CBSE Class 10 Social Science Nationalism in India Notes Set 06

The First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation

The war created a new economic and political situation. Defence expenditure rose, taxes were increased, custom duties were doubled between 1913 and 1918, and income tax was introduced. Prices rose sharply. Crops failed in 1918-19 and an influenza epidemic added to the hardship.

The Idea of Satyagraha

Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in January 1915. Satyagraha stressed the power of truth and the search for truth, and a struggle without violence. He led three local movements: Champaran (Bihar, 1917) for peasants against the oppressive plantation system; Kheda (Gujarat, 1917) to support peasants who could not pay revenue after crop failure; and Ahmedabad (1918) among cotton mill workers.

The Rowlatt Act (1919)

The Rowlatt Act gave the government enormous powers to repress political activity and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years. Gandhi launched a nationwide satyagraha against it. On 10 April police in Amritsar fired on a peaceful procession, which provoked attacks on banks, post offices and railway stations; martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command. On 13 April 1919 the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place: a crowd gathered, some to protest and some to attend the Baisakhi fair, and Dyer blocked the exits and opened fire, killing hundreds. People turned furious, and Gandhi called off the movement as it turned violent.

Khilafat and Non-Cooperation

The First World War ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey. A Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March 1919. Gandhi saw the Khilafat issue as a chance to unite Hindus and Muslims. In September 1920 he convinced other leaders to start a non-cooperation movement for Khilafat and swaraj. He argued that British rule had been set up with the cooperation of Indians. The movement would proceed in stages: surrender of titles, boycott of civil services, army, police, courts, legislative councils, schools and foreign goods. The Non-Cooperation Movement was adopted in December 1920 and began in January 1921.

Differing Strands of the Movement

Towards Civil Disobedience

The movement was withdrawn in February 1922 after the Chauri Chaura violence. Some leaders wanted to contest elections to the provincial councils, and C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party. In the late 1920s the world economic depression and falling agricultural prices affected India. The Simon Commission, an all-British commission, arrived in 1928 and was greeted with the slogan 'Go back Simon'. In December 1929 the Lahore Congress under Jawaharlal Nehru demanded Purna Swaraj (full independence), and 26 January 1930 was to be celebrated as Independence Day.

The Salt March and Civil Disobedience

On 31 January 1930 Gandhi sent Viceroy Irwin a letter with eleven demands, the most stirring being the abolition of the salt tax. When these were not met, he began the Salt March from Sabarmati to Dandi (about 240 miles) with 78 volunteers. On 6 April he reached Dandi and broke the salt law by boiling seawater. This began the Civil Disobedience Movement: salt laws were broken, foreign cloth was boycotted, peasants refused to pay revenue, and forest laws were violated. Abdul Ghaffar Khan was arrested in April 1930 and Gandhi a month later. Gandhi and Irwin signed a pact on 5 March 1931, and Gandhi agreed to attend the Round Table Conference in London. When it failed he returned and relaunched the movement, which lost momentum by 1934.

How Different Groups Saw the Movement

The Limits of Civil Disobedience

Dalits (then called untouchables) were not moved by swaraj. Gandhi called them Harijans, children of God. They demanded reserved seats and separate electorates. Dr B.R. Ambedkar organised the Depressed Classes Association in 1930 and clashed with Gandhi at the second Round Table Conference; the Poona Pact of September 1932 gave the Depressed Classes reserved seats in the provincial and central councils. After the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat movement declined, many Muslims felt alienated from the Congress. Jinnah was willing to give up separate electorates if reserved seats and proportional representation were assured, but at the All Parties Conference of 1928 M.R. Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha opposed a compromise.

The Sense of Collective Belonging

Nationalism spreads when people believe they belong to one nation. History, fiction, folklore, songs, popular prints and symbols all helped. The identity of India came to be linked with the image of Bharat Mata. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote Vande Mataram in the 1870s as a hymn to the motherland. Abanindranath Tagore painted the famous image of Bharat Mata as a calm, divine, ascetic figure. Nationalists collected folk tales and songs from bards. During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal a tricolour (red, green, yellow) flag with eight lotuses for the eight provinces and a crescent moon for Hindus and Muslims was designed. By 1921 Gandhi designed the Swaraj flag, a tricolour of red, green and white with a spinning wheel in the centre, the ideal of self-help.

Conclusion

In the first half of the twentieth century different groups and classes of Indians joined the struggle for independence. The Congress under Gandhi tried to resolve differences and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another.