Gandhi-Irwin Pact

Also called: Delhi Pact · Topic: The National Movement: Gandhian Era · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 2 "Nationalism in India"; Class 12, Ch 3 "Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement"

Meaning

The Gandhi–Irwin Pact (also called the Delhi Pact) was an agreement signed on 5 March 1931 between Mahatma Gandhi and Viceroy Lord Irwin. Under it, Gandhi called off the Civil Disobedience Movement, the government released political prisoners, and Indians were allowed to make salt along the coast for their own use. [2][3] Congress also agreed to join the Second Round Table Conference in London.

It matters because, for the first time, the British Raj sat down and bargained with Congress as an equal party. Even so, the pact gave no promise of independence and no promise of self-government.

Explanation

Background: why talks were needed

• 31 January 1930: Gandhi wrote to Lord Irwin with eleven demands. The most important one was to abolish the salt tax.
• 12 March – 6 April 1930: the Dandi March. On 6 April Gandhi broke the salt law by making salt from boiled sea water.
• The Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) then spread across India. People broke colonial laws openly:
• they made salt;
• they boycotted foreign cloth and picketed liquor shops;
• they refused to pay revenue and chaukidari tax (a village tax that paid for a village watchman);

• they broke forest laws.

• The government hit back hard:

• April 1930: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was arrested, and police fired on crowds in Peshawar.
• Gandhi himself was arrested in early May 1930. [2]
• 21 May 1930: peaceful marchers at Dharasana Salt Works, led by Sarojini Naidu, were beaten down by police. [4]

• About 60,000 people were in jail by the end of 1930. [2][4]

• First Round Table Conference, November 1930, London: Congress leaders were in jail, so it was held without Congress and achieved nothing.

• The lesson for the British: a constitution for India made without Congress was useless. So Gandhi was released in January 1931, and talks with Irwin followed. [2]

Main terms of the pact (5 March 1931)

• Congress side:
• Gandhi called off the Civil Disobedience Movement.

• Congress agreed to attend the Second Round Table Conference.

• Government side:

• The government released political prisoners.

• Indians could make salt along the coast for their own use. [2][3]

• What was missing (the key exam point):

• no promise of independence;
• no promise of self-government.

What happened next

• Second Round Table Conference, September–December 1931: Gandhi went as the sole Congress representative. Sarojini Naidu also attended. [3][4]
• Three groups challenged Gandhi's claim that Congress spoke for all of India:
• the Muslim League said Congress did not speak for Muslims;
• the Princes said Congress had no say in the princely states;

• Dr B.R. Ambedkar said Congress did not speak for the Depressed Classes (the castes then treated as "untouchable").

• The conference failed. There was no agreement on the constitution, and none on communal representation (which community gets reserved seats). [3]

• Lord Willingdon, the new Viceroy, cracked down:
• Congress was declared illegal;
• its leaders were jailed;

• its meetings were banned.

• Congress restarted civil disobedience, but the movement lost force by 1934 and was withdrawn.

Results

• Gains for Congress:
• prisoners were freed;
• the salt concession was won;

• the British now accepted Congress as a party to talk to.

• Losses for Congress:

• there was no independence commitment;
• the movement lost momentum;
• the Second RTC showed that other groups did not accept Congress as the only voice of India.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: the Gandhian phase of the national movement, inside the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–34).
• Place: talks were held and the agreement was signed in Delhi, which is why it is also called the Delhi Pact. Its result was played out at the Round Table Conference in London.
• Key people:
• Mahatma Gandhi;
• Lord Irwin, the Viceroy who signed the pact;
• Lord Willingdon, the next Viceroy, who ended the truce;

• Sarojini Naidu, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the Muslim League and the Princes, all at the Second RTC.

• How we know:

• the written terms of the pact itself;
• the NCERT accounts in Class 10, Ch 2 "Nationalism in India" and Class 12, Ch 3 "Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement";

• reference works such as Britannica on the pact and the Round Table Conferences. [3][4]

• A note on figures: arrest numbers differ by source. NCERT Class 12 gives about 60,000 arrested by the end of 1930. NCERT Class 10 gives about 100,000 arrested across the whole movement. [2][4]

Don't confuse with

• Poona Pact (1932): an agreement between Gandhi and Dr B.R. Ambedkar on seats for the Depressed Classes. The Gandhi–Irwin Pact (1931) was between Gandhi and the Viceroy, and it ended civil disobedience.
• Lucknow Pact (1916): an agreement between Congress and the Muslim League. It had nothing to do with the Viceroy or with salt.
• Lord Irwin vs Lord Willingdon: Irwin signed the pact in 1931. Willingdon crushed Congress after the Second RTC failed and declared it illegal.
• First RTC vs Second RTC:
• the First (November 1930) was held before the pact and without Congress;
• the Second (September–December 1931) came because of the pact, and Gandhi attended.

Prelims Hooks

• Gandhi–Irwin Pact: signed 5 March 1931, also called the Delhi Pact. [2][3]
• Terms: CDM withdrawn, political prisoners released, coastal salt-making for own use allowed. No promise of independence or self-government (a common "which of the following" trap). [2][3]

• Correct order of events: 1. Dandi March (March–April 1930) 2. First RTC (November 1930) 3. Gandhi released (January 1931) 4. Gandhi–Irwin Pact (March 1931) 5. Second RTC (September–December 1931)

• At the Second RTC, Gandhi was the sole Congress representative. The conference failed over communal representation. [3][4]

• Gandhi's claim to speak for all India was challenged by the Muslim League, the Princes and Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
• Lord Willingdon, not Irwin, was the Viceroy who declared Congress illegal after the Second RTC.

Mains Points

• Victory or retreat?
• Victory: Congress won prisoner release, the salt concession and, most of all, recognition as a negotiating party. Without this, the Second RTC would not have included Congress at all.
• Retreat: there was no independence commitment, the movement's momentum was lost, and the pact's main reward (a seat at the Second RTC) ended in failure.

• A balanced answer says the pact gave political status but no constitutional gain.

• A seed of later divisions.

• The pact took Gandhi to London.
• There, the Muslim League and Dr B.R. Ambedkar openly denied that Congress spoke for everyone.

• These challenges lead directly to the Poona Pact (1932) and, later, to the Pakistan demand.

• Gandhian movements rose and fell in cycles.

• The CDM drew in many groups: rich peasants, poor tenants and business groups. Each group wanted something different.
• When Gandhi signed the pact and withdrew the movement, this coalition broke up.
• After the Second RTC, repression under Willingdon and the slow fading of the movement by 1934 show the same pattern as the Non-Cooperation Movement: a mass upsurge, a pause, and then a larger organised base for the next round.

Related concepts

• Eleven demands of Gandhi 1930
• Salt monopoly
• Salt satyagraha
• Sabarmati Ashram
• Civil disobedience movement
• Vedaranyam salt march
• Dharasana satyagraha 1930
• Sarojini Naidu
• Abdul Ghaffar Khan
• Khudai Khidmatgar

Read more

• Civil Disobedience and the Salt Satyagraha, 1930–34