Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Modern India: Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist movement

Question:

Where and when was the first round table conference held?

Options:

London 1930-31

London 1931-32

London 1932-33

London 1933-34

Correct Answer:

London 1930-31

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option 1 - London 1930-31

The First Round Table Conference was held between November 1930 and January 1931 in London.

The British government convened a series of “Round Table Conferences” in London. The first meeting was held in November 1930, but without the pre-eminent political leader in India, thus rendering it an exercise in futility. Gandhiji was released from jail in January 1931 and the following month had several long meetings with the Viceroy. These culminated in what was called the “Gandhi-Irwin Pact’, by the terms of which civil disobedience would be called off, all prisoners released, and salt manufacture allowed along the coast. The pact was criticised by radical nationalists, for Gandhiji was unable to obtain from the Viceroy a commitment to political independence for Indians; he could obtain merely an assurance of talks towards that possible end.

A second Round Table Conference was held in London in the latter part of 1931. Here, Gandhiji represented the Congress. However, his claims that his party represented all of India came under challenge from three parties: from the Muslim League, which claimed to stand for the interests of the Muslim minority; from the Princes, who claimed that the Congress had no stake in their territories; and from the brilliant lawyer and thinker B.R. Ambedkar, who argued that Gandhiji and the Congress did not really represent the lowest castes. The Conference in London was inconclusive, so Gandhiji returned to India and resumed civil disobedience.