The Indian Statutory Commission also known as Simon Commission, was a group of seven Members of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

under the chairmanship of

Sir John Simon John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, (28 February 1873 – 11 January 1954), was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second World War. He is one of only three pe ...

. The commission arrived in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in 1928 to study constitutional reform in Britain's largest and most important possession. One of its members was the future leader of the Labour Party Clement Attlee, who became committed to self-government for India. At the time of introducing of Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms in 1919, the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

declared that a commission would be sent to India after ten years to examine the effects and operations of the constitutional reforms and to suggest more reforms for India. In November 1927, the British government appointed the Simon Commission two years ahead of schedule to report on India's constitutional progress for introducing constitutional reforms, as promised. The Commission was strongly opposed by many Indians. It was opposed by Nehru, Gandhi, Jinnah, the Muslim League and

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

because it contained seven members of the British Parliament but no Indians. However, it was supported by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar,

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'F ...

and Chaudhary Chhotu Ram. Prominent Indian nationalist

Lala Lajpat Rai Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 - 17 November 1928) was an Indian author, freedom fighter, and politician. He played a vital role in the Indian Independence movement. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was one of the three members of ...

led a protest in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

. He suffered a police beating during the protest and died of his injuries on 17 November 1928.

Background

The Government of India Act 1919 had introduced the system of diarchy to govern the provinces of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. Indian opinion clamored for revision of this form of government, and the Government of India Act 1919 stated that a commission would be appointed after ten years to investigate the progress of the government scheme and suggest new steps for reform. The

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

F.E Smith feared that the ruling Conservative government was facing imminent electoral defeat at the hands of the Labour Party, and hence feared that the commission would be filled by its members and sympathizers. Hence, the commission was appointed ahead of time, and seven MPs were selected to constitute the promised commission to examine the state of Indian constitutional affairs. He also ensured that there were no Indians in the commission, as he believed the Labour MPs and Indian members would join together. The Viceroy of India

Lord Irwin Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 19 ...

too supported the decision to exclude Indians as he too thought they would vote together with the Labour MPs but also because he thought the Indian representatives would fight each other. Some people in India were outraged and insulted that the Simon Commission, which was to determine the future of India, did not include a single Indian member. The

, at its December 1927 meeting in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

), resolved to boycott the Commission and challenged Lord Birkenhead, the

, to draft a constitution that would be acceptable to the Indian populace. A faction of the Muslim League, led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, also decided to boycott the Commission. In face of the opposition from the Congress, F.E Smith wanted to publicize the meetings of the Commission with "representative Moslems" in order to "terrify the immense Hindu population by apprehension that the Commission is being got hold of by the Moslems and may present a report altogether destructive of the Hindu population." However opinion was divided, with support for co-operation coming from some members of the Muslim League and also both Hindu Mahasabha and members of the Central Sikh League. An All-India Committee for Cooperation with the Simon Commission was established by the Council of India and by selection of the Viceroy,

. The members of the committee were:

C. Sankaran Nair Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair, CIE (11 July 1857 – 24 April 1934) was a lawyer who also served as a President of the Indian National Congress in 1897 at the meeting held at Amravati. He wrote ''Gandhi and Anarchy'' (1922). Early life and educati ...

(Chairman),

Arthur Froom Sir Arthur Henry Froom (15 January 1873 – 29 October 1964) was a British businessman and political figure in British India. Educated at St Paul's School, he entered the service of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company in 1890; f ...

, Nawab Ali Khan, Shivdev Singh Uberoi, Zulfiqar Ali Khan,

Hari Singh Gour Sir Hari Singh Gour (26 November 1870 – 25 December 1949) was a distinguished lawyer, jurist, educationist, social reformer, poet, and novelist. Gour was the First Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi and Nagpur University, found ...

Abdullah Al-Mamun Suhrawardy Sir Abdullah al-Mamun Suhrawardy (31 May 1877 – 13 January 1935) was a Bengali Islamic scholar, barrister, and academic. He was the Tagore Law Lecturer in 1911 and involved in notable educational work. Abdullah was the first Indian to attai ...

, Kikabhai Premchand and Prof.

M. C. Rajah Mylai Chinna Thambi Pillai Rajah (17 June 1883 – 23 August 1943) was an Indian politician, educationist, social and political activist from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Rajah was born to a Tamil family of Madras. He entered politics after ...

. In

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

(Myanmar), which was included in the terms of reference of the Simon Commission, there was strong suspicion either that Burma's unpopular union with India would continue, or that the constitution recommended for Burma by the Commission would be less generous than that chosen for India; these suspicions resulted in tension and violence in Burma leading to the rebellion of Saya San. The commission found education was denied to untouchables who were ill-treated in the name of caste.

Protests and death of Lala Lajpat Rai

The Simon Commission left England in January 1928. Almost immediately with its arrival in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

on 3 February 1928, its members were confronted by throngs of protesters, although there were also some supporters among the crowds who saw it as the next step on the road to self-governance. A strike began and many people turned out to greet the Commission with black flags which was written 'Simon Go Back'.

Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi (3 March 1900 – 26 September 1966) was a political activist from Bihar, prominent in the Indian independence movement. Early life Ajazi was born on 3 March 1900 in village Dihuli, Block Sakra of District Muzaf ...

led the demonstrations against Simon Commission in

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

. Similar protests occurred in every major Indian city that the seven British MPs visited. One protest against the Simon Commission became infamous. On 30 October 1928, the Commission arrived in

where it was met by protesters waving black flags. The protest was led by the Indian nationalist

, who had moved a resolution against the Commission in the Legislative Assembly of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

in February 1928. The protesters blocked the road in order to prevent the commission members from leaving the railway station. In order to make way for the Commission, the local police led by Superintendent James Scott began beating protesters. Lala Lajpat Rai was critically injured and died on 17 November 1928 due to the head injuries he had sustained.

Recommendations

The Commission published its 2-volume report in May 1930. The commission proposed to abolish the diarchy, an extension to autonomy of provinces by establishing representative government in provinces. However it allowed the British governors of provinces to retain much of their emergency powers, hence in practice very little autonomy was to be given to the provinces. Most notably the commission's report did not mention dominion status at all. The commission also recommended to retain separate electorates as long as inter-communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims remained.

Aftermath

In September 1928, ahead of the Commission's release, Motilal Nehru presented his Nehru Report to counter its charges that Indians could not find a constitutional consensus among themselves. This report advocated that India be given dominion status with complete internal self-government. Jinnah declared the report as "Hindu Document" and presented Fourteen Points of Jinnah in response to the Nehru Report. The Fourteen Points consisted of Muslim's minimum demands from the British Rule. By the time it was published the commission was already overshadowed by a declaration by the Viceroy of India

on 31 October 1929 which reinterpreted the 1917 declaration (which had led to the Mortagu-Chelmsford reforms) as the British government's final policy goal always being India's attainment of

dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

status. He also called for a round-table conference in London regarding this. Although this remained controversial among many conservatives in London, in reality there was no change in British policy as the promise was very vague and far in the future. The outcome of the Simon Commission was the Government of India Act 1935, which called for a "responsible" government at the provincial level in India but not at the national level—that is a government responsible to the Indian community rather than London. It is the basis of many parts of the Indian Constitution. In 1937 the first elections were held in the Provinces, resulting in Congress Governments being returned in almost all Provinces. Clement Attlee was deeply moved by his experience on the Commission and endorsed the final report. However, by 1933 he argued that British rule was alien to India and was unable to make the social and economic reforms necessary for India's progress. He became the British leader most sympathetic to Indian independence (as a dominion), preparing him for his role in deciding on Indian independence as British Prime Minister in 1947.R.J. Moore, ''Escape from Empire: The Attlee Government & the Indian Problem'' (1983).

Members of the Commission

, MP for Spen Valley ( Liberal, chairman) * Clement Attlee, MP for Limehouse ( Labour) *

Harry Levy-Lawson, 1st Viscount Burnham Harry Lawson Webster Levy-Lawson, 1st Viscount Burnham, (18 December 1862 – 20 July 1933) was a British newspaper proprietor. He was originally a Liberal politician before joining the Liberal Unionist Party in the late 1890s. He sat in the Hou ...

* Edward Cadogan, MP for Finchley ( Conservative) * Vernon Hartshorn, MP for Ogmore ( Labour) * George Lane-Fox, MP for Barkston Ash ( Conservative) * Donald Howard, 3rd Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal

References

9. Dr. Babasaheb AmbedkarWritings and Speeches Vol. 2 (Dr. Ambedkar in the Bombay Legislature; With the Simon Commission; at the Round Table Conferences) Education Department, Government of Maharashtra (India) 1982

External links

Story of Pakistan: Simon CommissionSimon Commission Report Volumes 1-17
{{Indian independence movement Indian independence movement 1927 in India Commissions in Colonial India 1928 in India