1. 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: * Non-cooperation Movement:-
Gandhi coined the term Satyagraha to describe The Rowlatt Act was law passed by the British
his philosophy of non-violent resistance. The concept Raj in India in March 1919, indefinitely extending "emer-
was influenced by the notion of ahimsa in the Hindu gency measures" (of the Defense of India Regulations
Upanishads and the tenets of Jainism, as well as vari- Act) enacted during the first world war in order to
ous theorists of non-violent resistance and non-resis- control public unrest and root out conspiracy passed
tance including Jesus (particularly The Sermon on the on the recommendations of the Rawlatt Commission,
mount) the Imam Hussein, Leo Tolstoy (particularly named for its chairman, British judge Sir Sidney Rowlatt,
The Kingdom of God is within you), John Ruskin (par- this act effectively authorized the government to im-
ticularly Unto This Last) and Henry David Thoreau prison, without trial, any person suspected of terrorism
(particularly Civil Disobedience). living in the Raj. The Rowlatt Acts gave British imperial
A small prize was therefore announced in authorities power to deal with revolutionary activities.
Indian opinion to be awarded to the reader who in- 13 April, 1919, in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in
vented the best designation for our struggle. We thus Amritsar, Punjab. The British Military Commander,
received a number of suggestions. The meaning of the Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, blocked the main
struggle had been then fully discussed in Indian opin- entrance and ordered his soldiers to fire into an un-
ion and the competitors for the prize had fairly suffi- armed and unsuspecting crowd of some 5000 men,
cient material to serve as a basis for their exploration. women and children. They had assembled at Jallianwala
Shri Maganlal Gandhi was one of the competitors and Bagh, a walled in courtyard in defiance of the ban. A
he suggested the word Sadagraha, meaning "Firmness total of 1,651 rounds were fired killing 379 people and
in a good cause". I liked the word, but it did not fully wounding 1,137 in the episode, which dispelled war-
represent the whole idea I wished it to connote. time hopes of home rule and goodwill in a frenzy of
I therefore corrected it to "Satyagraha". Truth post-war reaction. It was the Rowlatt Satyagraha that
(Satya) implies love and firmness (Agraha) engenders made Gandhiji a truly National Leader.
and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus Emboldened by its success, Gandhiji called
began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha, that is for a campaign of "non-cooperation" with British Rule.
to say, the force which is born of truth and Love or non- Indians who wished colonialism no end were asked to
voilence and gave up the use of the phrase "passive stop attending schools, colleges and law courts and
resistance", in connection with it, so much so that even not pay taxes. In sum, they were asked to adhere to a
in English writing we often avoided it and used instead "renuriciation of (all) voluntary association with the
the word "Satyagraha" itself or some other equivalent British Government." If non-cooperation was effec-
English phrase. tively carried out, said Gandhiji, India would win Swaraj
Gandhi, the exponent of the Satyagraha move- within a year to further broaden the struggle he had
ment, staged his first Satyagraha in Champaran, in joined hands with the Khilafat Movement that sought
Bihar. I was in 1917. The poor peasants, the indigo to restore the Caliphate, a symbol of Pan-Islamism which
growers, of the district invited Gandhi to go there to see had recently been abolished by the Turkish Ruler Kemal
for himself the grievances of the much exploited peas- Attaturk.
ants there. Champaran was on the North-Western cor- Chauri Chaura is a town near Gorakhpur, Uttar
ner of the Bihar province. The River Gandak flows Pradesh, India. The town is famous for an event that
though this area. The river changed its course from took place on 4 February, 1922 during British Rule when
time to time, leaving large lakes along its dried up an occupied Police Chowki was set on fire by a Nation-
courses. It was along the banks of these lakes the alist Mob, killing 23 of the police occupants. In the
indigo factories were set up. years of 1920, Indians launched a nationwide revolt
* Various Satyagraha Movement now recognized as the Non-cooperation Movement,
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2. 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 the history of Indian Nationalism. There are three dis-
Acts of 1919, and lack of human freedom and self- tinct phases that mark the development of Indian Na-
government for Indians in their own country. Mahatma tionalism. In the first phase, the ideology of the mod-
Gandhi was the leader of the nationwide revolts orga- erates dominated the political scenario. This was fol-
nized by the Indian National Congress based upon civil lowed by the prominence of the extremist ideologies. In
disobedience or Satyagraha by peaceful means alone:- the third phase of Indian Nationalism the most signifi-
Salt Satyagraha: - cant incident was the rise of M.K. Gandhi, popularly
The Salt Satyagraha was a campaign of non- known as Mahatma Gandhi, to power as the leader of
violent protest against the British Sal tax in colonial Indian National Movements. Under his spirited guid-
India which began with the salt March to Dandi on ance, the National Movements of the country took
March 12, 1930. It was the first Act of organized oppo- shape.
sition to British Rule after Purna Swaraj, the declaration The Indians learnt how apparently philosophi-
of Independence by the Indian National Congress. cal tenets like non-violence and passive resistance,
Mahatma Gandhi led the Dandi March from his could be used to wage political battles. The programs
Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, Gujarat to make Salt tax and policies adopted in the Movements spearheaded
free with growing numbers of Indians joining him along by Gandhi reflected his political ideologies of ahimsa
the way. When Gandhi broke the Salt laws in Dandi at and Satyagraha. While the Non-cooperation Move-
the conclusion of the March on April 6, 1930, it sparked ment was built on the lines of non-violent, non-coop-
large scale acts of civil disobedience against the British eration the essence of the civil Disobedience Move-
Raj Salt laws by millions of Indians. ment was defying of the British laws. Through his
Gandhi was arrested on May 5, 1930, just days leadership to the National Movements he not only
before his planned raid on the Dharasana Salt works. buttressed his political stance but also played a crucial
The Dandi March and the ensuing Dharasana role in unification of the country, awakening of the
Satyagraha drew world wide attention to the Indian masses, and bringing politics within the arena of the
Independence Movement through extensive newspa- common man.
per and newsreel coverage. The Satyagraha against Quit India Movement:
the Salt tax continued for almost a year ending with - In May 1942 the "Quit India" slogan was
Gandhi's release from jail and negotiations with Viceroy launched by Gandhi. His new program was for an "or-
Lord Irwin at the Second Round Table Conference over derly British withdrawal from India". Shortly after mid-
80,000 Indians were jailed as a result of the Salt night of 7 August, 1942 Gandhi addressed the assembled
Satyagraha. The Campaign had a significant effect on delegates: "Everyone of you should, from this moment,
changing world and British attitudes toward Indian consider himself free man or woman and even of acts
independence and caused large numbers of Indians to as if you are free and no longer under the heel of this
actively join the fight for the first time, but failed to win imperialism …." Gandhi made the thundering procla-
major concessions from the British. mation: "We would wing the war by fight. Our motto
The Salt Satyagraha campaign was based would be 'Do or Die'. This declaration of Gandhi caught
upon Gandhi's principles of non-violent protest called the imagination of the congress rank and file and rather
Satyagraha, which he loosely translated as "truth force". injected in them "a glow of freedom".
In early 1930 the Indian National Congress chose This pronouncement of Gandhi had a pro-
Satyagraha as their main tactic for winning Indian in- found and immediate effect upon the masses of the
dependence from British rule and appointed Gandhi to country. Thus, under Gandhi's leadership the struggle
organize the campaign. Gandhi chose the 1882 British for independence entered into the third stage. The new
Salt Act as the first target of Satyagraha. The Salt Mach movement launched by Gandhi in August 1942 is popu-
to Dandi, and the beating of hundreds of non-violent larly called the "Quit India Movement". This was an-
protesters in Dharasana, demonstrated the effective other giant fight of the entire nation under the leader-
use of civil disobedience as a technique for fighting ship of Gandhi who by that time became the pole star
social and political injustice. The Satyagraha teach- of Indian freedom struggle. Even Subhash Chandra
ings of Gandhi and the March to Dandi had a signifi- Bose who was known for his political differences with
cant influence on American civil rights activist Martin Gandhi hailed this new venture of Gandhi with these
Luther King, Jr. and his fight for civil rights for blacks words : " New chapter in Indian freedom struggle began
and other minority groups in the 1960s. with the Quit India Movement".
Strong Resolution And Civil Disobedience :- Objectives:-
The Disobedience Movement led by M.K. 1) If the resolution accepted by INC is brought into
Gandhi, it the year 1930 was an important milestone in implementation by the Hindus, then freedom can be
SHODH, SAMIKSHA AUR MULYANKAN 7

3. International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, April, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL. IV * ISSUE-39
brought to India within a year. stressed upon the legal work. And so a special impor-
2) Non-cooperation had reached to every corner and tance had developed to the Satyagraha Movement.
hut. The work of national independence should
3) Due to non-cooperation movement a national awak- reach to the common masses was done by Gandhiji
ening had started to take place at a national level. through the Non-cooperation Movement, the further
4) Lakhs of people had participated in this great struggle growth of National Movement was carried out through
of Gandhiji. Hindu-Muslim, rich and poor all were in it. the education got from this movement. The Sun which
Even age old people and women had participated in this gave us light and heat has now set. We are struggling
movement. in the darkness.
5) The great key of 'Do or Die' was given to this freedom At last looking at the great work of Gandhiji,
fight. it can be said that, today everywhere the overflow that
Evaluation is seen of violence, torture, foreign acceptance, selfish-
Gandhiji gave the people a proper instrument ness, types of terrorism, communal - religious riots can
to fight against the Britishers. The weapon was of non- be removed only by bringing forward the thoughts of
violence. But its edge was too sharp. Gandhiji did not Gandhiji. There is no doubt that it can be useful as a
stop only by giving the programme of fight but also light of guidance.
R E F E R E N C E
1) K.V. Rajendra, 2010, Modern History of India, Pacific Page No.:- 196.
Publication Delhi, Page No.:- 167 5) Gatur Shaikh History of Modern India, Pritam Publication
2) Anand Raj, 2009, Mahatma Gandhi and Salt Satyagraha, Jalgaon, Page No.:- 242
Swastik Publications Delhi, Page No.:- 153. 6) Freedom Fighter G.P. Pradhan, 1987, Pune Publication,
3) Muller Bhattacharjee, 1988, India wins independence, Ashish Page No.:- 235.
Publishing house New Delhi, Page No.:- 73.
4) Somnath Rode, 1998, Modern India, Publishers Nagpur,
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