Could Gandhi Ji Have Saved Bhagat Singh by
Boycotting the Second Round Table Conference?
This is very debatable question in History. Let’s try to find out an appropriate answer of this most debated question in the Indian History.
Before going into deep discussion, let’s focus on some important dates:
12th March 1930
Begining of the Civil Disobedience Movement with Dandi March
7th October 1930
Death Sentence was granted to Bhagat Singh along with Rajguru and Sukhdev. Execution was fixed on 24th March 1931. But they were hanged one day earlier.
12th November 1930
First Round Table Conference
(From 12th November 1930 to 19th January 1931)
5th March 1931
23rd March 1931
Bhagat Singh was hanged to death along with Rajguru and Sukhdev
7th September to 1st December 1931
Second Round Table Conference was held
The period between 1930 and 1931 marked a crucial phase in India’s struggle for independence, defined by both Gandhian non-violence and revolutionary fervour. On 12th March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement with the historic Dandi March, symbolizing defiance against colonial salt laws. In the same year, on 7th October 1930, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were sentenced to death, with their execution scheduled for 24th March 1931—later advanced to 23rd March 1931.
Amid these developments, the First Round Table Conference (12th November 1930 – 19th January 1931) was convened in London, without Congress participation. The subsequent Gandhi–Irwin Pact, signed on 5th March 1931, marked a temporary truce between the Indian National Congress and the British Government, paving the way for Gandhi’s participation in the Second Round Table Conference held from 7th September to 1st December 1931.
However, during this turbulent interval between the signing of the Pact and the Second Round Table Conference, Bhagat Singh and his comrades were executed, igniting a profound national debate: Could Gandhi have intervened more decisively to save them? This question remains one of the most contested moral and political dilemmas of India’s freedom movement—situated at the intersection of revolutionary idealism and Gandhian pragmatism.
This blog seeks to examine this complex historical question through a critical lens—analyzing Gandhi’s political position, the limitations of the Gandhi–Irwin Pact, the British Government’s unwavering stance, and the ideological gulf between Gandhian non-violence and revolutionary militancy. By revisiting the events and correspondences surrounding Bhagat Singh’s execution, the discussion aims to provide a balanced understanding of whether Gandhi could have saved Bhagat Singh, or whether the outcome was already determined by the political realities of colonial India.
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