101 Simon Commission
एक दुखी परिवार-101
Purna Swaraj & 26 January?
Following the rejection of the recommendations of the Simon Commission by Indians, an all-party conference was held atBombay in May 1928. This was meant to instill a sense of resistance among people. The conference appointed a drafting committee under Motilal Nehru to draw up a constitution for India.
The Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress asked the British government to accord dominion status to India by December 1929, or a countrywide civil disobedience movement would be launched.
By 1929, however, in the midst of rising political discontent and increasingly violent regional movements, the call for complete independence from Britain began to find increasing grounds within the Congress leadership.
 Under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru at its historic Lahore session in December 1929, the Indian National Congress adopted a resolution calling for complete independence from the British. It authorised the Working Committee to launch a civil disobedience movement throughout the country.
 It was decided that 26 January 1930 should be observed all over India as thePurna Swaraj (total independence) Day.
Many Indian political parties and Indian revolutionaries of a wide spectrum united , to observe the day with honour and pride.

Karachi Congress session-1931

A special session was held in Karachi to endorse the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
The Gandhi–Irwin Pact was a political agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and the then Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin on 5 March 1931 before the second Round Table Conference in London.
Before this, the viceroy Lord Irwinannounced in October 1929, an offer of 'dominion status' for India in an unspecified future and a Round Table Conference to discuss a future constitution.

"The Two Mahatmas"—as Sarojini Naidu described Gandhi and Irwin—had eight meetings that totaled 24 hours.

Even Gandhi was impressed by Irwin’s sincerity. The terms of the "Gandhi-Irwin Pact" fell manifestly short of those Gandhi prescribed as the minimum for a truce.

Below are the proposed conditions.

Discontinuation of the civil disobedience movement by the Indian National Congress
Participation by the Indian National Congress in the Round Table Conference
Withdrawal of all ordinances issued by the British Government imposing curbs on the activities of the Indian National Congress
Withdrawal of all prosecutions relating to several types of offenses except those involving violence
Release of prisoners arrested for participating in the civil disobedience movement
Removal of the tax on salt, which allowed the Indians to produce, trade, and sell salt legally and for their own private use
Many British officials in India, and in England, were outraged by the idea of a pact with a party whose avowed purpose was the destruction of the British Raj. Winston Churchill publicly expressed his disgust "...at the nauseating and humiliating spectacle of this one-time Inner Temple lawyer, now seditious fakir, striding half-naked up the steps of the Viceroy’s palace, there to negotiate and parley on equal terms with the representative of the King Emperor."

In reply, the British Government agreed to

Withdraw all ordinances and end prosecutions
Release all political prisoners, except those guilty of violence
Permit peaceful picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops
Restore confiscated properties of the satyagrahis
Permit free collection or manufacture of salt by persons near the sea-coast
Lift the ban over the congress.
The Viceroy, Lord Irwin, was at this time directing the sternest repression Indian nationalism had known, but did not relish the role. The British civil service and the commercial community favoured even harsher measures. But Premier Ramsay MacDonald and Secretary of State for India William Benn were eager for peace, if they could secure it without weakening the position of the Labour Government.

They wanted to make a success of the Round Table Conference and knew that this body, without the presence of Gandhi and the Congress, could not carry much weight.

In January 1931, at the closing session of the Round Table Conference, Ramsay MacDonald went so far as to express the hope that the Congress would be represented at the next session. The Viceroy took the hint and promptly ordered the unconditional release of Gandhi and all members of the Congress Working Committee. To this gesture Gandhi responded by agreeing to meet the Viceroy.

Gandhi’s motives in concluding a pact with the Viceroy can be best understood in terms of his technique. The Satyagraha movements were commonly described as "struggles", "rebellions" and "wars without violence". Owing, however, to the common connotation of these words, they seemed to lay a disproportionate emphasis on the negative aspect of the movements, namely, opposition and conflict. The object of Satyagraha was, however, not to achieve the physical elimination or moral breakdown of an adversary—but, through suffering at his hands, to initiate a psychological processes that could make it possible for minds and hearts to meet. In such a struggle, a compromise with an opponent was neither heresy nor treason, but a natural and necessary step. If it turned out that the compromise was premature and the adversary was unrepentant, nothing prevented the Satyagrahi from returning to non-violent battle.

Karachi session became famous because of the two resolutions that were adopted-one on Fundamental rights and other on National Economic program, both drafted by Dr. Rajendra Prasad. The goal of Purna Swaraj was reiterated. This was the first time the congress spelt out what swaraj would mean for the masses.

Dandi March and Civil Disobedience

Demonstration against British Rule in India,
Gandhi emerged from his long seclusion by undertaking his most famous campaign, a march of about 400 kilometres (240 miles) from his commune in Ahmedabad to Dandi, on the coast of Gujarat between 11 March and 6 April 1930. The march is usually known as theDandi March or the Salt Satyagraha. At Dandi, in protest against British taxes on salt, he and thousands of followers broke the law by making their own salt from seawater. It took 24 days for him to complete this march. Every day he covered 10 miles and gave many speeches.
(Cont.    .)