IMPORTANT POINTS:
Modern nationalism in Europe came to be associated
with the formation f nation states with definite boundaries. It was the result
of new social and economic forces. The sense of nationalism brought with it a
change in people’s understanding of who they were and what defined their
identity and sense of belonging.
The spirit of nationalism emerged in the people who
were living under a definite political system. New symbols and icons, new songs
and ideas forged new links and redefined the boundaries of communities. All
this did not occur in a short period. The making of its new national identity
was a long process.
Major Factors responsible for the growth of Indian
nationalism:
1. Political unification of the country under the British.
2. Destructive of India’s old social and economic system.
3. Development of modern trade and industry.
4. The sense of being oppressed under colonialism
provided a shared bond that tied many different groups.
5. The formation in Indian National Congress.
I:
CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH LED TO KHILAFAT AND NON COOPERATION MOVEMENT:
1.
The First
World War:
a. WWI broke out in 1914.
b. Created new economic and political situation
c. Increase in defence expenditure financed by war loans
and increasing taxes, raised custom duties, and introduced income tax.
d. During the war the prices increased and doubled
between 1913-1918.
2. Epidemic and Famines:
a. Acute shortage of food from 1918-1921 as crops failed.
b. Epidemic of Influenza
c. According
to the census of 1921, 12 to 13 million people
perished as a result of famines and the epidemic.
3. Satyagraha:
Gandhi
returned to India in January 1915 A.D., with his highly valued reputation of
having innovated the Satyagraha technique successfully against injustice in
South Africa. On Gokhale’s advice, he toured India for two Years to observe political
and social conditions of India:
a.
In 1916 Gandhiji travelled to Champaran in
Bihar to inspire the peasant to struggle against the oppressive plantation
system. The landlords and the British were forcing the peasants to grow Indigo
instead of food crops.
b.
In 1917,Gandhiji organised satyagraha to support the peasants of Kheda district of
Gujarat. The area was affected by crops
failure and a plague epidemic .So the peasants were demanding tax
relaxation
c.
In 1918 he went to Ahmedabad in Gujarat to organize another Satyagraha movement
amongst cotton mill workers who were demanding higher wages.
II: WHAT
WAS SATYAGRAHA?
It was a non-violent method of mass agitation
against the oppressor.
a. It
emphasized the power of truth and the need to search for truth.
b. It
suggested that if the cause was true, if the struggle was against injustice,
there is no need for physical force to fight against the oppressor.
c. People
–including the oppressors had to be persuaded to see the truth instead of being
forced to accept truth through the use of violence.
d. By this
struggle, truth was bound to ultimately triumph.
III: THE
ROWLATT ACT
1. The Rowlatt Act of 1919 A.D.:
·
The Act was hurriedly passed through the
Imperial Legislative Council on a report of the Sedition Committee, headed by
Justice Rowlatt.
·
Through this Act the government gave vast
powers to the police to search a place and arrest any person without a warrant
and hold the trial without jury.
·
These Bills were described as the Black Bills.
·
There was wide – spread protest in the country
against their passage.
·
In spite of the popular agitation, and Gandhi’s
warning that in case the Black Bills were passed, he would be forced to launch Satyagraha,
the Bill became an Act.
2. Hartal And Arrest Of Leaders:
·
Gandhiji called for a countrywide Hartal on 6th April, 1919.
·
He was arrested at Palwal. News of his arrest
spread causing disturbances in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Punjab.
·
In Amritsar, two popular leaders, Dr. Satyapal
and Dr. Saifud-din Kichlew, were arrested.
·
The people took out procession in Amritsar to
protest against these arrests and demanded the release of their leaders.
·
They were stopped on the way and fired upon
twice.
·
The mob took vengeance upon any European that
came its way.
·
The Government rushed troops to city of Amritsar
and the mob melted away. This happened on 10th April, 1919.
3. The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre:
·
A public meeting was announced for the 13th
April, 1919, at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar.
·
The people were allowed to assemble there.
·
After they had gathered there in thousands,
General Dyer marched there with armoured cars and troops. Without giving any
warning to the people to disperse, he ordered firing on the unarmed and the
peaceful people.
·
The casualties of Indians were very heavy.
Dyer’s purpose in doing so was to ‘produce
moral effect’, to create in the minds of Satyagrahis-a feeling of terror
and awe.
·
This massacre of innocent people in thousands
converted Mahatma Gandhi into a non-co-operator.
·
As the news of Jallianwala Bagh massacre
spread, crowds took to the street in many North Indian towns.
·
There were strikes, clashes with the police
and attracts of the government buildings.
·
The government responded with brutal
repression, seeking to humiliate and terrorise people
·
Satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses on
the ground, crawl on the streets, and do salaam (salute)to all sahibs; people
were flogged and villages around Gujranwala in Punjab,(now in Pakistan) were
bombed.
·
Seeing
violence spread, Mahatma Gandhi called off the movement.
·
Though the Rowlatt Satyagraha had been a
widespread movement, it was still limited to cities and towns.
·
Mahatma Gandhi felt the need to launch a more
broad-based movement which could unite both Hindus and Muslims.
IV: KHILAFAT MOVEMENT
The First World War ended with the defeat of
Ottoman emperor-the spiritual head of the Islam world. The Sultan was deprived
of real authority even over those territories which were left under his
control. This angered the Muslims in India.
A Khilafat committee was formed to champion the cause of the Caliph of
Turkey. Ali Bothers-Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali-were the leading lights in the
campaign. Gandhiji was also convinced of the justness of the Muslim cause. He
saw in it an opportunity of uniting the Hindus and the Muslims. He advised the
Khilafat Committee to adopt a policy of non – cooperation with the Government. This
non-cooperation campaign started on August 1,1920. At the Calcutta session of
the congress in September 1920,he convinced
other leaders of the need to start a Non-cooperation
Movement in support of khilafat as well as for Swaraj.
V: THE
PROGRAMME OF THE NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT, 1921-22 A.D.
In his book ‘Hind Swaraj (1909) Gandhiji
declared that British were ruling over India due to cooperation of Indians. He
said, ‘The English have not taken India; we have given it to them. They are not
in India because of their strength, but because we keep them.”
He also declared that if Indians refuse to
cooperate, the British rule in India would collapse. Within a year or so he
decided to launch the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Though many of the congress leaders were
against such movement but finally at the congress session at Nagpur in December
1920 a compromise was worked out and Non-Cooperation was adopted.
The non-cooperation had two aspects:
·
one relating
to struggle
·
the other relating to norms of conduct and
constructive work .
A: Gandhiji proposed that the movement should
unfold in following stages:
1.
Surrender of titles and honours and honorary
posts.
2.
Boycott of legislative councils, boycott of
law courts by the lawyers.
3.
Boycott of government schools and colleges and
withdrawal of children from these.
4.
Boycott of British goods.
To get a popular support for the movement
Mahatma Gandhi and Shaukat Ali toured extensively throughout India.
B: Differing Strands within the Movement:
The Non-cooperation-Khilafat Movement was
launched by Gandhiji and Ali brothers in January 1921.
Various social groups participated in the
movement for ‘Swaraj’ but all interpreted Swaraj in their own way.
1: The Movement
in the Towns: The
Movement started with middle-class participation in the cities.
·
Thousands of students left government
controlled schools and colleges, headmasters and teachers resigned, and lawyers
gave up their legal practices.
·
The council elections were boycotted in most
provinces except Madras, where the election was contested by the justice Party,
the party of the non-Brahmans.
·
The party felt that entering the council was
one way of gaining some power-something that usually only Brahmans had an
access to.
·
The Non-Cooperation Movement had a great
impact on the Indian textile industry. Swadeshi
goods especially cloth got a great impetus. Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor
shops picketed, and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.
·
The import of foreign cloth halved between
1921 and 1922, its value dropping from Rs 102 Crore to Rs 57 Crore.
·
Merchants and traders refused to trade in
foreign goods or finance foreign trade. As the boycott movement spread, and
people began discarding imported clothes and wearing only Indian ones, demand
of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up. The increase in demand provided
a big relief and prevented the vanishing of the textile industry of India.
Though the movement got a great
success at the initial stage but it slowed down for a variety of reasons:
i.
Khadi cloth was often more expensive than
mass-produced mill cloth and poor people could not afford to buy it.
ii.
The boycott of British institutions posed a
problem. There were no alternative Indian institutions that they could be used
in place of the British institutions. So students and teachers had no option
except joining back to government schools and lawyers joined back to work in
government courts.
2: The Rebellion in the Countryside/ Villages/Interior
India: The movement left a deep impact on the rural life. In
the country side, the movement was led by the peasants, tribal and by local
leaders.
For example, in Awadh it was Baba Ramchandra Sanyasi
who had earlier been to Fiji as an indentured labourer.
The movement here was not against the British but
against talukdars and landlords. The problems of the rural people were
different from those of urban people:
a.
The talukdars and landlords were
demanding very high rents and variety of other taxes.
b.
Peasants had to do beggar and work at
landlord’s farms without any payment.
c.
The peasants had no security of tenure, were
regularly evicted so that they could acquire no security of tenure.
As the problems of the people
were different their demands were also different. The peasant movement
demanded:
a.
Reduction of revenue
b.
Abolition of beggar.
c.
Redistribution of land
d.
Social boycott of oppressive landlords
The movement in country side at a different angle:
·
In many places nai-dhobi bandhs were organised by Panchayats to
deprive landlords of the services of barbers, cobblers, washermen etc.
·
National leaders like Jawahar Lal Nehru went to a village in Awadh to know the grievances of the people .
·
By October, the Awadh Kissan Sabhas were setup
headed by Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, Baba Ramchandra and few others. Within a
month, over 300 branches had been set up in the villages around the region. So
when the Non-Cooperation Movement began, the Congress leaders wanted to
integrate the struggle of the Awadh peasant with the Non-Cooperation Movement
to provide a wide base to the national movement.
·
When the movement spread in 1921, the houses of talukdars
and merchants were attacked. The movement turned violent which was not
liked by some of the Congress leaders. Many bazaars were looted and grain
boards were taken over. In many places local leaders told peasants that
Gandhiji had declared that no taxes were to be paid and land was to be
redistributed among the poor. The name of the Mahatma was being invoked to
sanction all action and aspirations.
3. Rebellion By The Tribal Peasants: The tribal peasants
interpreted the message of Mahatma Gandhi and the idea of Swaraj in yet
another way.
The Gudem Revolt: For Instance, in the
Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh, a militant guerrilla movement spread in the
1920’s.
Ø
The organisation was in favour of using force to
liberate forests from the British.
Ø But
congress was not in favour of violence.
Ø In
the region most of the people were dependent on forests for their livelihood
but under the new Forest Policy the government had put several
restrictions on the people:
1.
Colonial government had closed large forest area
for the tribal people
2.
It forced the local people to contribute beggar.
3.
It prevented people from entering the forests to
graze their cattle, or to collect fuel wood and fruits.
People revolted because:
1.
The new forest policy enraged the hill people.
2.
Not only were their livelihoods affected but
they felt that their traditional rights were being denied.
The Revolt:
1.
The revolt was led by Alluri Sitaram Raju who
claimed that he had a variety of special powers like he could make astrological
predictions and heal people, and could survive even bullet shots. He even
proclaimed that he was an incarnation of God.
2. He
also praised Gandhiji and Non- Cooperation Movement. He persuaded people to
wear Khadi and gave up drinking .
3.
The Gudem rebels to attack police station,
carried guerrilla warfare and killed British officials to achieve Swaraj.
Alluri Sitaram Raju was arrested and executed in1924.
4. Swaraj In The Plantations: The plantation workers had their own
grievances against the government and plantation owners. So they defined Swaraj
in their own way.
Plantation workers in Assam:
§
Freedom means the right to move freely in and
out of the confined space in which they were enclosed, and it mean retaining a
link with the villages from which they had come.
§ The
government had passed the Inland
Emigration Act of 1859 under which plantation workers were not permitted to
leave the tea gardens without permission, and in fact they were rarely given
such permission.
§ when
the plantation workers heard of the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of them
defined the authorities, left the plantation and headed home.
§ The
plantation workers believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be
given land in their own villages.
§
They, however, never reached their villages
because they were caught by the police and were brutally beaten up and were put
behind bars.
Therefore, different people in interpreted Swaraj
in their own ways, imagining it to be a time when all sufferings and troubles
would be over. Yet, when the people chanted Gandhiji’s name and raised slogans
demanding ‘Swatantra Bharat’, they were also emotionally relating to an
all-India agitation. When they acted in the name of Mahatma Gandhi, or linked
their movement to that of the Congress, they were identified with a movement
which went beyond the limits of their immediate locality.
C: TOWARDS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
In February 1922, Gandhiji
decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement due to the following
reasons-
1.
The movement was turning violent. At Chauri
Chaura in Gorakhpur, a peaceful demonstration in bazaar had turned in to
violent clash in which more than 20 policeman were killed.
2. Gandhiji
also felt that Satyagrahis needed to be properly trained before they would be
ready for a mass struggle.
3.
Within the Congress, some leaders were tired of
mass struggles and wanted to participate in elections to the provincial councils,
which were set up under the Government of India Act 1919.
D: THE SWARAJ
PARTY
Ø
Some Congress leaders who argued or advocated
the idea of fighting the British from within the legislative councils, wanted
to pressurize the government for various reforms through councils.
Ø
They also wanted to demonstrate that these
councils were not truly democratic. Keeping in mind in these objectives, C. R.
Das and Moti Lal Nehru formed the Swaraj
Party in 1922.
Ø
But youngers leaders like Jawahar Lal Nehru and
Subhash Chandra Bose pressed for a more radical mass agitation and for full
independence.
After the withdrawal of
Non-Cooperation Movement, two factors
shaped Indian politics towards the late 1920s-
1.
The Great Depression: The great depression of 1929 had a deep
impact on the Indian economy especially on agriculture.
a.
The prices of grains began to fall from 1926 and
collapsed after 1930.
b.
As the demand for agricultural goods feel and
export declined, peasants found it difficult to sell their harvest and pay their
revenue.
c.
The government refused lower the taxes. So by
1930, the farmer in poor condition.
2.
The
Simon Commission 1927:
a.
The Indian members of the central Legislative
Assembly exposed the drawbacks in the Government of India Act of 1919 A.D.
b.
As a result of it, the Simon Commission was
appointed in 1927 A.D. to suggest any further constitutional reforms.
c.
This commission consisted of seven members and
its Chairman was Sir John Simon.
d.
But Indians boycotted it, because there was no
Indian member in this commission.
e.
The terms of the Commission’s appointment did
not give any indication of Swaraj while the demand of the Indians was only for
Swaraj.
f.
Therefore, The Indian National Congress, the
Muslim League and other parties decided to oppose the Simon Commission.
g.
They organized hartals all over the country.
h.
They also held black flag demonstrations with
the slogan “Simon Go Back”, when the Commission reached Bombay. Such
demonstrations were held everywhere the commission went.
i.
During these demonstrations, the police did
lathi-charge at Lahore. It was excessive, brutal and cruel.
j.
As a result of this lathi-charge, the great
nationalist leader, Lala Lajpat Rai, was assaulted and he died a month later on
17th November, 1928.
k.
The Simon Commission had to face demonstrations
all over India and no party was in favour of the commission.
l.
So in an effort to win the political parties the
Viceroy, Lord Irwin, announced in October 1929, a vague offer of ‘dominion
status’ for India in an unspecified
future and a Round Table Conference to discuss a future constitution .
3. Lahore
Session and the Demand for Complete Independence:
Ø
Instead of giving any definite assurance, the
Viceroy had only announced that a Round Table Conference of all parties would
be held in London to discuss the recommendations of the Simon commission.
Ø The
announcement fell short of the expectations of the congress.
Ø At
its Lahore Session, presided over by Jawahar Lal Nehru I December, 1929, the
congress passed resolution boycotting the Round Table Conference.
Ø It
declared ‘Purna Swaraj’ (complete
independence) as its goal and took steps to launch a movement of civil Disobedience.
Ø
Purna Swaraj Day was celebrated all over India
on 26th January, 1930.
4. Gandhi’s Eleven Demands:
On 31 January
1930, Gandhiji issued an eleven point ultimatum to Lord Irwin, Eleven
Demands to correct the wrongs done to the Indians, combining some general and specific demands:
Ø
Total Prohibition
Ø Release Of
Political Prisoners
Ø Cuts In Army
Expenses, Civil Services Salaries
Ø Changes In Arms
Act
Ø Reform Of The
C.I.D
Ø Lowering Of
Rupee-Sterling Rate
Ø Textile
Protection
Ø Reservation Of
Coastal Shipping For Indians
Ø A Fifty Percent
Reduction In Land Revenue
Ø Abolition Of Both
Salt Tax And Government Salt Monopoly
·
The idea was to make the demands wide ranging so
that all classes within the Indian society could identify with them and
everyone could be brought together in a united campaign.
·
He assured the viceroy that he would withdraw
Civil Disobedience on British Government’s acceptance of these demands.
·
Gandhi’s demands were declared to be unrealistic
by the Viceroy.
E: THE SALT MARCH:
·
The Dandi
March:
Ø
On January 31st, 1930, Gandhi wrote a
long letter to the Viceroy, communicating his decision to start the Civil Disobedience
Movement.
Ø
On 12th March began Mahatma historic
march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, a village on the Gujarat sea-coast.
Ø
He was accompanied by 78 of his trusted
volunteers, but as Gandhi advanced, others joined the March.
Ø
On the morning of 6th April Gandhi
violated the salt laws by picking up some salt left by the sea-waves.
Ø
Gandhi’s Campaign against the salt-laws was a
signal to disobey the Government laws.
·
The
Programme of the Movement:
Ø Civil
Disobedience campaign involved defiance of salt laws, boycott of Liquor,
boycott of foreign cloth and British goods of all kinds.
Ø Civil
Disobedience Movement was different from the Non-Cooperation movement in the
way that it also involved non-payment of taxes and land-revenue and violation
of laws of different kinds.
·
The
Progress or Course of the Movement
Ø Gandhi
had selected mainly salt-laws as his target, knowing fully that salt-tax
affected all sections of society, especially the poor.
Ø Illegal
manufacture of salt and violation of other laws took place on a grand scale.
Ø In
U.P., Gujarat and Bengal the farmers refused to pay the land-revenue and
chaukidari taxes. In Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra people began to cut down
timber in defiance of the forest laws.
Ø In
the North-West Frontier Province Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Known as Frontier Gandhi,
had organised a volunteer brigade.
Ø They
started a fierce anti-government movement in various ways including the
non-payment of taxes.
Ø Civil
Disobedience Movement resulted in “mass strikes and the setting up of parallel
governments in several places”.
Ø Mahatma
Gandhi had made a special appeal to the women to prevent people from going to
the shops selling foreign cloth and liquor.
Ø Worried
by the developments, the colonial government began arresting the congress
leaders one by one. This led to violent clashes in many places.
Ø When
Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a devout disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, was arrested in April
1930, angry crowds demonstrated in the streets of Peshawar, facing armoured
cars and police firing. Many were killed. A month later Gandhiji was also
arrested.
Ø Industrial
workers in Sholapur attacked police posts, municipal buildings, law courts and
railway stations –all structures that symbolized the British rule.
·
The
Repressive Measures
Ø The
Government used all kinds of repressive measures to break the nationalist
movement.
Ø According
to official figures, more than 60,000 persons were put behind the prison bars.
Ø The Satyagrahis were brutally assaulted. They got
lathi blows on head, chest, stomach and joints.
Ø In
such a situation Mahatma Gandhi once again decided to call off the movement and
enter into a pact with Irwin on 5th March, 1931.
F: THE GANDHI-IRWIN PACT
Ø The
Gandhi-Irwin pact was proposed by the Government.
Ø Under
this pact Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi agreed to participate
in the second Round Table conference in London and to suspend the Civil
Disobedient Movement.
Ø On
the other hand, the government agreed to release all political prisoners.
G: THE PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR VARYING EXPECTATIONS:
Ø Different
social groups that participated in the Movement:
Ø Why
did they join the movement? What were their ideals? What did Swaraj mean to
them?
Ø This
was the time period of the Great Depression of 1929 which had engulfed almost
all the economics of the world.
1.
Rich Landlords:
a.
In the countryside, rich peasant
communities-like the patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh-were
active participants.
b.
They participated in the Movement because they
suffered the most because of the economic depression.
c.
As their income disappeared, they found it
difficult to pay the government’s revenue demand.
d.
They demanded a reduction in revenue but the
government refused to do so. This led to widespread resentment.
e.
These rich peasant became big supporters of the
Civil Disobedience Movement.
f.
These rich landlords participated in the boycott programmes and
refused to pay revenues.
g.
For them the fight for Swaraj was a struggle
against high revenues.
h.
But they were deeply disappointed when the
movement was called off in 1931 without the revenue rates being revised.
i.
So when the movement was restarted in 1932 many
of them did not participated.
2.
The Poor Peasants:
a.
The poor peasants had their own problems.
b.
They were not just interested in lowering of the
revenue but also demanded remission of rent which they had failed to pay during
the depression years.
c.
In some parts of the country, they launched ‘no rent’ campaign which was not
supported by the congress because this might upset the rich peasant and the
landlords.
d.
These poor peasants joined a variety of radical
movements, often led by socialists and Communists.
e.
So the relationship between the poor peasant and
the Congress remained uncertain.
3.
The Business Class:
a.
During the First World War, India merchants and
industrialists had made huge profits and become powerful.
b.
The war gave them opportunity to accumulate
wealth.
c.
Keen on expanding their business, they now react
against colonial policies that restricted business activities,
d.
This jointed the movement with their own
demands:
i.
They wanted protection against imports of
foreign goods.
ii.
A rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio that
would discourage imports.
iii.
Reduction of colonial control over the Indian
economy
e.
To organise business interests, they formed the
Indian Industrial and commercial congress in 1920 and the Federation of the
Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927.
f.
The business community was led by prominent
industrialists like Purshottam Das and G.D. Birla.
g.
They provided a big boost to the Civil
Disobedience Movement by providing financial assistance to the Movement.
h.
They also promoted boycott by refusing to buy or
sell imported goods.
i.
Though at the initial stage of the movement the
business community participated in it, but later on, they withdrew due to the
following reasons:
i.
After the failure of the Round Table Conference,
business groups were no longer uniformly enthusiastic.
ii.
They were apprehensive of the spread of militant
activities, and worried about a prolonged disruption in business.
iii.
They were worried about the growing about the
growing influence of socialism amongst the younger member of the congress.
4.
The Industrial Working Class:
a.
The industrial working classes did not participate
in the Civil Disobedience Movement in large numbers, except in the Nagpur
region.
b.
This was because industrialists were supporting
the Movement and Congress was reluctant to include worker’s demand as part of
the Movement.
c.
But in spite of that, some workers did
participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement, selectively adopting some of
the ideas of the Gandhian programme, like the boycott of foreign goods, as part
of their own movements against low wages and poor working conditions.
d.
There were strikes by railway workers in 1930
and dockworkers in 1932. In 1930, thousands of workers in Chottanagpur tin
mines wore Gandhi caps and participated in protest rallies and boycott
campaigns.
5.
Women:
a.
Participation of women in the movement was the
most remarkable feature of the national movement.
b.
During Gandhiji’s Salt March, thousands of women
came out of their homes to listen to
him.
c.
Gandhiji had made a special appeal to the women
to prevent people from going to the shops selling foreign cloth and liquor.
d.
Thousands of women responded to his call. They
participated in protest marches, manufactured salt and picketed foreign cloth
and Liquor shop.
e.
In urban areas, these women were from high cast
families, in rural areas, they came from rich peasants households.
f.
The participation of women in the movement did
not necessarily mean any radical change in the position of women.
g.
They were still considered to be fit only for
home. For a long time even the congress was reluctant to allow women to hold
any position of authority within the organisation.
H: LIMITS OF THE MOVEMENT
Different people interpreted Swaraj in their own way of depending upon
their social and economic needs.
1: Dalits/Untouchables:
Ø
There were some groups like ‘untouchables ‘which
were not moved by the abstract concept of Swaraj.
Ø
From the 1930’s the group had begun to call
themselves dalits or oppressed
Ø
For the long the Congress had ignored the
dalits, for fear of offending the Sanatanis, the conservative high –caste
Hindus.
Ø
Mahatma Gandhi declared that Swaraj would not
come for a hundred years if untouchability was not eliminated.
Ø
Under his constructive movement which he laid
stress on removal of untouchability. He called them harijan which means the children of God. He also organized
Satyagraha to secure their entry into temples, and access to public wells,
tanks, roads and schools. He himself toured their colonies and even lived
there. He even cleaned toilet to dignify the work of the bhangi (the sweeper), and persuaded the upper castes to change
their heart and give up the sin of untouchability.
Ø
But many dalit leaders like Dr.Bhim Rao Ambedkar were of the opinion that only political
empowerment would resolve their problems of social injustice.
Ø
They began organising themselves, demanding
reserved seats in educational institutions, and separate electorate that would
choose the dalits members for legislative councils.
Ø
Dalit participation in the civil Disobedience
Movement was, therefore, limited, particularly in Maharashtra and Nagpur region
where their organisation was quite strong.
Ø
In 1930 Ambedkar entered national politics. In
the same year, he organised Depresses Classes Association to make them
politically stronger.
Ø
He was nominated as a delegate of the oppressed
classes for the Second Round Table Conference.
Ø
In that Round Table Conference, he clashed with
Mahatma Gandhi by demanding separate electorates for dalits.
Ø
When the
British government accepted Ambedkar’s demand, Gandhiji began a fast unto
death.
Ø
He believed that separate electorates for dalits
would slow down the process of their integration into the society.
Ø The issue was eventually resolved through the
Poona Pact of September 1932.
Ø
It gave the Depressed Classes ( later to be
known as the schedule Castes) reserved seats in provincial and central
legislative councils, but they were to be voted in by the general electorate.
Ø
The dalit movement, however, continued to be
apprehensive of the congress-led national movement.
2: Response of the Muslim Political Organisation:
From the first day after their arrival in India, British followed the
policy of divide and rule and this
policy had its impact on all the movements launched by our national leaders. So
even during the Civil Disobedience Movement there were some Muslim political
organisations which never supported the movement launched by the Congress.
There were many factors responsible for this kind of attitude of the Muslims-
(a)
Association of Congress with the
Hindu-Mahasabha:
i.
After the decline of the
Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement, a large section of Muslims felt alienated from
the Congress.
ii.
From the mid-1920s, the congress came to be more
visibly associated with the Hindu religious nationalist groups like the Hindu
Mahasabha.
(b)
Communal Clashes:
i.
As relations between Hindus and Muslims
worsened, each community organised religious processions with militant fervor, provoking
Hindu-Muslim communal clashes and riots in various cities.
ii.
Every riot deepened the wedge between the two
communities.
(c)
Issue of demand for separate electorates:
i.
Some of the Muslim leaders demanded a separate
electorate for t e Muslims which was not supported by the congress leaders.
ii.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, one of the leaders of the
Muslim League, was willing to give up the demand for separate electorates, if
Muslims were assured reserved seats in the central Assembly and representation
in proportion to population in the Muslim-dominated provinces (Bengal and
Punjab).
iii.
Negotiations over the question of representation
continued but all hope of revolving the issue at the
iv.
All Parties Conference in 1928 disappeared when
M.R Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha strongly opposed the efforts of compromise.
3: The Sense Of Collective Belonging
Nationalism is a spirit when people begin to
believe that they are all a part of the same nation, when they discovered some
unity that binds them together.
Development of the concept
of Nationalism In India:
1.
United Struggle: The most
important factor responsible for arousing the sense of nationalism among the
Indians was the united struggle against the British.
2. Cultural
Process: a variety of cultural
processes through which nationalism captured people’s imagination. History and
fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in
the making of nationalism.
3. Bharat
Mata:
Ø
The identification of India came to be visually
associated with the image of Bharat Mata, India our Motherland.
Ø
The image was first created by Bankim Chandra
Chattopadhyay. Later, it was included in his novel Anandmath.
Ø
The slogan of Vande Mataram became the pet slogan of the Swadeshi Movement.
Ø
Inspired by the Swadeshi Movement, Rabindranath
Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting, Bharat Mata
is portrayed as a ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.
Ø
In subsequent years, the image of Bharat Mata
acquired many different forms, as it circulated in popular prints, and was
painted by different artist.
Ø
Devotion to this mother figure came to be seen
as an evidence of one’s nationalism.
4. Revival Of Indian Folklore:
Ø
The idea of nationalism was also developed by
reviving the Indian folklore.
Ø
In late- nineteenth-century India, nationalists
began recording folk tales sung by bards (story tellers).
Ø
They also toured villages to gather folk songs
and legends.
Ø
This was done to promote the traditional culture
that had been corrupted and damaged by western forces.
Ø
It was essential to preserve this folk tradition
in order to discover one’s national identity and restore a sense of pride in
one’s past.
Ø
To revive the folklore Rabindranath Tagore
himself collected ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for
folk revival.
Ø
A massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk
tales, The Folklore of Southern India was published by Natesa Sastri. He
believed that folklore was national literature; it was ‘the most trustworthy
manifestation of people’s real thoughts and characteristics.’
5.
Reinterpretation Of History:
Ø
Modern education, in course of time, evoked
interest in the correct understanding of India’s past.
Ø
Attempts were made to rediscover and re-study
the past of India to enhance the understanding of the present.
Ø
Laudable efforts were made by many scholars and
enlightened Indians in this direction.
Ø
They wrote about the glorious developments in
ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religions and
culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished.
Ø
This glorious time, in their view, was followed
by a history of decline, when India was colonised.
Ø
Ancient scripts were deciphered and the study of
the ancient inscriptions opened new horizons for the study of Indian history
and civilisation.
Ø
Preservation of ancient monuments, paintings and
sculpture started, and a proper appreciation of Indian art began.
Ø
Much of the new knowledge about India’s past
gave a sense of pride to the Indian people and helped in their awakening.
Ø
Many Indian scholars took up the study of Indian
history and culture in a systematic way and the appreciation of India from a
specifically Indian point of view began.
Question Bank:
A.
Answer the following questions very briefly:
1.
‘The first World War was one of the major
factors which was responsible for creating the circumstances which led to the
launching of the Non-Cooperation Movement’. Explain.
2.
What is meant by Satyagraha?
3.
What was Rowlatt act?
4.
‘Though the Non-Cooperation Movement got a great
success at the initial stage, but it slowed down later on’. Give two reasons.
5.
Why was Swaraj party formed?
6.
Why was Simon Commission formulated? Why was it
boycotted by the Indians?
7.
What was Gandhi-Irwin Pact?
8.
Did the business class participate in the Civil
Disobedience Movement? Why?
9.
Why did the Civil Disobedience Movement not
attract the untouchables?
10. What
was Poona Pact?
B.
Answer the following questions briefly:
1.
Explain the circumstances which led to the
launching of Non-Cooperation and khilafat Movement.
2.
Why did the poor peasants and the rich landlords
participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement?
3.
Explain the efforts of Gandhiji to uplift the
untouchables.
4.
During the Civil Disobedience Movement the
Muslims could not respond to the call a united struggle’. Give reasons.
C.
Answer the following questions in detail:
1. Explain
the circumstances leading to Civil Disobedience Movement.
2. Explain
the factors responsible for the growth of national consciousness in India
during the 19th century.
D.
Multiple choice questions:
1.
…………… was a non-violent method of mass agitation
against the oppressor.
(a) Satyagraha (b) Civil Disobedience
Movement
(c) Bullet
for Bullet (d) Strike
2.
………… was
the Act which gave enormous powers to the government to repress political
activities.
(a) Inland Emigration Act (b)
Rowlatt Act
(c) Vernacular
Press Act (d) Poona Act
3.
…was responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh
incident.
4.
General Dyer (b) Mahatma Gandhi (c) B.R Ambedkar (d)
Charles Dicken
5.
..was the writer of the book, ‘Hind Swaraj’.
(a) Munshi
Prem Chand (b) Charlotte Bronte
(c)Mahatma
Gandhi (d) Potheri
Kunjambu
6.
When was the Non-Cooperation Movement launched
(a) 1920 (b) 1921
(c) 1922 (d)
1923
7.
Under the ………..of 1859, plantation workers were
not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission.
(a)
Poona Act
(b) The Rowlatt Act
(c)
Inland emigration act ()
Vernacular Press Act
8.
The civil
Disobedience Movement was launched in………..
(a) 1928 (b) 1930
(c)
1932
(d) 1934
9.
………… was the main motive of the Salt March.
(a) Satyagraha (b) To break the
Salt Law
(c)Independence (d) To break Rowlatt
Act
10. ……
organized the details into the Depressed Classes Association.
(a) C.R.
Das (b)
Motilal Nehru
(c)Mahatma
Gandhi (d) Dr.B.R.
Ambedkar
11. …………
published a massive four volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folkare of
Southern India.
(a) Pokeya
Hossein (b) Saibala
Ghosh jaya
(c)Natesa
Sastri (d)
Munshi Prem Chand
BOARD QUESTIONS
1.
When and in which city did the Jallianwala Bagh
incident occur?
[All India 2008]
2.
Explain new economic and political situations
created in India during the First World War. [All India2008]
3.
How was Civil Disobedience Movement different
from the Non-Cooperation Movement? Explain[All India2008]
4.
Explain the contributions of folklore, folk
songs and paintings in strengthening nationalism during 1870s. [All India 2008]
5.
Study the given passage carefully and answers
the questions that follow:
“We believe that
it is the inalienable right of the India people, as of any other people, to
have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil and have the necessities of
life, so that they may have full
opportunities of growth. We believe also that if any government deprives a people
of rights and oppresses them, the people have a further right to alter it or to
abolish it. The British government in India has not only deprived the Indian
people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses,
and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally, and spiritually. We
believe, therefore, that India must sever the British connection and attain
Purna Swaraj or Complete Independence.”
(i)
Examine the inalienable rights of the Indian people.
(ii)
Analyse the impact of the British rule in India.
6.
Name the two main ’Satyagrah’ movements
organized by Mahatma Gandhi successfully in favour of peasants in 1916 and
1917. [Delhi 2008]
7.
Explain the new economic and political
situations, created during the First World War in India. [Delhi 2008]
8.
Explain the circumstances in which
Non-Cooperation Movement gradually
slowed down in cities.[Delhi 2008]
9.
Mention three main proposals with reference to
Non-Cooperation Movement as suggested by Mahatma Gandhi. [Delhi 2008]
10.
Who wrote ‘Vande Mataram’? When was it written?
[2008 ]
HIGH ORDER
THINKING SKILL (HOTS)
1. ‘The
concept of the Non-Cooperation Movement was different people’. Explain.
2. Read
the following extract taken from the textbook and answer the questions that
follow:
“The Hindu thinks
that separate electorates are contrary to the spirit of true nationalism,
because he understands the word `nation’ to mean a kind of universal
amalgamation in which no communal entity ought to retain its private
individuality. Such a state of things, however, does not exist .India is a land
of racial and religious variety. Add to this the general economic enferiority
of the Muslims, their enormous debt, especially in the Punjab, and their
insufficient majorities in some of the
provinces, as at present constituted and you will begin to see clearly the
meaning of our anxiety separate electorates.’’
(i)Analyse the arguments given by the speakers to retain separate
electorates for Muslims.
(ii)Why does the Hindu think that separate electorates are contrary to
the spirit of true nationalism? Give two
arguments.
3.
Study the given passage and answer the questions
that follow:
‘Communalism in its higher aspect,
then, is indispensable to the formation of a harmonious whole in a country like
India. The units of Indian society are not territorial as in European
countries. The principal of European democracy cannot be applied to India
without recognising the fact of communal groups. The Muslim demand for the
creation of a Muslim India within India is therefore, perfectly justified…’
(i)Name the person
who gave this statement?
(ii) Do you agree with this statement?
Support your views with two arguments.
4. Study
the given passage and answer the questions that follow :
‘I have no hesitation in declaring
that if the principle that the Indian Muslim is entitled to full and free
development on the lines of his own culture and tradition in his own India home-land is recognised as the basis of a
permanent communal settlement, he will
be ready to stake his all for the freedom of India. The principle that each
group has entitled to free development on its lines is not inspired by feeling
of ill-will towards other communities is low and ignoble. I entertain the
highest respect for the customs, laws, religions and social institutions of
other communities .Nay, it is my duty according to the teaching of Quran, even
to defend their place of worship, if need be. Yet I love the communal group
which Is the source of life and behavior and which has formed me what I am by
giving me its religion, its literature, its thought, its culture and thereby
its whole past as a living operative factor in my present consciousness…’
(i)Name the person
whose feeling have been expressed in the passage given above.
(ii)Do you agree
with the fact that if all groups are given the option of development on their
own lines then
There would be
harmonious relations among all communities? Give two arguments in favour of
your answer.
Ref: Evergreen Candid Soc. Science X
