Mahatma Gandhi and the National Movement

The One Thing

Mahatma Gandhi transformed the Indian freedom struggle into a mass movement by combining political organisation with Satyagraha and Ahimsa. Through Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience and related campaigns, diverse groups challenged colonial authority, although their aims and experiences remained unequal and internally contested.

Chronology

Who and What

• Mahatma Gandhi: Leader who developed mass political action based on truth, non-violence and disciplined resistance. He connected local grievances with the wider demand for independence.
• Satyagraha: A method of non-violent resistance based on truth, moral courage and the belief that unjust authority can be challenged without hatred.
• Ahimsa: The principle of non-violence, rejecting physical harm and promoting peaceful opposition to injustice.
• Non-Cooperation Movement: A movement launched in 1920 to withdraw cooperation from colonial institutions, including government schools, courts, councils and imported goods.
• Khilafat Movement: A movement led by Indian Muslims to defend the position of the Ottoman Sultan as Khalifa. Gandhi supported it to build Hindu-Muslim unity against colonial rule.
• Boycott: The deliberate refusal to buy, use or participate in colonial goods and institutions as a form of protest.
• Swadeshi: The use and promotion of Indian-made goods, especially hand-spun and hand-woven cloth, instead of imported products.
• Civil Disobedience Movement: A movement in which people openly and peacefully broke selected colonial laws, especially laws considered unjust, while accepting legal punishment.
• Salt March: Gandhi’s march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi in 1930 to break the colonial salt law, making salt a symbol of resistance to British authority.
• Purna Swaraj: The demand for complete independence, formally adopted by the Indian National Congress in 1929.
• Constructive Programme: Gandhi’s programme of social reform and nation-building, including promoting khadi, removing untouchability, improving village life and encouraging communal harmony.
• Individual Satyagraha: A limited protest launched in 1940 in which selected individuals publicly opposed India’s forced participation in the Second World War.
• Quit India Movement: The mass movement launched in August 1942 demanding an immediate end to British rule, associated with the slogan “Do or Die.”
• Nationalism: A sense of collective identity and political unity among people seeking self-rule and freedom from foreign domination.
• Champaran Satyagraha: The 1917 campaign supporting indigo cultivators forced to grow indigo under oppressive plantation arrangements.
• Kheda Satyagraha: The 1918 campaign demanding revenue relief for peasants facing crop failure.
• Rowlatt Act: The 1919 law allowing detention without trial, opposed through Gandhi’s nationwide hartal.
• Jallianwala Bagh massacre: The 13 April 1919 killing of a peaceful gathering at Amritsar by General Dyer’s troops.
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact: The 1931 agreement that temporarily ended the Civil Disobedience Movement and allowed Gandhi to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London.
• Poona Pact: The 1932 agreement providing reserved seats for the Depressed Classes in provincial legislatures within a common electorate.
• Government of India Act: The 1935 legislation introducing provincial autonomy and expanding elected representation, while preserving substantial colonial control.
• Chauri Chaura: The site of the violent incident after which Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922.
• Khadi and the spinning wheel: Symbols promoted by Gandhi to express self-reliance, Swadeshi and opposition to imported cloth.
• Salt, national flags, songs and public marches: Symbols and forms of public action that made the idea of freedom understandable and emotionally powerful.
• Participation by social groups: Rich peasants often sought revenue reduction; poorer peasants sought relief from rents and debts; business groups opposed colonial economic controls; workers raised labour demands; and women entered protests in large numbers.

Causes and Consequences

• Gandhi’s return to India in 1915 introduced a method of mass political action based on Satyagraha and Ahimsa. The local campaigns at Champaran in 1917 and Kheda in 1918, together with support for textile workers in Ahmedabad, connected national politics with concrete grievances concerning cultivation, taxation and labour.

• The Rowlatt Act of 1919 allowed detention without trial, prompting Gandhi’s nationwide hartal. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar on 13 April 1919 further intensified opposition by demonstrating the violence of colonial repression.

• The Non-Cooperation Movement and the Khilafat Movement, launched in 1920, withdrew cooperation from colonial institutions and promoted the boycott of imported goods. Students, lawyers, peasants, workers, traders and women participated, but their aims were not identical across regions or social groups.

• Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922 after Chauri Chaura because he regarded non-violence as essential to the legitimacy and discipline of mass resistance. This showed that civil resistance was not simply a rejection of authority but a controlled political method.

• The adoption of Purna Swaraj at the Lahore session in December 1929, under Jawaharlal Nehru’s presidency, established complete independence as the Congress objective. The observance of Independence Day on 26 January 1930 gave this demand a coordinated public form.

• Gandhi’s Salt March from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi between 12 March and 6 April 1930 broke the salt law and began the Civil Disobedience Movement. Salt was effective as a symbol because it affected everyday life and represented the reach of colonial economic authority.

• Between 1930 and 1934, civil disobedience included salt-law violations, refusal to pay certain taxes, picketing liquor and foreign-cloth shops, forest-law resistance and boycotts. These actions linked political independence to concerns about taxes, land, cloth, consumption, forest access and social dignity.

• Participation remained socially differentiated. Rich peasants often sought revenue reduction, poorer peasants wanted relief from rents and debts, business groups opposed colonial economic controls, and workers raised labour demands. These differences limited the uniformity of the national movement even while broad mobilisation strengthened it.

• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact of 1931 temporarily ended the Civil Disobedience Movement and enabled Gandhi to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London. However, the continuation of colonial control meant that negotiations did not resolve the demand for independence.

• Gandhi’s 1932 fast against separate electorates for the Depressed Classes led to the Poona Pact, which provided reserved seats within a common electorate. The episode connected the national struggle with debates over caste, representation and social reform.

• Gandhi’s Constructive Programme promoted khadi, the removal of untouchability, improved village life and communal harmony. It reflected the argument that political freedom required social reform and nation-building, not only opposition to British rule.

• The Government of India Act of 1935 introduced provincial autonomy and expanded elected representation, leading to Congress ministries in several provinces after the 1937 elections. Nevertheless, real power remained limited by colonial control.

• Individual Satyagraha in 1940 opposed India’s forced participation in the Second World War through selected individual protests. The Quit India Movement in August 1942 escalated the demand to immediate British withdrawal; despite the arrest of leaders, protests and underground activities continued.

• Independence in 1947 ended colonial rule, but Partition produced widespread communal violence and the displacement of millions. The movement therefore achieved political freedom while leaving unresolved and traumatic divisions concerning community and territory.

• Colonial authority depended partly on the cooperation of the people it ruled. Boycotts, marches, law-breaking, arrests and the spread of nationalist ideas enabled ordinary people to weaken that cooperation, showing that the movement’s success depended on popular participation as well as famous leaders.

What Gets Asked

• How did Gandhi’s ideas of Satyagraha and Ahimsa shape the Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience Movements?
• Why did Gandhi withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement after Chauri Chaura, and what does this reveal about the importance of discipline and non-violence?
• How did the Salt March and the use of salt, khadi, the spinning wheel, national flags, songs and public marches turn nationalism into an everyday and emotionally powerful idea?
• To what extent did the national movement unite different groups, given the distinct aims of rich peasants, poorer peasants, business groups, workers, women, Depressed Classes and religious communities?
• How did the Constructive Programme connect the struggle for political independence with the removal of untouchability, communal harmony and improvement of village life?
• Why did independence in 1947 represent both the success of the national movement and a moment of severe consequence because of Partition, communal violence and mass displacement?