INDEX

1.EARLY STRUGGLES OF MAHATHMA GANDHI………..1 2.JALLIAN WALA BAGH MASSACRE………………………5 3.NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT………………………7 4.POORNA SWARAJ…………9 5.QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT….11 6.TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE……15

i

1. EARLY STRUGGLES OF MAHATMAGANDHI

1

CHAMPARAN SATHYAGRAHA The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was the first satyagraha movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in British India and is considered a historically important rebellion in the Indian independence movement. It was a farmer's uprising that took place in Champaran district of Bihar in the Indian subcontinent, during the British colonial period. The farmers were protesting against having to grow indigo with barely any payment for it. When Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915 and saw peasants in Northern India oppressed by indigo planters, he tried to use the same methods that he had used in South Africa to organize mass uprisings by people to protest against injustice. Champaran Satyagraha was the first popular satyagraha movement. The Champaran Satyagraha gave direction to India's youth and freedom struggle, which was tottering between moderates who prescribed Indian participation within the British colonial system, and the extremists from Bengal who advocated the use of violent methods to topple British colonial rule in India. Under colonial-era laws, many tenant farmers were forced to grow some indigo on a portion of their land as a condition of their tenancy. This indigo was used to make dye. The Germans had invented a cheaper artificial dye so the demand for indigo fell. Some tenants paid more rent in return for being let off from growing indigo. However, during the First World War the German dye ceased to be available and so indigo became profitable again. Thus many tenants were once again forced to grow it on a portion of their land- as was required by their lease. Naturally, this created much anger and resentment.

2

AHMEDABAD COTTON MILL STRIKE

Gandhi used Satyagraha and hunger strike for the first time during an industrial dispute between the owners and workers of a cotton mill in Ahmedabad.The owners wanted to withdraw the plague bonus to the workers while the workers were demanding a hike of 35% in their wages.During the peaceful strike led by Gandhi, he underwent a hunger strike.The Ahmedabad Mill strike was successful and the workers were granted the wage hike they wanted. In all these movements, Gandhi was able to involve the masses including farmers, artisans and even the so-called lower castes. This was a change from the previous movements when the participation was limited to the upper and the middle classes.

3

KHEDA SATHYAGRAHA The Kheda the Kheda

Satyagraha

of

1918 was

district of Gujarat in India

a satyagraha movement

organised

in

by MahatmaGandhi

during the period of the British. It was a major revolt in the Indian independence movement. It was the third Satyagraha movement, which was launched 4 days after the Ahmedabad mill strike. After the successful Satyagraha conducted at Champaran in Bihar, Gandhi organised the movement to support peasants who were unable to pay the revenue because of famine and plague epidemic.

4

2. JALLIAN WALABAGH MASSACRE

The Jallianwala

Bagh

massacre,

also

known

as

the Amritsar

massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, to protest against

the Rowlatt

Act and arrest of

pro-independence

activists Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal. In response to the public gathering, the temporary brigadier general, R. E. H. Dyer, surrounded the protesters with his Gurkha, Baloch, Rajput and Sikh troops from 29th Gurkhas, the 54th Sikhs and the 59th Scinde Rifles of the British Indian Army. The Jallianwala Bagh could only be exited on one side, as its other three sides were enclosed by buildings. After blocking the exit with his troops, he ordered them to shoot at the crowd, continuing to fire even as the protestors tried to flee. The troops kept on firing until their ammunition was exhausted. Estimates of those killed vary between 379 and 1,500 or more people and over 1,200 other people were injured of whom 192 were seriously injured.The massacre at Jallian walabagh intensified the protests at the national level.Gandhiji said “if

the battle of Plassey laid the foundation for the british rule;

Jallianwalabagh shook the foundation “ 5

ROWLATT ACT The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a law that applied in British India. It was a legislative

council

Council in Delhi on

act 18

passed

March

by

1919,

the Imperial

indefinitely

Legislative

extending

the

emergency measures of preventive indefinite detention, imprisonment without trial and judicial review enacted in the Defence of India Act 1915 during the First World War. It was enacted in the light of a perceived threat from revolutionary nationalists of re-engaging in similar conspiracies

as

had

occurred

during

the

war which

Government felt the lapse of the Defence of India Act would enable.

6

the

3.NON CO-OPERATION MOVEMENT The first national level struggle by the Indian National Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi was the non-cooperation movement. The confidence gained from the anti- Rowlatt protest motivated Gandhiji to declare non-cooperation against the British. Let's see the characteristics of non-cooperation policy adopted by Mahatma Gandhi. Given below are some of the examples of how the Indian society responded to Gandhiji's appeal for non-cooperation. Farmers in Awadh refused to pay taxes. The tribal groups in northern Andhra entered the forests and collected the forest produces violating the forest laws. Farmers in Uttar Pradesh refused to carry the luggage of the colonial official Workers struck work. Lawyers boycotted courts. Students quitted colleges and schoolsrun by the British. The public, including women, burnt foreign clothes onthe streets. In addition to his appeal for non-cooperation, Gandhiji motivated the people to participate in constructive programmes. Inspired by this, people began to make indigenous products, spin khadi cloth usingcharka, establish national schools andpopularise Hindi. Kashi Vidya Pith GujaratVidya pith, Jamia Millia, etc. are some of the national educational institutions startedduring this time. Students who boycotted Englisheducation were attracted to national educationalinstitutions.

7

KHILAFAT MOVEMET

During the same period Maulana Mohamad Ali and Maulana Shoukath Ali intensified the activities of the Khilafat Movement. By declaring the Khilafat Movement as a part of Indian national movement, Gandhiji ensured active participation of Muslims in the freedom struggle. He travelled across India with Khilafat leaders and propagated his ideologies.As a result :  Anti-British feeling spread to the nook and corner of the nation.  Hindu-Muslim unity was intensified

8

4.POORNA SWARAJ The Lahore session of the Indian National Congress held in 1929under the chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru was a turning point inthe history of freedom movement in India. The session declared that the ultimate aim of Indian freedom strugglewas to attain complete freedom (Poorna Swaraj) for the country It also resolved to start the civil disobedience movement under theleadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT With the civil disobedience Gandhiji meant to disobey all anti-popularand anti-democratic civil laws made by the British government. As apart of this movement, Gandhiji proposed the following:

PROPOSALS PUT FORWARD BY GANDHIJI

9

Let's examine the reasons why he selected salt as a powerful weapon against the British. 

Salt tax constituted two fifth portion of theincome collected by the British through taxes.

 This tax was a heavy burden for the poor people.  The British government banned smallscale indigenous

salt

production. 

There was three fold hike on salt price. 

The demand for lifting salt tax was a

slogan suitable to inspire all segmentsof the

Round Table Conferences The British government convened at James Palace in London three Round Table conferences in 1930, 1931 and 1932 to discuss the administrative

society.

***********************************************

Inspired by the call of Gandhiji, people in various partsof the country started to produce salt on their own,violating the British

Kerala,Vedaranyam Bombay

reforms to be implemented in India. Representing Indian National Congress

regulations.

Bengal

in

Payyannur in

Tamil

Nadu,

Maharashtra,Noakhali

and

North

West

in in

Frontier

Provincewere some of the centres of this

protest.

As

part

ofthe

protest,

Gandhiji attended the volunteers made salt and distributed it Second Round Table tothe public, hoisted national flag and chanted antiConference. Britishslogans. The British police severely tortured a team ofvolunteers

led

by

Sarojini

Naidu

who

had

set

out

toDharasana salt field in Gujarat. Gandhiji was arrested Sarojini Naidu and the movement was suppressed callously. 10

5.QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT

Quit

India

was

yet

another

popularmovement

like

the

CivilDisobedience Movement. It was a mass movementbased on the ideology of non-violence(Ahimsa) meant to force the British toleave the country offering completefreedom to Indians . Let us examine some factors that causedQuit India Movement. Reluctance of the British to implement constitutional reforms in India Public disgust with price hike and famine The assumption that the British would be defeated in the Second WorldWar As part of this movement, Gandhiji called for the following: Princely states shall recognise the sovereignty of their people Farmers shall not pay land tax Government

officials

shall

disclose

their

loyalty

to

IndianNational Congress without resigning their positions Without quitting their positions in the army, soldiers shall disobey orders to shoot and kill Indians If possible, students shall boycott education till attaining freedom 11

The British government suppressed the movement very severely and arrested

leaders

uncontrolled

including

mob

Mahatma

demolished

Gandhi.

government

In

offices,

protest, electric

the lines

andtransportation facilities. At the end of 1942, India was under the fireof

popular

unrest.

The

Quit

India

movement

was

a

clear

indicationof the people's determination to grab freedom for their country.

ALTERNATIVE PATHS

Subhash Chandra Bose responded to Gandhiji'sdecision to withdraw the non-cooperation movement followingthe Chauri Chaura incident. Many such movements andpersons who had difference of opinion towards the Gandhianapproach to the struggle for independence also played crucialroles

in

objective

nothing

wasalso

attaining freedom for our country. but

India's

freedom

from

Their

colonial

clutches.C.R.Das and Motilal Nehru, who opposed Gandhian idea ofboycott movement, formed the Swaraj Party in 1923. Theyargued for making legislative assemblies as platforms for raisingour voices instead of boycotting them and they contestedelections. Gradually, the

opposition

to

Gandhian

method

ofstruggle

intensified.

Revolutionaries from Punjab, Rajasthan,Uttar Pradesh and Bihar gathered in Delhi and formed theHindustan Socialist Republican Association in 1928. BhagatSingh, Chandra Sekhar Azad, Raj Guru and Sukh Dev were atthe helm of this movement. Theyfloated a military wingcalled ' Republican Army' for armed revolution. Their plan was to overthrow

thecolonial

government

through

military

action

and

establish a federa lrepublic of Indian states. In Lahore Bhagat Singh, RaJ Guru and Sukh Dev shot tokill Saunders, the police officer who was responsible for the lathi charge that hanged to the death of

national leader Lala Lajpat Rai. BhagatSingh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs at the Central Legislative Assembly to protest against the attempt to pass laws curtailing civil rights. They were arrestedand sent to jail.On March 23, 1931, Bhagath Singh, Raj Guru and SukhDev were hanged to death by the British government. Given below are the names of some revolutionary organizations and their leaders who dedicated their life to attaining freedom for India. Taking cue from the Russian revolution, socialist ideologies started to spread in India in1930s and these ideas influenced a section of Congress activists. Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Jai PrakashNarayan and Aruna Asaf Ali led the Congress Socialist fraction within the Indian National Congress .At a meeting held under the chairmanship of Jai Prakash Narayan in Bombay in 1934, the Congress Socialist Party was formed. This neworganisation played a decisive role in the Quit India Movement. When Gandhiji and other top leaders of the Congress were arrested,Socialist Party leaders like Jai Prakash Narayan and Aruna AsafAli led the movement from their hide outs. At various stages of the national movement, Subhash ChandraBose expressed his difference of opinion on Gandhian ideas of struggle. Quitting the Congress he formed a political party called Forward Bloc. He took the charge of the Indian National Army (INA) formed by Rash Bihari Bose to attain freedom for India . He formed a provisional government for free India in Singapore, with the aim of forcing the British to quit India. The Indian NationalArmy had a women wing called the JhansiRegiment. Captain Lekshmi, a Keralite, was in-charge of this regiment. With the support of the Japanese army the Indian National Army marched to the east west border of India and hoisted Indian flag in Imphal.

13

14

6.TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE

 The Second World War led to the collapseof imperialism the world over.Consequent to financial crisis Britain lost its capacity to

maintain

colonies.Intensified

freedom

struggles

in

thecontinents of Asia and Africa on one hand and American and Soviet policyagainst colonialism on the other, forcedthe British to free India from theirclutches. The new British governmentthat came to power under the Labourparty led by Clement Attlee, sympathiserto

India,

colonial

Meanwhile,

rule.

also

expedited the

our

AllIndia

independencefrom League

under

the

leadership of Mohammed Ali Jinnah raised claims for a separate country called Pakistan. Following this, LordMountbatten was appointed as the Viceroy of India to deliver freedom to India addressing the question of partition. He argued that freedom for India was impossible without partition and to support this argument he prepared a strategy called " Mountbatten Plan'. His proposals were as follows: 15

 To form a separate country in Muslim majority area as per the Muslims wish.  To divide Punjab and Bengal  To conduct a referendum to determine whether to add North West Frontier province to Pakistan or not  To appoint a commission to determine the borders in Punjab and Bengal While the Congress and the All India League approved this plan thenationalists like Khan Adbul Ghaffar Khan vehemently opposed it. In 1947, when the British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act, two free nations - India and Pakistan- came into existence. Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of independent India. So far we have discussed how Indian freedom struggle became a popular national movement. Gandhian ideas played a major role in this process. Alternatives to his method of struggle also significantly contributed to our independence. In short, the freedom we attained on 15 August, 1947 is the outcome of Indian National Movement inspired by various streams of ideas and Ideologies.

SUMMARY

LEARNING OUTCOMES The learner will be able to; Understand about the freedom struggle and important freedom fighters Analyse the features of Freedom Struggle in India Explain the significance of various Movements which inspired the National struggle for Freedom Compare the Pre independence period and post Independence period List Freedom Fighters and their organizations Evaluate Independent Movement of India

17

Let us discuss  What are the regional agitations in which Gandhiji participated after his arrival in India?  Write a short note about Kheda Sathyagraha  Analyse

the

outcomes

of

Gandhiji’s

earlier

Struggles?  Write a short note on Jallianwala Bagh Massacre  List

out

the

outcomes

of

Non-Cooperation

Movement?  Prepare a seminar paper on the significance of Civil Disobedience Movement  Prepare a note on Quit India Movement

EXTENDED ACTIVITIES Prepare a short note on the life of Gandhiji in South Africa Prepare a Digital album of the postal stamps brought out by the Government of India or governments of other countries in memory of Gandhiji or their pictures.

18

19

20