NATIONALISM IN INDIA CLASS 10 (NCERT) NOTES

 Nationalism in India

Background: 

Modern nationalism in Europe is associated with: 

• The formation of nation-states. 

Formation of National Identity:

1.Change  people’s understanding of: 

• who they were, and 
• what defined their identity and 
• sense of belonging. 

2. New Tools:

• New symbols and icons, 
• new songs and 
• ideas forged new links and 
• redefined the boundaries of communities. 

3. Making new national identity was 

• a long process. 

How did this consciousness emerge in India?

Growth of nationalism:

In India and many other colonies 

• It is connected to the anti-colonial movement.

Unity through Struggle:

People start uniting due to the common struggle against colonialism. 

Oppression under Colonialism:

Provided a shared bond that tied many different groups together.

Experience to different sections:

Each class and group felt: 

• the effects of colonialism differently,
• their experiences were varied, and 
• their notions of freedom were not always the same. 

Uniting Different Sections:

• The Congress under Mahatma Gandhi tried to forge these groups together within one movement. 
• But unity did not emerge without conflict.

The First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation

Expansion of National Movement After 1919 :

After 1919 the national movement: 

• Spreading to new areas, 
• Incorporating new social groups, and 
• Developing new modes of struggle. 

How do we understand these developments?

What implications did they have?

Negative Consequences of First World War:

1. Created a new economic and political situation.

2. Huge Increase in Defence Expenditure: 

Financed by: 

• War loans and 
• Increasing taxes: customs duties were raised and

income tax introduced. 

3. High Inflation: 

Through the war years prices increased: 

• doubling between 1913 and 1918 – 
• leading to extreme hardship for the common people. 

4. Soldiers and forced recruitment :

Villages were called upon to supply soldiers,

• Through forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger. 
• Forced recruitment – A process by which the colonial state forced people to join the arm

5. Crop Failure and acute shortages of food:

Then in 1918-19 and 1920-21, 

• Crops failed in many parts of India,
• Resulting in acute shortages of food. 

6. Influenza epidemic

1918-19 and 1920-21 + Above points

• Accompanied by an influenza epidemic. 

7. Census Estimates of 1921:

12 to 13 million people perished due to famines and the epidemic.

8. People’s Apprehensions

• People hoped that their hardships would end after the war was over. 
• But that did not happen. 
• At this stage a new leader appeared and suggested a new mode of struggle.

1.1 The Idea of Satyagraha

Mahatma Gandhi returned to India From South Africa

• In January 1915. 

Mahatma Gandhi efforts in South Africa:

1. Mahatma Gandhi and Satyagraha: 

Novel method of mass agitation: 

He successfully fought the racist regime with a novel method of mass agitation, which he called satyagraha. 

The idea of satyagraha: 

• Emphasised the power of truth and 
• the need to search for truth. 

• Non-violence or Ahimsa

Process:

• If the cause was true, 
• if the struggle was against injustice, 
• then physical force was not necessary to fight the oppressor. 
• Without seeking vengeance or being aggressive, a satyagrahi could win the battle through non-violence. 

How Satyagraha Works:

By appealing to the conscience of the oppressor. 

People – including the oppressors – 

• had to be persuaded to see the truth, 
• instead of being forced to accept truth through the use of violence. 
• By this struggle, truth was bound to ultimately triumph. 

Dharma to Unite Indians

Mahatma Gandhi believed that this dharma of non-violence

could unite all Indians.

Source A:

Q: What did Mahatma Gandhi mean when he said satyagraha is active resistance?

1. Power of Satyagraha: Active, not Passive

   - Satyagraha as a tool for the strong

   - Intense activity, not passive resistance

   - The movement in South Africa as an active example

2. Non-Physical Force: Satyagraha as Soul-Force

   - Satyagrahi's approach to adversaries

   - Absence of ill-will in Satyagraha

   - The essence of Satyagraha as pure soul-force

3. Truth and Non-Violence: The Core Principles

   - Truth as the essence of the soul

   - Satyagraha's connection to Truth

   - Non-violence as the supreme dharma

4. India's Choice: Non-Violence over Arms

   - India's inability to rival Britain or Europe in force of arms

   - British war-god worship vs. Indian religion of non-violence

   - Embracing non-violence as India's own path

MG early experiments of Satyagraha in India:

Analyzing Situation:

After arriving in India, Mahatma Gandhi successfully organised

satyagraha movements in various places. 

Champaran Satyagraha 1917 (10 April 1917):

In 1917 he travelled to Champaran in Bihar

• Cause: To inspire the peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system. 

Kheda Satyagraha 1917: 

He organised a satyagraha on March 11, 1918 to support the peasants of the Kheda district of Gujarat. 

• Affected by crop failure and a plague epidemic, 
• the peasants of Kheda could not pay the revenue, and 
• were demanding that revenue collection be relaxed. 

Ahmedabad Mill Strike 1918 (March 15, 1918)

Mahatma Gandhi went to Ahmedabad to organise a satyagraha movement amongst cotton mill workers.

1.2 The Rowlatt Act

Nationwide satyagraha

After early success, Gandhiji in 1919 decided to launch: 

• A nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act (1919). 

Passed by Imperial Legislative Council

This Act had been hurriedly passed through the Imperial Legislative Council despite the united opposition of the Indian members. 

Problems under this act:

It gave the government enormous powers to: 

• Repress political activities,
• Allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years. 

MG call for Civil Disobedience and Hartal:

MG wanted non-violent civil disobedience against

such unjust laws, 

• Start with a hartal (Nation wide) on 6 April.

Course of Actions:

• Rallies were organised in various cities, 
• workers went on strike in railway workshops, and 
• shops closed down. 
• Lines of communication such as the railways and telegraph disrupted, 

Government Response:

The British administration decided to clamp down on nationalists. 

• Local leaders were picked up from Amritsar, and 
• Mahatma Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi.

Firing on Peaceful Procession:

On 10 April, the police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession,

Provoking: 

widespread attacks on: 

• Banks, 
• Post offices and 
• Railway stations. 

Note: But historians say though Col Dyer was the man on the spot, it was Sir Michael Francis O'Dwyer, the lieutenant governor of Punjab, who ordered the Jallianwala massacre. According to Indu Banga, a specialist in history of Punjab: “Dwyer was an arch imperialist who was responsible for this massacre.

Jallianwalla Bagh Massaare:

Martial Law:

• Martial law was imposed and 
• General Dyer took command On 13 April the infamous Jallianwalla Bagh incident took place. 

Large crowd gathered

• On that day a large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwalla Bagh. 

To Protest against repressive measures

Some came to protest against the government’s new repressive measures. 

To Celebrate Annual Baisakhi Fair:

Others had come to attend the annual Baisakhi fair. 

Outsiders (Villagers)

Being from outside the city, 

• Many villagers were unaware of the martial law that had been imposed. 

Dyer Entry:

Dyer entered the area, 

• Blocked the exit points, and 
• Opened fire on the crowd, 
• Killing hundreds. 

Dyer’s Objective:

Declared later, was to ‘produce a moral effect’, 

• To create in the minds of satyagrahis a feeling of terror and awe.

Reaction against Jallianwalla Bagh Incident:

As news spread crowds took to the streets in many north Indian towns. 

• There were strikes, 
• clashes with the police and 
• attacks on government buildings. 

Government Response: 

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. 

Mahatma Gandhi called off the movement.

Seeing violence spread

Limitations Of Rowlatt satyagraha

Although a widespread movement, 

• Still limited mostly to cities and towns. 

Khilafat Movement: 

MG- Broad Based Movement:

MGnow felt the need to launch a more broad-based movement in India. 

Required Hindu-Muslim Unity:

• MG - no such movement could be organised without bringing the Hindus and Muslims closer together. 

• How - to take up the Khilafat issue. 

Background:

Defeat of Ottoman Turkey: The First World War had ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey. 

Harsh Peace Treaty: Rumours that a harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on the Ottoman emperor – 

• the spiritual head of the Islamic world (the Khalifa). 

Khilafat Committee: To defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers, 

• A Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March 1919. 

Ali Brothers: A young generation of Muslim leaders like the brothers Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, 

• Began discussing with Mahatma Gandhi about the possibility of a united mass action on the issue. 

MG -opportunity- Unified National Movement:

• Gandhiji saw this as an opportunity to bring Muslims under the umbrella of a unified national movement. 

Calcutta Session of congress 1920: 

• MG convinced other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat as well as for swaraj.

1.3 Why Non-cooperation?

Hind Swaraj (1909): 

Mahatma Gandhi declared that British rule was established in India with: 

• The cooperation of Indians, and 
• Had survived only because of this cooperation. 

Non-Corporation: 

If Indians refused to cooperate, 

• British rule in India would collapse within a year
• swaraj would come.

How could non-cooperation become a movement? 

Unfold in stages: MG proposed that the movement should unfold in stages. 

Initial Sage (Non Cooperation): 

• Begin with the surrendered government awarded titles
• Boycott of: civil services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools, and foreign goods. 

Next Stage (full civil disobedience campaign):

In case the government used repression, 

• a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched.

Mobilising Support in Summer of 1920:

MG and Shaukat Ali toured extensively, 

• Mobilising popular support for the movement.

Congress session at Nagpur (December 1920)

Concerns about the proposals: Many within the Congress 

Council elections of 1920:  They were reluctant to boycott the council elections scheduled for November 1920, and 

Popular Violence: They feared that the movement might lead to popular violence. 

Intense tussle within the Congress: 

• In the months between September and December 
• There seemed no meeting point between the supporters and the opponents of the movement. 

Compromise b/t supporters and the opponents: 

Finally, at the Congress session at Nagpur in December 1920, 

• a compromise was worked out and 
• The Non-Cooperation programme was adopted.

How did the movement unfold? Who participated in it? 

How did different social groups conceive of the idea of Non-Cooperation?

Differing Strands within the Movement

Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement:

Origin: January 1921.

Various social groups participated 

• Each with its own specific aspiration. 

All responded to the call of Swaraj,

• But the term meant different things to different people.

2.1 The Movement in the Towns

Movement in cities:

• Started with middle-class participation in the cities.

Course of Action: 

• Thousands of students left government-controlled schools and colleges, 
• Headmasters and teachers resigned, and 
• Lawyers gave up their legal practices. 

Council elections were boycotted 

In most provinces except Madras, where 

• The Justice Party, 
• The party of the non-Brahmans, 

felt that entering the council was one way of gaining

some power.

• Something that usually only Brahmans had access to.

Effects of non-cooperation (economic front)

• dramatic effect
• Foreign goods were boycotted, 
• liquor shops picketed,
• and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires. 

Result:

Import of foreign cloth halved: 

Between 1921 and 1922, 

• Its value dropped from Rs 102 crore to Rs 57 crore. 

Merchants and traders

• Refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade. 

People discarding 

• Imported clothes and 
• Wearing only Indian ones, 
• Production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up.

Movement slowed down in the cities: 

Reasons For Cloth boycott:

Khadi cloth was often more expensive 

• Than mass produced mill cloth and 
• Poor people could not afford to buy it.

Reasons for boycott of British institutions:

• Due to Lack of alternative Indian institutions 
• These were slow to come up. 

Result:

• So students and teachers began back to government schools and 
• lawyers joined back work in government courts.

2.2 Rebellion in the Countryside

From cities NCM spread to the countryside. 

Struggles of peasants 

In Awadh, 

Peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra – 

• A sanyasi 
• Earlier in Fiji as an indentured labourer. 

Against:

• Talukdars and 
• Landlords 

Reason:

• Demanded high rents and 
• A variety of other cesses

Other Challenges for Peasants:

1. Begar (Forced Labor):

Peasants do begar and 

• Work at landlords’ farms without any payment.

Begar – Labour that villagers were forced to contribute without any payment

2. No security of tenure and regularly evicted:

As tenants - Regularly evicted 

• So that they could acquire no right over the leased land. 

Peasants Demands:

• Reduction of revenue, 
• Abolition of begar, and
• Social boycott of oppressive landlords. 

Example: Nai-dhobi bandhs

• Organized by panchayats 
• To deprive landlords of the services of even barbers and washermen. 

JLN efforts to help Peasants cause:

In June 1920, Jawaharlal Nehru: 

• Visit villages in Awadh and 
• understand their grievances. 

Oudh Kisan Sabha (Oct 1920):

• Set up by JLN + Baba Ramchandra and a few others
• Within a month, 

• Over 300 branches are set up in the villages around the region. 

Under Non-Cooperation Movement 

• Earlier Congress effort to integrate the Awadh peasant struggle into the wider struggle. 

But Later in 1921:

the houses of talukdars and  merchants were:  

• Attacked, 
• Bazaars were looted, and 
• Grain hoards were taken over. 

In many places local leaders use MG name: 

Why: 

• To sanction all action and 
• Aspirations

Told peasants that Gandhiji had declared that:

• No taxes were to be paid and 
• Land was to be redistributed among the poor. 

Bardoli Satyagraha 1928:

• Peasant movement: In Bardoli (a taluka in Gujarat)
• Led by: Vallabhbhai Patel 
• Cause: Against enhancement of land revenue. 
• Status: Successful movement
• Significance: 
• The struggle was widely publicised and 
• Generated immense sympathy in many parts of India.

Tribal peasants and the idea of swaraj  

In Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh (1920s)

• A militant guerrilla movement spread 
• (Form Not approve by Congress)

Reason: 

In Forest regions:

The colonial government: 

• closed large forest areas, 
• preventing people from entering the forests: 

• to graze their cattle, or 
• to collect fuelwood and fruits. 

Other Reason:

Government forcing them to contribute begar 

• For road building, 

Impact: 

Enraged the hill people. 

• Their livelihoods affected 
• Their traditional rights were being denied. 

Hill people Revolts:

Alluri Sitaram Raju (Leader of Gudem rebels)

• Claimed a variety of special powers: 
• Make correct astrological predictions and 
• Heal people, and 
• He could survive even bullet shots. 

Captivated by Raju, 

• The rebels proclaimed that he was an incarnation of God. 

Ideology of Raju:

• Believed in greatness of Mahatma Gandhi, 
• Inspired by the Non-Cooperation Movement, and 
• persuaded people to wear khadi and 
• give up drinking. 

Believe in :

That India could be liberated only by: 

• the use of force, 
• not non-violence. 

Gudem rebels attacked: 

• Police stations, 
• Attempted to kill British officials and 
• carried on guerrilla warfare for achieving swaraj. 

End of rebellion:

• Raju was captured and executed in 1924, and 
• over time became a folk hero.

2.3 Swaraj in the Plantations

Workers (notion of swaraj)

Plantation Workers in Assam:

Freedom meant :

• The right to move freely, In and out of the confined space  ,In which they were enclosed, and 

• It meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come. 

Under Inland Emigration Act of 1859

Plantation workers were not permitted: 

• To leave the tea gardens without permission, and 
• Such permissions rarely given

Workers and Non-Cooperation Movement 

• Thousands of workers defied the authorities, 
• Left the plantations and headed home. 

• Believed in Gandhi Raj: was coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages. 

Government Repression:

They never reached their destination. 

Stranded on the way by: 

• A railway and 
• Steamer strike, 

They were caught by the police and brutally beaten up.

Connections with the congress or all-India agitation:

• Visions and actions not defined by the Congress programme. 

Yet, when the tribals chanted: 

• Gandhiji’s name and 
• Raised slogans demanding ‘Swatantra Bharat’, 

• They were also emotionally relating to an all-India agitation. 
• Beyond the limits of their immediate locality.

End of Non-Cooperation Movement

Chauri chaura (Gorakhpur UP) (February 1922)

A peaceful demonstration in a bazaar turned into a violent clash with the police. 

Hearing of the incident, Mahatma Gandhi called a halt to the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Note: On 4th February, 

volunteers gathered in the town, and after the meeting, proceeded in a procession to the local police station, and to picket the nearby Mundera bazaar.

The police fired into the crowd killing some people and injuring many volunteers.

In retaliation, the crowd proceeded to set the police station on fire.

22 or 23 of the policemen who tried to escape were caught and battered to death. 

A lot of police property, including weapons, was destroyed.

Reaction of the British:

The British Raj prosecuted the accused aggressively.

A sessions court quickly sentenced 172 of the 225 accused to death. 

However, ultimately, only 19 of those convicted were hanged.

Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the NCM 12th Feb 1922.

Reason:

• Movement was turning violent in many places 
• satyagrahis needed to be properly trained 
• before the next mass struggles.

Towards Civil Disobedience

Tired of mass struggles:

Within Congress: 

• Some leaders tired 

Provincial councils election: 

wanted to participate in elections 

• Set up under the Government of India Act of 1919. 

Logic:

They felt that it was: 

1. Important to oppose British policies within the councils, 
2. Argue for reform and 
3. Also demonstrate that these councils were not truly democratic. 

Swaraj Party within the Congress by:

• C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru 
• To argue for a return to council politics. 

Younger leaders (radical mass agitation):

• like Jawaharlal Nehru and 
• Subhas Chandra Bose 
• For full independence.

Factors that shaped Indian politics towards the late 1920s. 

Above points:

• Internal debate and 
• Dissension (disagreement)

+ Two Other Factors:

Effect of Worldwide economic depression: 1929

Agricultural prices began to fall: 

• From 1926 and 
• Collapsed after 1930. 

Consequences:

• Demand for agricultural goods fell and 
• Exports declined, 
• Peasants found it difficult to sell their harvests and 
• Pay their revenue. 

By 1930, 

• The countryside was in turmoil.

Statutory Commission under Sir John Simon

Crisis: Against above background 

Simon Commission: 

• The new Tory government in Britain. 
• Constituted a Statutory Commission under Sir John Simon. 

Why this Commission appointed:

• In response to the nationalist movement, 
• To look into the functioning of: 
• The constitutional system in India and 
• Suggest changes.

Problem:

• Whole commission did not have a single Indian member. 
• They were all British (Seven)

Simon Commission arrival in India in 1928:

Simon Go Back: 

• It was greeted with the slogan ‘Go back Simon’. 

Parties Boycotted SC:

• All parties 
• Including the Congress and the Muslim League 
• Participated in the demonstrations. 

Vague offer of ‘dominion status’ and Round Table Conference:

• The viceroy, Lord Irwin, announced it in October 1929.

Why:

To appease Indians

Problem:

A vague offer of ‘dominion status’ for India in an unspecified future, and 

A Round Table Conference to discuss a future constitution. 

India’s Response:

• This did not satisfy the Congress leaders. 

The radicals within the Congress, led by

• Jawaharlal Nehru and 
• Subhas Chandra Bose, 
• Became more assertive. 

The liberals and moderates

Proposing a constitutional system within the framework of British dominion, 

• Gradually they lost their influence. 

Lahore Congress Session: December 1929

• Under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, 
• Session formalised the demand of ‘Purna Swaraj’ or full independence for India. 
• It was declared that 26 January 1930, 
• Would be celebrated as the Independence Day 
• When people were to take a pledge to struggle for complete independence. 

But the celebrations attracted very little attention. 

Reasons for salt Satyagraha:

So Mahatma Gandhi had to find a way: 

• To relate this abstract idea of freedom 
• To more concrete issues of everyday life.

3.1 The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement

Salt a powerful symbol:

• Used by Mahatma Gandhi 
• That could unite the nation. 

Letter to Viceroy Irwin

On 31 January 1930, 

MG sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands. 

Eleven Demands:

Some of these were of general interest; 

others were specific demands of different classes, 

• From industrialists to peasants. 

Why these Eleven demands:

• So that all classes within Indian society could identify with them.
• Everyone could be brought together in a united campaign. 

Key demand: 

• To abolish the salt tax. 

Why salt was chosen:

Salt was something consumed by: 

• The rich and 
• The poor alike, 

One of the most essential items of food. 

Mg to reveal the most oppressive face of British rule.

• The tax on salt and 
• the government monopoly over its production, 

Civil disobedience campaign

MG’s letter was, in a way, 

• an ultimatum. 

If the demands were not fulfilled by 11 March, the letter stated:

• The Congress would launch a civil disobedience campaign. 

• Irwin was unwilling to negotiate. 

Famous Salt march:

• So MG started 
• Accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers. 

Area covered:

• The march was over 240 miles (1 miles = 1.6 km)
• From Gandhiji’s ashram in Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi. 

• The volunteers walked for 24 days, 
• about 10 miles a day. 

Supporters:

Thousands came to hear Mahatma Gandhi wherever he stopped, and 

• He told them what he meant by swaraj and 
• Urged them to peacefully defy the British. 

Reached Dandi - On 6th April

• Ceremonially violated the law, 
• manufacturing salt by boiling sea water.

Beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

This movement different from the Non-Cooperation Movement? 

• Refuse cooperation with the British, 
• To break colonial laws. 

Breaking Colonial laws:

Thousands in different parts of the country broke: 

• The salt law 
• Manufactured salt and 
• Demonstrated in front of government salt factories. 

Course of Action:

As the movement spread, 

• Foreign cloth was boycotted, and 
• liquor shops were picketed. 
• Peasants refused to pay revenue and 
• Chaukidari taxes, 
• village officials resigned, and 
• Forest people violated forest laws – 
• Going into Reserved Forests to collect wood and graze cattle.

Colonial Government Actions:

Began arresting the Congress leaders one by one. 

• This led to violent clashes in many palaces. 

Example:

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. 

Mahatma Gandhi

A month later, MG, himself was arrested, 

Industrial workers in Sholapur (Maharashtra) attacked: 

• police posts, 
• municipal buildings, 
• law courts and 
• railway stations 

All structures that symbolised British rule. 

Frightened government response

Follow the policy of brutal repression. 

• Peaceful satyagrahis were attacked, 
• women and children were beaten, and 
• about 100,000 people were arrested.

Again Violence:

Mahatma Gandhi called off the movement and 

Gandhi Irwin Pact:

On 5 March 1931. 

Terms:

Gandhiji agreed: 

• To participate in a Round Table Conference 
• Temporary suspension of CDM
• (the Congress had boycotted the first and third Round Table Conference) in London and 

Government agreed 

• To release the political prisoners. 

Second Round Table Conference, Dec 1931:

• Gandhiji went to London for the conference, 
• But the negotiations broke down and 
• He returned disappointed. 

Back in India: 

MG witnessed a new cycle of repression. 

• Ghaffar Khan and Jawaharlal Nehru - 
• Both were in jail, 
• The Congress declared illegal
• A series of measures had been imposed: 
• To prevent meetings, 
• Demonstrations and 
• Boycotts. 

Relaunched the Civil Disobedience Movement: 

• By MG 
• The movement continued for one year, 
• But by 1934 it lost its momentum.

3.2 How Participants saw the Movement

In the countryside (rich peasant communities -active in the movement) 

• The Patidars of Gujarat and 
• The Jats of Uttar Pradesh. 

Dual Challenge: Being producers of commercial crops very hard hit by: 

• Trade depression and 
• Falling prices. 

Struggling to pay the government's revenue demand: 

• As their cash income disappeared.

Government refusal to reduce the revenue demand 

• Led to widespread resentment. 

Reasons for their Support (Above points)

• Enthusiastic supporters (CDM), 
• Organising their communities, and 
• Persuade reluctant members, 
• To participate in the boycott programmes. 

Their Understanding of Swaraj:

• Struggle against high revenues. 

Deeply disappointed 

• when CDM was called off in 1931 
• without the revenue rates being revised. 
• Refused to participate in the 2nd Phase of CDM in 1932.

Poorer peasantry and Congress:

Objective:

• Lowering revenue demand. 

They were small tenants cultivating land 

• From landlords on Rent 

Difficult to pay rent:

• Economic Depression continued and 
• Cash incomes decreases

Demands:

Wanted the unpaid rent to the landlord to be remitted. 

To fulfill their demands:

They joined radical movements, often led by

• Socialists and 
• Communists. 

Congress was unwilling to support ‘no rent’ campaigns!

It might upset: 

• The rich peasants and 
• Landlords, 

So the relationship between the poor peasants and the Congress remained uncertain.

Box 1

‘To the altar of this revolution we have brought our youth as incense’

Nationalists' Belief in Armed Struggle:

- Many nationalists believed non-violence alone couldn't overthrow British rule.

Formation of Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA):

- Founded in 1928 at Ferozeshah Kotla ground, Delhi.

- Leaders included Bhagat Singh, Jatin Das, and Ajoy Ghosh.

HSRA's Actions Against British Symbols:

- Conducted dramatic actions across India.

- Targeted symbols of British power.

Bombing of Legislative Assembly and Train:

- April 1929: Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Dutta bombed the Legislative Assembly.

- Attempt to blow up Lord Irwin's train in the same year.

Bhagat Singh's Trial and Execution:

- Bhagat Singh was 23 when tried and executed.

- Stated revolution wasn't about violence but a societal change.

- Expressed readiness to sacrifice for revolution.

- Popularized slogan "Inquilab Zindabad!" (Long Live the Revolution!).

What about the business classes? 

During the First World War, 

Indian merchants and industrialists had made: 

• huge profits and 
• become powerful

Keen on expanding their business, 

• Reacted against colonial policies that restricted business activities. 

Demands:

• Protection against imports of foreign goods, and 
• A rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports. 

To organise business interests, they formed:

1. The Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920 and 

2. The Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927. 

• Led by prominent industrialists like 
• Purshottamdas Thakurdas 
• G. D. Birla, 

The industrialists attacked (Contribution): 

• Colonial control over the Indian economy,  
• Supported the CDM (First Phase) 
• Financial assistance and 
• Refused to buy or sell imported goods. 

Meaning of Swaraj;

• End of colonial restrictions on business 
• Free trade and industry (No limitations).

Failure of RTC

Business groups were no longer uniformly supported.

Why?

• Apprehension of the spread of militant activities
• Worried about prolonged disruption of business
• Growing influence of socialism 
• amongst the younger members of the Congress.

Industrial working classes 

Not participate in CDM

• Except in the Nagpur region. 

Why not participate?

Because congress supports industrialists 

Exception:

• Some workers did participate 
• Adopting ideas of the Gandhian programme
• Boycott of foreign goods, 
• As part of their own movements against low wages and 
• Poor working conditions

Strikes by: 

• Railway workers in 1930 and 
• Dockworkers in 1932. 

Chotanagpur tin mines workers in 1930:

Thousands of workers: 

• Wore Gandhi caps and
• participated in protest rallies and 
• boycott campaigns. 

Congress and workers demands:

Not included in its programme.

Why?

• Not to alienate industrialists and 
• Divide the anti-imperial forces.

Women’s Participation in CDM:

Important feature of CDM 

large-scale participation of women. 

Example:

During Gandhiji’s salt march: 

Thousands of women participated in: 

• protest marches, 
• manufactured salt, and 
• picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. 
• Many went to jail. 

Womens from Urban Areas:

• Came from high-caste families 

Womens in rural areas: 

• Came from rich peasant households. 

Conclusion:

Moved by Gandhiji's call: 

• Women began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty of women.

Societal attitudes towards Women:

Despite a more prominent public role, 

• women's position didn't change much.

Gandhi convinced: women that their duty was: 

• look after home and hearth
• being good mothers and wives.

Congress attitude towards women: 

Initially resisted granting: 

• women authority, 
• valuing only their symbolic presence.

3.3 The Limits of Civil Disobedience

Harigans and the CDM

Some social groups: 

• didn't relate with the abstract idea of swaraj (self-rule).

Example:

The 'untouchables' (dalits) from the 1930s.

Congress attitudes towards Dalits or oppressed:

Ignored the dalits: 

• for fear of offending the sanatanis, 
• the conservative high-caste Hindus.

Mahatma Gandhi and Harijans:

Gandhi said swaraj would take a hundred years 

• If untouchability was not eliminated.

He named 'untouchables' as:

• harijan (the children of God)

Efforts by MG to end Untouchability:

1. Organised satyagraha for their: 

• Temple entry
• Access to public wells, tanks, roads and schools. 

2. Individual Efforts:

• Cleaned toilets to dignify the work of: 
• the bhangi (the sweepers), and 

3. Persuaded upper castes: 

• To change their heart and 
• Give up ‘the sin of untouchability’. 

Dalit Movement:

• Required political solution for problems of their social disabilities. 

Efforts:

Began organising themselves, 

Demanding: 

• Reserved seats in educational institutions, 
• Separate electorate (for choosing dalit members for legislative councils).
• Political empowerment,

Dalit participation in the CDM:

• Limited (due to above demands)

Exception:

In Maharashtra and Nagpur region where: 

• Their organisation was quite strong.

Dr B.R. Ambedkar efforts to uplift Dalits:

1. Depressed Classes Association in 1930:

• Organised the dalits 

2. Clashed with Mahatma Gandhi 

• When: During second RTC 

• Reason: Demanding separate electorates for dalits. 

Gandhiji fast unto death: 

• When the British government accepted Ambedkar’s demand (Policy of Divide and Rule).

• Why Gandhi ji Opposed Separate Electorate for dalits?
• It hinders their societal integration.

Poona Pact of September 1932

• Ambedkar ultimately accepted Gandhiji’s position 

Agreement:

• It gave the Depressed Classes (later Schedule Castes)
• Reserved seats in: 
• Provincial and 
• Central legislative councils

Note: voted by the general electorate. 

Conclusion:

• However Dalit movement doubted the Congress-led national movement.

Muslim political organisations and CDM:

Little enthusiasm: Towards the CDM.

Why?:

1. After the decline of the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat movement: 

• Many Muslims felt alienated from the Congress. 

2. Hindu religious nationalist groups (Hindu Mahasabha):

• From the mid-1920s 
• Congress openly associated with the same. 

3. Hindu-Muslim communal clashes and riots in various cities

• Hindu-Muslim tensions rise.
• Religious processions (with militant fervour)
• Provoking communal clashes and Riots erupt in multiple cities.
• Divide between communities widens (every riots)

4. Effort to Unite H and M by C and ML:

Congress and Muslim League tried to ally again

1927: Hope for unity.

Issue: Future assembly representation.

Jinnah's compromise: give up separate electorates, 

• But reserved seats in Central Assembly
• Proportional representation for Muslims in and Muslim-majority provinces (Bengal, Punjab).

Continuing talks on Representation:

• All Parties Conference 1928 (for compromise)
• Failed due to Hindu Mahasabha's resistance (M.R. Jayakar)

Muslims particiaption in Civil Disobedience

• CDM began with suspicion and mistrust.
• Muslims not participated 

Why? Muslim Concerns

• Muslim leaders and intellectuals worried about minority status.
• Fears of cultural submersion under Hindu majority.

The Sense of Collective Belonging

Under Nationalism:

• Unity binds people together

This sense of collective belonging came: 

• Through experience of united struggles. 

Making of nationalism.

• Cultural processes 
• History and fiction, 
• Folklore and songs, 
• Popular prints and symbols

In the 20th century

• India's identity became linked to Bharat Mata's image.

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

First created Bharat Mata Image

In the 1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ 

• a hymn to the motherland. 
• Later added in his novel Anandamath 
• widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. 

Abanindranath Tagore

• During the Swadeshi movement, 
• Painted - image of Bharat Mata (see Fig. 12). 
• as an ascetic figure; 
• She is calm, composed, divine and spiritual. 

Later, acquired many different forms: 

• In popular prints, 
• Painted by different artists (see Fig. 14). 
• Devotion to this mother figure - nationalism.

Ideas of nationalism through Indian folklore:

In late-nineteenth-century India, 

Nationalists began recording: 

• folk tales sung by bards and 
• They toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. 

Why? 

To provide a true picture of traditional culture: 

• That was corrupted and damaged by outside forces. 

• To discover one’s national identity and 
• Restore a sense of pride in one’s past. 

Example:

In Bengal, 

Rabindranath Tagore collect: 

• ballads, 
• nursery rhymes and myths, and 
• led the movement for folk revival. 

In Madras, 

Natesa Sastri published: 

• four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, 
• The Folklore of Southern India. 

• He believed that folklore was national literature; 
• It was ‘the most trustworthy manifestation of people’s real thoughts and characteristics’.

Use of icons and symbols (Flag);

• In unifying people 
• Infuse nationalism

During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal (Flag)

• A tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) 
• It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and 
• A crescent moon, 
• representing Hindus and Muslims. 

Gandhiji Swaraj flag (1921) 

• A tricolour (red, green and white) and 
• A spinning wheel in the centre, 
• Representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. 
• Symbol of defiance:
• Carrying the flag, 
• holding it aloft, during marches

Reinterpretation of history and Nationalism:

• By the End of the nineteenth century: 

Why?

• To instill a sense of pride in the nation

Britisher’s View Point:

Indians are backward and primitive, 

incapable of governing themselves. 

Indian Response:

Exploring the past to discover India’s great achievements. 

Mention glorious developments in ancient times: 

• In art and architecture, 
• science and mathematics, 
• religion and culture, 
• law and philosophy, 
• crafts and trade had flourished. 

This glorious time was followed by: 

• A history of decline, when India was colonised. 

Contribution:

• To instill pride in India’s great achievements in the past and 
• Struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

Drawbacks:

• When the past being glorified was Hindu, 
• when the images celebrated were drawn from Hindu iconography, 
• Then people of other communities felt left out.

Quit India Movement

1. Background: Failure of the Cripps Mission and effects of World War II caused discontent in India.

2. Launch of Movement: Gandhiji initiated a movement for complete British withdrawal from India.

3. Quit India Resolution: 

- Congress Working Committee meeting in Wardha on 14 July 1942 passed the historic ‘Quit India’ resolution.

- Demanded immediate transfer of power to Indians and British to quit India.

4. Endorsement of Resolution:

- All India Congress Committee in Bombay on 8 August 1942 endorsed the resolution.

- Called for a non-violent mass struggle across the country.

5. 'Do or Die' Speech: 

- Gandhiji delivered the famous ‘Do or Die’ speech, emphasizing the urgency of the movement.

6. Impact and Spread:

- 'Quit India' call paralyzed state machinery in many regions.

- People joined through hartals, demonstrations, and processions, singing national songs and slogans.

7. Mass Participation (Thousands of ordinary people):

- Movement involved students, workers, and peasants.

- Leaders like Jayprakash Narayan, Aruna Asaf Ali, and Ram Manohar Lohia actively participated.

8. Women's Participation:  

- Women played a significant role, including Matangini Hazra in Bengal, Kanaklata Barua in Assam, and Rama Devi in Odisha.

9. British Response:

- British authorities used force to suppress the movement.

- Despite this, it took over a year to completely suppress the movement.