Question

Write a newspaper report on: The Simon Commission

Answer 1

Simon Commission

• The countryside of India was in turmoil. Nationalist movements were on the rise. In light of this, a Statutory Commission under Sir John Simon was set up by the new Tory Government in Britain. The Simon Commission was tasked with suggesting changes and to look into the functioning of the Constitutional system in India. The Simon Commission did not have a single Indian member, they were all British. It was greeted with the slogan ‘Go back Simon’ when it arrived in India in 1928. All the parties participated in the demonstrations, including Muslim League and Congress.
• In October 1929, Lord Irwin, announced a Round Table Conference to discuss the future of the Constitution and made a vague offer of Dominion Status to India. Congress leaders were not happy, radical leaders like Subash Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru became very assertive. The Moderates and Liberals lost their influence gradually as they proposed a Constitutional system within the framework of British dominion. The demand for full independence for India or ‘Purna Swaraj’ was formalized at the Lahore Congress in December 1929, under the Presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru.