The Civil Disobedience Movement, started by Gandhiji was at its height all over the
country, when he broke the salt laws. The repression by the government was equally severe
and the jails were over flowing. The government adopted conciliatory methods, as they were
unable to suppress the movement by force. To draft a future constitution of India, all the
leaders of the political parties were called for a Round Table Conference. An agreement
was signed between the Viceroy, Lord Irwin and Gandhiji, known as the Gandhi-Irwin Pact,
with this truce, the congress suspended the Civil Disobedience Movement while the
government stopped its policy of repression and released all political prisoners. As the
congress sole delegate, Gandhiji sailed for, London to attend the Round Table Conference
in August 1931. For 84 days, Gandhiji remained in England hoping that the government would
concede India's demand for Swaraj. But the government had no real intention to part with
power. Instead the conference played up the differences between the Hindus, the Muslims
and the Sikhs which increased communal tension in India. He left from there and was
invited by King George V and Queen Mary, in England. At the meeting he was dressed in his
usual khadi wrap and sandals. He returned to India empty-handed and was arrested soon
after. The truce between the congress and the government had ended.
The British parliament passed the Government of India Act of 1935, to give the Indian
people more political power. The law created a new Indian constitution. It provided the
formation of elected Indian governments in the provinces with the certain amount of power
and authority in law making. However the real power, still remained with the provincial
governors who could Veto all legislation. The congress contested the provincial elections
held in 1937 and secured in seven out of the eleven provinces of British India. Elected
Indians took over the reins of government in the provinces for the first time. The Muslim
league won a few seats, under its leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah, but as it was unable to get
an absolute majority, it wanted to form coalition ministries with the congress. When this
was refused, Jinnah angrily declared that under a congress government, Muslims could
expect neither justice, nor fair play. He started propagating the theory that the Hindus
and the Muslims formed two separate nations. Only for three years, provincial autonomy
lasted. When World War II broke out, the viceroy committed India to war without consulting
the Indian leaders. In protest, the congress ministries resigned.
On September 3, 1939, the Second World War broke out and without consulting the Indian
leaders, the British government drafted the country into the war. At the same time, it
armed itself with the Defence of India Ordinance to put down any popular movement. Without
her consent, India was not willing to let her men, money and resources to be used. In many
parts of the country, there were anti-war strikes and demonstrations. To placate the
Indians, the government announced that it would give Indian Dominion Status within the
empire after the war and also review constitutional charges. The congress rejected the
offer. Gandhiji decided to start Individual Civil Disobedience and chose freedom of speech
as the issue. The selected individuals would offer Satyagraha by making anti-war speeches
in public. With Vinoba Bhave, the first chosen by Gandhiji, on October 17, 1940, the
campaign started. At Paunar near Wardha, he made an anti-war speech. The symbolic protest
developed into a nation-wide movement and 25,000 satyagrahis were jailed.
