The Simon Commission, formally the Indian Statutory Commission, was a seven-member British parliamentary body under Sir John Simon, appointed in November 1927 to review the working of the 1919 reforms; because it had no Indian member, it was boycotted across India with the slogan "Simon Go Back".
The Government of India Act of 1919 provided for a commission after ten years to examine how its reforms had worked and whether further steps towards responsible government should be taken. The Conservative government in Britain decided to appoint it two years early, in 1927, partly to avoid leaving the task to a possible Labour government. The Secretary of State for India, Lord Birkenhead, chose an all-white commission of members of Parliament.
The exclusion of Indians from a body meant to decide India's constitutional future was seen as a deep insult. At its Madras session in December 1927 the Congress resolved to boycott the commission "at every stage and in every form". Liberals, a part of the Muslim League led by Jinnah, and the Hindu Mahasabha also joined the boycott. Birkenhead taunted Indians that they could not agree on a constitution of their own, which led to the drafting of the Nehru Report.
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