Here is your short essay on the Simon Commission

a. Introduction:

The national upsurge during the Non Co-operation movement came to a halt with the Chauri Chaura incident.

It was in 1927 again that there was the resumption of national movement centring round the appointment of the Simon Commission.

In fact, the British Government in 1927 announced that a commission would go through the question of granting further concessions to the Indians.

Accordingly, in 1927 itself the British government in Britain constituted a commission headed by Sir John Simon. And it was by his name that the commission came to be known as the ‘Simon Commission’.

b. Why was the Simon Commission formed? :

The constitutional concessions granted to the Indians by the British government in 1919 failed to satisfy the Indian people.

The Act of 1919 fell far short of the aspirations of the Indians. The Indian national leaders had been continuously demanding, since 1919, the introduction of further constitutional reforms.

But the British govt, made it clear that they did not contemplate any further constitutional reforms before next ten years.

By the time Simon Commission was formed already eight years had elapsed out of the time-span of ten years determined by the British government.

Besides, another factor that impelled the then British government in Britain to appoint the Simon Commission was that the ruling conservatives had feared a defeat in the elections to be held shortly.

Hence the ruling conservative govt, of Britain took upon itself the issue of introducing reforms in India and appointed the Simon Commission.

c. Indian rejection of the Simon Commission:

The Simon Commission was headed by one Sir John Simon and all other members were appointed from amongst the British Parliamentarians.

No Indian was included in the Commission as a member. This was considered to be a direct insult to the Indians.

In fact, exclusion of the Indian members in a Commission that concerned Indians alone was viewed as a deliberate insult to the self-respect of the Indian people.

Obviously Simon Commission was opposed by all shades of the Indian public opinion and thus it provided a common meeting ground for different political parties.

All India hartals were observed on the day of Commission’s landing in India. Protest demonstrations were held everywhere the members of the Simon Commission visited.

Hostile demonstrations were held in all the major cities and towns. There were also clashes between the demonstrators and the police in several places.

In one such incident Lala Lajpat Rai was severely injured when a lathi was blown by the police to break up the gathering at Lahore.

His death a few months after was obviously attributed to the injury that he had received. As a consequence people’s wrath and determination were intensified.

Under the circumstances the Indian National Congress in its Madras session (1927) adopted certain important resolutions which included drafting of a Constitution for India.