Write about different forms that the Non-cooperation movement took in varied parts of India. How did the people of India understand Mahatma Gandhi?
The people of various places in India showed different reactions. The Patidar peasants in Kheda, Gujarat, started nonviolent campaigns against several high land demands of the British. The Muslim traders and peasants of Sind (now in Pakistan), were encouraged and excited about the Khilafat call. The Akali agitation (of the Sikhs) in Punjab aimed to mitigate corrupt Mahants. These mahants were assured by the British itself. In Bengal, the Khilafat non-cooperation alliance offered extensive communal unity and power to the national movement. In Andhra Pradesh, the tribals and peasants staged a ‘forest satyagraha’ number while even sending off their cattle into the forests, without having to pay for the grazing fee. Most people thought of Mahatma Gandhi as a sort of messiah. They thought of him as a leader that could help in overcoming poverty and even misery. Gandhiji worked towards developing class unity rather than class conflict.