GANDHIAN NATIONALISM AFTER 1919

Ideas and Movements

The year 1919 was a watershed in the modern Indian history, as 4 important
developments took place-
(1) Firstly Montagu-Chelmsford reforms were enacted-they didn’t grant
swaraj but anticipated a period of self-government by Indians.
(2) Secondly,the repressive Rowlatt bill was introduced and the Amritsar
massacre occurred at Jallianwala Bagh.
(3) A new course of political action emerged -that of non-violent non-
cooperation,and
(4) A new leader, Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa and became a
symbol of moral leadership for the entire country.

The arrival of Gandhi

(1) Post 1919 Gandhi emerged as the principal architect of Indian
independence. At 18, he went to England to study law. Later in 1893 he
went to South Africa where he practiced as an Indian lawyer and
defended mostly the Indian business community. His experience there
proved crucial to his leadership of India’s freedom struggle.
(2) Between 1893 and 1914 he put together his new vision of society-this
differed from other nationalist leaders, as it was a critique of modern
civilization. He criticized the western obsession with material goods and
the competition necessary to secure them. He said industrial
development should be avoided as machinery represented sin and put
forth a view of a simple life like in his imagined traditional Indian village.
(3) Thus he harked back to the ancient past by evoking the mythic kingdom
of Lord Ram/Ramrajya. To reform society he said one must start from the
bottom and it should be a moral not political transformation of society.
He did not believe that the end-of freedom-justified the means that might
be necessary to achieve it.
(4) Gandhi’s life was not dominated by political activity. There were
significant pauses during which Gandhi did constructive work, which was

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 1

 dear to him. Amongst intellectual influences European writers such as
Tolstoy, Kipling, and Bernard Shaw etc influenced Gandhi. He read Tamil
and Gujarati works as well as Upanishads and The Gita. He read Marx’s
work as late as 1944. In jail (1923) he read over 150 books - for example
the Mahabharata, a Gujarati account of six systems of Indian philosophy,
the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith etc.
In 1909 Gandhi wrote a book called Hind Swaraj expressing his views on
Swaraj and critique of Modern Civilization.
 Gandhi used the term Swaraj in a dual sense as-as (1)'self-rule' and
as(2) 'self-government'. The first meant self-control/rule over oneself
and was the foundation for the second self-government. Gandhi
prioritized self-rule over self-government and to both over political
independence. Essential to both meanings of Swaraj, was a sense of self-
respect that wasGandhi's answer to colonial rule.
 The main point of his pamphlet was that the real enemy was the modern
industrial civilization and not the British political domination. He
presented a moral critique of Western civilization.
 Gandhi held that- (i)Industrial capitalism -the essence of modern
civilization was bad as it disrupts cosmic harmony as it considers bodily
pleasures important and is driven by greed and destroys self-sustaining
local industry. He held it responsible for the conflict of interest as it
divorced economic activities from moral concerns and said Indians
were responsible for their enslavement as they embraced capitalism.
(ii) He said the Modern State was bad- as it enjoys monopoly of violence
and demands impersonal/exclusive loyalty from its citizens. (iii) He also
felt Liberal democracy was too individualistic as it emphasized rights
not duties and self interest not selflessness and Parliamentary
democracy was marked by duality of power. In theory people rule
themselves but in practice they rule themselves only through
representatives. He prescribed an alternative of popular sovereignty in
which each individual controls or restrains his/her own self and this
was Gandhi’s subtle distinction between self-rule and mere home rule.
 He outlined a social utopia in the book, which was unrealistic, and
obscurantist. However it did represent response to the deeply alienating
effects of ‘modernization’ under colonial conditions.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 2

  Thus Rudolf C. Heredia’s says Gandhi's Hind Swaraj presents us with an
idealized version of Indian culture that is completely opposite to the
'modern west'. Gandhi radically re-interprets 'Swaraj' and gives it a dual
meaning.
 Gandhi also never used the geographical terms east and west- to refer to
Europe and India instead he used the terms Ancient Civilization and
Modern Civilization. He said Indians constituted a nation or praja since
the pre-Islamic day and Indian civilization had a strong base, which
tended to ‘elevate the moral being’ and had nothing to learn from the
‘godless modern civilization’ that only propagated immorality.
 According to Bhikhu Parekh, Gandhi’s usage of the term Ancient
civilization and Modern civilization gave Gandhi an advantage as now he
could argue Europeans were upstarts and had forgotten their glorious
Greco Roman past leading to an impoverishment of the west while
Indian civilization had attempted to preserve its ancient past and was
therefore fighting for the entire mankind. By this Parekh says Gandhi
undermined universalistic claims of European ‘modernity’ and
Europeans found it hard to critique Gandhi’s anti-colonial critique.
 Anthony Parel says despite Hind Swaraj’s writing it is incorrect to say
Gandhi rejected modernity completely. As in the introduction to Hind
Swaraj –the text is presented as a dialogue between a reader and an
editor- a very modern figure with Gandhi took on.Also throughout his
career he used print media and travelled by railways to organize his
campaigns. Thus we need not see him as only modern or traditional as
Claude Markovits says we see in Gandhi, ‘the paradoxical modernity of
Gandhi’s anti-modernism.’
 It would be misleading to suggest that Gandhi introduced an entirely
new kind of politics. As mass movements organized by Tilak in
Maharashtra in 1890, the Swadeshi in Bengal had already
foreshadowedmass politics and some Gandhian methods. Also the
Home Rule League of Tilak and Annie Besant made the base for Gandhi’s
firstSatyagraha movement.
Gandhi’s thoughts on reason, logic and politics-
 REASON/LOGIC-Gandhi distrusted reason and stressed the limits of
reason. He said argumentsalways follow conviction and man always

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 3

 finds reason for whatever he does or wants to do. He didn’t like the
logical way of arriving at conclusions as he said logic lead to wrong
conclusions as he said facts necessary for reason were never available to
man.
 DHARMA-He used several terms in his writings-like Dharma or moral
law. He emphasized Dharma more than Moksha/Nirvana (salvation) as
he was a worldly man and not in the pursuit of salvation. Thus
according to him political engagement was more important than
personal salvation.
 MODERN CIVILIZATION-His attitude towards modern civilization was
very different from other thinkers of his time.For him modern
civilization was evil and he used the term ‘Kaliyuga’ for it and said it was
a satanic civilization. Therefore, servants of societies should live like
monks and should serve as crusaders to create a Ramrajya.
 POLITICS and RELIGION: He had a moral and spiritual standpoint when
it came to politics. He said modern day politics is soulless. He said
everyone was in the pursuit of power but moral values could also be
used to create power. He said moral values allow us to be effective as
individuals and survive collectively. Thus he felt he need to spiritualize
politics and said,“politics divorced from religion is like a corpse fit only
for burning”. He made a distinction between religious beliefs and values
and was concerned with the latter. He felt politics like religion is
concerned with a fundamental thing in life-happiness of the toiling
masses. Thus Social work for him was integral to his politics and there is
a need to engage in self-purification can only come if one has boundless
love for mankind.
 Gandhi had disagreements with his contemporaries like Tilakover
religion. Tilak in 1920 wrote toGandhi saying politics is a game of
worldly people and not sadhus. To which Gandhi replied, “the epitome
of religion is to promote purushartha or a desperate attempt to become
a sadhu and a sadhu is nothing but a gentleman in every sense of the
word”
 Gandhi rejectedHobbs’s notion of citizenship in which sovereign stood
outside society and used fear exercise power. In such a situation the
subjects are passive. Gandhi instead endorsed Roseau’s view of engaged

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 4

 citizens. Gandhi felt that individuals should recognize and used the
power in their handsfor Sarvodaya-or social good.
SATYA AND AHIMSA
 Two key terms for Gandhi were Satya and Ahimsa. Satya was relative
truth while Ahimsa/non violence was absolute truth. Truth was the
substance of morality. Satya was derived from ‘sat’ which means ‘being’.
 For him Satya meant the truth in the realm of knowledge, righteousness
in conduct and justice in social relations. His concept of truth stresses
action rather than thought. In order to understand truth one has to
understand the eternal law of nature. Once truth is perceived and seized
it must be acted upon. For Gandhi truth was even higher than god. He
said every man was a seeker of truth and every manembodied a portion
of this truth-this he called soul force.He said one must havefaith in
absolute truth but every man can follow truth according to his like’s i.e.
relative truth. Thus Truth can be obtained through tapasya (self
suffering).
 Ahimsa literally means non-killing. In the Hindu tradition if one kills an
evildoer, it is not himsa/violence because it was done to preserve social
order. Thus was called vadha. Gandhi was deeply influenced by this but
departed in some respects. Raghavan Iyer says Gandhi felt that Tolstoy
understood non-violence better than anyone including ancient thinkers.
Thus Gandhi took up Tolstoy’s notion of non-violence, which advocated
active love in social terms. In the Gandhian notion of non-violence there
is an element of compassion plus a positive desire to help others.
 Gandhi’s concept of Satya with Ahimsa determined his doctrine of
Satyagraha (truth force). He developed this method in South
Africawhich involved peaceful violation of laws, protests, hartals
combined with readiness of negotiation and compromise. This method
pressurized the British and apart from drawing from the masses kept
mass activity under strict control of the leader.
Spirituality
 Gandhi pointed out the flaws in Hindu culture by saying that active
fellow beings are marginalized in Hindu culture. This view was similar
to Hindu reformers(Arya Samaj etc) who felt Hinduism lacked social
work. He said Svadharma is the very essence of his politics or morality.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 5

 He said Hindu culture was indifferent to struggle for justice and only if
Hindus involve themselves in this struggle would they be the path to
moksha or salvation.
 Gandhi used the term yuga dharma - dharma which is appropriate to a
certain yuga or age and believed that Hindu culture needed to be
reconstituted according to the Modern age/yuga. He devoted his entire
life to finding this dharma.Sumit Sarkar says Gandhi was ‘na sanyasi na
sansari’. Bhikhu Parekh critiques this saying that the Indians did not see
Gandhi as an avatar or a saint or a renouncer. He was a fighter and
passionately involved with the world and hence not a sanyaasi. He also
pointed out human flaws of Gandhi e.g. vanity.
GANDHI - IMPACT –
 (i) Gandhi achieved uniting both the moderates and the extremists on a
common political platformby tactically combined the goal of moderates
with the means of extremists. He adopted the moderate’s goal of Swaraj
and his method of Satyagrahawas similar to the Extremists passive
resistance of the. He even had a hand at uniting hindu-muslim interests
by aligning himself with the younger leaders who supported the
Khilafat.
 (ii) More importantly Gandhi appealed directly to the peasants and
gained mass support. Mass mobilization was the foundation of Gandhi’s
Satyagraha. His simple attire, Spartan existence, use of Hindi all led to
the masses to react to him with adulation.
 Judith Brown says Gandhi’s rise did not symbolize ‘a radical
restructuring of political life’ or ‘opening up of modern politics to the
masses’ but the rise of Western educated and regional literal elites of
the backward areas in place of Western educatedleaders of Presidency
towns. It was these local leaders -the “subcontractors” which mobilized
popular support for Gandhi in the Indian countryside.
 Sekhar Bandyopadhyaycritiqued Brown as feels that such an image of
Gandhi reduced his popular appeal. Gandhi’s simple ways, use of
colloquial language, his popular allegory Ramrajya made him
comprehensible to common people-people interpreted Gandhi in their
own ways and it was difficult to ignore this millenarian aspect of his

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 6

 popular appeal. Brown’s subcontractors had very little to do with this
groundswell.
 Gandhi’s appeal was not uniform throughout India. To understand
Gandhian nationalism it is necessary to take account of his support base
and opposition. In Gujarat the vani-vakil-patidar alliance or traders,
professionals and well off landowning peasants of the patidar castes
formed the core of Gandhi’s support base. Outside Gujarat, Gandhi
found support in Bihar and UP among men such as Govind B. Pant and
Motilal Nehru. In remote village areas, Gandhi’s message took
unexpected shapes. The peasantry made of this ‘great souled mahatma’
a man able to magically to right wrongs. He was fired into the pantheon
of Hindu deities. The peasants in UP did not hesitate in looting bazaars
and attacking landlords by taking Gandhi’s name.
 In the princely states and the thinly populated hills of central India,
Gandhi found little support for non-cooperation. The princes kept
nationalism out and newspapers rarely reached their interiors. The
lowest elements of the social order (artisans and peasants) were left out
too. However most opposition came from those who felt that Gandhi’s
new program would threaten their pre eminence- these were the
educated elite of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras who led the Congress
before 1920s. They enjoyed the substantial benefits they got from
participation in law courts etc. In Punjab and Madras provincial castes
and class antagonisms limited Gandhi’s support base throughout the
1920s.
Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad
Gandhi returned from South Africa in 1915.And undertook three ventures–
Champaran Satyagraha, KhedaSatyagraha and Ahmadabad Mill strike
established him as a man who could achieve concrete reforms in a manner
different from the established Congress methods which worked top
downwards. Judith Brown says that the main importance of these movements
lay in the recruitment of his lifelong allies-JB Kriplani, Rajendra Prasad,
Vallabhai Patel, Mahadev Prasad etc., the existence in every case of pressures
from below, a note of millenarian appeal at times and first indications of a
restraining role.
CHAMPARAN (1917)
 The Champaran Satyagraha took place at a time when indigo cultivation
was declining as Germans had developed a synthetic dye leading to
Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 7
 decrease in the demand for natural dye. With the world war demand for
indigo increased and farmers in India were coerced to grow it on 3/20th
of their land, this was known as the Tinkathia system.
 In 1885, the Bengal Tenancy Act was passed- by which the ryot could be
released from his obligation to grow indigo but had to pay higher rents.
The increase in rent (by 60%) was called Sharabeshi and the peasant
also had to contribute Abwab or miscellaneous contributions a to the
landlord’s household. Landlords could also take a lump sum of money
(tawan) from the peasants in return for freedom. These set the
background for the Champaran Satyagraha.
 Jacques Pochepadass’s study talks about the role of local rulers –rich
and middle peasants, local mahajans and traders, village mukhtars and
schoolteachers.
 He says a crucial role was played by a middle peasant called Raj Kumar
Shukla who went to Lucknow to invite Gandhias the indigo cultivators
were highly oppressed under the Tinkathia system, increasing taxes and
famine. Gandhi at first instituted an open inquiry in July 1917and gave
all-India publicity to the grievances of these Champaran cultivators. This
led to the abolition of the Tinkathia system. Yet the psychological impact
far surpassed the concrete activities. Gandhi left behind 15 volunteers
who tried to do constructive village work and told Rajendra Prasad that
the only solution was the education of the ryots.
KHEDA (1918)
 The Kheda movement provided agrarian basis to the Independence
movement. The Kheda district in Gujarat had the prosperous class of
Kanbi-Patidar peasant proprietors who produced foodgrains. Many of
them were rich and educated.
 According to David Hardiman post 1899 a period of prosperity was
followed plagues and famine, which made revenue payment very
difficult. The lesser patidars were worst affected. In 1917-18, a poor
harvest coincided with high prices of kerosene, cloth etc. The initiative
for no revenue payment came from local leaders who approached
Gandhi to take up their cause and Gandhi took it up in March 1922. By
this time the peasants had been coerced to pay revenue and had had a
good rabi crop and this weakened the case for remissions.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 8

  Kheda was the first real Gandhian peasant Satyagraha and affected
70/559 villages and was called off in June after a token concession. But
over the years a solid Gandhian base was built in Gujarat.
AHMEDABAD (1918)
 Gandhi in Feb-March 1918 intervened in the Ahmadabad Mill strike a
purely internal conflict between Gujarat millowners and their workers.
The mill owner’s attempts to end the plague bonus in 1917, whichled to
confrontation despite Gandhi’s mediation attempts. This strike was
notable because it was the first time the Mahatma used the weapon of a
hunger strike. It won the workers a 35% wage increase.
 It also led to the Textile labor Association of 1920 being formed and
grounded on Gandhian philosophies of peaceful arbitration of disputes,
independence of capital and labor and owners being trustees for
workers.

ROWLATT SATYAGRAHA-6th April 1919

 In 1919 the Rowlatt Act was passedby the British, whichextended
wartime restriction on civil rights permanentlyby introducing
imprisonment without trial for a maximum of two years for those
suspected of terrorist activity. All Indians deeply resented the Rowlatt
Act but it was left to Gandhi to suggest opposition to the Act. As
constitutional methods to oppose the Act failed Gandhiji finally decided
to launch the Rowlatt Satyagraha, calling for a nationwide strike/hartal
accompanied by fasting and prayer on 6th April and in addition civil
disobedience of specific laws. A SatyagrahaSabha was set up to direct
the Satyagraha.
 The Rowlatt Satyagraha of 1919 was the first occasion on which Gandhi
led an all India campaign. The Satyagrah called for all offices and
factories would be closed. Indians would be encouraged to withdraw
from Raj-sponsored schools, police services, the military and the civil
services, and lawyers were asked to leave the Raj's courts. Public
transportation and English-manufactured goods, especially clothing,
was boycotted.This campaign posed a lot of problems for Gandhi-those
of organization, communication, mobilization of a wide array of groups,
and exercise restraint over those very social groups.
Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 9
  In organizing his Satyagraha, Gandhi used three types of political
networks- (i) the two home rule leagues started by Annie Besant and
Tilak, certain pan-Islamic groups and a SatyagrahaSabha, which he
founded by Gandhi.
1. Mrs. Besant’s All India Home Rule League began holding protests
against the bills in January/February (1919) at Delhi, Allahabad,
Kanpur, Banaras, Lucknow, Patna, Madras, and Bombay-through its
branches. The chief initiative came from Bombay where Shankarlal
Banker printed copies of the Pledge, as well as posters, which
outlined the Rowlatt Bill and Gandhi’s indictment towards it in a
number of languages. In Sind, Durgdas Adwani, Jamshed Mehta
addressed the meetings. In United Provinces meetings were held.The
Home Rule league provided an important grid for relaying Gandhi’s
message.
2. The Khilafat movement also provided Gandhi widespread support.
The Indian Pan-Islamists had begun to turn towards the Hindus for
support against the common foe-the British Raj. Gandhi had
developed excellent relationships with the Muslim league leaders
especially Abdul Bari of Firangi Mahal Ulama group at Lucknow who
was the religious preceptor of the Ali brothers. Concern about the
harsh treatment meted out to the Sultan of Ottoman Turkey had
spread among the Muslims.The first steps were taken to form an
organization specially designed to stimulate agitation on the Khilafat
issue during the Rowlatt agitation.Gail Minault who says usually the
international aspect of the Khilafatmovement is emphasized but
Minault questions this dominant interpretation.She explained why
Indians Muslims participated in this movement- because they were
trying to communicate their own sense of identity and managed to
create a Muslim constituency within the context of the Indian
national movement. This movement provided a space to Muslims
within the nationalist movement and thus concealed separatism for
now.
3. Gandhi formed the Satyagraha Sabha an organization especially for
the Rowlatt campaign. An executive committee of the Sabha was
appointed to decide the laws to be broken by those signing the
pledge. Gandhi was the President while Horniman was the Vice
President of the committee. Satyagraha committees were

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 10

 established all over the country to direct the campaign on an all India
scale. Bombay committee was the meant to be the central committee
but as this was a difficult proposition and so it was that decided that
each province would have its own independent organization. They
were independent vis-à-vis each other but had to report toGandhi on
the broad strategy of the campaign. However many local campaigns
ended in violence and Gandhi repudiated committees without
investigating the local conditions, this led to abandonment of a few
local Sabhas.Therefore the success of the campaign in each locality
depended on two factors - effectiveness of Gandhi’s lieutenants and
whether Gandhi himself was able to visit the locality to prepare it or
lead it.
Results
1. A very violent anti-British storm emerged in April 1919 as many
areas e.g. Delhi was confused about the hartal date and violence
broke out. In most areas especially Punjab, the strikes turned violent
(e.g. on 10th April local leaders attacked the Town Hall/post offices
leading to army called in under General dyer.) Local leaders Dr
Satyapal and Kitchlew were deported and in the same evening
Gandhi was restrained from entering Delhi and Punjab. On April 13,
General Dyer opened fire at a peaceful unarmed crowd, which
congregated at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. This act was the last
straw and the Indians were appalled at the British injustice.
2. In Bombay and Ahmadabad violence emerged.In Ahmadabad 51
buildings were burnt down as a result of the action taken against
Gandhi. Ravinder Kumar says the Hunter Committee Report shows
these violent upheavals were sparked off by post war economic
grievances, brutal provocation and repression in Punjab especially.

3. Calcutta witnessed had witnessed hartals on 6 and 11 April (1919), a

joint Hindu-Muslim rally at a mosque and clashes with the police and
army. The Madras province was quiet but held few big labor
meetings.

4. The movement was mostly urban and affected the following areas-
Amritsar, Lahore in Punjab, Ahmadabad and Nadia in Gujarat, Delhi,
Bombay and Calcutta.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 11

 5. Gandhi realized the widespread violence was a blunder. He quickly
called off the Satyagraha on 18th April 1919. Despite Gandhi’s failure
to achieve his immediate objectives, the Rowlatt Satyagraha was by
no means futile. It greatly strengthened nationalism in India. The
support he got from the Indian population undermined the claims by
British civilians about political loyalties of the people of India.

NON-COOPERATIONMOVEMENT (1920-22)
 At the beginning of 1920, the Indians were highly discontented as the
Rowlatt Act, the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and martial law in Punjab
had belied all the wartime promises of the British. The Montagu-
Chelmsford Reforms satisfied few and the Indian Muslims were also
incensed.
 Gandhi suggested to the Khilafat Committee to adopt a programme of
non-violentnon-cooperation to protest the Government’s behavior. On
9th June 1920, the Khilafat Committee unanimously accepted the
suggestion and asked Gandhiji to lead the non-cooperationmovement.
 The movement was to be formally launchedby Gandhi on 1 August 1920
centered on three things-the Punjab wrong, the Khilafat wrong and
Swaraj. However the established politicians of the Congress still had
their doubts about a non-cooperation programme. The Congress met in
September at Calcutta with the main opposition led by C.R. Das and
Motilal Nehru against the boycott of elections of Central legislative
councils.
 In the Nagpur Session of the Congress in December 1920, CR Das
changed his attitude and accepted the resolution of non-violentnon-
cooperation.The programme of non cooperation was accepted by the
Congress as its own and included – the surrender of titles and honours;
triple boycott of schools, courts, councils; national schools and colleges
were to be set up; hand spinning and weaving was to be encouraged
along with the promotion of Khadi. Thus the Nagpur session committed
the Congress to a programme of extra constitutional mass action.
 To enable the Congress to fulfill its new commitment changes were
introduced in its organization on Gandhi's insistence. The goal of the
Congress was changed from the attainment of self-government by

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 12

 constitutional and legal means to the attainment of Swaraj by peaceful
and legitimate means. The important changes included the constitution
of a Working Committee, the organization of Provincial Congress
Committees on a linguistic basis and the membership fee was reduced
to four annas per year. The organization structure was both
streamlined and democratized.
 The adoption of the Non Cooperation Movement by the Congress gave it
a new energy and from January 1921, it began in full swing and
registered considerable success all over the country. The four phases of
the non cooperation movement are as follows –
1. January-March 1921: Gandhiji along with the Ali brothers undertook a
nationwide tour during which he addressed hundreds of meetings and
met political workers. Thousands of students left government
controlled schools and colleges joining the national ones. Many
leadinglawyers gave up their lucrative practices. However the most
successful item of the programme was the boycott of foreign cloth with
the picketing of shops selling foreign cloth, a major form of boycott.
2. March-June 1921: At the Congress session at Vijayawada it was decided
that that it should concentrate on collection of funds, enrollment of
members and distribution of charkhas. As a result a vigorous
membership drive was launched and the Tilak Swaraj Fund was
oversubscribed exceeding the target of rupees one crore. Charkhas were
popularized on a wide scale and khadi became the uniform of the
national movement.
3. July-November 1921: Gradually the movement became more militant
with the beginning of boycott and organization of public bonfires of
foreign cloth. On 17th November 1921, the Prince of Wales who arrived
in India on an official visit was greeted with a nationwide hartal. On that
day Bombay witnessed the break of the first violent riot of the
movement, targeting the Europeans, the Anglo Indians and the Parsis in
the city. Gandhi was incensed andfull-scalecivil disobedience and a no
tax campaign was postponed. The whole sequence of events left Gandhi
profoundly disturbed about the recurrence of violence once mass civil
disobedience was sanctioned.
4. November1921-February1922: The last phase of the movement nearly
brought the government to its knees. Gandhi was under considerable

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 13

 pressure from the Congress to start the phase of mass civil
disobedience. He was appointed as the sole authority on the issue.The
Government ignored Gandhi’s appeal that unless it lifted the ban on civil
liberties and released political prisoners he would be forced to go ahead
with civil disobedience. It was decided that an experimental no revenue
campaign would be launched at Bardoli in February 1922. However this
did not happen as Chauri Chaura Incident took place and Gandhi who
was fed up called off the Non Cooperation movement.
 CHAURI CHAURA(1922)
The Chauri Chaura incident proved to be the last straw for Gandhi. In
February 1922, local volunteers had gathered to protest against police
oppression and the high prices of certain articles. The police initially
sought to deter them by firing in the air but irritated by the behavior of
some policemen the crowd attacked them. The police opened fire and in
retaliation the crowd set fire to the local police station killing 22
policemen. On hearing of the incident Gandhi decided to abruptly call off
the movement. Thus on 12th February 1922, the Non Cooperation
Movement came to an end.
Nehru later said that this decision was “deeply resented by all Congress
leaders” and “naturally even more” by the “younger people.” Gandhi
however repeatedly said that he prepared to lead a specific type of
controlled mass movement but was not interested in a class struggle or
social revolution.The fact that the entire movement was called only
implies its basic weakness-there was ample combustible material in
India in 1919-22.
Why did Gandhi call off the movement?
1. Gandhi’s reason for calling off the movement was widely debated. RP
Dutt and other scholars continued to condemn the decision taken by
Gandhi and saw it as proof of his concern for the propertied classes of
Indian society. According to them, he withdrew it because the action at
Chauri Chaura was a symbol of the growing militancy of the Indian
masses and their growing radicalization as well as their willingness to
launch an attack on the status quo of property relations. This they say
was the real though hidden motive behind the historic decision of
February 1922.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 14

 2. Bipin Chandra argues that the movement never became as radical as to
pose a threat to the interest of the propertied class. Instead he says that
Gandhi always asserted the importance of non-violence if the movement
was to achieve the goals. If he continued this movement, it would mean
giving up his higher moral ground.
3. Mushirul Hasan brings attention to the Khilafat angle and says that the
growing strain with the Khilafat movement was a factor. Certain
sections of the Ulema who were Khilafat leaders did not agree with
Gandhi on a few issues and by the end of 1921, the Khilafat movement
was slipping out of Gandhi’s control. The Moplah riots of August 1922
ended any possibility of reconciliation.
4. Judith Brown argues that Gandhi’s differences with the established
politicians of the Congress who felt that NC would be ineffective if it was
not followed by civil disobedience led to his decision. The leaders
wanted to contest elections and confront the government in legislatures.
The program had to move forward if it had to survive and Gandhi’s
failure in responding to these emerging challenges led to the
withdrawal of the movement.
5. However the arguments put forward by Gandhi’s critics that violence in
a remote village could not be a sufficient cause for such a decision and
that the real motive for withdrawal was the fear of the growth of radical
forces and Chauri Chaura was the proof of the emergence of precisely
such a radical settlement are both on weak ground and are not accepted.
Whether or not the withdrawal was made at a correct time would always be
open to debate but Gandhi probably had enough reasons to believe that the
moment he chose was the right one.
Regional Variations –
 The Non Cooperation Movement began in Punjab but it seemed to
remain relatively weak. Rajasthan presents an interesting deviant
pattern of powerful peasant movements. This movement was especially
strong in Gujarat. Maharashtra was a weak center for the movement as
the established Tilakite politics was unenthusiastic about Gandhi and
the non-Brahmins felt that the Congress was a Chitpavan led affair. The
truly all India nature of the NC movement is best indicated by its
penetration of the south. In Bengal, the non-cooperation Khilafat

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 15

 alliance was the greatest strength in the entire history of the nationalist
movement in Bengal. The United Provinces during this movement
became one of the strong Congress bases.
IMPACT –
 The Non Cooperation Movement had in fact succeeded on many counts.
The movement has a twofold character drawing in the masses and at the
same time keeping mass activity under control. It demonstrated that it
commanded the support and sympathy of vast sections of the Indian
people. After non-cooperation, the charge of representing a microscopic
minority could never be hurled at the INC. Its reach among many
sections of Indian peasants, workers, artisans, traders, and
professionals had been demonstrated. The spread of the movement was
also nationwide. The notion that the desire for national freedom was the
preserve of the rich and educated was dispelled and shown to be an
urge common to all members of a subject nation. This was for many
people the first contact with the modern world of nationalist politics
and the modern ideology of nationalism. The tremendous participation
of Muslims in the movement and the maintenance of communal unity
was also striking.
 Non-Cooperation movement therefore made attempts to establish more
meaningful links with the masses in the national struggle and thereby
changed the Indian political scene for good. The retreat that was
ordered was only a temporary one an even though the battle was over,
the war would continue.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT (1930-1931) –
EVENTS LEADING TO THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT – (1922-29)
(need to edit)
 For some time after the withdrawal of the NCM, the Congress was not in
a position to launch another round of mass movement. Post Chauri
Chaura, the British arrested Gandhi in March 1922 with a 6-year
sentence.After his release from jail in 1924,Gandhi channelized his
energies on constructive programs such as removal of untouchability,
building of the ashrams, use of charkha etc. the colonial government felt
that he was a ‘spent force’ politically.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 16

  There was also a crisis in the unity within the congress.The Congress
was divided into no changers and pro changers. The former wanted to
stick to the Gandhian ways (Ansari, Iyengar) while the latter wanted to
revert to constitutional politics (Motilal Nehru, CR Das). The
constitutionalists became more powerful and launched theSwaraj party
within the Congress. They wanted to participate in council politics and
wreck the constitution from within. However the Swarajists were not a
stable group nor were they united by all India loyalty to achieve that
mission.
 There were further fissures because of the growing influence of the
Congress socialists under the young leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and SC
Bose and this turned into a Right-Left confrontation within the
Congress. The No-changers worked on constructive work within the
villages. This included relief work, promotion of Khadi, anti-liquor
campaign, and social work among low castes.
 The short-lived Muslim league-Congress alliance was also jeopardized
by the decline of the Khilafat movement. The Muslim league was divided
on the issue of joint electorates and separate electorates. There were
communal riots all over. The All India Hindu Mahasabha gained in
strength in north and central India and its close association with the
congress tarnished its secular image.
 However there were significant changes, which prepared the ground for
another round of mass agitations against the British raj.
1. First, a major crisis for export oriented colonial economyculminated in a
great depression in the 1920s. The prices of exportable agricultural cash
crops wentdown steeply and affected the rich peasantry. The amount of
revenue remained static worsening the situation. This led the Congress
to mobilize rich peasants in various parts of the country. In UP, repeated
crop failures and shortfall in the production of food crops led to the
miseries of poor peasants. This led to the organization ofpeasant
movements outside the Congress, as it was clearly not interested in
mobilizing radical lower peasant groups. This is what Tanika Sarkar has
described as a parallel stream of protest.
2. Secondly, there was an emergence of a capitalist class during and in the
years immediately after the WW1. In the 1920s there was a powerful
and conscious capitalist class who organized themselves and came into

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 17

 conflict with the imperial government on many issues. They decided to
side with the Congress to fight their battle who began to support many
of their demands making them into national issues. At the same time
there was a lot of labour unrest in India underthe communist influence.
However the influence declined as the government came down heavily
on them. This gave the Congress a chance to project themselves as a
broad united front where capitalists and workers(even if the working
class support for it was weak) were under the same banner.
3. Thirdly, a Tory government in London appointed an all white statutory
commission under Sir John Simon to review the operation of
Constitutional system in India. When the Simon Commission arrived in
1928, it was boycotted. This resulted in the holding of the All-Party
Conference of 1928 where the Nehru Committee report was finalized.
According to this report, while there would be joint electorates
everywhere reserved seats were conceded only at the center and in the
provinces with the Muslim minorities. Sind would be detached from
Bombay and made into a separate province only after India acquired
dominion status. Jinnah pleaded for some sort of compromise that was
brushed aside by the Hindu Mahasabha.This finally led to his famous
Fourteen Points which asked for things like new provinces, 1/3rd seats
at the center, separate electorates.
 The Nehru Report was a sort of an entry of Gandhi once again into
national politics. Motilal Nehru wanted Gandhi’s support on this scheme
as he wanted it to be smoothly accepted. But for Gandhi, Swaraj was not
a constitutional matter the British would give-it had to be attained by
mobilizing the masses.
 The other entry point for Gandhi into nationalist politics was Bardoli
Satyagraha of 1928. Despite being called off during the non-cooperation
movement, constructive programs were carried on in this area.
Therefore when the government raised the land revenue by 22 % in
1927, a good deal of mobilization had already taken place. Vallabhai
Patel launched the Bardoli Satyagraha on 4th February 1928 with
Gandhi’s blessings. This was a spectacular success and covered by the
press. According to Judith Brown, Bardoli lifted Gandhi out of
depression and the Calcutta Congress of 1928 witnessed his re-
emergence as a national leader.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 18

  The young group within the Congress led by Nehru and Bose were
against the dominion status plea in the Nehru Report who wanted
complete independence. Therefore Gandhi proposed a compromise
resolution that adopted the report but said that if the government did
not accept it by 31 December 1930 the congress would go in for a non
cooperation movement to achieve full independence. The then Viceroy
Lord Irwin proposed the “Irwin Offer” 1929 where he proposed a Round
Table conference. However the talks were inconclusive.
 At the Lahore Session on 1929 December, the congress adopted the goal
of Purna Swaraj/Complete independence and decided to start a boycott
of legislature as a preliminary to the civil disobedience movement.
However the response was cool and most groups-the Muslims, the
Hindu Mahasabha, the Sikhs and even the business groups moved away
from the congress. 26 January 1930 was celebrated as the Independence
Day but evoked little enthusiasm except in areas like Bihar, UP, Punjab,
Delhi and Bombay.
LAUNCH OF THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT –
 The Lahore Congress of 1929 had authorized the Working Committee
launch a program of civil disobedience including the non-payment of
taxes.
 The Chronology of the Civil Disobedience Movement is as follows –
1. March 1930 – January 1931: First Civil Disobedience Movement
2. February 1931 – December 1931: Truce between Gandhi and the
British Government
3. January 1932 – May 1934: Second Civil Disobedience Movement
First Civil Disobedience Movement –
 On 31 January 1930 Gandhi presented eleven points to Irwin and said
that if the demands were not met there would be a civil disobedience
movement. According to Sumit Sarkar’s classification, there were six
issues of general interest, three specific bourgeois demands and two
basically peasant themes including the abolition of salt tax and
government salt monopoly. It was a mixed package to appeal to a wide

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 19

 cross section of political opinions and join the Indians together. Of all
the grievances, the salt tax seemed to be the most crucial one.
 Irwin was in no mood to compromise and this led Gandhi to launch his
historic Dandi March on 12th March 1930. Gandhiji along with 78
supporters marched from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, a village on the
Gujarat coast where he would break the salt laws by collecting salt. As
Gandhi began his march, newspapers reported his progress, his
speeches and the impact on the people. By the time he reached Dandi,
he had a whole nation waiting restlessly for the final signal.
 On 6th April, by picking up a handful of salt, Gandhiji inaugurated the
Civil Disobedience Movement, one that was to remain unsurpassed in
the history of the Indian national movement for the country wide mass
participation it unleashed. It was a symbol of the Indian people’s refusal
to live under British made laws and therefore under British rule.
 The movement spread rapidly. The violation of salt laws all over the
country was soon followed by the defiance of forest laws in
Maharashtra, Karnataka and the Central Provinces and refusal to pay
the rural chaukidari tax in eastern India. Everywhere in the country,
people joined hartals, demonstrations and the campaign to boycott
foreign goodsand to refuse to pay taxes. In many parts of the country,
the peasants refused to pay land revenue and rent and had their lands
confiscated. A notable feature of the movement was the wide
participation of women. They participated in picketing of shops selling
liquor and foreign cloth and flocked in thousands to hear Gandhi speak.
Another feature was the huge support of the business classes. They
provided the finance and supported the boycott movement particularly
of foreign cloth.
 The rapid spread of the movement left the government with little choice
but to use force. In mid May Gandhi was arrested leading to a massive
wave of protest.
 There were major violent outbursts in Chittagong, Peshawar and
Sholapur. The fiercest response came from Sholapur where the textile
workers went on strike and along with other residents burnt liquor
shops. Even at this point, Gandhi did not call off the movement. This
encouraged a mass movement did not merely involve non-cooperation
but actual violation of laws to achieve complete independence.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 20

  All leaders and most volunteers were arrested and the movement began
to decline from September 1930 onwards as people lost interest. In a
conciliatory gesture, the Viceroy suggested that the First Round Table
Conference would be held in London in November 1930 but the
Congress boycotted it and it was a meaningless exercise.
Truce and Second Civil Disobedience Movement –
 Meanwhile the government now made attempts to negotiate an
agreement with the Congress. As a part of this on 25th January 1931, the
Viceroy announced the unconditional release of Gandhi and all the other
Congress leaders.
 After much deliberation, the Congress authorized Gandhi to initiate
discussions with the Viceroy, which culminated on 5th March 1931 in
the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. It was described as a truce and a provisional
settlement.
 The Gandhi Irwin Pact is a subject of great controversy as to why Gandhi
signed it. Some historians say that certain Congress leaders persuaded
Gandhi because they felt that the Round Table Conference had potential
of further devolution of power in India while others said that Gandhi
was a satyagrahi and was always open to compromise. According to
Sumit Sarkar, the Indian bourgeoisie, Gandhi’s staunchest supporters
pressurized him as their businesses were suffering and thus played a
crucial role in the subsequent withdrawal. Historians such as Judith
Brown, Claude Markovits and Basudev Chatterji have accepted this
position.
 The terms of the pact included the immediate release of all political
prisoners not convicted for violence, inquiry into police repression and
that the land confiscated from peasants is returned to them. The
government also conceded the right to make salt for consumption to
villages along the coast as also the right to peaceful and non-aggressive
picketing. The Congress on its part agreed to discontinue the Civil
Disobedience Movement. It was also understood that the Congress
would participate in the next Round Table Conference.
 Many of the Congress leaders, particularly the younger left wing section
were opposed to the Gandhi Irwin Pact for the government did not
accept even one of the major nationalist demands. However Gandhi was
satisfied and convinced that Irwin and the British were sincere in their
Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 21
 desire to negotiate on Indian demands. Gandhi went to England in
September 1931 to attend the Second Round Table Conference but in
spite of his powerful advocacy, the British government refused to
concede to the basic demand for freedom by granting Dominion Status.
Thus the negotiations with the government failed and Gandhi returned
empty handed in December 1931.
 Meanwhile, peasant unrest had developed in several parts of the
country. In UP, the Congress agitated for a reduction of rent and
prevention of eviction of tenants. While in the North West Frontier
Province there was a peasant movement against the government’s land
revenue policy. Thus on his return to India, Gandhi had no choice but to
resume the Civil Disobedience Movement in January 1932.
 On 4th January, Gandhi and other Congress leaders were arrested and it
was banned. The government repression succeeded in the end as it was
helped by differences among the Indians on many issues.
 The rich peasant groups, who had showed greater militancy during the
first phase of the movement, felt betrayed by its withdrawal and
remained unstirred in many places while the staunchest of Gandhi’s
supporters - the merchants lost enthusiasm. The urban intelligentsia
also felt less inclined to follow the Gandhian path and thus the Civil
Disobedience Movement gradually waned. The Congress officially
suspended the movement in May 1933 and withdrew it in May 1934.
Gandhiji once again withdrew from active politics.
 For the Congress however, the Civil Disobedience Movement was by no
means a failure. It had by now mobilized great political support and
marked a critically important stage in the progress of the anti-
imperialist struggle.

COMMUNAL AWARD AND POONA PACT(1932)

 The constitutional history of India took a major turn when the British
PM Ramsay MacDonald announced his Communal Award in 1932. It
apportioned representation among communities and extended
provision among separate electorates to the untouchables as well.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 22

  Gandhi, who was in jail, saw this as a ploy to divide the Hindu society, as
the untouchables were an integral part of it. Therefore Gandhi took fast
unto to death to reverse the arrangement. However the Dalit leader, BR
Ambedkar supported the separate electorates.
 The British responded to Gandhi’s fast unto death declaration by stating
that the communal award would be amended if those affected by it
agreed to do so. This provision was widely publicized by the British
highlighting the fact that it was an issue between Gandhi and the
depressed classes and not between Gandhi and the Govt. of India. This
strategy worked and many leaders like Sapru and Jaikar pressurized
Ambedkar to give in.
 They agreed to the idea of reserved seats and therefore the Poona Pact
of 1932 was signed which proposed a number of reserved seats for the
reserved /depressed classes to be increased and a two tier election
system was recommended to ensure proper representation of such
classes.
 This was a victory for Gandhi and his moral stature was enhanced like
never before both at home and abroad as he challenged the government
decision and emerged victorious. (DA Low). The sinking morale of
congress was lifted.
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT 1935
The Government of India Act 1935 proposed the following-
1. In place of dyarchy, there would be responsible government in all the
departments. This was nullified by the wide discretionary powers given
to the governors about summoning legislatures; giving assent to bills
etc. they also had special powers to safeguard minority rights, privileges
of civil servants and British business interests. Also, they could take
over and run the administration of a province indefinitely under a
special provision.
2. At the centre, the act provided for a federal structure, but it would come
into effect only if more than 50 % of the princely state acceded to by
signing an Instrument of Accession. The act introduced dyarchy at the
centre but subject to various safeguards.
3. Transfer of financial control from London to New Delhi because the
Govt. of India was demanding fiscal autonomy since a long time.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 23

 4. The electorate was enlarged to 30 million but enfranchised only 10% of
the population. In rural India, it gave voting rights to the rich and middle
peasants, as they were the main constituency for Congress politics.
Therefore according to DA Low, it was a ploy to corrode the support
base of the congress and tie these important classes to the Raj.
5. In the bicameral legislature in the centre, members nominated by the
princes would constitute 30-40% of seats thus eliminating the
possibility of a Congress majority. There were separate electorates for
Muslims and reserved seats for the untouchables.This act made no
mention of granting dominion status promised during the civil
disobedience movement.
Nature
1. The Labour opposition argued that the act only proposed to protect
British interests in India by sharing power with the loyalist elements.
Conservatives like Churchill thought this act amounted to the abdication
of empire.
2. However according to Carl Bridges, his colleagues had specially chosen
the federal structure as it would protect British interests rather than
hand over control in vital areas. BR Tomlinson says that the only
change was that the apex of the system moved from London to Delhi.
The viceroy had new powers and essentially all imperial interests were
protected.
3. The provincial part of this act took effect with the elections of 1937
where the Congress won an absolute majority in 5 out of 11 provinces.
However the federal part of the act remained a non-starter, as no one
was interested in it. The Muslim league feared Hindu domination, the
princes were reluctant to join it (as it did not resolve the issue of
paramountcy) and the congress were not happy with the proposed tie
up with the princes.

QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT 1942

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 24

  With the demise of the civil disobedience movement, Gandhi withdrew
from active politics while the Congress acquired a leftist dimension to it
and leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan and Minoo Masani formed the
Congress Socialist Party.
 The Congress formed ministries in 1937 and in 1939 and the Second
World War (which was set the back ground for the launch of the Quit
India movement) broke out. This brought new variables into Indian
politics-
1. The Congress promised support to the British only if the British would
give concession to two key issues-a post war independence pledge and a
national government at the centre. However, Lord Linlithgow did not
concede and the Congress ministries resigned in protest in 1939.
2. Meanwhile Japanese intervention and rapid Japanese victories brought
the war closer to India in 1941. Now Indian war effort was clearly
necessary and there had to be some solution to the constitutional crisis.
This led to the coming of the Cripps’ Mission in March-April 1942.
3. The war evoked mixed reactions among the Congress politicians.
Gandhi remained ambivalent. At one point he was anti-war as it went
against his principles of non-violence. At Ramgarh Congress in May
1940, he launched individual Satyagraha by volunteers personally
chosen by Gandhi for this purpose. This involved those giving antiwar
speeches but the movement failed. In 1942, Gandhi was in a
surprisingly militant mood.
4. The impact of the war economically was initially beneficial to some
groups. As commodity prices rose, it was beneficial to industrialist, rich
peasants and merchants. It took away bad effects of depression and for
the peasants it took away the hardships of high rent. However by 1942,
there was a severe shortage of rice and the price index of food grains
rose by 60 points in north India. Max Harcourt calls this a scarcity crisis.
The poorer section was hit by price hike and the richer section was
affected by excessive profit tax, forcible collection of war funds, and
coercive sale of war bonds. This created a mentality of popular panic.
5. From May onwards, streams of American and Australian soldiers
occupied India and stories of rape and sexual harassment among the
civil population spread. Rumors and axis propaganda led to a
widespread belief in India that British power was going to collapse soon
and it was the right time to liberate India from the 200 years of colonial
rule. This set the back ground to the Quit India Movement

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 25

  In July 1942 the Congress Working Committee approved the draft
resolution on mass civil disobedience. On 8thAugust 1942, the Quit India
Movement resolution was passed by the AICC in Bombay. Gandhi
delivered his famous Do or Die Bridge arguing that this was the final
battle.
 According to Gyan Pandey,Gandhi provided the people with a
psychological break by saying that everyone should henceforth be a free
man or woman and choose own course of action if leaders are arrested.
 The next morning the top leaders were put behind bars and this was
followed by the August revolution, which involved mass fury – it was
spontaneous and the intensity surprised everyone- it was characterized
as a spontaneous revolution as no pre conceived plan could have
produced such instantaneous results.
 Recent studies on the Quit India movement shows that it was not just an
impulsive response of an unprecedented populace as was claimed by
the government. However the unprecedented scale of violence was not
premeditated by the congress. The Congress leaders before August 9
drafted a 12-point which included industrial strikes, Gandhian
Satyagraha, holding up of railways and telegraphs, nonpayment of taxes
and setting up of parallel government.
 As the movement progressed AICC continued to send instructions to
peasants, which outlined the course of action in the subsequent months.
The issue of non-violence got lesser importance in the QI Movement.
The people accepted the challenge and interpreted it in their own way
and the congress had little control over the actions of the masses.
 Sumit Sarkar has identified three phases of the Quit India Movement.
Initially it was an urban movement marked by strikes, boycotts and
picketing that were suppressed. In mid August, the focus shifted to the
countryside, which witnessed a major peasant rebellion marked by
destruction of communication systems and attacks on Govt. buildings.
This brought in sever repression forcing the movement to go
underground. The third phase was characterized by terrorist activities,
whichinvolved sabotaging war efforts by dislocating communication
systems and propaganda activities by using various means. The
“terrorists” included youths as well as peasants and enjoyed popular
support. As time passed, underground activities came to channeled into

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 26

 three streams- a radical group under Jayaprakash Narayan organizing
guerilla warfare in the India-Nepal border, a centrist group by Congress
Socialists like Aruna Asaf Ali for sabotage activity, and a Gandhian
group led by Sucheta Kriplani who emphasized non violent action and
constructive program.
 Regional Variations
The movement was most powerful in Bihar where the Kisan Sabha had
done a lot of groundwork. In Jamshedpur the movement started with a
strike of the local constabulary. However the peasant strike, which took
place the following week in every district of Bihar, was more important.
Local treasuries, railway stations, unarmed European officers were
attacked- thus they were destroying the physical presence of the
colonial authority. In Eastern UP, students of BHU arrived and
galvanized local peasantry into action destroying railway tracks and
stations. In Bengal, the movement took place in Calcutta, Hugli,
Dinajpur, Purulia, and Birbhum and was the most popular in Midnapur.
In Orissa it was strongest in Cuttack, Balasore and Puri where Kisan
Sangha and Praja mandals had mobilized the peasantry. In the Bombay
presidency, it took on two distinct forms-peasant guerilla wars in a few
pockets and more violent terrorist sabotage carried on by educated
cadres. Among others in Western India, the Quit India movement was
most powerful in regions of Kheda, Surat and Broach in Gujarat and the
princely state of Baroda with labour strikes, hartals and rioting. In
Ahmedabad a parallel Azad Government was set up. In regions like
Madras, it was fairly moderate. This is because people like
Rajagopalachariopposed it and other factors such as strength of
constitutionalism, absence of socialists, opposition of Kerala
communists etc.
 Social Composition
The Muslims kept away from the movement almost in all regions. The
Muslim league did not approve of the movement. However they did not
actively oppose the Quit India movement-there was no major incident
of communal conflict except maybe in Gujarat. Dr. BR Ambedkar, the
leader of the Dalits did not support it either. But there are instances of
Dalit participation in some regions. The Hindu Mahasabha called it
‘sterile, unmanly and injurious to the Hindu cause and stalwarts like VD
Savarkarwhole-heartedly supported the British war efforts. The
Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 27
 Communist Party of India did not support it because of their People’s
War Strategy. The British withdrew the ban on CPI who had begun to
preach war efforts to contain fascism. However individual communists
did take part. Thus there was limited and short live role of labour in the
movement. There was considerable business participation in Bombay.
Middle class students were in the forefront. However, a notable aspect
is the rise in peasant participation.
 By the end of 1942, the British had definitely come out victorious in
their immediate total confrontation with Indian nationalism. The
remaining two years of the war passed without any political
confrontation from within the country.
 However Sumit Sarkar says that the British were victorious only
because the war conditions had allowed them ruthless use of force. The
British realized that they could not hold onto India by force after the
war ended. From the point of view of the congress leaders,
imprisonment and defeat brought certain benefits. Isolation in jail
helped them avoid taking a pro or Japanese war issue especially when
Subhash Chandra Bose’s INA appearance.
 DD Kosambi said that the glamour of jail and concentration camp served
to wipe out the so-so record of congress ministries in office, thereby
restoring the full popularity of the organization of the masses.
 The British ultimately came to realize that it was only wise to transfer
power to Indian hands after the Quit India movement. The Congress
Right got a new prestige while the Left was weakened in two ways-
brutal repression exhausted many peasant bases built up through years
of constructive work and radical Kisan Sabha activity and the left was
now divided into two camps: that of socialists and followers of Bose on
one side and the Communists on the other.
The INA(a short note)
 There was a grand convergence of multiple streams of protest at the
historical conjuncture of 1942. Subhash Chandra Bose felt that when the
Second World War broke out, India should have taken as much
advantage as she could from the empire’s weakest moment. In 1939,
disciplinary action was taken against him and he was convinced that it
was the right wing element that was stalling a mass movement against

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 28

 the Raj. Therefore he traveled across India to stir a movement but did
not get an enthusiastic response.
 In Bengal he along with the Muslim League decided to launch a civil
disobedience movement to destroy the Holwell monument that stood in
Calcutta as a reminder of the Black Hole tragedy. However before he
could start it, he was arrested under on 3 July 1940, under the Defence
of India Act. Later the monument was removed but he remained
incarcerated. After threatening to start a hunger strike, he was released
but kept under constant surveillance.
 As the war progressed, Bose felt Germany was going to win – he
believed it would be bifacial for India to join hands with the Axis powers
(the enemy of the enemy). In 1941, he fled to Berlin. In Berlin, he met
Hitler and Goebbels and was allowed to start his Azad Hind Radio and
was handed over the Indian POW captured in North Africa to start a
legion but nothing beyond that. He could not get Axis declaration in
favour ofIndian independence.The reverses faced by the Germans at
Stalingrad didn’t help the cause either.
 Meanwhile, in South Asia a new stage of action was being prepared for
him as the Japanese were taking real interest in the cause of
independence – Major Fuziwara was sent to Southeast Asia to organize
expatriate Indians who were organizing themselves into the Indian
Independence Leagues under the leadership of men like Pritam Singh. In
1941, Captain Mohan Singh agreed to cooperate with Fuziwara to raise
an army with POWs to march alongside the Japanese to liberate India.
Thus, the united independence league was born in South Asia as civilian
political body having a controlling authority over the army.
 By September, the INA was formally in existence. However the Japanese
only agreed to see the INA as a subsidiary force as opposed to an
alliedarmy. As Mohan Singh insisted on an allied status, he was removed
from command. By 1943, the first INA experience virtually collapsed.
 The INA needed a new leader-and the Japanese thought it was time to
bring Subhash Chandra Bose to Asia by negotiating with the Germans.
Therefore, he arrived in May 1943 and took control of the situation by
getting assurance of help and equal treatment from the Japanese. He
established a Provisional Government of Free India, which was
immediately recognized by Japan and 8 other countries. And he became

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 29

 the supreme commander of the army, The Azad Hind Fauj/Free India
Army/Indian National Army.
 The provisional government declared war on Britain and its chief
ambition was to march (as an ally of the Japanese army) through Burma
to Imphal to Assam where the Indian people were expect to join the
rebellion and free their mother country. However the ill-fated Imphal
campaign (8th March 1944) ended in disaster.
 According toJoyce Lebra the reasons were many- the lack of air power,
breakdown in the chain of command, disruption of the supply line, the
strength of allied offensive, and the lack of Japanese cooperation. After
Japanese surrender, Bose contemplated seeking help from USSR. The
Japanese said they would help to transport him to Manchuria but he
died on his way there on 18th August 1945 in an air crash.
 After their surrender the 20000 INA soldiers were interrogated and
sent back to India. Those who appeared to have been persuaded or
misled by the INA or Japanese were classified as “whites” or “greys” and
let off. But those who were found guilty were tagged as “blacks” and
court martialled. Ten trials took place and the first one charged three
officers- GS Dhillon, Shah Nawaz Khan, PK Sahgal were charged of
treason, murder and abetment of murder. However, the government
had miscalculated the political fall-out of the INA trials.
 As the public learned about the details of the INA campaign they began
to view these officers as patriots as opposed to traitors. The demand to
discontinue the trials became stronger every day. The AICC meeting in
September 1945 decided to defend the accused in the INA trial and
announced the formation of a Defence Committee consisting legal
experts-Asaf Ali, JL Nehru. The Congress made the INA issue a chief
election issue.
 The government remained firm-the first trial went on for two months
and India erupted into a mass upheaval. All political parties were
against the trials-the Muslim league, the congress, the RSS, Akali Dal etc.
therefore the demonstrations were marked by communal harmony. 5th-
11th November-was celebrated as INA week and 12th November was INA
day.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 30

  There were demonstrations and people from all walks of life joined
these. Violence erupted on May 7 when police opened fire at Madura.
Then from 21-24 November, rioting broke out in various parts of the
country. However the three officers were found guilty. However on
3rdJanuary 1946 there were set free by the commander-in-chief and this
was celebrated all over the country.
 What scared the British about the INA trials was the loyalty if the army-
which in post Quit India days was the only reliable apparatus of rule.
The army was getting politically conscious - they openly donated money
to the INA relief fund and attended the protests in full uniform.
 Therefore the forties were a turbulent decade. Contesting visions and
agendas of emancipation existed within India’s national struggle against
imperialism. The Indian National Army was one such vision.

Gandhian Nationalism After 1919 31