Round Table Conferences

Round Table Conferences A series of conferences held in London to discuss a revision of India's constitution. It was based upon the 1929 Irwin Declaration, in which the viceroy, Irwin (later known as Halifax), declared that India's constitutional progress pointed to Dominion status. This reiterated a statement by the then Secretary of State for India, Montagu, made in 1917, but it derived its controversial nature from the fact that it occurred after Dominion status had been conclusively defined at the 1926 Imperial Conference, as a status of total domestic and external autonomy. Irwin hoped to respond to the growth of Indian nationalism, but he was not able to prevent the second satyagraha. Nevertheless, the first conference met in 1930, and consisted of Indian nationalist leaders, princes, and British and Indian government officials. However, it was relatively fruitless owing to the absence of Gandhi, who had been imprisoned after the Salt March.

Gandhi was able to attend the second conference, but since by now Congress was committed to the goal of complete independence, the trip to London was useful to Gandhi more as a way to gain publicity and present his case directly to the English people. By the time of the third conference in 1932, the conciliatory Irwin had been replaced as viceroy by the politically less able Willingdon. The disobedience campaign had been resumed, and Gandhi was back in prison. The conference failed in the attainment of Dominion status, or the creation of a lasting, conciliatory settlement. Nevertheless, it did provide the basis for the 1935 Government of India Act. Moreover, its significance lay in its very existence, the novelty of the British government discussing its colonial affairs with representatives of those concerned. This became a blueprint for subsequent independence during decolonization negotiations after World War II.