The Gandhi-Irwin Pact stands as a pivotal moment in the history of India’s struggle for independence, marking a significant attempt at reconciliation between Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Civil Disobedience Movement, and Lord Irwin, the British Viceroy of India. This agreement, forged through intense negotiations in the backdrop of escalating tensions and widespread civil unrest, sought to address the growing demands of the Indian National Congress while attempting to preserve British colonial interests.
Background
- Before the pact, in October 1929, Lord Irwin, who was the British Viceroy in India, made a vague promise of giving India “dominion status” in the future and talked about holding a Round Table Conference to discuss a new constitution. By the end of 1930, many Indians, including Jawaharlal Nehru, were in jail because of the Civil Disobedience Movement, which had gained a lot of attention worldwide. Irwin wanted to find a way to stop the movement.
- Gandhiji was released from jail in January 1931, and he and Lord Irwin started talking about the pact. Gandhiji was given the authority by Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, who was the President of the Congress at the time, and the Congress Working Committee (CWC), to negotiate with Lord Irwin. Gandhiji told people that the country had suffered a lot, and they needed a break to prepare for the next phase of the fight.
- The outcome of their talks was the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, also known as the Delhi Pact. It brought Congress and the government to an equal level and was supposed to set the stage for the Round Table Conference in England.
Gandhi-Irwin Pact
Lord Irwin, representing the government, agreed to several points:
- Releasing all political prisoners immediately if they hadn’t been violent.
- Cancelling fines that hadn’t been collected yet.
- Giving back land that hadn’t been sold yet.
- Being lenient with government workers who had quit.
- Allowing people to make salt in coastal villages for their own use, not for selling.
- Allowing peaceful and non-aggressive picketing.
- Removing emergency laws.
However, there were two demands from Gandhi that Irwin didn’t agree to:
- Holding a public inquiry into police wrongdoing.
- Changing the death sentences of Bhagat Singh and his friends to life in prison.
Gandhi, on behalf of Congress, agreed to:
- Pausing the civil disobedience movement.
- Joining the next Round Table Conference to talk about the constitution, focusing on federation, Indian responsibility, and protections needed for India’s interests.
Outcome
Many British officials in India and Britain were very angry about making a deal with a group whose main goal was to end British rule in India. Even though they had refused to take part in the first Round Table Conference, some members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) attended the second one in September 1931. Also, the bans on the Indian National Congress (INC) were lifted, and they were allowed to have peaceful meetings that weren’t meant to oppose the government.
Impact
- Gandhiji’s method of Satyagraha was highlighted in the pact. Satyagraha, often described as peaceful struggles, rebellions, or wars without violence, aimed not to physically harm or break down an opponent, but to use suffering to spark a change in their hearts and minds.
- In such struggles, reaching a compromise with an opponent wasn’t seen as wrong, but rather a natural and necessary step. If the compromise didn’t work and the opponent remained unrepentant, the Satyagrahi could go back to non-violent resistance, aiming to make the oppressor accept the real truth, not one forced through violence.
- This meeting between Gandhi and a Viceroy was significant, being only the second high-level meeting in 13 years since the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms in 1919.
Also Read: Civil Disobedience Movement.