Gandhi-Irwin Pact/Delhi Pact (March 5, 1931)
The Gandhi-Irwin Pact, also known as the Delhi Pact, was a political agreement that was reached between Mahatma Gandhi and the British government in 1931. The pact was an attempt to resolve the longstanding differences between the Indian independence movement and the British government, and to end the campaign of civil disobedience that Gandhi had launched in protest of the British rule in India.
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The pact was signed in the Indian capital of Delhi and was named after Gandhi and Lord Irwin, the British Viceroy of India. It contained several provisions that were intended to address the demands of the Indian independence movement and to improve the relationship between the British government and the Indian people.
Under the terms of the pact, the British government agreed to release all political prisoners who had been arrested for participating in the civil disobedience campaign. It also agreed to withdraw the salt tax, which had been a major issue of contention between the Indian independence movement and the British government.
In return, Gandhi agreed to end the civil disobedience campaign and to participate in the Second Round Table Conference, a series of talks and negotiations between the British government and Indian political leaders that were held in London in 1931. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was seen as an important step towards resolving the differences between the British government and the Indian independence movement and towards achieving greater self-governance for India.
The Gandhi-Irwin Pact is remembered as an important event in the history of the Indian independence movement and as a symbol of the efforts to find a peaceful and negotiated settlement to the political differences between the Indian people and the British government. It helped to pave the way for the eventual independence of India in 1947.