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{{Short description|1931 agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and the Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}

The '''Gandhi–Irwin Pact''' was a political agreement signed by [[Mahatma Gandhi]] and [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Irwin]], [[Viceroy of India]], on 5 March 1931 before the Second [[Round Table Conference]] in [[London]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Gandhi Irwin Pact Event List |url=https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/gandhi-irwin-pact |website=Gandhi Heritage Portal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140916065157/https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/gandhi-irwin-pact |archive-date=2014-09-16}}</ref> Before this, [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Irwin]], the Viceroy, had announced in October 1929 a vague offer of '[[dominion status]]' for [[British Raj|British-occupied India]] in an unspecified future and a [[Round Table Conference]] to discuss a future constitution.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ruhe |first=Peter |title=Gandhi |location=London |publisher=Phaidon Press |date=2001 |page=75}}</ref> The Second Round Table Conference was held from September to December 1931 in London. This movement marked the end of the [[Civil Disobedience Movement]] in India. Arrest of [[Abdul Ghaffar Khan]] in April 1930 and Mahatma Gandhi in May 1930 resulted in protests in [[Peshawar]] and [[Sholapur]] respectively.

"The two leaders" — As [[Sarojini Naidu]] described Gandhi and Lord Irwin—had eight meetings that totaled 24 hours. 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gandhi-Irwin Pact|work=GANDHI - A Pictorial Biography|url=http://www.mkgandhi.org/biography/gndirwin.htm|publisher=Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal / Gandhi Book Centre}}</ref>

Below are the proposed conditions:

* Discontinuation of the [[Salt March]] by the [[Indian National Congress]]
* Participation by the Indian National Congress in the [[Second Round Table Conference]]
* Withdrawal of all ordinances issued by the Government of India imposing curbs on the activities of the Indian National Congress
* Withdrawal of all prosecutions relating to several types of political offenses ([[Rowlatt Act]]) except those involving violence
* Release of prisoners arrested for participating in the Salt March
* 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 [[Great Britain]], 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 House|Viceroy’s palace]], there to negotiate and parley on equal terms with the representative of the [[King-Emperor|King Emperor]]." {{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}

In reply, [[Government of the United Kingdom|His Majesty's Government]] agreed to:-

# Withdraw all ordinances and end prosecutions
# Release all [[political prisoner]]s, except those guilty of violence
# Permit peaceful picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops
# Restore confiscated properties of the [[Satyagraha|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-run [[Indian Civil Service]] and the commercial community favoured even harsher measures. But [[Ramsay MacDonald]], the [[British Prime Minister]], and [[William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate|William Benn]], [[Secretary of State for India|His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India]], were eager for peace, if they could secure it without weakening the position of the [[British Labour Party|Labour]] government in [[Whitehall]]. 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 Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, can be best understood in terms of his technique. The '' [[satyagraha]] (quest for truth)'' 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 here 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 which aimed at coercing the oppressor to accept the real truth and not the truth that had been imposed via violence and oppression.

This was the second high-level meeting between Gandhi and a Viceroy in 13 years and should be read in the context of the [[Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms]] that were the basis of the [[Government of India Act, 1919]].

==See also==
* [[Poona Pact]]
*[[Salt March|Civil disobedience movement]]
*[[Non-cooperation movement|Non cooperation movement]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Indian independence movement}}
{{Gandhi}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandhi-Irwin Pact}}
[[Category:Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:1931 in British India]]
[[Category:Indian documents]]
[[Category:1931 in India]]
[[Category:1931 documents]]
[[Category:Mahatma Gandhi]]
[[Category:March 1931 events]]
[[Category:1931 in politics]]

Gandhi Irwin Pact - Revision history

->AnomieBOT at 05:43, 5 January 2022