International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, April, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL.

IV * ISSUE-39

Research Paper - History

People Movement in The Gandhian Era

* Prof. Kudase Uddhav Kalu April , 2012 * Dept. of History, M.S.G. College of Science, Arts & Commerce ,Malegaon Camp, Malegaon , Nashik.
Introduction: Gandhi coined the term Satyagraha to describe his philosophy of non-violent resistance. The concept was influenced by the notion of ahimsa in the Hindu Upanishads and the tenets of Jainism, as well as various theorists of non-violent resistance and non-resistance including Jesus (particularly The Sermon on the mount) the Imam Hussein, Leo Tolstoy (particularly The Kingdom of God is within you), John Ruskin (particularly Unto This Last) and Henry David Thoreau (particularly Civil Disobedience). A small prize was therefore announced in Indian opinion to be awarded to the reader who invented the best designation for our struggle. We thus received a number of suggestions. The meaning of the struggle had been then fully discussed in Indian opinion and the competitors for the prize had fairly sufficient material to serve as a basis for their exploration. Shri Maganlal Gandhi was one of the competitors and he suggested the word Sadagraha, meaning "Firmness in a good cause". I liked the word, but it did not fully represent the whole idea I wished it to connote. I therefore corrected it to "Satyagraha". Truth (Satya) implies love and firmness (Agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha, that is to say, the force which is born of truth and Love or nonvoilence and gave up the use of the phrase "passive resistance", in connection with it, so much so that even in English writing we often avoided it and used instead the word "Satyagraha" itself or some other equivalent English phrase. Gandhi, the exponent of the Satyagraha movement, staged his first Satyagraha in Champaran, in Bihar. I was in 1917. The poor peasants, the indigo growers, of the district invited Gandhi to go there to see for himself the grievances of the much exploited peasants there. Champaran was on the North-Western corner of the Bihar province. The River Gandak flows though this area. The river changed its course from time to time, leaving large lakes along its dried up courses. It was along the banks of these lakes the indigo factories were set up. * Various Satyagraha Movement * Non-cooperation Movement:The Rowlatt Act was law passed by the British Raj in India in March 1919, indefinitely extending "emergency measures" (of the Defense of India Regulations Act) enacted during the first world war in order to control public unrest and root out conspiracy passed on the recommendations of the Rawlatt Commission, named for its chairman, British judge Sir Sidney Rowlatt, this act effectively authorized the government to imprison, without trial, any person suspected of terrorism living in the Raj. The Rowlatt Acts gave British imperial authorities power to deal with revolutionary activities. 13 April, 1919, in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar, Punjab. The British Military Commander, Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, blocked the main entrance and ordered his soldiers to fire into an unarmed and unsuspecting crowd of some 5000 men, women and children. They had assembled at Jallianwala Bagh, a walled in courtyard in defiance of the ban. A total of 1,651 rounds were fired killing 379 people and wounding 1,137 in the episode, which dispelled wartime hopes of home rule and goodwill in a frenzy of post-war reaction. It was the Rowlatt Satyagraha that made Gandhiji a truly National Leader. Emboldened by its success, Gandhiji called for a campaign of "non-cooperation" with British Rule. Indians who wished colonialism no end were asked to stop attending schools, colleges and law courts and not pay taxes. In sum, they were asked to adhere to a "renuriciation of (all) voluntary association with the British Government." If non-cooperation was effectively carried out, said Gandhiji, India would win Swaraj within a year to further broaden the struggle he had joined hands with the Khilafat Movement that sought to restore the Caliphate, a symbol of Pan-Islamism which had recently been abolished by the Turkish Ruler Kemal Attaturk. Chauri Chaura is a town near Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. The town is famous for an event that took place on 4 February, 1922 during British Rule when an occupied Police Chowki was set on fire by a Nationalist Mob, killing 23 of the police occupants. In the years of 1920, Indians launched a nationwide revolt now recognized as the Non-cooperation Movement,

International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, April, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL. IV * ISSUE-39

which protested authoritarian laws like the Rowlatt Acts of 1919, and lack of human freedom and selfgovernment for Indians in their own country. Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of the nationwide revolts organized by the Indian National Congress based upon civil disobedience or Satyagraha by peaceful means alone:Salt Satyagraha: The Salt Satyagraha was a campaign of nonviolent protest against the British Sal tax in colonial India which began with the salt March to Dandi on March 12, 1930. It was the first Act of organized opposition to British Rule after Purna Swaraj, the declaration of Independence by the Indian National Congress. Mahatma Gandhi led the Dandi March from his Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, Gujarat to make Salt tax free with growing numbers of Indians joining him along the way. When Gandhi broke the Salt laws in Dandi at the conclusion of the March on April 6, 1930, it sparked large scale acts of civil disobedience against the British Raj Salt laws by millions of Indians. Gandhi was arrested on May 5, 1930, just days before his planned raid on the Dharasana Salt works. The Dandi March and the ensuing Dharasana Satyagraha drew world wide attention to the Indian Independence Movement through extensive newspaper and newsreel coverage. The Satyagraha against the Salt tax continued for almost a year ending with Gandhi's release from jail and negotiations with Viceroy Lord Irwin at the Second Round Table Conference over 80,000 Indians were jailed as a result of the Salt Satyagraha. The Campaign had a significant effect on changing world and British attitudes toward Indian independence and caused large numbers of Indians to actively join the fight for the first time, but failed to win major concessions from the British. The Salt Satyagraha campaign was based upon Gandhi's principles of non-violent protest called Satyagraha, which he loosely translated as "truth force". In early 1930 the Indian National Congress chose Satyagraha as their main tactic for winning Indian independence from British rule and appointed Gandhi to organize the campaign. Gandhi chose the 1882 British Salt Act as the first target of Satyagraha. The Salt Mach to Dandi, and the beating of hundreds of non-violent protesters in Dharasana, demonstrated the effective use of civil disobedience as a technique for fighting social and political injustice. The Satyagraha teachings of Gandhi and the March to Dandi had a significant influence on American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. and his fight for civil rights for blacks and other minority groups in the 1960s. Strong Resolution And Civil Disobedience :The Disobedience Movement led by M.K. Gandhi, it the year 1930 was an important milestone in
SHODH, SAMIKSHA

the history of Indian Nationalism. There are three distinct phases that mark the development of Indian Nationalism. In the first phase, the ideology of the moderates dominated the political scenario. This was followed by the prominence of the extremist ideologies. In the third phase of Indian Nationalism the most significant incident was the rise of M.K. Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, to power as the leader of Indian National Movements. Under his spirited guidance, the National Movements of the country took shape. The Indians learnt how apparently philosophical tenets like non-violence and passive resistance, could be used to wage political battles. The programs and policies adopted in the Movements spearheaded by Gandhi reflected his political ideologies of ahimsa and Satyagraha. While the Non-cooperation Movement was built on the lines of non-violent, non-cooperation the essence of the civil Disobedience Movement was defying of the British laws. Through his leadership to the National Movements he not only buttressed his political stance but also played a crucial role in unification of the country, awakening of the masses, and bringing politics within the arena of the common man. Quit India Movement: - In May 1942 the "Quit India" slogan was launched by Gandhi. His new program was for an "orderly British withdrawal from India". Shortly after midnight of 7 August, 1942 Gandhi addressed the assembled delegates: "Everyone of you should, from this moment, consider himself free man or woman and even of acts as if you are free and no longer under the heel of this imperialism ." Gandhi made the thundering proclamation: "We would wing the war by fight. Our motto would be 'Do or Die'. This declaration of Gandhi caught the imagination of the congress rank and file and rather injected in them "a glow of freedom". This pronouncement of Gandhi had a profound and immediate effect upon the masses of the country. Thus, under Gandhi's leadership the struggle for independence entered into the third stage. The new movement launched by Gandhi in August 1942 is popularly called the "Quit India Movement". This was another giant fight of the entire nation under the leadership of Gandhi who by that time became the pole star of Indian freedom struggle. Even Subhash Chandra Bose who was known for his political differences with Gandhi hailed this new venture of Gandhi with these words : " New chapter in Indian freedom struggle began with the Quit India Movement". Objectives:1) If the resolution accepted by INC is brought into implementation by the Hindus, then freedom can be
MULYANKAN

AUR

International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, April, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL. IV * ISSUE-39

brought to India within a year. 2) Non-cooperation had reached to every corner and hut. 3) Due to non-cooperation movement a national awakening had started to take place at a national level. 4) Lakhs of people had participated in this great struggle of Gandhiji. Hindu-Muslim, rich and poor all were in it. Even age old people and women had participated in this movement. 5) The great key of 'Do or Die' was given to this freedom fight. Evaluation Gandhiji gave the people a proper instrument to fight against the Britishers. The weapon was of nonviolence. But its edge was too sharp. Gandhiji did not stop only by giving the programme of fight but also

stressed upon the legal work. And so a special importance had developed to the Satyagraha Movement. The work of national independence should reach to the common masses was done by Gandhiji through the Non-cooperation Movement, the further growth of National Movement was carried out through the education got from this movement. The Sun which gave us light and heat has now set. We are struggling in the darkness. At last looking at the great work of Gandhiji, it can be said that, today everywhere the overflow that is seen of violence, torture, foreign acceptance, selfishness, types of terrorism, communal - religious riots can be removed only by bringing forward the thoughts of Gandhiji. There is no doubt that it can be useful as a light of guidance.
Page No.:- 196. 5) Gatur Shaikh History of Modern India, Pritam Publication Jalgaon, Page No.:- 242 6) Freedom Fighter G.P. Pradhan, 1987, Pune Publication, Page No.:- 235.

R E F E R E N C E
1) K.V. Rajendra, 2010, Modern History of India, Pacific Publication Delhi, Page No.:- 167 2) Anand Raj, 2009, Mahatma Gandhi and Salt Satyagraha, Swastik Publications Delhi, Page No.:- 153. 3) Muller Bhattacharjee, 1988, India wins independence, Ashish Publishing house New Delhi, Page No.:- 73. 4) Somnath Rode, 1998, Modern India, Publishers Nagpur,