MAHATMA GANDHI AND THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT Notes in English Class 12 History Chapter-11 Book-Themes in Indian History-III

Chapter - 11 

Mahatma Gandhi and the National Movement

In the building of the Indian nation, Mahatma Gandhi was the only person who promoted Indian nationalism, so he is considered the "Father of the Nation". Gandhi's contribution to Indian independence is incredible. Gandhi challenged the policies of a powerful colonial empire on the strength of truth and non-violence.

Gandhiji's return to India

1. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi :-

• Gandhiji remained abroad for two decades and returned to India in January 1915 .

• Gandhi spent much of these years in Africa , going there as a lawyer and later becoming a leader of the Indian community in that region.

• It was South Africa that made Gandhi ' Mahatma ' , and it was in South Africa that Gandhi first used his distinctive technique of non-violent protest known as Satyagraha.

• He sought to promote unity among different religions , and warned upper-caste Indians against their discriminatory behavior toward lower-caste people and women.

• When Gandhiji came to India in 1915 , the India of that time was different from the time when he had gone in 1893. India was still a British colony but India had become very active politically.

• The Indian National Congress had by now become an active organisation and the middle class had joined it through the Swadeshi Movement ( 1905-07). There were also two major ideologies.

1. Gangadhar Tilak (Maharashtra) Bipin Chandra Pal (Bengal) Lala Lajpat Rai (Punjab) also known as Lal , Bal , Pal etc. supported militant opposition to British rule.
   
2. There were some liberal groups like Gopal Krishna Gokhale , Mohammad Ali Jinnah who were in favour of continuous efforts.   

• Mahatma Gandhi's political guru - Gopal Krishna Gokhale advised Gandhi to travel through British India for a year so that he could get to know the land and its people and understand their problems.  

2. Gandhiji's first appearance at Banaras Hindu  University inauguration ceremony 

• Among those invited to the inauguration ceremony of Banaras Hindu University in February 1916 were kings and philanthropists whose donations contributed to the establishment of Banaras Hindu University. Some important Congress leaders like Annie Besant were also present at the ceremony.

• When it was Gandhiji's turn to speak, he criticized the Indian elite for not paying attention to the workers and the poor.

• Gandhiji said that though the establishment of Banaras Hindu University was wonderful but seeing the rich and wealthy people there, he expressed concern for the poor people.

• Gandhiji said that freedom for India is not possible until you free yourself from these ornaments .

• Gandhiji said, “ Self-government has no meaning for us so long as we allow the peasants to take almost the entire benefit of their labour for themselves and others . ”

• Our liberation can only be through the peasants; neither lawyers , nor doctors, nor landlords can secure it. Rather than joining in the chorus of self-congratulations, Gandhi chose to remind people of the peasants and workers who, despite forming the majority of the Indian population, were absent from the audience.

3. Gandhiji's early movements 

• The year 1917 was spent by Gandhiji in Champaran in getting the farmers the freedom to grow the crops of their choice.

• In 1918 , Gandhiji was engaged in two campaigns in Gujarat .

First , demanded better working conditions for workers in textile mills in Ahmedabad.

Second - Demanded the state to waive off farmers' taxes after crop failure in Kheda.

A mass leader and the non-cooperation  movement 

1. Non-cooperation beginning and end  

1. Rowlatt Act

• During the World War of 1914-18 , Indian soldiers and many people from Punjab served on the British side in the war . These people were expecting a reward for their service. But instead of a reward, the British gave them the Rowlatt Act.

• The British imposed restrictions on the press and permitted imprisonment without trial. These harsh measures were continued on the basis of the recommendations of a committee headed by Sir Sydney Rowlatt .

• The initiatives in Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda revealed Gandhi as a nationalist with deep sympathy for the poor. Gandhi opposed the law and the bandh was supported by several protests across northern and western India.

• Gandhi led a nationwide campaign against the Rowlatt Act , with protests particularly strong in the Punjab , where life came to a standstill as schools and shops closed.

• Gandhiji was imprisoned while going to Punjab. Local Congress leaders were also arrested. The situation gradually became tense.

• The bloodshed reached its peak in April 1919 in Amritsar , where a British brigadier ordered fire on a nationalist gathering , killing over 400 people in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre .

• It was only through the Rowlatt Satyagraha that Gandhiji became a true national leader.

2. The beginning of a mass movement 

• After the Rowlatt Satyagraha, Gandhiji demanded ' non-cooperation campaign ' against the British.

• Indians were urged not to go to schools , colleges and courts and not to pay taxes.

• Gandhiji said that if non-cooperation was followed properly then India would achieve self-rule within a year.

• Expanding his struggle, Gandhi joined hands with the Khilafat Movement. Gandhiji hoped that the non-cooperation movement and Hindu-Muslim unity would lead to the end of British rule.

3. Impact of the movement 

• The farmers stopped paying taxes.

• In 1921 , there were 396 strikes , in which 6 lakh workers participated.

• In the hills of North Andhra, the tribes refused to obey forest laws.

• The farmers of Awadh did not pay taxes.

• The peasants of Kumaon refused to carry the luggage of the colonial officers.

• For the first time, the foundation of the British rule was shaken by the non-cooperation movement.

4. End of the movement Chauri Chaura incident 

• In February 1922 , a group of peasants attacked a police station at Chauri Chaura Purva in the United Provinces and set it on fire.

• Many policemen lost their lives in this fire incident . Due to this act of violence Gandhiji had to withdraw this movement .

• Thousands of Indians were imprisoned during the Non-Cooperation Movement. Gandhi was also arrested on charges of treason in March 1922.

1. Judge Justice C.N Broomfield 

• It would be impossible to deny the fact that you are of a different class from those whom I have investigated till date or will investigate in future. In the eyes of millions of your countrymen, you are a great patriot and leader because Gandhiji had disobeyed the law. It was necessary for that bench to sentence Gandhiji to 6 years of imprisonment, but Judge Broomfield said that if due to the events happening in India, it becomes possible for the government to reduce these years of sentence and release you, then I will not have any more question about it.

2. Gandhi as a mass leader

• Gandhiji also involved the common people in the movement. Now not only rich people were involved in the movement but common people like farmers , labourers and other artisans also participated in the movement. 
  

• By 1922 , Gandhi had completely transformed Indian nationalism; he fulfilled the promise he had made in his 1916 speech at Banaras Hindu University.

• Now this movement was not only of rich businessmen and intellectuals, Gandhiji also included the common people in it, thousands of farmers , laborers and artisans started participating in the movement.

• Expressing respect towards Gandhiji, people started calling him Mahatma. This kind of identification with the common people could be seen especially in his clothing, where other leaders used to wear western style suits and formal clothes, Gandhiji used to wear a simple dhoti.

• Wherever Gandhiji went, rumours of his miraculous powers spread. At some places, Gandhiji started being called Gandhi Baba and Mahatma Gandhi and words like Gandhi Maharaj also started being used for him.

• As a public leader, Gandhiji always stood with the poor farmers and Gandhiji came to be seen as the sympathiser and messiah of the poor farmers.

• Gandhi Ji propagated the movement in mother tongue. Mahatma Gandhi tried to stress on the unity of Hindus and Muslims due to which the nature of the movement started changing. Praja Mandal was formed to make the princely states understand.

• Due to Gandhiji's attractive personality, many big leaders started joining him. Gandhiji promoted and propagated the spinning wheel.

3. Gandhi and rumours

Many rumours about Gandhiji spread at that time such as:-  

• Gandhiji has been sent by the king to ameliorate the sufferings of the farmers. He has the power to reject the instructions of all local officials. Gandhiji's power is more than that of the British king. With his arrival the colonial rulers will flee from the district.

• The houses of the villagers who criticized Gandhiji mysteriously collapsed and their crops were also destroyed.

• Sikandar Sahu of Basti village said on 15th February that he would believe in Mahatmaji when the 'Kadha' (boiling pot) full of sugarcane juice in his factory (where jaggery is produced) broke into two parts; immediately the pot actually broke into two parts from the middle.

• The farmer from Azamgarh said that he would believe in the authenticity of Mahatma Ji only when the wheat planted in his field turns into sesame; the next day the wheat planted in his field turned into sesame.

4. Expansion of the organization by Gandhiji 

• Mahatma Gandhi was a businessman by caste and a lawyer by profession but his simple life and lifestyle made him very sympathetic to the poor labourers because of his love for working with his hands.

• Many new branches of the Congress were opened and a series of Praja Mandals were being established to promote nationalist principles in the princely state.

• Mahatma Gandhi encouraged conveying the nationalist message in the mother tongue instead of English.

• Gandhi's admirers included both poor farmers and wealthy industrialists.

• Between 1917 and 1922 , a very prominent group of Indians associated themselves with Gandhi, including Mahadev Desai , Vallabhbhai Patel , J. B. Kripalani , Subhas Chandra Bose , Abul Kalam Azad , Jawaharlal Nehru , Sarojini Naidu , Govind Ballabh Pant and C. Rajagopalachari.

5. Gandhiji's social work 

• Mahatma Gandhi was released from jail in 1924 and now he focused his attention on promoting homespun cloth (khadi) and eliminating untouchability.

• Gandhiji was not only a political leader but also a social worker and social reformer. He believed that Indians must be freed from social evils like child marriage and untouchability.

 Salt Satyagraha

• For many years after the end of the Non-Cooperation Movement, Mahatma Gandhi kept himself focused on social reform work. In 1928 , he thought of entering politics again .

1. Simon Commission

• The Government of India Act was introduced in 1919 , it is also known as Montequi-Chelmsford Reforms.

1. Formation of Simon Commission - 1927.

2. Simon Commission came to India – 1928.

3. Chairman of Simon Commission was- John Simon.

4. It had seven members, all the members were British. Simon Commission was opposed because not a single member was from India. Therefore, the Indian public and Congress were not satisfied with it and hence its opposition started .

Oppose :-

1. Indians opposed this, there was protest in Bombay and Calcutta , Simon go back.

2. Subhash Chandra Bose protested in Calcutta.

3. In Lucknow- Jawaharlal Nehru , GB Pant protested.

4. Lahore- Bhagat Singh (Naujwan Bharat Sabha) , Leadership- Lala Lajpat Rai.

5. The police attacked Lala Lajpat Rai with sticks and Lala Lajpat Rai died.

6. The Muslim League under the leadership of Jinnah opposed the Simon Commission.

Lahore session :-

1. In 1929 the Lahore session of the Congress was held and Jawaharlal Nehru was elected President.

2. Complete independence was declared all over India .

3. On 26th January 1930 , Independence Day was celebrated by hoisting the national flag at different places and singing patriotic songs.

2. Salt Satyagraha

1. Dandi March 

• Soon after Independence Day was celebrated, Gandhi announced that he would lead a march to break the British-made law that gave the state a monopoly on the production and sale of salt.

• Gandhiji believed that the use of salt was inevitable in every household and the British were forcing people to buy it at high prices. Targeting this, Gandhiji took action against the British.

• Gandhiji started his journey from his ashram in Sabarmati on 12 March 1930 and reached his destination after three weeks.

2. Salt Satyagraha was a mass movement 

• This movement also witnessed huge public support. Factory workers in towns went on strike, lawyers boycotted British courts , and students refused to go to government educational institutions .

• People joined Gandhiji in the Salt Satyagraha. Seeing the movement growing, the British arrested about 60,000 people; Mahatma Gandhi was also arrested .

• The progress of Gandhi's journey towards the beach is known from the reports sent by the police officers who were monitoring him. These reports also included the speeches given by Gandhi.

• In which he has also asked local authorities to join the movement .

3. Gandhiji's appeal with the movement  

• Gandhiji while addressing the upper caste people in a village named Vasna said that if you raise your voice in favor of Swaraj then you will have to serve the untouchables , just by ending the salt tax or any other tax you will not get Swaraj .

• For Swaraj, you will have to repent for the mistakes you have made against the untouchables. For Swaraj , Hindus, Muslims , Parsis , Sikhs, all will have to unite and come together. These are the steps to Swaraj .

• Men and women of all castes were joining Gandhiji's movement and his meetings. Thousands of volunteers were coming forward for the nationalist cause. Many government officials resigned from their posts .

4. Foreign view on the Salt Satyagraha 

• Time, an American news magazine, used to laugh at Gandhi's physique and made fun of him. The magazine said that his spindle-like body and spider-like pelvis were ridiculed .

• In its first report on the march, Time expressed doubt about the Salt March reaching its destination. It claimed that Gandhi had collapsed on the ground after walking on the second day .

• The magazine did not believe that the frail monk had the strength left in his body to go further .

• Within a week, the magazine's opinion changed. Time wrote that the massive public support that the yatra was receiving had deeply disturbed the British rulers. Now they too began to salute Gandhiji by calling him a saint and politician who was using Christian methods as a weapon against Christians .

5. The Salt March is notable for three reasons:-

1. This trip brought Gandhi into the world's attention.

• This visit gave wide coverage in the European and American press .

2. It increased the participation of women

• This was the first nationalist activity in which women participated enthusiastically .
  
• Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, a socialist activist, persuaded Gandhi not to limit his movement to men only .
  

3. Fear among the British

• Because of this Salt March, the British realized that their rule would not last long and they would have to give Indians a share in the power .

3. Communication 

1. First Round Table Conference - 1930

• Keeping in mind that Indians would also have to share in power, the British government started organizing Round Table Conferences in London. The major leaders of the country were not included in these.

• To proceed with the talks, Gandhiji was released from jail in January 1931 . 

• The next month he had a meeting with the Viceroy after which the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was agreed upon whose main conditions were :- 

1. Withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

2. Release of all prisoners.

3. This included allowing salt production in coastal areas.

4. But this agreement was opposed by the Radical Nationalists because Gandhiji could not get assurance of political independence for Indians from the Viceroy.

2. Second Round Table Conference - 1931

• The second Round Table Conference was held in London in late 1931 , with Gandhi leading the Congress .

• Gandhiji said that his party leads the entire India .

• But this claim was challenged by three parties (Muslim League , Princely States , Ambedkar) .

• Due to which the conference did not yield any result and Gandhiji had to return empty handed . 

3. Civil disobedience movement

• Gandhiji started the Civil Disobedience Movement on returning to India after the Second Round Table Conference .

• The new Viceroy Lord Willingdon had no sympathy for Gandhiji at all. In a personal letter to his sister, Willingdon had written that if Gandhi had not been there, this world would have been truly beautiful .

4. 1935 Government of India Act

• Indians were assured of limited representative government .

• Two years later, elections were held on the basis of limited franchise . 

• The Congress came to power as Prime Ministers in 8 out of 11 provinces, who worked under the supervision of the British Governor .

• The Second World War started in September 1939 .

• Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, both staunch critics of Hitler and the Nazis, decided that the Congress could support their war effort if the British granted India independence after the war ended .

• The government rejected his proposal; in protest the Congress cabinet resigned in October 1939 .

5. Cripps Mission 

• In March 1940 , the Muslim League presented a proposal demanding some autonomy for the Muslim-majority areas; now the conflict became a three-party conflict (Congress , Muslim League , British Government) .

• In 1942 , Churchill sent one of his ministers Stafford Cripps to India to find a way to reach an agreement with Gandhi and the Congress . At the same time, an all-party government was in power in Britain, which included members of the Labor Party who were sympathetic to the Indians .

• But the head of the government, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, was a staunch imperialist .

• In 1942 , Churchill sent one of his ministers, Stafford Cripps, to India to find a way to reach an agreement with Gandhi and the Congress .

• While talking to Cripps, the Congress insisted that if the British government wanted Congress's support in defending India against the Axis powers, the Viceroy should first appoint an Indian as a defence member in his Executive Council, but this was the issue on which the talks broke down .

Quit India Movement

1. “ British leave India ”

• After the failure of the Cripps Mission, Gandhiji decided to launch his third major movement against the British rule.

• This movement, which started in August 1942 , was named “ Quit India ” .

• Gandhi was arrested but young workers across the country continued with strikes and sabotage.

• Socialist members like Jayaprakash Narayan were most active in the Congress.

• Independent governments were established in many districts like Satara in the west and Medinipur in the east.

• The British adopted a tough attitude towards the movement, yet it took a year to suppress this rebellion.

• Lakhs of ordinary Indians were involved in this movement. In this movement, the youth left college and went to jail.

2. Political polarization

• At the same time when Congress leaders went to jail, Jinnah and the Muslim League tried to spread their influence.

• When the World War was about to end, Gandhiji was released. After coming out of jail, he talked a lot with the Congress and Jinnah.

• Gandhiji tried to bring about Hindu-Muslim unity but Jinnah did not agree 

• In 1945 , a Labour Party government was formed in Britain. This government was in favour of granting independence to India.

• At this time Viceroy Lord Wavell organised a meeting between representatives of the Congress and the Muslim League.

• Fresh elections were held for the provincial legislatures in early 1946 and the Congress achieved overwhelming success in the general category.

• The Muslim League got majority in the seats reserved for Muslims and political polarization had taken place.

3. Cabinet Mission

• The Cabinet Mission came to India in 1946 .

• In this mission, an attempt was made to bring about a compromise between the Congress and the Muslim League but the Cabinet Mission was not successful in this attempt.

• After the talks broke down, Jinnah called for a Direct Action Day in support of the League's demand for the creation of Pakistan. 16 August 1946 was fixed as the date for this day.

• On the same day bloody clashes broke out in Kolkata. This violence began from Kolkata and spread to rural Bengal , Bihar, United Provinces and Punjab.

• In February 1947 , Lord Mountbatten replaced Wavell as Viceroy and he announced that British India would be granted independence but would be divided.

4. Gandhiji at the time of independence 

• Mahatma Gandhi did not participate in the celebrations taking place in the capital on 15 August 1947 as he was in Calcutta at that time.

• But even there he neither participated in any program nor hoisted the flag anywhere; Gandhiji was on a 24- hour fast that day .

• The freedom they fought for so long went in vain because Hindus and Muslims were killing each other and their nation was now divided.

• On the evening of January 30 , during Gandhiji's daily prayer meeting, a young man shot him and killed him .

• His assassin, who surrendered some time later, was Nathuram Godse , who was the editor of a radical Hindutva newspaper and had denounced Gandhi as a sycophant of Muslims.

Sources to know Mahatma Gandhi

1. Personal Writing / Speech :

• In the Harijan newspaper, Gandhi includes the letters he received from people and his speeches also tell us about Gandhiji.
  ( Nehru Collection - Bunch Of Old Letters)

2. Various Newspapers :

• Newspapers published in English and other languages ​​were also a source of the national movement and these newspapers kept an eye on every activity of Gandhiji.

3. Government Records :

• The colonial rulers always kept a close watch on those elements whom they considered to be against them and we find information regarding Gandhiji in the police reports too.
  
  

4. Biographies 

• Autobiographies provide details of a rich past. These stories are written from memory, which tells us what the writer remembered and what he found important. While reading we should keep in mind what the author did not write.