Aadishesh/ncerts · Datasets at Hugging Face

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3.1 The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement
Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unitethe nation. On 31 January 1930, he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin
stating eleven demands. Some of these were of general interest;
others were specific demands of different classes, from industrialiststo peasants. The idea was to make the demands wide-ranging, sothat all classes within Indian society could identify with them andeveryone could be brought together in a united campaign. The moststirring of all was the demand to abolish the salt tax. Salt was
something consumed by the rich and the poor alike, and it was one
of the most essential items of food. The tax on salt and thegovernment monopoly over its production, Mahatma Gandhideclared, revealed the most oppressive face of British rule.
Mahatma Gandhi’s letter was, in a way, an ultimatum. If the
demands were not fulfilled by 11 March, the letter stated, the
Congress would launch a civil disobedience campaign. Irwin was
unwilling to negotiate. So Mahatma Gandhi started his famoussalt march accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers. The marchwas over 240 miles, from Gandhiji’s ashram in Sabarmati to theGujarati coastal town of Dandi. The volunteers walked for 24 days,about 10 miles a day. Thousands came to hear Mahatma Gandhi
wherever he stopped, and he told them what he meant by swaraj
and urged them to peacefully defy the British. On 6 April he reachedDandi, and ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt byboiling sea water.
This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
How was this movement different from the Non-CooperationMovement? People were now asked not only to refuse cooperationThe Independence Day Pledge, 26 January
1930
‘We believe that it is the inalienable right of the
Indian people, as of any other people, to havefreedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil andhave the necessities of life, so that they mayhave full opportunities of growth. We believealso that if any government deprives a people ofthese rights and oppresses them, the peoplehave a further right to alter it or to abolish it.The British Government in India has not onlydeprived the Indian people of their freedom buthas based itself on the exploitation of the masses,and has ruined India economically, politically,culturally, and spiritually. We believe, therefore,that India must sever the British connection andattain Purna Swaraj or Complete Independence.’Source C
SourceIndia and the Contemporary World
64with the British, as they had done in 1921-22, but also to break
colonial laws. 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 clothwas 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.
Worried by the developments, the colonial government began
arresting the Congress leaders one by one. This led to violent clashesin many palaces. When Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a devout disciple of
Mahatma Gandhi, was arrested in April 1930, angry crowds
demonstrated in the streets of Peshawar, facing armoured cars andpolice 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. A frightened government
responded with a policy of brutal repression. Peaceful satyagrahis
were attacked, women and children were beaten, and about 100,000people were arrested.
In such a situation, Mahatma Gandhi once again decided to call off
the movement and entered into a pact with Irwin on 5 March 1931.By this Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Gandhiji consented to participate in a
Round Table Conference (the Congress had boycotted the first
Fig. 7 – The Dandi march.
During the salt march Mahatma
Gandhi was accompanied by78 volunteers. On the waythey were joined by thousands.
Fig. 8 – Police cracked down on satyagrahis,
1930.65
Nationalism in IndiaRound Table Conference) in London and the government agreed to
release the political prisoners. In December 1931, Gandhiji went to
London for the conference, but the negotiations broke down and
he returned disappointed. Back in India, he discovered that thegovernment had begun a new cycle of repression. Ghaffar Khanand Jawaharlal Nehru were both in jail, the Congress had beendeclared illegal, and a series of measures had been imposed to preventmeetings, demonstrations and boycotts. With great apprehension,
Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the Civil Disobedience Movement.
For over a year, the movement continued, but by 1934 it lostits momentum.
3.2 How Participants saw the Movement
Let us now look at the different social groups that participated in theCivil Disobedience Movement. Why did they join the movement?
What were their ideals? What did swaraj mean to them?
In the countryside, rich peasant communities – like the Patidars of
Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh – were active in the movement.Being producers of commercial crops, they were very hard hit bythe trade depression and falling prices. As their cash incomedisappeared, they found it impossible to pay the government’s revenue
demand. And the refusal of the government to reduce the revenue
demand led to widespread resentment. These rich peasants becameenthusiastic supporters of the Civil Disobedience Movement,organising their communities, and at times forcing reluctant members,to participate in the boycott programmes. For them the fight forswaraj was a struggle against high revenues. But they were deeply
disappointed when the movement was called off in 1931 without
the revenue rates being revised. So when the movement was restartedin 1932, many of them refused to participate.
The poorer peasantry were not just interested in the lowering of the
revenue demand. Many of them were small tenants cultivating landthey had rented from landlords. As the Depression continued and
cash incomes dwindled, the small tenants found it difficult to pay
their rent. They wanted the unpaid rent to the landlord to be remitted.They joined a variety of radical movements, often led by Socialistsand Communists. Apprehensive of raising issues that might upsetthe rich peasants and landlords, the Congress was unwilling to support‘no rent’ campaigns in most places. So the relationship between thepoor peasants and the Congress remained uncertain.‘To the altar of this revolution we have
brought our youth as incense’
Many nationalists thought that the struggle
against the British could not be won throughnon-violence. In 1928, the Hindustan SocialistRepublican Army (HSRA) was founded at ameeting in Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi.Amongst its leaders were Bhagat Singh, JatinDas and Ajoy Ghosh. In a series of dramaticactions in different parts of India, the HSRAtargeted some of the symbols of British power.In April 1929, Bhagat Singh and BatukeswarDutta threw a bomb in the Legislative Assembly.In the same year there was an attempt to blowup the train that Lord Irwin was travelling in.Bhagat Singh was 23 when he was tried andexecuted by the colonial government. Duringhis trial, Bhagat Singh stated that he did notwish to glorify ‘the cult of the bomb and pistol’but wanted a revolution in society:
‘Revolution is the inalienable right of mankind.
Freedom is the imprescriptible birthright of all.The labourer is the real sustainer of society …To the altar of this revolution we have broughtour youth as incense, for no sacrifice is toogreat for so magnificent a cause. We arecontent. We await the advent of revolution.
Inquilab Zindabad!’Box 1India and the Contemporary World
66What about the business classes? How did they relate to the Civil
Disobedience Movement? During the First World War, Indian
merchants and industrialists had made huge profits and become
powerful (see Chapter 5). Keen on expanding their business, theynow reacted against colonial policies that restricted business activities.
They wanted protection against imports of foreign goods, and a
rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports.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. Led byprominent industrialists like Purshottamdas Thakurdas and
G. D. Birla, the industrialists attacked colonial control over the Indian
economy, and supported the Civil Disobedience Movement whenit was first launched. They gave financial assistance and refused to
buy or sell imported goods. Most businessmen came to see swaraj
as a time when colonial restrictions on business would no longerexist and trade and industry would flourish without constraints. But
after the failure of the Round Table Conference, business groups
were no longer uniformly enthusiastic. They were apprehensive ofthe spread of militant activities, and worried about prolonged
disruption of business, as well as of the growing influence of
socialism amongst the younger members of the Congress.
The industrial working classes did not participate in the Civil
Disobedience Movement in large numbers, except in the Nagpur
region. As the industrialists came closer to the Congress, workersstayed aloof. But in spite of that, some workers did participate in
the Civil Disobedience Movement, selectively adopting some of
the ideas of the Gandhian programme, like boycott of foreigngoods, as part of their own movements against low wages and
poor working conditions. There were strikes by railway workers in
1930 and dockworkers in 1932. In 1930 thousands of workers inChotanagpur tin mines wore Gandhi caps and participated in protest
rallies and boycott campaigns. 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.
Another important feature of the Civil Disobedience Movement
was the large-scale participation of women. During Gandhiji’s salt
march, thousands of women came out of their homes to listen to
him. They participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, andSome important dates
1918-19Distressed UP peasants organised by Baba
Ramchandra.
April 1919Gandhian hartal against Rowlatt Act; Jallianwala
Bagh massacre.January 1921Non-Cooperation and Khilafat movement

3.1 The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement

Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unitethe nation. On 31 January 1930, he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin

stating eleven demands. Some of these were of general interest;

others were specific demands of different classes, from industrialiststo peasants. The idea was to make the demands wide-ranging, sothat all classes within Indian society could identify with them andeveryone could be brought together in a united campaign. The moststirring of all was the demand to abolish the salt tax. Salt was

something consumed by the rich and the poor alike, and it was one

of the most essential items of food. The tax on salt and thegovernment monopoly over its production, Mahatma Gandhideclared, revealed the most oppressive face of British rule.

Mahatma Gandhi’s letter was, in a way, an ultimatum. If the

demands were not fulfilled by 11 March, the letter stated, the

Congress would launch a civil disobedience campaign. Irwin was

unwilling to negotiate. So Mahatma Gandhi started his famoussalt march accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers. The marchwas over 240 miles, from Gandhiji’s ashram in Sabarmati to theGujarati coastal town of Dandi. The volunteers walked for 24 days,about 10 miles a day. Thousands came to hear Mahatma Gandhi

wherever he stopped, and he told them what he meant by swaraj

and urged them to peacefully defy the British. On 6 April he reachedDandi, and ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt byboiling sea water.

This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

How was this movement different from the Non-CooperationMovement? People were now asked not only to refuse cooperationThe Independence Day Pledge, 26 January

1930

‘We believe that it is the inalienable right of the

Indian people, as of any other people, to havefreedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil andhave the necessities of life, so that they mayhave full opportunities of growth. We believealso that if any government deprives a people ofthese rights and oppresses them, the peoplehave a further right to alter it or to abolish it.The British Government in India has not onlydeprived the Indian people of their freedom buthas based itself on the exploitation of the masses,and has ruined India economically, politically,culturally, and spiritually. We believe, therefore,that India must sever the British connection andattain Purna Swaraj or Complete Independence.’Source C

SourceIndia and the Contemporary World

64with the British, as they had done in 1921-22, but also to break

colonial laws. 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 clothwas 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.

Worried by the developments, the colonial government began

arresting the Congress leaders one by one. This led to violent clashesin many palaces. When Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a devout disciple of

Mahatma Gandhi, was arrested in April 1930, angry crowds

demonstrated in the streets of Peshawar, facing armoured cars andpolice 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. A frightened government

responded with a policy of brutal repression. Peaceful satyagrahis

were attacked, women and children were beaten, and about 100,000people were arrested.

In such a situation, Mahatma Gandhi once again decided to call off

the movement and entered into a pact with Irwin on 5 March 1931.By this Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Gandhiji consented to participate in a

Round Table Conference (the Congress had boycotted the first

Fig. 7 – The Dandi march.

During the salt march Mahatma

Gandhi was accompanied by78 volunteers. On the waythey were joined by thousands.

Fig. 8 – Police cracked down on satyagrahis,

1930.65

Nationalism in IndiaRound Table Conference) in London and the government agreed to

release the political prisoners. In December 1931, Gandhiji went to

London for the conference, but the negotiations broke down and

he returned disappointed. Back in India, he discovered that thegovernment had begun a new cycle of repression. Ghaffar Khanand Jawaharlal Nehru were both in jail, the Congress had beendeclared illegal, and a series of measures had been imposed to preventmeetings, demonstrations and boycotts. With great apprehension,

Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the Civil Disobedience Movement.

For over a year, the movement continued, but by 1934 it lostits momentum.

3.2 How Participants saw the Movement

Let us now look at the different social groups that participated in theCivil Disobedience Movement. Why did they join the movement?

What were their ideals? What did swaraj mean to them?

In the countryside, rich peasant communities – like the Patidars of

Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh – were active in the movement.Being producers of commercial crops, they were very hard hit bythe trade depression and falling prices. As their cash incomedisappeared, they found it impossible to pay the government’s revenue

demand. And the refusal of the government to reduce the revenue

demand led to widespread resentment. These rich peasants becameenthusiastic supporters of the Civil Disobedience Movement,organising their communities, and at times forcing reluctant members,to participate in the boycott programmes. For them the fight forswaraj was a struggle against high revenues. But they were deeply

disappointed when the movement was called off in 1931 without

the revenue rates being revised. So when the movement was restartedin 1932, many of them refused to participate.

The poorer peasantry were not just interested in the lowering of the

revenue demand. Many of them were small tenants cultivating landthey had rented from landlords. As the Depression continued and

cash incomes dwindled, the small tenants found it difficult to pay

their rent. They wanted the unpaid rent to the landlord to be remitted.They joined a variety of radical movements, often led by Socialistsand Communists. Apprehensive of raising issues that might upsetthe rich peasants and landlords, the Congress was unwilling to support‘no rent’ campaigns in most places. So the relationship between thepoor peasants and the Congress remained uncertain.‘To the altar of this revolution we have

brought our youth as incense’

Many nationalists thought that the struggle

against the British could not be won throughnon-violence. In 1928, the Hindustan SocialistRepublican Army (HSRA) was founded at ameeting in Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi.Amongst its leaders were Bhagat Singh, JatinDas and Ajoy Ghosh. In a series of dramaticactions in different parts of India, the HSRAtargeted some of the symbols of British power.In April 1929, Bhagat Singh and BatukeswarDutta threw a bomb in the Legislative Assembly.In the same year there was an attempt to blowup the train that Lord Irwin was travelling in.Bhagat Singh was 23 when he was tried andexecuted by the colonial government. Duringhis trial, Bhagat Singh stated that he did notwish to glorify ‘the cult of the bomb and pistol’but wanted a revolution in society:

‘Revolution is the inalienable right of mankind.

Freedom is the imprescriptible birthright of all.The labourer is the real sustainer of society …To the altar of this revolution we have broughtour youth as incense, for no sacrifice is toogreat for so magnificent a cause. We arecontent. We await the advent of revolution.

Inquilab Zindabad!’Box 1India and the Contemporary World

66What about the business classes? How did they relate to the Civil

Disobedience Movement? During the First World War, Indian

merchants and industrialists had made huge profits and become

powerful (see Chapter 5). Keen on expanding their business, theynow reacted against colonial policies that restricted business activities.

They wanted protection against imports of foreign goods, and a

rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports.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. Led byprominent industrialists like Purshottamdas Thakurdas and

G. D. Birla, the industrialists attacked colonial control over the Indian

economy, and supported the Civil Disobedience Movement whenit was first launched. They gave financial assistance and refused to

buy or sell imported goods. Most businessmen came to see swaraj

as a time when colonial restrictions on business would no longerexist and trade and industry would flourish without constraints. But

after the failure of the Round Table Conference, business groups

were no longer uniformly enthusiastic. They were apprehensive ofthe spread of militant activities, and worried about prolonged

disruption of business, as well as of the growing influence of

socialism amongst the younger members of the Congress.

The industrial working classes did not participate in the Civil

Disobedience Movement in large numbers, except in the Nagpur

region. As the industrialists came closer to the Congress, workersstayed aloof. But in spite of that, some workers did participate in

the Civil Disobedience Movement, selectively adopting some of

the ideas of the Gandhian programme, like boycott of foreigngoods, as part of their own movements against low wages and

poor working conditions. There were strikes by railway workers in

1930 and dockworkers in 1932. In 1930 thousands of workers inChotanagpur tin mines wore Gandhi caps and participated in protest

rallies and boycott campaigns. 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.

Another important feature of the Civil Disobedience Movement

was the large-scale participation of women. During Gandhiji’s salt

march, thousands of women came out of their homes to listen to

him. They participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, andSome important dates

1918-19Distressed UP peasants organised by Baba

Ramchandra.

April 1919Gandhian hartal against Rowlatt Act; Jallianwala

Bagh massacre.January 1921Non-Cooperation and Khilafat movement