===Participants<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1932/oct/31/round-table-conference-delegates | title=ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE (DELEGATES). (Hansard, 31 October 1932)}}</ref>===
* '''Indian States' Representatives:''' [[Akbar Hydari]] (Dewan of Hyderabad), [[Mirza Ismail]] (Dewan of Mysore), [[V. T. Krishnamachari]] (Dewan of Baroda), Wajahat Hussain (Jammu and Kashmir), Sir Sukhdeo Prasad (Udaipur, Jaipur, Jodhpur), J. A. Surve (Kolhapur), Raja Oudh Narain Bisarya (Bhopal), [[Manubhai Mehta]] (Bikaner), Nawab [[Liaqat Hayat Khan]] (Patiala), [[Fateh Naseeb Khan]] (Alwar State), [[L. F. Rushbrook Williams]] (Nawanagar), Raja of Sarila (small states)
* '''British-Indian Representatives:''' [[Aga Khan III]], [[B. R. Ambedkar]] (Depressed Classes separate Electorate), [[Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili]], Sir Hubert Carr (Europeans), Nanak Chand Pandit, A. H. Ghuznavi, [[Henry Gidney]] (Anglo-Indians), Hafiz Hidayat Hussain, [[Muhammad Iqbal]], [[M. R. Jayakar]], [[Cowasji Jehangir]], [[N. M. Joshi]] (Labour), [[Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar]], [[Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar]], [[Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz]] (Women), [[A. P. Patro]], [[Tej Bahadur Sapru]], Dr. Shafa'at Ahmad Khan, Sir Shadi Lal, [[Tara Singh Malhotra]], Sir Nripendra Nath Sircar, Sir [[Purshottamdas Thakurdas]], [[Muhammad Zafarullah Khan]].
* '''Attend all three conference :'''

==References==
<references />

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Beatty|first1= Michael J.|first2=Ralph R.|last2=Behnke|first3=Barbara Jane|last3=Banks|title=Elements of dialogic communication in Gandhi's second round table conference address|year=1979|pages=386–398}}
* {{cite book|last=Menon|first=V. P.|year=1995|title=Integration of the Indian States|publisher=Orient Longman Ltd}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Ball|editor-first=Stuart|title=Conservative Politics in National and Imperial Crisis, Letters from Britain to the Viceroy of Indian 1926-1931|publisher=Ashgate publishing|year=2014}}
* {{cite book|first=Ferdinand|last=Mount|title=The Tears of the Rajas|location=London|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2015}}
* {{cite book|first=Jawaharlal|last=Nehru|title=Autobiography|location=London|publisher=Bodley Head|year=1936|edition=2nd, Delhi: OUP, 1980}}
* {{cite book|first=Edward|last=Wood|title=Indian Problems|location=London|publisher=Allen & Unwin|year=1932}}

==External links==
*[https://www.gkmirror.in/2020/08/round-table-conferences-golmej-sammelan.html Golmej Sammelan in Hindi - गोलमेज सम्मलेन (1931-1932)]
*[https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliament-and-empire/collections1/collections2/1931-round-table-conference/ 70th Anniversary of Indian Independence - 1931 Indian Round Table Conference- UK Parliament Living Heritage]
* [http://www.houseofdavid.ca/round_tab.htm Essay on Indian Constitutional Round Table Conferences, London 1931–1933]{{dubious|date=January 2013}}
*[https://www.gavco.net/product-category/conferencing/ Buy Conference Tables Oregon]

{{Mohandas K. Gandhi|state=collapsed}}
{{Indian independence movement}}
{{Pakistan Movement}}

[[Category:1931 in British India]]
[[Category:Pakistan Movement]]
[[Category:1930 in India]]
[[Category:1931 in India]]
[[Category:1932 in India]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:Conferences in London]]
[[Category:1930 conferences]]
[[Category:1931 conferences]]
[[Category:1932 conferences]]
[[Category:1932 in British India]]
[[Category:1930 in British India]]
[[Category:1930s in the City of Westminster]]

Round Table Conferences (India) - Revision history

imported>Materialscientist: Reverted edits by 103.195.201.121 (talk) (HG) (3.4.10)