Nationalism in India
Q: What are the limits od CDM?
Limits of Civil Disobedience
● The Dalits or the Untouchables did not actively participate in the movement, they
demanded reservation of seats, separate electorates. Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the leader of the
Dalits, formed an association in 1930, called the Depressed Classes Association. He
clashed with Gandhiji.
● Gandhiji began a fast unto death against separate electorate. Finally Poona Pact
between the two leaders (1932) gave reserved seats in Provincial and Central
Councils but were voted by general electorate.
● Muslim political organisations also kept away from the Movement.
● Congress seemed more visibly associated with Hindu religious nationalist groups.
The leader of the Muslim League M.A. Jinnah wanted reserved seats for Muslims
in Central Assembly. Civil Disobedience Movement started in an atmosphere of
distrust and suspicion between the two communities.
Q: What are cultural contribution to unify the people for Nationalism in India?
● There were variety of cultural processes through which nationalism captured
people’s imagination.
● On the first place ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn was widely sung during the
Swadeshi movement in Bengal.
● The famous image of Bharat Mata came to be seen as evidence of one’s
nationalism.
● It was essential to preserve folk traditions, folk tales in order to discover one’s
national identity and restore a sense of pride in one’s part.
Q: How did the different social groups that participated in the Civil Disobedience
Movement look at it? What was their attitude towards its aim?
● All the groups that participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement did not have
the same ideals of “Swaraj”.
(i) In the countryside : The active members were the rich peasant communities, the
Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh.
Reason : They were producers of commercial crops which were hit by the trade
depression and falling prices. As cash income disappeared they were unable to pay the
government’s revenue demands. The government refused to reduce its demands. So
they joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, hoping to get the revenue demands
reduced. For them “Swaraj” meant fighting against high revenues.
(ii) The poor peasants joined the movement because they were unable to pay the rent for
the land they cultivated for the landlords. They did not own the land, they were small
tenants who cultivated lands taken on rent from the landlords. As the Depression
continued, the small tenants could not pay the rent, so they joined the movement hoping
that their unpaid rent would be remitted.
(iii) The rich merchants and industrialists joined the movement to protest against colonial
policies that restricted business activities. They wanted protection against import of
foreign goods and a rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio to discourage imports.
(iv) The industrial workers joined the Civil Disobedience Movement dropping to get their
demands passed — like laws against low wages and poor working conditions.
● All four classes were disappointed by the movement.
(a) The rich peasants lost interest because the movement was called off in 1931 without
the revenue rates being revised and reduced. Many of them did not join the movement
when it was resumed in 1932.
(b) The poor peasants were disappointed because the Congress was unwilling to support
their “no rent” campaign.
(c) The industrialists were unhappy with the spread of militant activities and increasing
influence of socialism in the Congress. They could not achieve their goal of colonial
restrictions on business taken away, so they lost interest.
(d) The industrial working class did not get full Congress support as the Congress did
not want to alienate the industrialists and divide the anti-colonial struggle. It could not
include the workers’ demand in its programme.
Q: . Describe briefly the ‘Salt March’ undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi.
● Mahatma Gandhi chose ‘Salt’ as powerful symbol that could unite the nation.
*After warning, the Viceroy in his letter of 31 January, 1930, that the tax on salt
was the most oppressive Act of British rule, he launched a Civil Disobedience
campaign in March 1930.
● He started his famous ‘Salt March’ accompanied by 78 trusted volunteers. The
distance to be covered was 240 miles from Gandhiji’s Ashram in Sabarmati to the
Gujarat’s coastal town of Dandi.
● The volunteers walked about 10 miles a day for 24 days. On 6 April, he reached
Dandi and ceremoniously violated the law and manufactured salt by boiling sea
water.
● Thousands came to hear Mahatma Gandhi, wherever he stopped on his way, he
urged them to defy the British peacefully for Swaraj. His Civil Disobedience
Movement, unlike the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-22, asked people not
only to refuse cooperation with the British, but also to break colonial laws.
Q: Why the non cooperation movement was slowed down?
● Khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass produced mill cloth and poor
people could not afford to buy it.
● The boycott of British institutions posed a problem.
● For the movement to be successful, alternative Indian institutions had to be set
up so that they could be used in place of the British ones.
● These institutions were slow to come up. So students and teachers began
trickling back to government schools and lawyers joined back work in government
courts.
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