edom

Chapter gle for Fre

Theme: India's StrUS 3’1 93 9

araj Party
e Formati on of thedsi:rl'lce Movement
4, . « The Civil Disobe ferences
Ocys" « The Round Table Cc)rl[Jf the British
es
¢ Repressive measur

—Hipelne - 2nd Round table

Government Formation of
i ivil ia Act
Formation Simon Lahore Dandi ’:a(;i?r;ccelw conference, of Indi
Ministries
issi ion of Disobe: i_Irwin Pact
the pmvie:;;
Swaofa?:
T ’earty cog::sestlion STES:I’NC Movement Gandhi-Irw

1935 1937
w1 1927 1929 1930 =
1

~ [V ove Read the article from The New Y

orward. Times, dated 7th April,
the question.
1930, and answer

» Why do you think there was a clash

| Police and Gandhi Followers Clash Over over salt making?
d Salt Making
i DANDI, Punjab, India, April 7-Police and a party of followers
of
Mahatma Gandhi engaged in a scuffle on the beach this morning
,
I while volunteers engaged in the civil disobedience campai
gn were
collecting salt in defiance of the government monopoly,
While so engaged, the police arrived and demand
ed the salt, which
the volunteers refused to hand over.
While the altercation was in
progress, a number of villagers arrived
at the beach and also began
to collect salt.
Police then arrested the cap! tain of the
volunteers and others who
had told the volunteers not to give up
their salt., In the scuffle
followed, two Nationalists were report which
ed slightly injured,

ovement for some time. There

» there was no nationwide mas
that the struggle for freedom had
suffe red a setback, Hindy ong the people and it seemed
during the Non-Cooperation struggle,
al
in 1923. The Congress devoted itsclgle,f ¢ also s Unit'ty,
y, which
1 had be n achieve
jeved
(o] com ed
constrycej to be Weakeni g The Swaraj Part
freedom struggle. atry y 18was formed
Which kepr alive the pace
of ¢
 PA RT Y AN D TH E CO NS TR UC TI VE PR OG RA MME
[ £ WARAJ divided into €O
groups'
ss was
e wit hdr awa l of the No n- Co op eration Movement, the Congre
4
P The group led by CR Das, Motilal
D Nehru and Vithalbhai Patel
decided that the Congress should
contest the clections and wreck
the working of the legislatures
from within.
D They fought the elections in
1923, which they won with a large
aumber of seats in the Central and
Provincial legislatures.
0 They raised the demand for
provincial autonomy in the
provinces and dominion status hbhai Patel
orllal ‘Nehru and Vallab
in India.
ibl e for the gov ern men t to get the approval of the legislature for its
{J They often made it imposs
policies and proposals
f] The other group led by Vallabhbhai Patel, C
Rajagopalachari and Rajendra
for the constructive programme and oppose
d the El#EE
Prasad, was with Gandhiji
policies of the other group.

SPREAD OF SOCIALIST IDEAS

In the 19th century, the spread
of socialist ideas and movements
in Europe was aimed at putting |
an end to the capitalist system.
The movement was aimed at
abolishing class inequality and
oppression. The success of the
Russian Revolution of 1917 led
to further growth of socialist ideas
:and parties in many countries,
ll?clud'u;% Idndia. The Communist
artyof India ‘11;;8
Sé’ ;:;e:i was;Z::\:}is
formed in 1925. e
lwlichin e Subhash Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru

Sieré of e Bt :;a ll:Iehru and Subhash Chandra Bose, began to preach socialist ;
SEihe Lbeaa e at the Congress programme should link the free . ideas. They
socialist
L > P
dom strugg le with the struggl,
A king in the factories in India. ggle
provincial autonomy:
Provinc
Marx giving politica it es ordiffe
g regions atat the the timetime havinghavi ind,
rent gions
2 economic power to poorer sections of sacleé ependent government | socialist ideas: : id, ldeas oof
 io n M".Vemem‘
the Non—Cooperat
icipated in ugh the Ylllages of
s on a tour thro
uenc ed by Gand hiji. and part g,
became & champion of
ru was infl
Jawarhar lal Neh
Late r, afte r his rele ase, . en he w2
d wh He
He was arrested and impris one d. peasantf}"
and mise ry of th.e IE liack He wa s selected for the Indjy,
UP, he was moved by the pove
rty in 1897. n vement, H
common people. Subhash Chandra
Bose was born in lllf[ o the No n- Coop eratio Mo
resi gned in 1921 and plu nge d him se 1dm
me th e new ideal of socialig;
Civil Service but Bose be ca
n
was influenced by CR Das. A great orator, Subhash Cha
onalist movement. cialig
and involved the youth in the nati Br it is h. The Congress So
rmth e
lfilling the social and
lc agamzt
ted to intensify the strugg in fu
Nehru and Bose both wan yed an 1mgm By
nt ro le
hatm,
Party, formed in 1934 under
their guidelines, pla s the : first to . hail Ma o
struggle. Subhash Chan son and a 'prince
economic objectives of the freedom d| hi as his 'rebe lliou s
regarde d by Gan
Gandhi as 'Father of the Nation'. He was
among patriots'.

RE-EMERGENCE OF REVOLUTIONARIES
In 1920, frustration and
disillusionment with the Non-
Cooperation Movement, prompted
a revival of revolutionary activities
in Bengal. Under the leadership of
Surya Sen, (known as Masterda)
the new revolutionary organisations
adopted radical protest methods like
murder of officials and establishment
of factories to produce bombs
on a large scale. The government
ruthlessly suppressed these
activities. Gradually, with the death
of prominent leaders like Surya - i
Sen, Bhagat Singh and Chandra Surya Sen and Bhagat Singh
Shekhar Azad, the revolutionary
movement lost its force. The slogan
raised by Bhagat Singh and other
revolutionaries, 'Inquilab Zindabad
'means ‘Jong live the revolution’.

Many leaders were drawn to the

ideas of Socialism. Several were
imprisoned in the Cellular Jail in the
Andamans. On their release, they
devoted themselves to peasants’ and
workers' movements. Some joined
the Congress and the Communist
Party, and played an important role
in the freedom struggle.
 Bhahga‘c Singh was only 12 years old, when the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place. It is said that
:) ’C{?lf:e;;t:ur:"fi::?@a?c b;{”lfcld Sc\lpol and went to the fragic venue, from where he collected
2 bo wet with Indian blood. It is said that he looked at the bottle every day
| nd tookan . oath to take revenge. 29 Singh oft 5 ke ab t
One thing which Bhagat hild,
i was
] 4
about wanting to grow guns in the fields which could bg used ?c: Eghc&;wpcofircit?sh?u e

. Y0 S e s.
4 "Kala Pani’, was a British prison complex in the Andaman Island
3
and 693 cells, cach of which ensured
Maulana Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, ¢
o Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, :
e during Second World
Independence on 30th

Tre StMON COMMISSION OF 1927

People did not accept the Government
of India Act, 1919, as it did not meet
their expectations. A commission was set
up in 1927 to look into the working of |
the Government of India Act 1919, and §
give its report. The commission came
0 be known as the Simon Commission
Simon).
(named after its chairman, John
and
But the people in India were outraged
which
insulted as the Simon Commission,
India, did
was to determine the furure of
not include a single Indian member.
commission
The appointment of the Lala Lajpat Rai protesting against the Simos n commission
off a wav e of pro tes ts all over the
sparke d
: sess ion held in Madras in 1927, decided to boycott the Simon
country. The Congress, at its annual
arrived in India on
Commission. The Muslim League also took the same decision. The commission
s were held, condemning g
3rd February, 1928. There were partals throughout the country and meeting
the appointment ?f the commission, The demonstrators were lathi charged and fired at in man
i
places. Slogans of ‘Simon Go Bacl¢ were raised.
In Punjab, a procession led by Lala Lajpat Rai was lathi charged and he received a fatal
blow. The blows also crippled Govind Ballabh
alls P ant for life.
i Others wer
harshly for demonstrating against the commission. e Orers were ako treaed
DEMAND FoR COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE
The Congress session at Madras, presided over by Dr MA Ansari, had passed 2 resolution, which
had b ]awaharlal Nehru apg
declared the attainment of complete independence as the goal of the Congress-
SS Satyamurti also supported the resolution.

Lahore session 1929 and Gandhiji launching the Non-Cooperation Movement

An Indian Independence League was formed by a number of important Indian leaders. In December
1928, the Congress under the presidentship of Motilal Nehru, passed a resolution demanding dominion
status. Pressed by young leaders like Subhash Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru, it declared thatif
dominion status was not granted within one year, the Congress would demand complete independence
and would launch a mass movement to achieve it.
At the historic Lahore session of 1929, under the presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress
declared the attainment of purna swaraj or Complete Independence as its aim. January 26, 1930, wasa
red-letter day in the history of the Indian nationalist movement, as the Civil Disobedience Movement
was launched on that day. People took a pledge to attain purna swaraj or complete independence.
Earlier, Gandhiji had asked all congressmen and nationalists to boycott elections to the legislatures,
and to resign from the legislatures.
One of the important components of the constructive programme, was the spread of kbadj. It became
compulsory for all members of the Congress Committee to wear hand spun
and hand-woven khaddar,
while engaged in any political activity. Members were also required to spin 2000 yards of yarn every
month. Many kbaddar bhandars were opened in various parts of
the country.
It would provide means of livelihood to millions of people and spread the message of the freedom
movement throughout the country, particularly in the rural areas. The charkha became the symbol
of freedom. When the Non-Cooperation Movement was called off, Hindu-Muslim unity suffered
2 setback. Communal riots broke out in some parts of the country as the two communities drifted
apart. Gandhiji realised the importance of putting an end to communalism before it could cause more
harm to the nation. Hence, he worked hard to promote Hindu-Muslim, unity.

communalism: allegiance to one's own ethnic group or religion rather than to the widey society
 D! MARCH
b Iaufl‘:hed t
he Ciyj) Di
sbarmati As
hra so
m a¢ Ahmed
is 5 y

d sale making Was ban( aw. It was an illegal act because salt-making was
ned by [ay,

Gandhiji during the Dandi Mar

ch and seen with Sarojini Naidu

Connec Eing Briages‘ -

Around the same time, the Great Depression hit the world econ
omy. It
and longest economic downturn in the history of the western industrial was the deepest
ised world. n the
United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash
of October
1929, which sent the Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors.
There was boycotr of foreign goods,
followed by refusal to pay taxes. Lakhs
of people participated in the movement,
induding a large number of women.
Sarojin Naidu, the famous poetess, led
the non-violent satyagrahis in a march to |
the sale depots owned by the governfnem.
were critically in, jured.
Ver 300 satyagrabis
¢ movement reached the extreme north-
"estem part of India. There, under the
lcadmhip of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, “
LA ¥ oo e 3 NP
HATZ N AN AN AN SN &\
"pularly
. known as 'Froncier Gandhi', 2 § o ERCORTASTRGIAY
NS Y N WA, e g AS
fl\flk“E‘L,
'milar moyement was launched by the '4.!»:4}54}:‘--“4.} AN AN AR AN
udy Pathans. The government took ste
n
Khan Abdul
t. ng:
p;?z:res to dcms}[; I;}.lehmg:z?;r;iri The Ghaffar Khan with Mahatma Gandhi and Kastu
. . rba Gandhi
and about 90,000 persons, includ ing all prominenc leaders,
; resorted to Jathi char
d illegal.
ere imprisoned. The Congress Was declare: g
 —————

R OUND TABLE CONFERENCE IN 1930

ish summoned
While the Civil Disobedience Movement was on,
‘he,Bn he report of
a Round Table Conference in London, in 1930,
to dlsc.uss ;{:und Table
the Simon Commission. The Congress boycotted the Fx'rs(tj Mabasablia,
Conference. The Muslim League, the Indian princes, the Hindu
and some others attended it but nothing came out of it.

GaNDHI-IRWIN PacT 1931

o th
Viceroy, Lord Irwin, launched an effor .
t to convince the Congress tl-(: )(z:/lo the
j

Conference. Finally in March, an agreement was signed between the le;sc3

was called the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. The British Government agreed to re Lord Irwin
iti
political i
prisoners i
against whom there were no charges of vioiolence and the . Jeaders were ha
Congress agreed to suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement.. Not all national [ez fere were ha g‘z
with the pact. However in 1931, ac its Karachi session, the National Congress pu pp
on the pact and agreed to participate in the Second Round Table Conference.

SECOND ROUND TABLE CONEERENCE 1931

In January 1931, Gandhiji and some other leaders
were released from prison. The British Government
realised that without the participation of the
Congress, no decision on constitutional changes |
would be acceprable to the Indian people. Gandhiji §
was the chosen representative of the Congress for the
purpose. The Second Round Table Conference also
ended in a failure. Gandhiji returned to India and re-
launched the Civil Disobedience Movement, but he
was arrested.

Second Round Table Conferenc

REPrEssioN CONTINUES e

Government's repression became more

severe. By April 1933,
nearly 1,20,000 people had been
imprisoned. The movement gradually
waned off, as there Was no one
offin 1934. Once again, there was despair to lead it. It was finally called
in the nation. In spite of its failure,
Movement had made one unique the Civil Disobedience
contribution. It had succeeded in
sections of people, including mobilising vast
women. It had also adopted radica]
transformation of society, which objectives for the E *E
were to be implemented after the
the country. independence of T

MOVEMENT IN THE PRINCELY STATES

There were about 562 states in India, which were ruled
L ; by Indian princes. y Th .. th e £
people living in some of these states was at times even worse than that of the Cl c;némon of t i
India; n states. Many rulers lived
ived i great luxury and made no efforrs
in €0
people i Briti s
living in
P .. . . to remove OV .
the living conditions ofthe people. The nationalist movement led o g, poverty or impro
ve
0 awakening a
mong the peop
le
N .
—
¢ states and they for People’s
hed :e(i ;}rl de‘ Praj a lMan d.a! . In December 1927, the All-India States
g nf‘;enCe was eStabli: ference
:l: he poli tica l acti viti es of the different seates. The Con
cman
India’ s ded that the problem of the Il:;: an states should be treated as a part of the larger struggle for
freedom.

Pd@e...o s
0 . )
¢ organisation which was formed in the Nortl h-West Frontier Provi the | hi
han Abdul Ghaffar Khan, was known as ‘Khudai Khidmatgar’ (/Sccrjvva::;c;;égi;c;’),c euderhp of :
; s
i 14is followers came to be k s’ as they used to wear red shirts which got less
nown as the ‘Red Shirt
é;lisled on village tours
CoMMUNAL PARTIES AND THEIR ROLE
In 1915, the Hindu Mahasabha was formed.
After the Non-Cooperation Movement was
alled off, people felt frustrated. There were
many communal riots as communal parties
took advantage of the situation to propagate
their views. As a result of the activities of
the communal parties, national integration
received a setback. Communal riots of 1920s
In
led to the death of many innocent people. Hindu Mahasabha
days
1924, Gandhiji went on a fast for 21 part ies based on religion
attained but only for a short time. The
and tried to restore peace. Peace was the Muslim
effe ct on the nati onal ist mov emen ¢ In 1940, at the Lahore session,
had a damaging
League passed the resolution for the crea
tion of Pakistan.
in India constituted the
Hind u Maha sabh a, on the othe r han d, declared that only the Hindus a
The
ort una te cha pte r in the hist ory of our country, as the people of Indi
nation. This was the most unf richness had been a source of pride for
through centuries. This
had developed a rich common culture fail ed to understand the historical fact, that
the
s of the two -na tio n theo ry
the Indians. The supporter They failed to see that problems like
inequality,
com mun iti es wer e inte rlin ked.
destinies of the two che basis
rdn ess nee ded to be tack led on a priority basis and that India, divided on
poverty and backwa the Second
ld ham per eco nom ic grow th. The intensification of communal riots after
of religion, wou
had disastrous consequences.
World War worsened t he situation and

MOVEMENTS OF THE OPPRESSED CASTES

of the chi efa ims of all soci al refo rm mov eme nts , was to work for the welfare of the untouchables
One
paigns were launched in Maharashtra
and the people belonging to the lower castes. A number of cam
social stigma of untouchabili:yj
Kerala, Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country, to remove the
One of the leading figures of this struggle was Dr B R Ambedkar, who wrote a number of books a_nd
jqurnals, s for the oppressed classes to promote their interests. He attended
the R ith the same objective. Gandhiji founded many organisations for the
 erac!ication of untouchability. He also set up the
Anti-Untouchability League for this purpose.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AcT, 1935

Three Round Table Conferences had been
held in London to discuss the changes to be
introduced in the structure of the government.
Ignoring the popular demands, the British
Government announced the Government of
India Act in August 1935.
The Act proposed a federation consisting of i
Indian provinces and the princely states at " 8R Ambedkar )
the centre. The Central Legislature was to be -
between the provinces, the Aq
bicameral. Its powers were also expanded. In order to settle disputes
Burma be separated
proposed to set up a Federal Court. In the provincial sphere, it was proposed that
from India. Two new provinces—Orissa and Sind—were al Iso formed. Provincial autonomy was
of the ministers, who
introduced. The Governor was to carry on the administration with the help
belonged to the majority party in the legislature.

Time to Thinke—— 4 sl .
% How many economic, social and political problems had to be tackled, so that a strong Indian
nation could eventually emerge?
The Act failed to satisfy the people as it was
nowhere near the objective of the national
movement. The Congress, in its session in
1936 at Lucknow, under the leadership of |
Jawaharlal Nehru, rejected the Act of 1935.
The Congress also pressed upon its demand
for a Constituent Assembly. )
According to the Act of the 1935, the
Congress manifesto declared that poverty and
unemployment were the major problems of
India. It used the election platform to mobilise
the people on important political, economic
and social issues. At the Lucknow Congress in
1936, a majority of delegates led by Rajendra .
Prasad and Vallabhai Patel with the blessing of ——t
cqngm'z‘zz’;'gl:g;ag;egxg ]
Gandbhi ji, came to the view that contesting session

houses
bicameral: hzwing two legis(afive
 elections and Subs@quem
| jeeprance of office under the Act
o 1935, would help boog; the
flaggi”g moralf: of the Congress at
dme when direct action was not
an gpuon.

The All Inqia Congress

Camml.flee meeting in August
1936, in Bombay, deci
ded ip
favour of contesting the clec
tions,
puc postponed the decision
on office acceptance until* the
clection was over. The part of the
Government of India Act,
1935,
which provided for the formatio
n
of the central government was Congress delegates in 1936 INC session
o mtrodu.CCd7 but provincial autonomy came into operatio from 1937 Th
n . is was the first time
whennces
Fi the In
an di
d anwerepoliabtilecalto pasertrviees, thewhopeopcolent, esan
tedd gatheinedelecthe expebe
tions, rica
enme partadmi
ce of of nithestragotive mentcounintrthe
ngrnthe y.
this,
The British policy of divide and rule had succeeded in arousing communal feelings. In spite of
the only party that
the communal parties failed to make an impact in the elections. The Congress was
was successful.
national movement, were released from
People who had been imp risoned for participating in the
lifted. The representatives of the people administered
prisons. The bans imposed on the press were
the provinces.
to form
aha rla l Neh ru and Sul bhash Chandra Bose did not want the Congress
Some leaders lik. e Jaw
. The worke rs’
>
and pe: asant s’ organisations! had grown powerful and so had the
ministries ar this stage
% b N
an: d wanted to launch a
es. They demanded complete independence
influence of the comrmunist parti
it.
mass movement to achieve
 THEINDIAN/NATION AL
MOVEMENT: 192339
Rise of
Communal Parties ] / Emergence of the Swaraj Party
Congress session at Lahore
YPoorna swaraj Resolution
Hindu Mahasabha
Muslim League: demand for Pakistan
Gandhi's concept of satyagrahg:
Non-violence and belief in truth
Government of India Early movements in satyagrahg:
Act, 1935 Champaran, Kheda, Ahmedabad

Eederation of Indian provinces

[ Princely states at the Centre
L Bicameral central legislature
Federal court
Burma to be separated
fi_aunched by Gandhiji
\ Creation of Orissa and Sind L Dandi March and violation of the Salt Law
\ Provincial autonomy Suspended due to the signing of the
Gandhi-
\Act failed Irwin Pact
tandhi attended the Second Round
Conferenc
Table
e