Round Table Conferences of 1930-1932

The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–32 were a series of conferences organised by the British government to discuss constitutional reforms in India. They were conducted as per the recommendation by the report submitted by the Simon Commission in May 1930. Demands for swaraj, or self-rule, in India had been growing increasingly strong. By the 1930s, many British politicians believed that India needed to move towards dominion status. However, there were significant disagreements between the Indian and the British political parties that the Conferences would not resolve.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_Table_Conferences_(India)

Indian Round Table Conference, 1930-1931; EXTRACTS OF THE COMMENTS BY THE CHAIRMAN RAO BAHADUR A.T.PANNIR SELVAM

Indian Round Table Conference - 12th November, 1930 - 19th January, 1931

EXTRACTS OF THE COMMENTS BY THE CHAIRMAN RAO BAHADUR A.T.PANNIR SELVAM IN COMMITTEE OF WHOLE CONFERENCE (16TH JANUARY, 1931) IN REPORT OF SUB-COMMITTEE, No. VI (FRANCHISE). 

Rao Bahadur Pannir Selvam: Rising to say a few words in support of the resolution which you have placed before the Conference, may I on behalf of my community I mean the Indian Christian community as a whole give expression to a feeling of satisfaction at the conclusions arrived at by the various sub- Committees so far as these conclusions go. May I also state that we are prepared to play our part and make our own contribution to the public weal in that new-self-governing India which we hope will in the near future be brought into existence as the ultimate outcome of the work of this Conference. That contribution may perhaps be not very much; it will, however, continue to be as useful and indispensable in the future as it has been in the past. 

When I say that we are prepared to play our part, I do so in the fullest hope, nay, conviction, that the constitution which is to usher in that New India will enable us to do our part by giving us an opportunity of service in the legislature as well as on the administrative side, by empowering us to send to the various legislative bodies people who will be truly our representatives, which I feel we will be able to do only through a separate electorate, specially as we happen to constitute only a very small proportion of the total population. 

I am sure the new constitution will secure to us the right not merely freely and without restraint, to profess and practise, but also to preach our religion in our own country; that it will also safe- guard the rights and interests of our religious, charitable and educational institutions, and that they will not be placed in a position of disadvantage with reference to other similar institutions.  The right to bring up and educate our children in an atmosphere congenial to our own culture and principles is one which we hold sacred, and I hope that the constitution will secure to us to have the right to have our own schools, entitling them at the same time to a fair and equitable treatment in the matter of aid from public funds. 

I claim merely that we and our institutions may be treated as Indian. If I fay emphasis on this it is because of the fact that in the past by a tortuous interpretation of things, at least in one part of my country, religious and charitable institutions belonging to Catholics have been treated as foreign bodies and accordingly subjected to a differential treatment. I hope that in the Indian India, which we all look forward to. We shall all be treated alike. 

It is because the justice of all these claims has been recognised in the conclusions of the sub-Committees that I feel myself in a position to welcome them wholeheartedly. With these rights conferred on us by the constitution, I would trust to the goodwill, and 

If I may, with due respect and in no offensive spirit say so, the good  sense of the major communities to see to those rights -being respected  and secured to us in actual practice, and I do so with the greater  confidence, as I am sure the constitution will enable people truly  representative of the community to put forward their case fearlessly  and with independence in the deliberative bodies of the land,, and  more particularly as in the future Government, the llulers of States  who, if I may respectfully state so, have always been noted for a  spirit of broadminded religious tolerance, will play no inconsiderable  part. Let me state, Sir, that I say this in no spirit of flattery. For is it not after all in the two Indian States of Travancore and Cochin, presided over by two Hindu monarchs, that my community has progressed and prospered most, constituting as it does nearly a third of the population; and in my own native town of Tanjore do not the Christian churches of all denominations Catholic and Protestant, Anglican and Lutheran to this day own lands endowed by the Rajahs in those good old days when we were ruled by the lineal descendants of the great Sivaji. 

Therefore it is that belonging as I do to a minority community, I look forward with a greater sense of security and safety to that federal government where the Princes and the peoples of the land will play their part, all giving of their best to that common Motherland of ours. 

In conclusion, let me join the previous speakers in thankfully acknowledging the uniform courtesy and kindness which we have enjoyed at your hands, Mr. Prime Minister, and at the hands of the other members of the Government and the British Delegations; and also the great hospitality and kindly reception which it has been our privilege to meet with from the English people generally of whatever rank of life. 

Source: http://www.archive.org/stream/indianroundtable029616mbp/indianroundtable029616mbp_djvu.txt

Rao Bahadur

Rao Bahadur (also Raobahadur and Rai Bahadur abbreviated R.B.) is a title of honor given in India to individuals who have performed great service to the nation. It is known as Roy Bahadur in Bengal.

Literally translated, "Rao" implies "prince", and "Bahadur" means "most honourable. This title was awarded to Indians, both Hindu and Christian. During the era of British rule, the Rao Bahadur was accompanied by a medal. The equivalent title for Muslim and Parsi subjects was Khan Bahadur.

Rao Bahadur Sir A.T. Pannir Selvam

Rao Bahadur Sir A. T. Pannir Selvam (1 June 1888 - 1 March 1940) was an Indian attorney, landlord, politician and leader of the Justice Party.

Political career:

Pannir Selvam was the leader of the Tanjore Municipal Corporation during 1918-20 and a member of the Tanjore District board during 1924-30. He was an alumnus of Cambridge University and the first Indian Christian to be appointed as adviser to the Lord Zetland, Secretary of State for India. He attended the 1930 Round Table Conference on India as a nominee of the Viceroy to represent Indian Christians.

In 1937, Pannir Selvam succeeded Mohammad Usman as the Minister for Home of the Madras Presidency, in the Raja of Bobbili cabinet. In 1936 he became the member for Home in the Executive Council of the Governor of Madras - Lord Erskine. He also served as the Minister for Home and Finance, in the short lived interim provincial government of Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu during 1 April - 14 July 1937. After the defeat of the Justice party in the 1937 Assembly elections, Pannir Selvam became the leader of the Justice party. He was one of the few Justice leaders to win in the 1937 elections, defeating George Joseph of the Indian National Congress from the Tanjore Constituency. 

The party under his leadership supported the Anti-Hindi agitations of 1937-40. He remained the leader of the party till 1938, when Periyar E. V. Ramasamy took over the leadership of the party in December 1938.