NATIONALISM IN INDIA
The struggle against colonialism.

.
The sense of nationalism was created in the
minds of the Europeans as well as the
Indians.
But there was a difference. In Europe, the
feeling of nationalism was created in the
minds of the people in order to achieve
Unification. In India, the feeling of
nationalism was created in the minds of
people in order to fight againstColonialism
and achieve Freedom.
India was a colony of Britain. Colonialism
was a result of the spread of Globalization.
People began discovering their unity in the
process of their struggle with colonialism.

The FirstWorldWar created a new economic and political situation.The Economic field was affected very
badly. Britain had participated in the first world war.To meet their war needs, they imposed very taxes on the
Indians in the form War Loans,Customs Duties and IncomeTaxes.They even imposed taxes on poor farmers.
This led to an extreme hardship for the common people.

The villages were called upon to supply soldiers and Forced
Recruitment in the rural areas caused widespread anger.The
people weren’t ready to join the military but they were
forced to.
This was followed by the Influenza Epidemic in 1920. Food
crops failed and there was shortage of food. India was
literally hit by a famine at this time. Proper medical facilities
we re not available at that time. Proper food was just a
dream. According to the census of 1921, 12 to 13 million
people perished as a result of famines and the epidemic.The
Indians wanted to fight against the Britishers.They wanted
someone to lead them.

MahatmaGandhi was born on 2nd October 1869, in Porbandar,Gujarat. He
studied in London and later went to South Africa and successfully fought the
racist regime with a novel method of mass agitation, which he called
Satyagraha. MahatmaGandhi returned to India in the year 1915 and introduced
his new method of mass agitation, the Satyagraha.
Satyagraha meansTruth only wins. It suggested that if the cause was true, if the
struggle was against injustice, then physical force was not necessary to fight
the oppressor. MahatmaGandhi believed thatTruth can change a person. He
tried to unite the Indians through Satyagraha and Non-Violence.

Gandhiji went to Bihar and gathered the peasants and farmers and organized the Champaran Movement in
1916 to fight against the forced Opium and Indigo cultivation. In 1917, he organized a Satyagraha in Kheda of
Gujarat. The peasants of Kheda were affected by the crop failure and the plague epidemic and couldn’t pay
revenue to the British Government. This Satyagraha allowed the peasants to demand the reduction of the
revenue. In 1918, Gandhiji organized a Satyagraha in Ahmadabad for the cotton mill workers.

RowlattAct was passed through the Imperial Legislative
Council despite the united opposition of the Indian
members. According to this act, the government can
repress public meetings and gatherings against the British
Government.The political leaders leading such activities
can be imprisoned for 2 years, with no trials held.This was
done so as to keep Indians inside their homes itself.
MahatmaGandhi decided to launch a satyagraha against
this unjust act. He declared a hartal on 6th of April in the
year 1919. Rallies were organized in various cities and the
workers went on strike in railway workshops.Afraid that
the communication lines such as the railways and
telegraph would be disrupted, the British administration
decided to clamp down on nationalists. Local leaders were
picked up from Amritsar and Gandhiji was barred from
entering Delhi.

GENERAL DYER
JALLIANWALA
BAGH
MASSACRE
A new leader, General Dyer was
appointed in police department. He
was a cruel leader.
Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place
on 13th April,1919 in Punjab.
Jallianwala Bagh was actually a closed
park where a large gathering was
present.This gathering included
people from both groups, the people
who were protesting against the
Britishers and the people who were
there to attend the annual Baisakhi
fair.This information had reached
Dyer. He arrived at the location and
ordered to open fire on the people.

He blocked the exits, restricting the people to escape.This cased the death of more than 100 people.
General Dyer declared later that his objective was to ‘produce a moral effect. He wanted to create a feeling
of terror of and awe in the minds of the Satyagrahis. The people were angry at this and they stormed out
and went on for strikes, clashes with the police and they even attacked government buildings.The
government responded with brutal repression, seeking to humiliate and terrorize people.

There was nation-wide violence since the Jallianwala Bagh.
Gandhiji realized that he should bring the Hindus and Muslims
together so that he can see unity in the country. One way to
unite them was through the Khilafat issue.The 1st World war
had ended with the defeat of OttomanTurkey.There were
rumors that a harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on
the Ottoman emperor- the spiritual head of the Islamic world.
To defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers, a Khilafat committee
was formed in Bombay in March 1919.A young generation of Muslim leaders like the brothers Muhammad
Ali and Shaukat Ali, along with the help of MahatmaGandhi , led the Khilafat movement.
Gandhiji saw this as an opportunity to bring Muslims under the umbrella of a unified national movement.

Non-Cooperation was a new method of mass agitation introduced by MahatmaGandhi. In his famous book
Hind Swaraj, MahatmaGandhi declared that British rule was established in India with the cooperation of
Indians, and had survived only because of this cooperation. If Indians refuse to cooperate, British rule in India
would collapse within a year, and Swaraj [Freedom] would come.The first step in launching a non-
cooperation movement was with the surrender if titles that the government awarded, and a boycott of civil
services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools and foreign goods.

f
Students and teachers stopped going to government institutions.Government workers resigned from their
jobs. MahatmaGandhi and RabindranathTagore returned the titles that were given to them.
The economic sector was severely affected. Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed and
foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.The import of foreign goods halved between 1921 and 1922, its value
dropping from Rs 102 crore to 57 crore. In many places merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign
goods or finance trade. People began discarding imported clothes and wearing only Indian ones, production
of Indian textile mills went up.

But in cities, non-cooperation movement slowed down gradually.There were reasons for this slow down.
Khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass produced mill cloth and poor people could not afford to buy
it.The boycott of British institutions posed a problem. For the movement to successful, alternative Indian
institutions had to be set up so that they could be used in the place of the British ones .These were slow to
come up. So the students and teachers began trickling back to government schools and lawyers joined back
work in government courts.
INTHE RURAL AREAS:
The Non-cooperation spread to the rural areas from the urban cities. But it was not as effective as in the cities.
The Non-Cooperation movement in the rural areas called SWADESHI MOVEMENT.This movement was similar
to that of the tribal movements.

The Swadeshi Movement was the most effective in Awadh.The peasants of
Awadh were led by Baba Ramchandran. He was once an indentured laborer in
Fiji. He fought against the talukdars and landlords and against their huge
taxation system. He also fought against the Begar system.This movement
demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, and social boycott of
oppressive landlords.
The same Non-cooperation movement was called GUERILLA MOVEMENT in the Gudem
hills of Andhra Pradesh. It was launched by the tribal groups.They fought against the
forest measures introduced by the British government.These tribal groups were led by
Alluri Sitaram Raju. He was a follower of MahatmaGandhi. He claimed himself as a
magician and also claimed that he can cure people’s depression. Raju could make
Astrological predictions and boasted that he could even survive bullets. He spread to the
tribal groups about the MahatmaGandhi and the achievements of the Swadeshi
movement. But he was a violent person and attacked the police station by killing the
British officers. He was arrested and was executed.

The Plantation workers of Assam had a completely different
idea of Swaraj. For them Swaraj meant to be free from the
landlords.They were suffering a lot from the Inland Emigration
Act of 1859. According to this act, the Plantation workers were
not allowed to leave the plantation grounds without the
permission of the Plantation owner.When they heard about
the Non-cooperation movement, they left the tea gardens and
headed home, launching a swaraj movement. But they were
caught and were brutally beaten up by the police.

However, this movement did not last long.This movement only
caused violence everywhere which disappointedGandhi. He
decided to call of the movement since this wasn’t his idea of
Satyagraha. He called off the movement in February 1922. He
said that the Satyagrahis must me properly trained before they
would be ready for mass struggles.They should know how to
properly face aggression.

SIMON COMMISSION
The newTory Government In Britain established the Simon Commission in India under the leadership of Sir
John Simon. It was set up in order to look into the functioning and constitutional system of India and
suggest any changes. It was set up for a good purpose, but there were no Indian members in it. If the
commission was set up for the betterment of India, It should have at least one Indian member so as to
represent the ideas and emotions of the Indians and suggest a valid change. Hence, the Indians were
completely against the setting up of this commission.When the SimonCommission arrived in India in 1928,
it was greeted with the slogan, “SIMONGO BACK”.

THE LAHORE CONGRESS SESSION
In December 1929, under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru,
the Lahore Congress formalized the demand of ‘Poorna Swaraj’.
or full independence for India. It was declared that 26 January
1930, would be celebrated as the Independence Day when people
were to make a pledge to struggle for complete independence.
But the celebrations attracted very little of attention. So Gandhi
had to find a way to relate this abstract idea of freedom to more
concrete issues of everyday life.

THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT LAUNCH ANDTHE SALT MARCH
MahatmaGandhi realized that he should find an interest that is common among all the people irrespective
of their caste, creed or religion. Salt was something consumed by the rich and the poor alike., it was one of
the most essential items of food. The tax on salt and the government monopoly over its production,
Gandhi declared, revealed the most oppressive face of the British rule. So Gandhiji decided to use Salt as a
weapon.

On 31st January, 1930, Gandhi sent a letter to LordViceroy Irwin stating eleven demands. His letter was, in a
way, an ultimatum. If the demands were not fulfilled by 11th March, the letter stated, the Congress would
launch a Civil Disobedience campaign. Irwin was unwilling to negotiate. So Mahatma Gandhi decided to start
his famous Salt March. He was accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers from Sabarmati Ashram.They
marched 240 miles, from Sabarmati Ashram to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi , for 24 days, 10 miles per
day. While on this journey, Gandhi spread his ideas of Swaraj with the people.On 6th April the procession
reached Dandi.Gandhiji ceremonially violated the Salt laws, manufacturing salt by boiling sea water.This
marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
Now people were asked not only to refuse to cooperate with the Britishers but also to break the colonial
rules.

Unfortunately, Civil Disobedience also finally led to violence, arrests and deaths.The frightened government
responded with a policy of brutal repression. Peaceful satyagrahis were attacked, women and children were
beaten, and about 100,000 people were arrested.
MahatmaGandhi called off the movement. He was also arrested with the others. MahatmaGandhi and Irwin
entered into a pact, the Gandhi-Irwin pact in which Gandhi agreed to attend the RoundTable Conference in
London while the British Government agreed to release political prisoners. Gandhi kept his word and went
to London but the British Government refused to release the political prisoners.

THEVARIOUS PARTICIPANTS
 BUSINESS CLASS
G.D Birla and PurushottamdasThakurdas were the most important industrialists of
that time. During the 19th century and the first world war, the sales of their Iron
and Steel Industries went up due to the war demands of the Britishers. They
supported the Civil Disobedience movement because of the boycott of foreign
products and foreign industries.They established two organizations, Indian
Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920 and the Federation of the Indian
Chamber of Commerce of Industries in 1927.After the failure of the Civil
Disobedience Movement, they decided to withdraw their support.
They were apprehensive of the spread 0f militant activities and worried about
prolonged disruption of business, as well as of the growing socialism amongst the
younger members of the Congress.

 WOMEN
Women came out in large numbers and supported MahatmaGandhi.They
participated in all movements of Non-cooperation andCivil Disobedience.
Most of them were from rich and wealthy families. From Rural areas, they
came from rich peasant households.They realized that sacrificing their lives
for their country is the most sacred duty. Gandhiji convinced that it was the
duty of the women to look after home and hearth, be good mothers and good
wives.The Congress was reluctant to allow women to hold any position of
authority within the organization. It was keen only on their symbolic presence.

 Different groups of the society had different ideas of Swaraj.
 The Dalits called themselves weaker sections or low class and never participated in the Civil Disobedience
Movement .
 The Congress party had to interest on the Dalits and showed no consideration on them. Congress party
contained people who belonged to high class family.
 After the failure of the Khilafat Movement, the Muslims were alienated.They cooperated in the Civil
Disobedience movement.They set up organizations and fought for their religion.This led to the growth of
Communalism in India.
 The Muslims demanded a separate electorate, reserved seats in the Central Assembly and representation
in proportion to population in the Muslim-dominated provinces.
 The Muslims refused to cooperate with the Congress party.

The Dalits were called ‘Harijans’ by Gandhi, meaning children of god.The Harijans did not have any rights in the
society.They began organizing themselves, demanding reserved seats in educational institutions, and a
separate electorate that would choose dalit members for legislative councils.
Dr. B.R.Ambedkar emerged as their leader and organized the Dalits Depressed Class Association in 1930. He
clashed with Gandhi at the 2nd RoundTable Conference by demanding separate electorates for dalits.When
the BritishGovernment conceded Ambedkar’s demand, Gandhiji began a fast unto death. He believed that
separate electorates for dalits would slow down the process of their integration into a society.Ambedkar
ultimately accepted Gandhiji’s position and the result was the Poona Pact of September 1932. It gave the
Depressed classes reserved seats in provincial and Central LegislativeCouncils

The feeling was spread among the Indians through History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints
and symbols.
The identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.The image was first
created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1970’s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the
motherland.AbanindranathTagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In that painting Bharat
Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure who is calm, composed and divine and spiritual. Devotion to this
mother came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.

Sense of Nationalism also developed through a movement to revise Indian folklore. In Bengal, Rabindranath
Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival.
Some of the symbols were unified. During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolor flag was designed. It
had eight lotuses representing the eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus
and Muslims. By 1921 Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolor and had a spinning wheel
in the center, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help.Carrying the flag ,holding it aloft, during marches
became a symbol of defiance.

Another means of creating a feeling of nationalism was through reinterpretation of history.The British
saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response, Indians began
looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements.They wrote about the glorious
developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and
culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished.

Growing anger against colonial government was bringing together various groups and classes of
Indians into a common struggle for freedom in the first half of 20th century.The Congress under the
leadership of MahatmaGandhi tried to channel people’s grievances in organised movements for
independence.Through such movements the nationalists tried to forge a national unity. But as we have
seen, diverse groups and classes participated in these movements with varied aspirations and
expectations.As their grievances were wide-ranging, freedom from colonial rule also meant different
things to different people.The Congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure
that the demands of one group and did not alienate another.This is precisely why the unity within the
movement often broke down.The high points of Congress activity and Nationalist unity were followed
by phases of disunity and inner conflict between groups. In other words, what was emerging a nation
with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.

DONE BY: AASHNY.J.KRISHNAN
X ‘A’