Nationalism in India

Nationalism in India

• Modern nationalism in India was associated with the anti-colonial movement, where people discovered their unity in the process of struggling against colonialism.
• The sense of being oppressed under colonialism provided a shared bond that tied many different groups together.

The First World War, Khilafat, and Non-Cooperation

• The First World War created a new economic and political situation, leading to a huge increase in defense expenditure, war loans, and increasing taxes.
• The war also led to extreme hardship for the common people, with prices doubling between 1913 and 1918, and forced recruitment in rural areas causing widespread anger.
• Crops failed in many parts of India, resulting in acute shortages of food, and an influenza epidemic killed 12 to 13 million people in 1921.
• Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915, having successfully fought against the racist regime in South Africa with a novel method of mass agitation, which he called satyagraha.
• Satyagraha emphasized the power of truth and the need to search for truth, suggesting that physical force was not necessary to fight the oppressor.

The Idea of Satyagraha

• Mahatma Gandhi believed that satyagraha could unite all Indians, and that truth was bound to ultimately triumph through this struggle.
• He organized satyagraha movements in various places, including Champaran, Kheda, and Ahmedabad, to support peasants and workers.

The Rowlatt Act

• The Rowlatt Act was hurriedly passed through the Imperial Legislative Council, giving the government enormous powers to repress political activities and allowing detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.
• Mahatma Gandhi wanted non-violent civil disobedience against the Act, which would start with a hartal on 6 April 1919, followed by rallies, strikes, and shops closing down.

The Non-Cooperation Movement

• The Non-Cooperation Movement was launched in 1920, with the aim of bringing Hindus and Muslims closer together.
• Mahatma Gandhi saw the Khilafat issue as an opportunity to unite Muslims under the umbrella of a unified national movement.
• Non-cooperation became a movement, with the surrender of titles, boycott of civil services, army, police, courts, and legislative councils, schools, and foreign goods.

Differing Strands within the Movement

• The Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement began in January 1921, with various social groups participating, each with its own specific aspirations.
• The movement started with middle-class participation in the cities, with thousands of students leaving government-controlled schools and colleges, and lawyers giving up their legal practices.
• The effects of non-cooperation on the economic front were dramatic, with foreign goods being boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.### Non-Cooperation Movement
• The movement spread from cities to countryside, drawing in peasant and tribal struggles.
• In Awadh, peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra, a sanyasi who had been an indentured laborer in Fiji.
• The movement demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar (forced labor), and social boycott of oppressive landlords.
• Nai-dhobi bandhs (barber-washerman boycotts) were organized by panchayats to deprive landlords of services.

Peasant Movement in Awadh

• Jawaharlal Nehru began organizing peasants in Awadh, setting up the Oudh Kisan Sabha.
• Within a month, over 300 branches were established in villages around the region.
• The peasant movement developed in ways the Congress leadership did not approve of, such as attacks on talukdars and merchants.

Tribal Peasants and Swaraj

• In the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh, a militant guerrilla movement spread, led by Alluri Sitaram Raju.
• Raju claimed special powers, including astrological predictions, healing, and survival from bullet shots.
• He talked about Mahatma Gandhi's greatness and inspired people to wear khadi and give up drinking, but also believed in using force to achieve swaraj.

Plantation Workers and Swaraj

• Plantation workers in Assam saw swaraj as freedom to move in and out of confined spaces and retain links with their villages.
• When they heard about the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of workers defied authorities, left plantations, and headed home, believing Gandhi Raj was coming.
• They were, however, caught and brutally beaten by the police.

Swaraj and the Congress

• The visions of these movements were not defined by the Congress programme.
• They interpreted swaraj in their own ways, imagining a time when all suffering and troubles would be over.
• When they acted in the name of Mahatma Gandhi or linked their movement to the Congress, they identified with a larger all-India agitation.

Towards Civil Disobedience

• Mahatma Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922 due to its violent turn.
• Some leaders, like C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru, wanted to participate in elections to the provincial councils and argue for reform.
• Younger leaders, like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose, pressed for more radical mass agitation and full independence.

The Simon Commission and the Nationalist Response

• The Simon Commission was constituted by the British government to look into the functioning of the constitutional system in India and suggest changes.
• The commission did not have a single Indian member, leading to widespread protests and demonstrations.
• The viceroy, Lord Irwin, offered a vague promise of dominion status and a Round Table Conference, which did not satisfy the Congress leaders.

The Lahore Congress and the Demand for Full Independence

• In December 1929, the Lahore Congress, led by Jawaharlal Nehru, formalized the demand for 'Purna Swaraj' or full independence for India.
• The Independence Day Pledge was taken on January 26, 1930, but attracted little attention.

The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement

• Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol to unite the nation and launched the Salt March on March 12, 1930.
• The march was accompanied by 78 volunteers, covering 240 miles from Sabarmati to Dandi, and marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• Thousands broke the salt law, manufactured salt, and demonstrated in front of government salt factories.

The Spread of the Civil Disobedience Movement

• The movement spread, with foreign cloth being boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and peasants refusing to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes.

• Village officials resigned, and forest people violated forest laws, leading to violent clashes and arrests.

• The colonial government responded with brutal repression, and Mahatma Gandhi was arrested in April 1930.

• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed on March 5, 1931, where Gandhiji agreed to participate in the Round Table Conference and the government agreed to release political prisoners.### The Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA)

• Founded in 1928 at Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi

• Led by Bhagat Singh, Jatin Das, and Ajoy Ghosh

• Targeted symbols of British power in India

• Bhagat Singh was executed by the colonial government in 1929

The Civil Disobedience Movement

• Relaunched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1929
• Lasted for over a year, but lost momentum by 1934
• Participated in by various social groups, including:
  • Rich peasant communities (e.g. Patidars of Gujarat, Jats of Uttar Pradesh)
    • Active in the movement, organized communities, and participated in boycott programs
    • Demanded reduction in revenue rates
  • Poorer peasantry
    • Wanted unpaid rent to landlords to be remitted
    • Joined radical movements led by Socialists and Communists
  • Business classes
    • Wanted protection against imports of foreign goods and a favorable foreign exchange rate
    • Formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI)
    • Supported the Civil Disobedience Movement, but became apprehensive of militant activities
  • Industrial working classes
    • Participated in limited numbers, except in the Nagpur region
    • Adopted some Gandhian ideas, such as boycott of foreign goods
  • Women
    • Participated in large numbers, including in protest marches, manufacturing salt, and picketing foreign cloth and liquor shops
    • Moved by Gandhi's call to serve the nation, but their increased public role did not necessarily mean radical change in their position

The Limits of Civil Disobedience

• Not all social groups were moved by the abstract concept of swaraj
• Dalits (or 'untouchables'):
  • Called themselves harijan, or children of God, by Gandhi
  • Organized themselves, demanding reserved seats in educational institutions and a separate electorate
  • Participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement in limited numbers, particularly in Maharashtra and Nagpur regions
• Muslim political organizations:
  • Alienated from the Congress due to the decline of the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat movement
  • Felt that the Congress was more visibly associated with openly Hindu religious nationalist groups
  • Negotiations with the Congress over representation in future assemblies were unsuccessful
  • Muhammad Ali Jinnah demanded separate electorates for Muslims and representation in proportion to population in Muslim-dominated provinces