RAS question
The Simon Commission visited India in which year?
Correct answer: (B) 1928.
The Simon Commission arrived in India on 3 February 1928 and was boycotted because it had no Indian members.
Explanation
The Simon Commission visited India in 1928; the precise arrival date was 3 February 1928. The protest was not a routine objection to a British committee, but a direct response to its composition: it had no Indian members while examining India’s constitutional questions. That absence made the commission politically unacceptable to Indian nationalists, so its arrival triggered a boycott under the slogan "Simon Go Back". The year 1928 links the arrival of the commission, the all-British membership issue, and the protest slogan that became associated with it.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 1932 points to the Communal Award, so it belongs to a later constitutional controversy, not the Simon Commission’s arrival.
- (C) 1930 is associated with the start of the Civil Disobedience Movement, whereas the Simon Commission had already arrived in 1928.
- (D) 1926 was two years before the Simon Commission arrived in India on 3 February 1928.
Concept
The Modern Indian History theme of constitutional reforms and nationalist responses under British rule includes the Simon Commission because it connects a date, a cause of boycott, and a memorable protest slogan in one compact event.