NATIONALISM IN INDIA

Concept

First World War , khilafat and non-cooperation

Differing strands within the movements

Towards Civil Disobedience

The Sense Of Collective Belonging

Section AThe First world War , Khilafat and Non cooperation

The First World war (1914 – 1918 )

turning point in the history of national movement and creating a new political and economic situation .

National movement

- Influenced new social groups , and developed new modes of struggle

- Offered opportunity to demand concessions from Britain

- Resulted in hardships :-

Concept

The struggle for independence and growth of nationalism in India took place simultaneously

The idea of India as a nation , as one entity , took deep roots only when the anti – colonial movement began in India . A bond was created between different groups because everyone shared the burden of imperialism and oppression

It took a leader of unquestionable ability – Mahatma Gandhi – from 1920’s how the congress

Developed the national movement how it brought social groups together .

This chapter is utterly based on NATIONALISM - its growth and popularity amongst all Indians

-

Gandhi Emerged with his new idea of anti- colonial struggle

Hardships Suffered During The World War

Huge Increase in defence

expenditure

Rise in prices(Double of what

they were in 1913)

Result:- Great Suffering to

common man

Famines or crop failures (1918-

1921)

Result – According To Census 1921

(12 – 13 million people died )

New Idea - Satyagraha

A novel way of fighting the colonial rule . A mass agitation , nonaggressive and peaceful against injustice and oppression .

Since India could not match Britain in force of arms violent course would not win independence

Satyagraha means insistence of truth

Not weapon of weak but of the strong

Not a physical but moral force

Gandhiji organised Satyagraha movements

1)In champaran Bihar (1916)

Peasant rose against the unjust plantation system

2)Satyagraha in Kheda district in Gujarat (1917)

Relaxation of taxes due to famine

3) In Ahmedabad (1918)

Amongst Cotton mill workers

The Rowlatt Act

In 1919 the imperial Legislative Council passed the act , despite the opposition.

Giving the government immense powers to detail political prisoners without trial and repress political activities

Response of Gandhiji- Wanted a non- violent civil disobedience against such a repressive law . He organised a Hartal on April 6 , 1919

Consequence of the hartal

Rallies organized in various cities

Workers strike in railway workshops , shops closed down

The British government panicked and arrested nationalist

Police fired in Amritsar (April 10 ) on a peaceful procession

Result- Attacks on post offices , banks , railways.

General Dyer imposed Martial Law in Amritsar

13 April 1919

Jallian walla Bagh massacre took place .

Peaceful meeting was fired upon by General Dyer , after blocking all the exits points

Hundreds of innocent people got killed .

Bases of massacre – Dyer wanted to strike terror in hearts

Result – lead to strike , clashes with police and attacks on government buildings ,hence Gandhiji called off the movement

The Khilafat Movements

Gandhi wanted to launch a more broad based movement-->bringing muslims under the umbrella of a unified national movement.

He Took up the Khilafat movement , where in Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali found it in March 1919 to defend it

Gandhiji convinces Congress to join in support of it as well Swaraj (1920) and start a non – cooperation movement .

Khilafat Issue

In first World War the Ottoman Turkish empire was defeated .

A harsh treaty was imposed on the Turkish emperor – The Khalifa (spiritual head and protector of holy places)

The empire was dismembered by 1920

Why Non – Cooperation

In his book Hind Swaraj:

The British rule survived due to the cooperation between Indian and British

No cooperation No British Rule Collapse Of the empire Swaraj For India

Debates followed , many leaders feared violence

Compromise worked out at congress at Nagpur (December , 1920 ) and the non – cooperation started

Gandhiji’s Idea

i. Movements to unfold in stages

ii. Surrender of all Government titles

iii. Boycott of civil services, army , police , courts and legislative councils , schools ,foreign goods.

iv. In case of government repression- (a full disobedience movement to be launched )

v. Mobilization of popular support for the movement under Gandhi ji and Shaukat Ali ( 1920)

Methods of Non - cooperation

Section B – DIFFERING STRANDS WITH THE MOVEMENT

Began in January 1921

Many Social Groups participated

All answered the call of Swaraj

Each had their own aspirations

The Movement in Towns Middle Class took up the fight for Swaraj

Students in thousands left schools and colleges controlled by the government.

Headmasters , teachers resigned and lawyers gave up practices

Council Elections Boycotted .

Foreign goods boycotted ; liquor shops picketed foreign cloth burnt , people discarded wearing of foreign clothes

Indian textile mills and handlooms increased production to meet the demands

Import Of foreign clothes halved between 1921 and 1922 , its value dropped from 102 – 57 crores .

Effect On Economic Front

Slowing Down Of the Movement

Many Reasons :

I. Khadi was more expensive than the mass produced mill cloth the poor couldn’t afford it

II. In the absence of food, Indian institutes , teachers and students joined the government instutions. Lawyers also decided to attend the courts

The movement in the country side

1) The non cooperation took over the struggles of peasants

2) Each struggle was against a different target.

3) Some struggles became violent , which was against Gandhian principle

4) All the actions were taken in the name of the Mahatma

5) The Peasant Movement because of their different aspirations and interpretations advocated violence.

6)Peasants persuaded people to wear Khadi and give up drinking

Awadh Peasants

Led by Baba Ramchandra

Against talukidars and landlords, who demanded high rents

Forced them to do begar and work on landlords’ farms without any payment

Tenants had no security of revenue, regularly evicted

The peasants demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, and social boycott of oppressive landlords.

Organised nai-dhobi bandhs.

In 1920, Jawaharlal Nehru began going around the villages in Awadh, talking to villagers and trying to understand their grievances.

October – the Awadh Kisan Sabha was set up by Jawaharlal Nehru and Baba Ramchandra.

Within a month, 300 branches had been set up in the villages around the region.

Tribal Peasants

In the Gudem hills of Andhra Pradesh, militant guerrilla movements spread in 1920.

The colonial government had closed large forest areas, preventing people from entering the forest to graze their cattle, or to collect fuel-wood and fruits.

This enraged the hill-people, when the government forced them to do begar for road-building, the hill-people revolted.

They were led by Alluri Sitaram Raju. He talked of the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi, said he was inspired by the Non-Cooperation Movement, and persuaded people to wear khadi and give up drinking.

He asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force, and attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officers, and carried out guerrilla warfare for achieving Swaraj.

Raju was captured and executed in 1924.

The movement in the plantation

Workers had their own idea of swaraj .

Their Agitation : An Example

Plantation workers in Assam agitateds for the right to move freely and not to be confined to the gardens they worked in . The British thus passed an Inland Emigration Act (1859) prevented them from leaving the plantation without permission .

Raised Slogans demanding ‘Swatantra Bharat’ chanted gandhi’s name and emotionally realted to non- cooperation

Their identification with Gandhi and movement went beyond their local units

Believed Gandhi Raj was coming every one would be given their land in their own villages

The British thus passed an Inland Emigration Act (1859) prevented them from leaving the plantation without permission .

Their agitation took the form of leaving the plantations and moving towards their village .

Result- They were caught by the police and brutally beaten up .

The Non Cooperation was called off by Gandhiji in 1922 due to The Chauri – Chaura incident , near Gorakhpur .

Section C – TOWARDS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

After the withdrawal of the Non Cooperation Movement , the Congress leaders wanted to end mass struggle and fight British rule by participating in elections to the provincial councils , set up in 1919by Government of India

Formation of Swaraj Party :

- C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru founded the Swaraj Party within the Congress to fight the elections for the Councils and demand reform .

- Younger leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose pressed for full independence.

Two Factors that shaped Indian Politics Towards late 1920’s 1) There was world wide economic depression ,Agricultural

prices touched bottom between 1926 and 1930.Farmers could not sell their products and the countryside was in turn out

2) The British Council a statutory commission under Sir John Simon in 1927 . It was to look into the functioning of the constitutional system in India . The commission was all white with not a single Indian member .

Indian Reaction To Simon Commission :

Unanimous and immediate Commission greeted with “Simon Go Back “ slogans when they arrived in India in 1928.

All parties The Congress , Demonstrated

The Muslim League against Simon

Commission.

A new constitution drafted under the leadership of Motilal Nehru in 1928.

The Famous Nehru Report presented a constitution of India on the lines of self governing dominions within the British Empire.

At the Lahore Sessions of the Congress (29-31 december , 1929) the Congress adopted the resolution of complete independence for India as its goal . President Jawaharlal Nehru hoised the Indian Tricolour on 31 December , 1929 , demanding “Purna Swaraj” . It was also declared that 26 January 1930 , would be celebrated as Independence Day .

So Mahatma Gandhi gave the call for Civil Disobedience Movement.

He chose Salt as the symbol of unity of the nation. He declared that the “Salt Tax” imposed was the most inhuman act , that the ingenuity of man could devise .

Before Starting the Movement on 31 jan 1930 , He wrote a lettter to then Viceroy , Lord Irwin , making 11 demands . His demands covered every class – Industrialist to Peasant

Why Salt ?

Salt is consumed by both by the poor and the rich.

It is one of the most essential item of food .

The government had the monopoly over its production .

Mahatma Gandhi called tax on salt as the most repressive act of the British Government.

The Salt March and The Civil Disobedience Movement

Date : March 12 , 1930.

Gandhiji marched (with a staff in hand) from Sabarmati Ashram on his famous Dandi March with 78 followers.

Walked 240 miles to illegally manufacture salt.

Volunteers walked for 24 days for about 10 miles a day .

Thousands greeted him wherever Gandhi passed.

Woman paid Tribute to him by spinning yarn on their Charkhas

- Newspapers carried day to day report of the effect of Gandhiji’s speeches on the villages he passed through.

- It is said that 300 Gujrat officials resigned their posts in answer to Gandhiji’s appeal.

- On 6th April 1930 , Gandhiji reached Dandi , a small village on the Gujrat sea coast, the ceremonially broke the salt law by boiling water and manufacturing salt.

- A golden movement in the history of the Indian National Movement “A pinch of salt , that shook a mighty kingdom”.

The Civil Disobedience Movement began this gesture.

Difference between the Non –Cooperation Movement and the Civil Disobedience Movement.

The first movement (1920 -22 ) attempted to bring the government to a standstill by non- cooperation with the administration.

The Second (civil Disobedience Movement ) aimed at paralysing the government by performance of illegal acts .

Thousands in different parts of the country , violated the salt law and the demonstrated before the government salt factories.

Not only salt laws were broken , boycott of foreign goods and liqour shops also took place . Women ,students and youth played a major role in the boycott .

Peasants refused to pay taxes – revenue and chaukidari taxes– forest laws were violated in many places and people entered Reserved Forest to collect wood and graze their cattle .

Action taken by the British Government

Giving into action and arrested the congress leaders one by one.

Jawaharlal Nehru arrested on 14 April. On 23rd April 1930 Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan , a staunch follower of Gandhiji , led a mass demonstration of Khudai Khidmatgars (known as ‘Red Shirt’) was arrested . The soldiers of the Gharwal Regiment refused to fire on the unarmed crowd , who forced the armoured cars and police firing bravely.

On 4th may 1930 Gandhiji was arrested which led the industrial workers in Sholapur Attack the police posts municipal buildings, lawcourts and railway stations .

A frightened and shaken British Government responded with a policy of brutal repression ,About 100,000 people were arrested .

The government tried to diffuse the situation by making Viceroy , Lord Irwin, to sign a pact called the Gandhi – Irwin Pact on 5 march , 1931 .Gandhiji agreed to attend the Round Table Conference in London and the government agreed to release all political prisoners .

Gandhiji attended the second Round Table Conference (the first was boycotted by the congress) in December 1931 . But he returned disappointed and resumed the Civil Disobedience Movement .

The Movement lasted a year and by 1934 , it had lost its momentum.

Congress was declared illegal ;most of its leaders , including Jawahar Lal Nehru and Abdul Ghaffar Khan were put in jail . All Boycotts , demonstations and meetings were stopped by the british Government .

How participants Saw the movement

Swaraj meant to different social group who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement .

1. In the Countryside

Many activists were the rich peasant communtities like the Patidars of Gujrat and Jats of UP

They were mostly producers of commercial crops, badly affected by trade depression and falling prices Hence , they could not pay the revenue demands of the government.

Government refused to reduce the revenue tax

Resulted in peasants joining National Movement.

The fight for independence was related to their

GrievancesDemand for reduction of revenue

taxesGreatly disappointed when

movement was called off in 1931 , without reduction in taxes, hence refused to join again in 1932.

The Poor

The Depression made them unable to pay the rents to landlords. Their own income dwindle swiftly

They wanted Congress to help them in getting the unpaid rent remitted.

The Business Classes• Indian industrialists and merchants

had made huge profits during the First World War

• They now reacted against colonial policies that restricted their trade

• They wanted to protection against import of foreign goods.

• A rupee sterling exchange ratio that would discourage imports

• They formed Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920 and Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in 1927.

• G D Birla and Purushottamdas Thakurdas attacked colonial economic policies and supported the movement gave it financial assistance, refused to buy or sell foreign goods.

• But the failure of the Round Table Conference curbed their enthusiasm .They worried about socialism among the youth as it would prolonged disruption of business

Industrial Working Class

Did not participate in Civil Disobedience Mov. ,except Nagpur.

They adopted Gandhian Ideas- boycott of foreign goods as part of their own movement against low wages and poor working conditions,

There were strikes Railway workers (1930)

Dockworkers (1932) Thousands of workers in Nagpur took part in

letters and boycott campaigns, but the Congress was reluctant to include workers demands in their struggle as it alienate the industrialists

Women and the Civil Disobedience Movement

1930 was the year when women entered the struggle for independence on a massive scale.

During Dandi March, thousands of women came out to listen to him.

Eager participation in protests , marches , picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops .

Urban Areas they came from high caste families.

Rural Areas they came from rich peasant houses.

Before 1930 ,women who had never stepped out became a familiar sight in the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Congress did not encourage them or give them any imp . Posts within organisation.

Gandhi’s thought : He was convinced that it was duty of a women to look after home ,

be good mothers and wives .

The Limits Of Civil Disobedience

The 1930 campaign saw one social group who did not actively participate in it

They were the “Untouchables” now called “Dalits” or the oppressed. Mahatma Gandhi called them Harijans and declared that India would not achieve ‘ Swaraj ‘ for hundreds of years ,if untouchability was not completely eliminated .He organised Satyagraha to secure them entry to the temples, and access to public wells , tanks, roads and schools.

Dalits –(wanted political solution for their problems )

.

1)They demanded reservation of seats , in educational institutions ,

separate electorate to choose their own candidate to the Legislative Council.They

wanted to solve their social problems.

2)Dr.B.R.Ambedkar , the leader of Dalits, formed an association in 1930, called the “Depressed

Class Association”.He clashed with Gandhiji at

Second Round Table Conference by demanding separate

electorates for Dalits which was later accepted by British Council.

Gandhiji began a fast unto death.He believed that the

Dalits would never be integrated into society,if they got separate electorates Dr Ambedkar finally signed a

pact with him on September 1932 called Poona Act .

r

What is Poona Act ?

It gave reserved seats in the provincial and Central Legislature Councils to the Depressed Classes. They were to be voted in by general electorate .

Muslim political organisations also kept away from civil Disobedience Movement.

Reason:

i. Muslims felt alienated from Congress after the decline of Non – CooperationKhilafat Mov.

ii. From mid-1920 the Congress seemed to be more visibly associated with Hindu religions nationalist groups like the Hindu Mahasabha.

iii. There were Hindi-Muslim Clashes and riots in many cities , which further worsened the relations between the two communities.

Attempts were made in 1927 by the Congress and Muslim League to form an alliance .It seemed possible as M.A Jinnah , one of the leaders of the league to give up the demand for separate electorate s if :

i. Muslims were assured reserved seats in Central Assembly.

ii. Representation in proportion to population in the Muslim dominated provinces,(Bengal and Punjab)

Negotiations failed in 1928 when M.R Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha strongly opposed efforts at comprise.

Hence Civil Disobedience Movement started in an atmosphere of distrust and suspicion between the two communities. Muslims feared Culture and Identity Submerge under Majority dominance.

Section D: THE SENSE OF COLLECTIVE BELONGING

How does a sense of belonging develop in the minds of people who belong to different communities , regions and speak different languages?

Answer lies in the fact that when people believe that they all are a part of the same nation, and when they discover common bonds that unite them , then nationalism grips the hearts and minds of people .

What are these beliefs and common bonds?

1) Collective belonging comes through experiences of common struggle .

2) A common history and fiction.

3) Folklore and songs

4) Popular prints and symbols are their factors giving rise to nationalism.

Symbols Symbols: certain figures and images

become the identity of a nation.

Example: Statue Of Liberty- USA

What is the symbol of India?

“Bharat Mata” ,in the 20th century , when nationalism was at its height , it was this image which aroused people.

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhya created the image in his song Vande Mataram- ( A Hymn in praise of Mother India , written in 1870 in novel “Anand Math”

Song was sung by people of swadeshi movement.

Abanindranath Tagore pained Bharat Mata as a Calm , composed , divine and spiritual figure .

Became a symbol of a nation ,for whom people were ready to sacrifice .

Folk Song and Folklore

They also became a symbol of nation and revived people’s pride in their culture.

Nationalists like Rabindranath Tagore (Bengal) , Natesa Shastri (Madras) completed songs, ballads myths and folklore. The latter published The Folklore Of Southern India.

Icons and Symbols

Icons and symbols were used in unifying people and inspiring them.

Swadeshi movement in Bengal – the tricolour flag was designed (red, green and yellow) – had eight lotuses, representing the eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims.

In 1921, Gandhiji designed the Swaraj flag – tricolour – red, green and white – and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing Gandhian ideals of self-help.

Re-interpretation of History Indians began feeling that to instil a sense

of pride in the nation, India history had to be thought about differently.

They wrote about the glorious development in ancient times, when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, craft and trade had flourished.

The nationalist historians urged the leaders to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past, and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

Conclusion :

Gandhiji channelised the anger against the colonial gov. into a common struggle for the freedom in the first half of the 20th century.

He forged unity between the people , continuosly tried to reslove differences and grievances and tried not to alienate an group . Conflict and disunity was a result of these very efforts at times , but Gandhiji saw the emergence of a nation wanting to liberate itself from colonial rule , inspite of all its differences