Karachi Congress Session, 1931

At a Glance

• Date 29 March 1931, a special session of the Congress
• Context Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru executed six days earlier
• Decisions Endorsed the pact; purna swaraj reiterated
• Resolutions Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: Civil Disobedience Movement and Round Table Conferences

Where Does It Fit?

This is the seventh topic of the category on the Civil Disobedience Movement and Round Table Conferences. The previous topic covered the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. This topic covers the Karachi session that endorsed it. The next topic covers the first and second Round Table Conferences. Previous topic: Gandhi-Irwin Pact.

What Was the Setting of the Karachi Session?

In March 1931 a special session of the Congress was held at Karachi to endorse the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Six days before the session, held on 29 March, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed. Along Gandhi’s route to Karachi he was greeted with black flag demonstrations by the Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha, in protest against his failure to secure commutation of the death sentence. The pact and its refusals are in Gandhi-Irwin Pact, and the three revolutionaries in Revolutionary Activity in Punjab, United Provinces and Bihar.

What Did the Congress Resolve at Karachi?

• While disapproving of and dissociating itself from political violence, the Congress admired the bravery and sacrifice of the three martyrs.
• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was endorsed.
• The goal of purna swaraj was reiterated.
• Two resolutions were adopted, on Fundamental Rights and on the National Economic Programme, which made the session particularly memorable.

What Did the Fundamental Rights Resolution Guarantee?

The Nehru Report had also listed fundamental rights, in Nehru Report, 1928, so the Karachi list can be seen as carrying that idea forward in the name of the Congress.

What Did the National Economic Programme Include?

• Substantial reduction in rent and revenue for landholders and peasants, and exemption from rent for uneconomic holdings.
• Relief from agricultural indebtedness and control of usury.
• Better conditions of work, including a living wage, limited hours and protection of women workers in industry.
• The right of workers and peasants to form unions.
• State ownership and control of key industries, mines and means of transport.

This was the first time the Congress spelt out what swaraj would mean for the masses. The resolution stated that to end the exploitation of the masses, political freedom must include the economic freedom of starving millions.

Why Was Karachi Important?

The Karachi Resolution was to remain, in essence, the basic political and economic programme of the Congress in later years, and its list of rights is the nearest forerunner of the rights later written into the Constitution, an analytical link and not a claim of direct drafting. As an analytical point, the session shows the Congress joining civil liberties with economic goals, which gave its demand for independence a social content and attracted the peasants and workers whom the movement had reached. It also shows how the Congress handled a difficult moment: it endorsed a pact that disappointed the youth and criticised violence, while honouring the courage of the executed revolutionaries. The ideas of the Karachi resolutions are echoed in the left currents of the 1920s, described in Spread of Socialist and Marxist Ideas, Youth Activism and Trade Unionism.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Fundamental Rights The Karachi list is a stock Prelims and Mains fact
• Economic programme The first statement of what swaraj meant for the masses
• Bhagat Singh’s executions Shows the mood at the time of the session

What Came Next?

The next topic describes the first and second Round Table Conferences in London. Next topic: First and Second Round Table Conferences.

Key People and Terms

• Karachi Resolution The Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme resolutions of 1931
• Fundamental Rights Rights guaranteed in the resolution
• National Economic Programme The economic goals adopted at Karachi
• Usury Moneylending at high interest, to be controlled
• Black flag demonstrations Protests by the Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha against Gandhi
• Neutrality of the State No State preference in religion

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about the Karachi resolutions. These points add depth.

• Rights Civil and social
• Economy Land, labour and state ownership
• Legacy A programme for later years