Civil Disobedience Movement, Round Table Conferences and Communal Award (1930–1934)

Calcutta Congress Session (December 1928)

The Congress approved the Nehru Report at this session, but the younger faction — Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Bose, and Satyamurthy — demanded purna swaraj (complete independence), not dominion status. The older leadership (Gandhi, Motilal Nehru) persuaded them to give the government a two-year grace period to accept dominion status. Under youth pressure, this was reduced to one year. If the government did not accept a dominion-status constitution by the end of 1929, Congress would demand complete independence and launch civil disobedience.

Political Temperature in 1929

Gandhi toured incessantly, preparing the masses for direct action. The CWC launched an aggressive foreign cloth boycott — Gandhi initiated it in March 1929 in Calcutta and was arrested. Other events that kept the political temperature high: the Meerut Conspiracy Case (March 1929), the Assembly bomb by Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt (April 1929), and the coming to power of the minority Labour government under Ramsay MacDonald (May 1929) — with Wedgwood Benn as Secretary of State for India.

Irwin's Declaration (October 31, 1929)

Lord Irwin announced, via an official communique in the Indian Gazette, that "the natural issue of India's constitutional progress...is the attainment of Dominion status." He also promised a Round Table Conference after the Simon Commission report. But the declaration contained no time scale — dominion status would not arrive anytime soon. Indian leaders were not impressed.

Delhi Manifesto (November 2, 1929)

A conference of prominent national leaders issued conditions for attending the Round Table Conference:

1. The RTC must function as a constituent assembly to implement dominion status immediately — not merely deliberate on it.
2. The Congress must have majority representation at the conference.
3. There must be a general amnesty for political prisoners.

Gandhi met Irwin in December 1929 and asked for assurance that the RTC's purpose was to draft a dominion-status constitution. Irwin refused. The stage was set for confrontation.

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Jawaharlal Nehru was nominated president — backed by Gandhi though 15 of 18 Provincial Congress Committees had opposed him — because of the aptness of the occasion (complete independence as goal) and to acknowledge the upsurge of youth in the anti-Simon campaign.

Key decisions:

• Round Table Conference to be boycotted.
• Complete independence (purna swaraj) declared as the Congress goal.
• CWC authorised to launch civil disobedience including non-payment of taxes.
• All legislators asked to resign their seats.
• January 26, 1930 fixed as the first Independence (Swarajya) Day.

December 31, 1929: At midnight on the banks of River Ravi, Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the newly adopted tricolour flag amid slogans of Inquilab Zindabad.

January 26, 1930: Public meetings across India; the Independence Pledge (drafted by Gandhi) was read in local languages. Its themes: inalienable right to freedom; British rule has ruined India economically, politically, culturally and spiritually; compulsory disarmament made Indians "unmanly"; withdrawal of all voluntary cooperation from British government; preparation for civil disobedience through non-payment of taxes.

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Gandhi presented eleven demands to the government, categorised as follows:

Issues of General Interest:

1. Reduce Army and civil service expenditure by 50%.
2. Total prohibition.
3. Reform the CID (Criminal Investigation Department).
4. Amend Arms Act to allow popular control of firearms licences.
5. Release political prisoners.
6. Accept the Postal Reservation Bill.

Specific Bourgeois Demands: 7. Reduce rupee-sterling exchange ratio to 1s 4d. 8. Introduce textile protection. 9. Reserve coastal shipping for Indians.

Specific Peasant Demands: 10. Reduce land revenue by 50%. 11. Abolish salt tax and government's salt monopoly.

With no positive response, the CWC invested Gandhi with full powers to launch the CDM at a time and place of his choosing.

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Why Salt?

Gandhi: "There is no other article like salt, outside water, by taxing which the government can reach the starving millions, the sick, the maimed and the utterly helpless... it is the most inhuman poll tax the ingenuity of man can devise."

Salt was chosen because:

• It linked the ideal of swaraj with a universal, concrete grievance of the rural poor — without the socially divisive implications of a no-rent campaign.
• Like khadi, it offered the urban poor a symbolic identification with mass suffering and small but psychologically important self-help income.
• It had no communal or class dimension — the salt tax hurt everyone equally.

The March (March 12 – April 6, 1930)

On March 2, Gandhi informed Viceroy Irwin of his plan. Gandhi, with 78 members of Sabarmati Ashram, marched 240 miles through Gujarat villages from Ahmedabad to the coast at Dandi. He broke the salt law by picking up a lump of salt on April 6, 1930.

Gandhi gave advance instructions for action during/after the march: civil disobedience of salt law wherever possible; picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops; refusal to pay taxes if ready; lawyers to give up practice; courts to be boycotted; government servants to resign. Non-violence and truth at all times. Local leaders to be obeyed after Gandhi's arrest.

In Gujarat, 300 village officials resigned in response to Gandhi's call.

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Regional Satyagrahas

Tamil Nadu: C. Rajagopalachari organised a march from Thiruchirapalli to Vedaranniyam (Tanjore coast) to break salt law. Followed by boycott of foreign cloth, anti-liquor campaign in Coimbatore, Madura, Virudhanagar. Violence erupted — police broke the Choolai mill strike; weavers attacked liquor shops at Gudiyattam; peasants rioted at Bodinayakanur.

Malabar: K. Kelappan (of Vaikom Satyagraha fame) organised salt marches. P. Krishna Pillai (future Kerala Communist Party founder) heroically defended the national flag during a police lathicharge at Calicut beach (November 1930).

Andhra: Salt marches in Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts; sibirams (military-style camps) served as headquarters. Merchants contributed to Congress funds; Kamma and Raju cultivators defied repression. But mass participation was lower than 1921–22.

Orissa: Under Gopalbandhu Chaudhuri, salt satyagraha was effective in Balasore, Cuttack and Puri coastal districts.

Assam: Divisive factors (Assamese-Bengali tensions, Hindu-Muslim conflicts, Muslim peasant influx from East Bengal) limited the movement. Notable: a student strike against the Cunningham Circular (which banned student participation in politics) in May 1930. Chandraprabha Saikiani incited Kachari villages to break forest laws (December 1930).

Bengal: Bengal Congress was divided (Bose vs J.M. Sengupta factions) — distracted by Calcutta Corporation elections, estranging leaders from rural masses. Communal riots in Dacca and Kishoreganj. Yet Bengal provided the largest number of arrests and highest violence. Midnapur, Arambagh and rural pockets saw powerful salt satyagraha and chaukidari-tax movements. Surya Sen's Chittagong group raided two armouries and declared a provisional government (April 1930).

Bihar: Champaran and Saran started first. Salt manufacture was mostly symbolic in landlocked Bihar; no-chaukidari tax agitation replaced it. Barhee region of Munger saw administration collapse. Tribal Chhotanagpur: Bonga Majhi and Somra Majhi led a Gandhian movement combining social reform and Khadi — though Santhals reportedly distilled liquor "under the banner of Gandhi."

Peshawar (NWFP): Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan ("Badshah Khan" / "Frontier Gandhi") had built the Khudai Khidmatgars ("Red-Shirts") — a volunteer brigade pledged to non-violence and the freedom struggle — and started the Pushto monthly Pukhtoon. On April 23, 1930, arrest of Congress leaders triggered mass demonstrations; Peshawar was virtually in the hands of crowds for over a week until May 4. A reign of terror and martial law followed. Here, a section of Garhwal Rifles soldiers refused to fire on unarmed crowds — a remarkable moment. The upsurge in a 92% Muslim province deeply alarmed the British.

Sholapur: Fiercest response to Gandhi's arrest. Textile workers struck from May 7; activists burnt liquor shops, railway stations, police stations, courts. A virtual parallel government was established — dislodged only with martial law after May 16.

Dharasana (May 21, 1930): After Gandhi's arrest, Sarojini Naidu, Imam Sahib, and Manilal Gandhi led a raid on Dharasana Salt Works. Unarmed, peaceful crowds were met with a brutal lathicharge — 2 killed, 320 injured. American journalist Web Miller's eyewitness account ("They marched steadily with heads up...") brought worldwide attention to British repression.

Gujarat: No-tax movement in Anand, Borsad, Nadiad (Kheda), Bardoli (Surat), Jambusar (Bharuch). Villagers crossed into princely states like Baroda with families and belongings to evade police; police destroyed property and confiscated land.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Central Provinces: Defiance of forest laws — grazing, timber restrictions; public sale of illegally acquired forest produce.

UP: No-revenue campaign; zamindars called to refuse to pay revenue; no-rent campaign (most zamindars being loyalists, it became a virtual no-rent campaign against landlords). Activity peaked October 1930 in Agra and Rai Bareilly.

Manipur and Nagaland: Rani Gaidinliu (age 13), a Naga spiritual leader following her cousin Haipou Jadonang, raised the banner of revolt. She urged people not to pay taxes or work for the British. Jadonang was hanged in 1931; Gaidinliu evaded capture until October 1932, then given life imprisonment. Released only by the Interim Government in 1946.

Mass Participation

• Women: Most liberating experience for Indian women — picketing liquor shops, opium dens, foreign cloth shops; entry into the public sphere.
• Students: Active in boycott of foreign cloth and liquor.
• Muslims: Not at 1920–22 levels (Muslim leaders urged abstention; government encouraged communal dissension). But NWFP was overwhelming; middle-class Muslim participation significant in Senhatta, Tripura, Gaibandha, Bagura, Noakhali, Dacca; Muslim weavers in Bihar, Delhi, Lucknow effectively mobilised.
• Merchants and petty traders: Very enthusiastic — especially in Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
• Tribals: Active in Central Provinces, Maharashtra, Karnataka.
• Workers: Active in Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Sholapur.
• Peasants: Active in UP, Bihar, Gujarat.
• Mobilisation tools: Prabhat pheries, vanar senas, manjari senas, secret patrikas, magic lantern shows.

Impact

• Imports of foreign cloth and other items fell sharply.
• Government suffered revenue losses from liquor, excise, and land revenue.
• Elections to Legislative Assembly were largely boycotted.

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The government faced a classic dilemma — repression gave Congress the "repression" narrative; leniency gave Congress the "victory" narrative. Gandhi was arrested on May 4, 1930 after announcing a raid on Dharasana Salt Works. After arrest, CWC sanctioned: non-payment of revenue in ryotwari areas; no-chaukidara-tax in zamindari areas; violation of forest laws in Central Provinces.

In July 1930, Viceroy Irwin suggested a Round Table Conference and reiterated dominion status. Tej Bahadur Sapru and M.R. Jayakar were allowed to explore peace. In August 1930, Motilal and Jawaharlal were taken to Yeravada Jail to meet Gandhi; the Nehrus and Gandhi reiterated demands of right of secession, complete national government with control over defence and finance, and an independent tribunal for Britain's financial claims. Talks broke down.

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (Delhi Pact, February 14, 1931)

Gandhi and all CWC members were released unconditionally on January 25, 1931. After negotiations, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (Delhi Pact) was signed on February 14, 1931 — placing the Congress on an equal footing with the British government.

Government conceded:

1. Immediate release of all political prisoners not convicted of violence.
2. Remission of fines not yet collected.
3. Return of confiscated lands not yet sold to third parties.
4. Lenient treatment for resigned government servants.
5. Right to make salt in coastal villages for personal consumption (not for sale).
6. Right to peaceful and non-aggressive picketing.
7. Withdrawal of emergency ordinances.

Government refused: (i) public inquiry into police excesses; (ii) commutation of Bhagat Singh and comrades' death sentence.

Gandhi conceded: (i) suspend civil disobedience; (ii) participate in the next Round Table Conference on the basis of federation, Indian responsibility, and necessary reservations/safeguards.

Was the Pact a Retreat?

No — because: (i) mass movements are necessarily short-lived; (ii) the masses' capacity to sacrifice, unlike activists', is limited; (iii) merchants and shopkeepers showed signs of exhaustion from September 1930. The pact placed Gandhi and the Congress on equal political footing with the colonial government — itself a political victory.

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Six days before the session (held March 29), Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru were executed (March 23, 1931). Throughout Gandhi's route to Karachi, the Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha staged black flag demonstrations protesting his failure to secure commutation of the death sentences.

Key Resolutions

• Congress disapproved of but admired the bravery and sacrifice of the three martyrs (nuanced position on political violence).
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact endorsed.
• Purna swaraj reiterated as the goal.
• Two landmark resolutions — on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme — made this session historically memorable as the first time Congress defined what swaraj meant for the masses.

Fundamental Rights Resolution guaranteed: Free speech and press; right to form associations; right to assemble; universal adult franchise; equal legal rights irrespective of caste, creed, sex; state neutrality in religion; free and compulsory primary education; protection of minorities' culture, language, script.

National Economic Programme Resolution included: Substantial rent and revenue reduction; exemption for uneconomic holdings; relief from agricultural debt; control of usury; living wage, limited work hours, protection of women workers; right to form unions (workers and peasants); state ownership and control of key industries, mines and transport.

The Karachi Resolution remained the Congress's basic political and economic programme for decades.

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First RTC (November 1930 – January 1931, London)

Opened by King George V on November 12, 1930; chaired by Ramsay MacDonald. The first conference arranged between British and Indians as equals. The Congress and prominent business leaders refused to attend. Representatives attended from: princely states, Muslim League (Aga Khan III led British-Indian delegation, Jinnah, A.K. Fazlul Huq, etc.), Hindu Mahasabha, Sikhs, Parsis, Liberals (Tej Bahadur Sapru, Srinivasa Sastri, etc.), Depressed Classes (B.R. Ambedkar and Rettamalai Srinivasan), Justice Party, Labour (N.M. Joshi, B. Shiva Rao), Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans, women (Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz, Radhabai Subbarayan), universities, landlords, Burma, Sindh.

Outcome: Nothing substantial. General agreement on India developing into a federation with some safeguards on defence and finance. The British realised Congress participation was essential for any meaningful constitutional progress.

Second RTC (September 7 – December 1, 1931, London)

The Congress nominated Gandhi as its sole representative (also Rangaswami Iyengar and Madan Mohan Malaviya). A large number of other Indian delegates also attended.

Why little was expected:

• Lord Irwin had been replaced by the harder Lord Willingdon as Viceroy.
• The Labour government had been replaced by a National Government (Labour-Conservative coalition) — dominated by Conservatives; PM Ramsay MacDonald headed it with a weak Secretary of State, Samuel Hoare.
• Churchill and the Right Wing strongly objected to British government negotiating with Congress on equal terms; demanded a "strong government" in India.
• The large number of conservative, loyalist, and communalist Indian delegates allowed Britain to claim Congress did not represent all of India.

Gandhi's positions at the 2nd RTC:

• Demanded equal partnership between Britain and India; immediate responsible government at Centre and provinces.
• Claimed Congress alone represented political India.
• Said untouchables were Hindus — not a minority — rejected separate electorates for them.
• Said no need for separate electorates or special safeguards for Muslims or other minorities.

Deadlock: The session got deadlocked on the minorities question. Muslims, depressed classes, Christians, and Anglo-Indians combined in a 'Minorities' Pact' demanding separate electorates. Princes were unenthusiastic about federation after CDM suspension reduced the prospect of a Congress government at the Centre.

Outcome: MacDonald announced: (i) two Muslim-majority provinces — NWFP and Sindh; (ii) setting up of an Indian Consultative Committee; (iii) three expert committees on finance, franchise, and states; (iv) the prospect of a unilateral British Communal Award if Indians failed to agree. Gandhi returned to India December 28, 1931.

Third RTC (November 17 – December 24, 1932, London)

Not attended by Congress or Gandhi; ignored by most Indian leaders. Its recommendations were published in a White Paper (March 1933), debated in Parliament, analysed by a Joint Select Committee, and eventually produced the Government of India Act, 1935 (enforced July 1935).

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CWC decided to resume CDM on December 29, 1931. Willingdon refused Gandhi a meeting on December 31. Gandhi was arrested on January 4, 1932.

Government repression: A "Civil Martial Law" — Congress organisations at all levels banned; activists, leaders, sympathisers arrested; properties confiscated; Gandhi ashrams occupied; press gagged; nationalist literature banned. Repression was especially harsh on women.

People's response: Despite being unprepared, the response was massive — in the first four months, ~80,000 satyagrahis (mostly urban and rural poor) were jailed. Forms of protest: picketing, illegal gatherings, non-violent demonstrations, national day celebrations, symbolic flag hoistings, non-payment of chaukidara tax, salt satyagraha, forest law violations, and installation of a secret radio transmitter near Bombay.

The movement could not be sustained for long — Gandhi and leaders had no time to build up momentum; the masses were unprepared. Gandhi withdrew the CDM in April 1934. People had been cowed by superior force but had not lost political faith in Congress — "they had won freedom in their hearts."

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Communal Award (August 16, 1932)

Announced by British PM Ramsay MacDonald on August 16, 1932, based on findings of the Indian Franchise Committee (Lothian Committee). It established:

• Separate electorates for Muslims, Europeans, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, depressed classes, Marathas (in Bombay), and women.
• 78 reserved seats for the depressed classes (to be treated as a minority for 20 years, with "double vote" — one in separate electorate, one in general electorate).
• Seats in provincial legislatures to be doubled.
• Muslims in minority provinces to get weightage.
• 3% seats reserved for women in all provinces except NWFP.
• Allocation of seats for labourers, landlords, traders and industrialists.

The national leadership saw this as another manifestation of the British divide-and-rule policy.

Background: At the 2nd RTC, Ambedkar had again raised separate electorates for the depressed classes. He had earlier attempted a compromise with Gandhi (reserved seats in a common electorate) but Gandhi, claiming to represent all of India's oppressed, rejected this and Ambedkar's delegation. Gandhi also tried to build a Muslim-Depressed Classes deal (Muslims to oppose separate electorates for depressed classes in exchange for Gandhi supporting Muslim demands). No consensus was reached among Indian delegates, prompting MacDonald's unilateral award.

Gandhi's Response

Gandhi saw the Communal Award as an attack on Indian unity and nationalism. His reasoning:

• Treating depressed classes as a separate political entity would undermine abolition of untouchability.
• Separate electorates would ensure untouchables "remained untouchables in perpetuity."
• What was required was not political protection but root-and-branch eradication of untouchability.
• He accepted no objection to a larger number of reserved seats but demanded joint electorates (preferably with universal franchise).

To press these demands, Gandhi went on an indefinite fast on September 20, 1932 from Yeravada Jail.

The Poona Pact (September 24, 1932)

Leaders including B.R. Ambedkar, M.C. Rajah, and Madan Mohan Malaviya hammered out the compromise. Signed by Ambedkar on behalf of the depressed classes:

• Separate electorates for depressed classes: ABANDONED.
• Reserved seats increased from 71 to 147 in provincial legislatures.
• Reserved seats in Central Legislature: 18% of total.
• The Poona Pact was accepted by the government as an amendment to the Communal Award.

Impact of Poona Pact on Dalits (Ambedkar's Critique)

• Made depressed classes political tools of majoritarian caste Hindu organisations.
• True representatives of depressed classes were unable to win against "stooges" chosen by caste Hindu organisations — made the community leaderless.
• Forced submission to the status quo in political, ideological, and cultural fields.
• Subordinated depressed classes into the Hindu social order, denying separate and distinct existence.
• Pre-empted rights and safeguards for Dalits in the Constitution of independent India.
• Ambedkar continued denouncing the Poona Pact until 1947.

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In September 1932 (while still in jail), Gandhi established the All India Anti-Untouchability League and started the weekly Harijan in January 1933. After his release in August 1933, he shifted to Wardha Satyagraha Ashram (having vowed not to return to Sabarmati until swaraj was won).

From November 1933 to July 1934, Gandhi conducted a Harijan tour covering 20,000 km, collecting funds for the Harijan Sevak Sangh and propagating removal of untouchability. He undertook two fasts — May 8 and August 16, 1934 — to convince followers of his seriousness.

Themes of Gandhi's campaign:

• Total eradication of untouchability; temples to be opened to untouchables.
• Caste Hindus must do "penance" for miseries inflicted.
• "Hinduism dies if untouchability lives, untouchability has to die if Hinduism is to live."
• The Shastras do not sanction untouchability; if they did, they should be ignored as being against human dignity.
• Campaign based on humanism and reason; orthodox "sanatanis" to be won by persuasion, not compulsion.

Gandhi's limits: He did not mix untouchability removal with inter-caste marriage/dining reform. He distinguished between removing untouchability and abolishing the caste/varnashram system — here he differed fundamentally from Ambedkar.

Gandhi's programme for Harijans: Internal reform covering education, cleanliness, hygiene, giving up beef and carrion, giving up liquor, and removing untouchability among Harijans themselves.

Impact: Carried the message of nationalism to Harijans (who were mostly agricultural labourers), increasing their participation in national and peasant movements.

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Similarities: Both sought social transformation through democratic and peaceful means; both opposed violent overthrow; both believed in limited sovereign power of the State; both accepted religion as an agent of social change.

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• GS Paper I — Modern History: The CDM is the most elaborate test of Gandhian non-violent mass politics — its regional variations, class composition, and limits are all exam-relevant analytical themes.
• Salt as Symbol: Gandhi's choice of salt is a masterclass in political symbolism — it converted an economic grievance into a moral challenge, a local act into a global spectacle (Dharasana's international coverage), and a specific law-breaking into a universal statement of sovereignty.
• Communal Award and Poona Pact: This episode is foundational to understanding Dalit political history and the contested place of Dalits within Indian nationalism. The Ambedkar-Gandhi conflict here is a prism through which to examine competing visions of India's future — one majoritarian-nationalist, one minority-constitutional.
• Karachi Resolutions: The Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme resolutions are direct ancestors of the Indian Constitution's Part III (Fundamental Rights) and the Directive Principles. Connect to constitutional history.
• Gandhi-Ambedkar Debate: Their ideological differences map onto enduring debates: means vs ends, village vs city, moral reform vs structural reform, Hindu unity vs Dalit autonomy. This remains one of the most asked-about analytical comparisons in UPSC Mains.
• Women and Nationalism: The CDM marks women's fullest entry into public political life — picketing, marching, fasting. Connect to the broader theme of gender and nationalism.

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• Dandi March dates: Started March 12, 1930; Gandhi broke salt law at Dandi on April 6, 1930 — 24 days/240 miles. Do NOT say "April 5" or "March 6."
• Number of Sabarmati Ashram members: 78 — not 79 or 80.
• Gandhi's arrest: May 4, 1930 — after he announced the Dharasana raid, NOT during or after the Dandi March itself.
• Dharasana raid leader: Sarojini Naidu, Imam Sahib, and Manilal Gandhi — NOT Gandhi himself (who was in jail). 2 killed, 320 injured.
• Rajagopalachari's march: From Thiruchirapalli to Vedaranniyam (on the Tanjore coast) — NOT from Sabarmati, NOT to Dandi.
• Garhwal Rifles: Refused to fire in Peshawar — NOT Amritsar, NOT Bengal.
• Rani Gaidinliu: She was 13 years old when she raised revolt; captured October 1932; sentenced to life imprisonment; released only by the Interim Government in 1946 (NOT at Independence in 1947).
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact signed: February 14, 1931 — NOT March 1931 (March 1931 is the Karachi session where it was endorsed).
• CWC members released: January 25, 1931 (unconditional release); Pact signed February 14, 1931. These two dates are frequently confused.
• Karachi session date: March 29, 1931 — Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru hanged on .

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• Calcutta Congress (Dec 1928): 1-year ultimatum; originally 2 years reduced to 1.
• Irwin Declaration: October 31, 1929 — dominion status promised, no timeline.
• Delhi Manifesto: November 2, 1929 — conditions for RTC attendance (all rejected by Irwin).
• Lahore Congress (December 1929): Purna swaraj; Nehru president (15/18 PCCs opposed him); tricolour hoisted December 31, 1929, River Ravi.
• January 26, 1930: First Independence Day; Independence Pledge read.
• Gandhi's 11 demands: January 31, 1930 ultimatum; salt tax abolition was demand #11.
• Dandi March: March 12 – April 6, 1930; 240 miles; 78 ashramites; salt broken at Dandi.
• Gandhi arrested: May 4, 1930.
• Dharasana: May 21, 1930; Sarojini Naidu + Imam Sahib + Manilal; 2 dead, 320 injured; Web Miller reported.
• Khudai Khidmatgars / Red Shirts: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan / Frontier Gandhi; Peshawar; NWFP (92% Muslim); Garhwal Rifles refused to fire.
• Sholapur: Textile workers + parallel government; martial law May 16.
• Rani Gaidinliu: Age 13; Manipur/Naga revolt; captured Oct 1932; life imprisonment; freed 1946 by Interim Govt.
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact (Delhi Pact): February 14, 1931; CWC released January 25, 1931.
• Karachi Session: March 29, 1931; Bhagat Singh etc hanged March 23 (6 days before); Fundamental Rights + National Economic Programme resolutions.
• 1st RTC: Nov 1930 – Jan 1931; Congress absent; Ambedkar + Rettamalai represented depressed classes.
• 2nd RTC: Sep 7 – Dec 1, 1931; Gandhi sole Congress rep; deadlock on minorities; Minorities' Pact; MacDonald announced Communal Award prospect.
• 3rd RTC: Nov–Dec 1932; Congress absent → White Paper 1933 → GOI Act 1935.
• CDM resumed: December 29, 1931; Gandhi arrested January 4, 1932; ~80,000 jailed in 4 months; withdrawn April 1934.
• Communal Award: August 16, 1932; Ramsay MacDonald; Lothian Committee; 78 seats depressed classes.
• Gandhi fast: September 20, 1932 (Yeravada Jail).
• Poona Pact: September 24, 1932; Ambedkar signed; 71→147 provincial seats; 18% central.
• Harijan League: September 1932; weekly Harijan: January 1933; Harijan tour: Nov 1933–Jul 1934; 20,000 km.