TOWARDS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

WITHDRAW THE NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT:

1- He felt that the movement was turning violent in
many places
2- Satyagrahis needed to be properly trained.
3- Within the Congress ,some leaders were tried by
now of mass struggles and wanted to participate in
election
4- The Chauri-Chaura incident led to immediate
withdrawal.
 SIGNIFICANCE OF CHAURI-CHAURA
Gandhiji decided to withdraw the ‘Non-cooperation Movement’
in February, 1922
Reasons : 1- The Non-cooperation Movement was at its peak. It
had evoked country-wide participation.
2- The Non-cooperation Movement was designed as a peaceful
non-violent method of protest.
3-At the stage, in Chauri-Chaura, people turned violent and set fire
to a police station, killing 22 policemen.
4- Gandhiji called off the Non-cooperation Movement on account
of this violence.
5- The incident served to remind the world about the peaceful
non-violent agitation of the people of India.
 SWARAJ PARTY
• SWARAJ PARTY was formed by C.R.Das and Motilal
Nehru in 1923.
• Within the Congress some leaders were tried to mass
struggles and wanted to participate in elections to the
provincial councils
• They felt that it was important to oppose British policies
within the councils ,argue for reform and also
demonstrate that these councils were not truly
democratic .
• C.R.Das and Motilal Nehru formed Swaraj party within
the congress to agree for a return to council politics
 SIMON COMMISSION
• The Simon commission was set up by the new Tory
government in Britain under the leaders hip of Sir John
Simon .
• The commission was set up to look into the functioning of
the constitutional system in India and suggest changes.
This commission was opposed by Indians because : This
commission did not have a single Indian member . They
were all British, therefore , it was opposed . Where ever
the commission went, Indian’s blachflagged it & gave the
slogan “Go back Simon”.
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT
Main events (Circumstances) leading to Salt March & Civil
Disobedience Movement:
1- Failure of the Simon Commission : The commission failed
to satisfy the Indian people & leaders . All the parties
including the congress & the Muslim League, participated
in the demonstrations.
2- Purna Swaraj: In December 1929, under the presidency of
Jawaharlal Nehru, the Lahore Congress formalised the
demand of ‘Purna Swaraj’ or full independence for India. It
was declared that 26th January ,1930, would be celebrated
as the Independence Day .
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT
3- Rejection of Gandhi’s eleven demands: On
31st January 1930, Gandhiji wrote a letter to
Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands to
correct the wrong done to the Indians. Some
demands were of general interest where as
some demands were of different classes.
The Viceroy did not pay any attention to the
demands. That is why he decided to start Civil
Disobedience Movement
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT
4- Economic causes: The Great Depression of
1929 left a great impact on Indian economy ,
especially on agriculture . Price of agricultural
produce began to fall from 1926 & collapsed
after 1930. as the demand for agricultural
goods fell and export declined, peasant found
it defficult to sell their harvest and pay their
revenue. The government refused to lower
the taxes.
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT
5- Support from business class: The business
class was keen on expanding their business &
were against the colonial policies that
restricted business activities. They decided to
provide financial support to the Civil
Disobedience Movement when it was
launched.
 Gandhiji choose salt as a weapon to fight
British Colonialism?
• Salt was something consumed by the rich &
poor alike.
• It was one of the most essential item of food
used in every Indian household
• Indian’s did not have right to make salt and
government used to collect tax on salt
• Salt making was the monopoly of the British
 DANDI MARCH
• Mahatma Gandhi started his Famous salt march
/Dandi March on 12TH March 1930 , from Sabarmati
ashram in Gujarat to coastal town of Dandi.
• 78 trusted volunteers participated in the march.
• The march was over 240 miles.
• The volunteers walked for 24 days, about 10 miles
a day.
• On 6 April he reached Dandi, and ceremonially
violated the law, manufacturing salt by boiling sea
water.
 INDIA DURING THE COURSE OF
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT
• Thousands in different parts of the country broke
the salt law, manufactured salt and demonstrated
in front of government salt factories.
• As the movement spread, foreign cloth was
boycotted, and liquor shops were picketed.
• Peasants refused to pay revenue and chaukidari
taxes, village officials resigned, and in many places
forest people violated forest laws – going into
Reserved Forests to collect wood and graze cattle.
 INDIA DURING THE COURSE OF
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

• Worried by the developments, the colonial government began arresting the

Congress leaders one by one.

• Abdul Ghaffar Khan was arrested in April 1930, angry crowds demonstrated in
the streets of Peshawar, facing armoured cars and police firing. Many were
killed.

• A month later, when Mahatma Gandhi himself was arrested, industrial workers
in Sholapur attacked police posts, municipal buildings, lawcourts and railway
stations – all structures that symbolised British rule.

• The government responded with a policy of brutal repression. Peaceful

satyagrahis were attacked, women and children were beaten, and about
100,000 people were arrested.
 RELAUNCH OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
MOVEMENT

With great apprehension, Mahatma Gandhi

relaunched the Civil Disobedience Movement.
For over a year, the movement continued, but
by 1934 it lost its momentum.
 HOW PARTICIPANTS SAW THE MOVEMENT
Participation of rich peasants of Uttar Pradesh and
Gujarat in Civil Disobedience Movement -
1. In the countryside, rich peasant communities – like
the Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar
Pradesh were active participants

2. They participated in the movement because they

were very hard hit by the trade depression and
falling prices. As their cash income disappeared,
they found it impossible to pay the government’s
revenue demand.
 Participation of rich peasants of Uttar Pradesh and
Gujarat in Civil Disobedience Movement -

3. The refusal of the government to reduce the revenue demand

led to widespread resentment. These rich peasants participated
in the boycott programmes & refused to pay revenues. For them
, the fight for Swaraj was a struggle against high revenues.
4. But they were deeply disappointed when the movement was
called off in 1931 without the revenue rates being revised. So
when the movement was restarted in 1932, many of them
refused to participate
5. The poor peasantry also participated on large scale . The poorer
peasantry were not just interested in the lowering of the
revenue demand. They wanted the unpaid rent to the landlord
to be remitted.
 PARTICIPATION OF BUSINESS COMMUNITY
The business community provide a big boost to the
movement:
 The business community Led by prominent industrialists
like Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G. D. Birla.
 they provided a big boost to the Civil Disobedience
Movement by providing financial assistance
 They also promoted boycott by refusing to buy or sell
imported goods
 they attacked the colonial control over the Indian
economy & supported the Civil Disobedience Movement
when it was first launched
 ATTITUDE OF THE INDIAN MERCHANTS & INDUSTRIALISTS
TOWARDS THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

• BY OPPOSING COLONIAL POLICIES: The industrial class

was keen on expanding their business. So they reacted
against colonial policies that restricted business activities.
They wanted protection against imports of foreign goods
& a rupee. Sterling foreign exchange ratio that would
discourage imports
• FORMING VARIOUS ORGANISATION: To organise
business interests, they formed the Indian Industrial and
Commercial Congress in 1920 and the Federation of the
Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in
1927.
 ATTITUDE OF THE INDIAN MERCHANTS & INDUSTRIALISTS
TOWARDS THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

• SUPPORT TO CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT: The

industrialists attacked colonial control over the Indian
economy, & supported the civil disobedience movement
when it was first launched

• FINANCIAL AID: They gave financial assistance & refused to

buy or sell imported goods

• IDEA OF SWARAJ: Most businessmen came to see swaraj as a

time when colonial restriction on business would no longer
exist & trade & industry would flourish without constraints .
 ROLE OF THE WOMEN IN CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

1. One of the important feature of the CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

MOVEMENT was the large participation of women
2. Thousands of women came out of their homes to listen to
Gandhiji.
3. They participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, and
picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. Many went to jail.
4. Moved by Gandhiji’s call, they began to see service to the
nation as a sacred duty of women.
“THE CONGRESS WAS RELUCTANT TO INCLUDE THE DEMANDS
OF INDUSTRIAL WORKERS IN ITS PROGRAMME OF STRUGGLE”?
• During the First World War, Indian merchants and industrialists had
made huge profits and become powerful. Keen on expanding their
business, they now reacted against colonial policies that restricted
business activities.

• the industrialists attacked colonial control over the Indian economy, and
supported the Civil Disobedience Movement when it was first launched.
They gave financial assistance and refused to buy or sell imported
goods.

• But the Congress was reluctant to include workers’ demands as part of

its programme of struggle. It felt that this would alienate industrialists
and divide the anti- imperial forces.
THE LIMITS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
FOR LONG THE CONGRESS HAD IGNORED THE DALITS?
• for fear of offending the sanatanis, the conservative high-caste Hindus

ROLE PLAYED BY GANDHIJI FOR UPLIFTING : Mahatma Gandhi declared

that swaraj would not come for a hundred years if untouchability was
not eliminated. He called the ‘untouchables’ harijan, or the children of
God, organised satyagraha to secure them entry into temples, and
access to public wells, tanks, roads and schools.
• He himself cleaned toilets to dignify the work of the bhangi (the
sweepers), and persuaded upper castes to change their heart and give
up ‘the sin of untouchability’.
MORAL VALUE: * All human beings are equal
* we should work for the underprivileged
 POONA PACT
• The Poona Pact was signed between Dr.
Ambedkar & Gandhiji in September 1932
• The pact gave the Depressed Classes (later to
be known as the Schedule Castes) reserved
seats in provincial and central legislative
councils, but they were to be voted in by the
general electorate.
 MUSLIM PARTICIPATION
“Some of the Muslim political organisations in India were also
lukewarm in their response to the Civil Disobedience
Movement.” ?
OR
“After the decline of the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat
movement, a large section of Muslims felt alienated from
the Congress.” ?
OR
Large sections of Muslims did not respond to the call for a
united struggle during civil disobedience movement. Explain
 MUSLIM PARTICIPATION
Resons:- 1. Association of congress with Hindu
Mahasabha: After the decline of the Non-Cooperation-
Khilafat movement, a large section of Muslims felt
alienated from the Congress. From the mid-1920s the
Congress came to be more visibly associated with
openly Hindu religious nationalist groups like the Hindu
Mahasabha.
2. Communal clashes: As relations between Hindus and
Muslims worsened, each community organised religious
processions with militant fervour, provoking Hindu-
Muslim communal clashes and riots in various cities.
Every riot deepened the distance between the two
communities.
 MUSLIM PARTICIPATION
3. Issues of Separate electorates: Some of the Muslim leaders
demanded a separate electorate for the Muslims which was not
supported by the congress leaders
4. Issue of reserved seats in the central assembly:
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, one of the leaders of the Muslim League, was
willing to give up the demand for separate electorates, if Muslims
were assured reserved seats in the Central Assembly and
representation in proportion to population in the Muslim-
dominated provinces
5. Status of Muslims in Hindu majority state: Many Muslim leaders
and intellectuals expressed their concern about the status of
Muslims as a minority within India. They feared that the culture
and identity of minorities would be submerged under the
domination of a Hindu majority.
Difference between Non-Cooperation &
Civil Disobedience Movement
 HOME ASSIGNMENT
1. Explain new economic & political conditions created in India
during the First World War.
2. What do you know about the idea of Satyagraha?
3. What were the three local issues in which Gandhiji
experimented his technique of satyagraha during the years
1917-1918? How were these issues resolved?
4. What do you know about the Rowlatt Act? Why did Gandhiji
decide to launch a nationwide “Satyagraha” against the
proposed Rowlatt Act 1919? Explain any three reasons? What
happened in India during the course of Rowlatt Satyagraha?
5. Write a short note on Jallianwala Bagh incident.
 HOME ASSIGNMENT
6. How was the Non-cooperation movement converted into a national
movement by Gandhiji. Explain.
OR
What do you know about the Khilafat issue? Why did Gandhiji consider it
important & supported it?
7. Describe the Non-cooperation programme suggested by Gandhiji.
OR
Mention the main proposals with reference to the Non-cooperation
movement as suggested by Mahatma Gandhi.
8. “The effect of Non-cooperation on the economic front were more
dramatic.” Explain
9. Who wrote Hind Swajaj ? What was the idea forwarded by Gandhiji in 1909?
10. Why did the Non-cooperation movement gradually slow down in the
cities? Give reasons.
 HOME ASSIGNMENT
11. What were the reasons responsible for the movement of
Awadh peasants against Talukdars & landlords? What were the
demands of peasant movements?
12. “The peasant movement ,in Awadh developed in forms that
the Congress leadership was unhappy with”. Explain.
13. Why did Tribal peasants of Andhra Pradesh protest against
the British? How did tribals participate in the Non-cooperation
movement ?
14- What was the idea of Swaraj for the plantation workers of
Assam?
15- What do you know about the Inland Emigration Act?
 HOME ASSIGNMENT
16- Why did Gandhiji decide to withdraw the Non-cooperation
Movement in February 1922 ? Explain the reasons.
17- When & who founded the Swaraj party? Why was the
party formed?
18- What do the know about the Simon Commission ? Why
was it set up? Why was it opposed by Indians?
19.Under what circumstances, the Civil disobedience
movement was launched? Explain.
20. Why did Gandhiji choose salt as a weapon to fight British
colonialism?
THANKS

PRAGYA SINGH SHIKARWAR