Concepts

Gandhi-Irwin Pact, 1931

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At a glance
SubjectHistory

Definition

An agreement signed in March 1931 between Mahatma Gandhi and Viceroy Lord Irwin under which the Civil Disobedience Movement was suspended and the Congress agreed to attend the Second Round Table Conference.

Key points

  • Signed on 5 March 1931, also called the Delhi Pact, after talks between Gandhi and Lord Irwin.
  • The government agreed to release political prisoners not convicted of violence, to permit the peaceful picketing of liquor and foreign-cloth shops, and to allow coastal villagers to make salt for personal use.
  • The Congress agreed to suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement and to participate in the Second Round Table Conference in London.
  • Gandhi attended the Second Round Table Conference (1931) as the sole representative of the Congress but it ended without agreement, chiefly over the communal question.
  • The pact was criticised by some nationalists for conceding too little and for not securing commutation of the death sentences of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru, who were executed soon after.

Why it matters for CAPF

It is the link between the first phase of Civil Disobedience and the Round Table Conferences, with the salt concession and the Second Round Table participation frequently tested.

Common confusion

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931) suspended Civil Disobedience and sent Gandhi to the Second (not the First) Round Table Conference; the movement was later resumed when talks failed.

One-line recall

1931 Gandhi-Irwin (Delhi) Pact: Civil Disobedience suspended, prisoners released, salt concession; Congress joined the Second Round Table Conference.

Parent note

gandhian era and mass movements

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