Table of Contents
Introduction: Gandhi-Irwin Pact
The Gandhi-Irwin Pact, also known as the Delhi Pact, was an agreement signed on March 5, 1931, between Mahatma Gandhi, representing the Indian National Congress, and Lord Irwin, the Viceroy of India at that time.
Important Facts
- The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was an agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi (on behalf of INC) and Lord Irwin (Viceroy of India) on 5 March 1931.
- The government agreed to:
- withdraw all ordinances and pending prosecutions.
- release all political prisoners except those who were guilty of violence.
- allow peaceful picketing of liquor, opium, and foreign cloth shops.
- lift the ban on the INC.
- restore the confiscated properties of the Satyagrahis.
- allow the collection of salt by people residing within a specific distance of the sea coasts.
- forego fines yet not collected.
- On behalf of the Congress, Gandhiji agreed:
- to halt the Civil Disobedience Movement and called for the suspension of mass protests, demonstrations, and boycotts, and
- to participate in the Second Round Table Conference.
- The viceroy turned down two of Gandhi’s demands:
- Public inquiry into police excesses, and
- the demand of converting Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev’s death sentences to life sentences.
- The Karachi session (presided by Sardar Patel) of INC (1931) approved the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.