India Theme 3 Timeline
November 1930 to January 1931- First Round Table Conference was not attended by Gandhi due to the salt satyagraha. The decision made was that India would run as a type of dominion and would include the princely states
September 1931 to December 1931- Second Round Table Conference was attended by Gandhi but it failed to reach a decision as Gandhi wanted to speak for everyone but refused to change for separate electorates
August 1931 the Labour government resigned and a Tory dominated coalition came into power. There was more problems than the India Problem. They couldn’t send delegates to the Third Conference
January 1932- Viceroy Willingdon arrested Gandhi and the Congress Working Committee as well as mass members of Indians 80,000. He also banned youth organisations. He felt like they would be too prone to revolution and wanted to protect against that.
There were some boycotts in response but it was unorganised due to the lack of national leaders
August 1932. Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald announced the Communal Award which gave minorities separate electorates which would be included in any future legislation
Gandhi took offense and started a fast unto death as he did not want the Untouchables to be separate from Hindus
The Poona Pact granted Untouchables more seats in the provincial assemblies but by general electorate. The week following its acceptance was Untouchable Abolition Week but it took 20 years for it to be fully untouchable
November - December 1932- Third Round Table Conference was not well attended as Britain were focusing on other things and Congress were not well attended so it fell apart
1935 Government of India Act
Congress saw the Gov of India act as a half way house as they wanted India to have a strong central government. They also objected to separate electorates
Muslim League thought it didn’t protect the rights of Muslims. It didn’t allow enough power to the Muslims in either the central or provincial legislatures
Winston Churchill, leader of the Indian Defence League, he thought that it would lead to the British losing India
1935 Jinnah returned to try and strengthen the Muslim League for the 1937 elections but only got limited support and couldn’t even find enough candidates for the reserved seats
1937 Congress dominated the elections winning both areas even the ones with Muslim majorities. Congress began to dominate the provinces and gave many positions to their friends. It began, for many Muslims, to feel worse than the strict restrictions they had under the British
Jinnah targeted Muslims after Hindu dominance to try and rebuild the Muslim League. he harked to the days of Muslim dominance and in particular targeted uni students who wanted a better quality of life
1938 Gandhi did not trust Bose as so he built up pressure for him to step aside
1938 Jinnah met briefly with Gandhi but talks broke down as they refused to recognise Congress as the sole Indian Muslim Party. 1937 was a trigger for separateness
1939 Subhas Chandra Bose left Congress after Gandhi edged him out. He then set up Forward Bloc to try and get Britain to quit India
1939 Linlithgow announced that India would be involved in WW2. Congress were concerned that they had not be consulted but were sympathetic towards the fight against facism
December 1939 Congress withdrew from all the provincial committees to show their lack of support but Britain did not notice as they were more concerned with fighting the conflict.
It let the Muslim League take their place.
Jinnah dedicated 22nd December 1939 as the Muslim Day of Deliverance from Hindu dominance. Muslim League branches held public meetings and prayers. Jinnah said not to fight Hindus as it was against the general Hindu dominance not individuals
March 1940 Jinnah made the Lahore Resolution which first broached the ideas of partition by saying that Muslim majority states should be separate from India. It also said that Muslim minority states should also be protected as they could be exploited. It was attended by 100,000 Muslims
August 1940 August Offer came from Lord Linlithgow which said that the rights of Muslims would be enshrined in any future legislation and they would be considered to protect their rights
1945 Bose died from 3rd degree burns after his plane died in present day Taiwan