Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Lesson 1

NATIONALISM IN INDIA

Various social groups and classes of Indians started a common struggle against a common enemy – the British rule. That is how a growing anger against the colonial government brought all of them together in the freedom struggle during the first half of 20th century. The congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to channel people’s graininess into organized movements of independence. Through such movements the nationalists tried to forge a national unity. But as we have seen, diverse groups and classes participated in these movements with varied aspirations and expectations. As their grievances were wide ranging, freedom from colonial rule also meant different things to different people. The congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another. This is precisely why the unity within the movement often broke down. The high points of congress activity and nationalist unity were followed by phases of disunity and inner conflict between the groups.

1. Feeling of Nationalism in India
Growth of nationalism in India is connected to anti colonial movement.
People began discovering their unity in the process of their struggle against colonialism.
The sense of being oppressed under colonialism provided a shared bond that tied many different groups together.
Each class or group was affected by colonialism differently. So their notions of freedom were different.
The congress under Mahatma Gandhi tried to forge these groups together within one movement.

2. Effects of the 1st World War
The war created a new economic and political situation. It led to a huge increase in defense expenditure which was financed by war loans and increasing taxes.
Customs duties were raised and income tax was introduced.
Through the war years prices increased leading to extreme hard ships for the common people.
Villages were called upon to supply soldiers and forced recruitment took place.
Crops failed in many parts of India resulting in acute shortage of food.
Influenza epidemic took place, people perished as a result of famines and the epidemic.

3. The idea of Satyagrah
A novel method of mass agitation called Satyagraha was used by Gandhiji in South Africa against racist regime.
The idea of Satyagraha emphasized the power of truth and the need to search for the truth.
If the struggle was against injustices, then physical force was not necessary to fight the oppressor.
Mahatma Gandhi organized Satyagraha movements in various places in India.
1. In 1916, he traveled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against oppressive plantation system.
2. In 1917, he organized a Satyagraha in Kheda District of Gujarat to support the peasants of Kheda who could not pay the revenue because of crop failure, plague epidemic.
3. In 1918, he went to Ahmedabad to organize a Satyagraha movement amongst cotton mill workers.

3.1 The Rowlatt Act (1919)
· The act was passed by the Imperial Legislative Council.
· It gave the Government enormous power to repress political activities, and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.
· Gandhi wanted non violent disobedience against the unjust law; start with Hartal on 6th April 1919.

3.2 Consequences of Rowlatt Act
Rallies were organized in various cities; workers went on strike in railways workshop, shops were closed down,
The British decided to clamp down on nationalists. Local leader were picked up from Amritsar, police fired on peaceful processions in Amritsar and the provoked Indians attacked the banks, post offices, railway stations, etc.
Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.

4. Jallianwala Bagh Incident
On 13th April 1919 the infamous Jallianwala Bagh incident took place. On that day a crowd of villagers had come to Amritsar to attend a fair, they were unaware of the marital law.
General Dyer entered the area, blocked the exit points and opened fire on the crowd killing hundreds. He wanted to create a feeling of terror.

4.1 Consequences of Jallianwala Bagh Incident
Crowds took to the streets in many North Indian towns. There were strikes, clashes with the police and attacks on the government building.
The government responded with brutal repression. Satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses on the ground, crawl on the streets; do salaam to all the sahibs. Villages were bombed.
Seeing violence spread, Gandhiji called off the movement.

5. Khilafat Movement
The First World War ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey. There were rumors that a harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on the Ottoman Empire.
To defend the Ottoman Empire and the spiritual head of the Khalifa the Head of Islamic world. Khilafat committee was formed in Bombay. This committee was organized by Ali brothers (Muhammed Ali and Shaukat Ali) in the year 1919.

6. Non – Cooperation Movement
In his famous book Hind Swaraj, Mahatma Gandhi declared that British rule was established in India with the cooperation of Indians. If Indians refuse to cooperate British rule in India it would collapse and Swaraj would come.
Gandhiji proposed that the movement should unfold in stage.
For the success of the movement, it was necessary to bring Hindus and Muslims closer.
First Stage: Surrender of titles boycott of civil services, army, police, courts, legislative council, schools and foreign goods.
Second Stage: In case of repressive policy of British a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched.
Third Stage: Gandhiji toured extensively mobilizing popular support for the movement.

6.1 Formal adoption of Non-Cooperation Movement
At the congress session at Nagpur (December, 1920) a compromise was worked out between the supporters and the opponents of the movement and the Non-cooperation Programme was formally adopted.

6.2 Spread of Non-Cooperation Movement
All social groups responded to the call of Swaraj, but the term meant different things to different people.

6.3 The Movement in the Towns
The movement started with middle class participation in the cities. Students left government controlled schools, colleges, Head masters and teachers resigned and the lawyers gave up their legal practices. Council elections were boycotted in most provinces.
Foreign goods were boycotted; liquor shops picketed, foreign clothes were burnt in huge bonfires.
The movement gradually slowed down because Khadi cloth was more expensive that mass produced mill cloth. Boycotting British institution posed a problem. There were no alternative except Indian Institutions. Quality jobs did not give them alternate source of income. Students and teachers went back to schools. Lawyers joined back the government courts.

6.4 Reaction of peasants towards the call for Swaraj
In Awadh, peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra. The movement was against the Talukdars and landlords, who demanded high rent and variety of other taxes.
Peasants had to do begar and work at landlords place without any payment. They regularly had to evict the land so they could not acquire right over the leased land.
The peasants demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, social boycott of oppressive landlords.
By October 1920, the Oudh Kissan Sabha was set up by Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Ramchandra and few others.

6.5 Congress response to the Awadh
Nehruji, Baba Ramchandra went around different villages in Awadh, trying to understand their grievances.
By October 1920, Oudh Kissan Sabha was setup.
The effort of congress was to integrate the ‘Awadh peasant struggle’ into the wider struggle.
As the movement spread, in 1921, the hours of talukdars and merchants were burnt, beggars looted. In many places, local leaders invoked to sanction all actions and aspirations.

6.6 Tribal response to the call of Swaraj
Tribal peasants understood the message of Mahatma Gandhi and the idea of Swaraj in another way.
In the forest region, the colonial government had closed large forest areas preventing people from entering the forest to graze their cattle and collect fuel wood and fruit.
This angered the hill people as their livelihood and traditional rights were being denied.
When the government began forcing them to contribute begar for road building the Gudem Hill people of Andhra Pradesh revolted.
Alluri Sitaram Raju came to lead them. Sitaram Raju was inspired by Gandhiji so he motivated the people to wear Khadi and give up drinking, but he asserted the use of force for liberation.
The tribal people did not follow the non violence path of Gandhiji. They carried on Guerilla warfare for achieving Swaraj.

6.7 Response to the call for Swaraj by the plantation workers
For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were kept.
Under Inland Emigration Act of 1859, the plantation workers were not allowed to leave the tea gardens without permission.
When they heard of the non-cooperation movement, they left the plantation and headed home. They thought Gandhi Raj was coming and they would be given land in their own villages.
They never reached home in between they were caught by the police and brutally beaten up.
Like this, the term Swaraj was interpreted by various people in their own ways, imagining it to be a time when all suffering and troubles would be over.

6.8 Withdrawal of Non-Cooperation Movement
In February 1922, Mahatma Gandhiji decided to withdraw the Non-cooperation movement. He felt the movement was turning violent in many places and the satyagrahis are needed to be properly trained before they would be ready for mass struggle.
At Chauri Chaura in U.P. a peaceful demonstration was fired upon. The angry mob in turn attacked the police station burning alive 22 police men.
Gandhiji was alarmed by the violence; hence he called off the movement.

7 Formation of Swaraj Party
Within the congress, some leaders were by now tired of mass struggle and wanted to participate in the elections to the provincial councils that had been set up by the government of India act of 1919.
They felt it was important to oppose the British policies within the councils.
C.R.Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party within the Congress to argue for a return to council politics.
Young leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subash Chandra Bose wanted more radical mass struggle for independence.

8. Two Factors that shaped the Indian Politics
The first factor was the effect of the world wide economic depression. Agricultural prices began to fall from 1927 and collapsed after 1930.
Demand for agricultural goods fell and exports declined. The peasants found it difficult to sell their harvests and pay revenue.
The second factor, the new Troy government in Britain sent the Simon Commission. It was to look into the functioning of the constitutional system in India and suggest changes.

9. Simon Commission (1928)
Seven member team under Sir John Simon.
Simon commission arrived in India in 1928, it was greeted with the slogan ‘Go back Simon’.
All the parties including the congress and the Muslim League participated in the demonstration.
The commission was boycotted because it did not have single Indian Member.

9.1 Importance of Lahore Congress 1929 (Presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru)
26th January 1930 to be celebrated as an Independence Day.
People to take a pledge to struggle for complete independence.
A formal demand of Purna Swaraj or Complete independence was declared.

10. Civil Disobedience Movement
On 31st January 1930, Gandhiji sent to Viceroy Irwin stating 11 demands. The most stirring of all was the demand to abolish the salt law. He gave an ultimatum, that if the demands were not fulfilled by 11th March 1930, the Congress would start a civil disobedience campaign.
People were asked not only to refuse cooperation with the British but also to break colonial laws such as salt law.
Gandhiji found salt a powerful symbol to unite the nation. Salt was something consumed by the rich and the poor alike, it was the most essential item of food.
Mahatma Gandhi declared that the tax on salt and the government monopoly over its production revealed as the most oppressive face of British Rule.
He started his famous march accompanied by 78 volunteers over 240 miles from Sabarmati Ashram to the coastal town of Dandi. They walked for 24 days. On 6th April, he reached Dandi and violated the law by making salt.

10.1 Activities during the phase of Civil Disobedience Movement
Manufacturing salt and demonstration in front of government salt factories.
Boycott of foreign clothes.
Picketing of liquor shops.
Refusal of peasants to pay revenue.
Resignation by Village officials.
Violation of forest laws.

10.2 Policy of the Government during the phase of Civil Disobedience
In the beginning the government ignored the movement, but soon got worried by the development and started arresting congress leaders.
Arrest of Abdul Gaffar Khan, led to violent clashes in Peshawar. Gandhiji’s arrest led to attack on police posts, law courts, railway stations, etc.
Peaceful Satyagrahis were attacked; women and children were beaten up.
Gandhiji once again called off the movement and entered into a pact with Lord Irwin.

10.3 Gandhiji Irwin Pact 5th March 1931
Gandhiji consented to participate in a Round Table Conference in London and the Government agreed to release the political prisoners.

10.4 How did the different social groups participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement?
Rich Peasant Communities: The patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of U.P. were active in the movement. They were producers of commercial crops and were hard hut by the trade depression. The refusal of the government to reduce the revenue demand led to wide spread resentment. They supported the civil disobedience movement because for them the fight for Swaraj was struggle against high revenues.
Poor Peasants: They were small tenants cultivating land they had rented from the landlords. As the depression continued, cash incomes became lesser; they found it difficult to pay rents.
Business Class: During the First World War, Indian merchants had made huge profits and had become powerful. They now reacted against colonial policies which restricted their business activities. They formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress and the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries. Led by Purushottam Das Thakur and G.D. Birla, they joined Civil Disobedience Movement.
They saw Swaraj as a time when there would be no restriction on trade and industry.
Industrial Working Class: They fought against low wages, poor working condition. There were strikes, protest rallies and boycott campaigns.
Women: For Gandhiji salt march thousands of women came out of their homes to listen to him. In urban area they were from high caste families and in rural areas they came from rich peasant households. They began to see the service to the nation as a sacred duty of women.

10.5 The Limits of Civil Disobedience Movement
All social groups were not moved by the concept of Swaraj and were reluctant to participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement.
For long the congress had ignored the untouchables, who called themselves ‘Dalits’ or ‘Oppressed’.
Gandhiji wanted to eliminate untouchability and called them ‘Harijans’, the Children of God.
He organized Satyagraha to secure their entry into temples and access to public wells, tanks, roads and schools.
But many dalit leaders began organizing themselves, demanding reserved seats in educational institutions and a separate electorate to choose Dalit members for legislative councils.
So Dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement was limited.

10.6 Poona Pact
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar organized the Dalits into the Depressed Class Association in 1930.
He clashed with Gandhiji at the Second Round Table Conference by demanding separate electorates for dalits.
When the British Government conceded his demand, Gandhiji began a fast unto death.
Ambedkar ultimately signed the ‘Poona Pact’ of September 1932, which gave the depressed classes reserved seats in provincial and central legislative councils but the were to be voted in by the general electorate.

10.7 Muslim and the Civil Disobedience Movement
After the decline of the Non-cooperation Khilafat movement, a large section of Muslims felt alienated from the congress.
From mid 1920’s the congress came to be more associated with the Hindu Mahasabha.
The Hindu and Muslim communities organized religious processions, provoking communal riots.
The Congress and the Muslim league made efforts to renegotiate on alliance in 1927.
The negotiations over the question of representation failed in the all parties conference in 1928 as M.R. Jayakar of Hindu Mahasabha strongly opposed.
As a result the Civil Disobedience Movement started in an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust between Hindus and Muslims.
Muslim intellectuals were concerned about the status of Muslim as a minority within India. They feared, their culture and identity would be dominated by the Hindu Majority.

11. Sense of Collective Belonging
A sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles.
These were also a variety of cultural processes through which nationalism captured people’s imagination.
Like history, fiction folklore and some popular prints and symbols all played a part in the making of nationalism.

11.1 Bharat Mata
In the 20th century with the growth of nationalism the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata. Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata, she was portrayed as an ascetic figure, calm, composed, divine and spiritual.

11.2 National Song
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhya in the 1870 wrote Vande Mataram as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel ‘Anandmath’.

11.3 Indian Folklore
In the late 19th century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. It was essential to preserve one’s national identity and restore a sense of pride in one’s past. In Madras, In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore led the movement for folk revival.

11.4 Flags
During Swadeshi Movement in Bengal a tri-color flag was designed. It had eight lotus representing eight provinces of British India, a crescent moon representing Hindus and Muslims. By1921 Gandhiji designed the Swaraj Flag. It was also Tricolor and had a spinning wheel in the centre representing Gandhian ideal of self help.

11.5 Reinterpretation of History
Looking into glorious past by the end of the 19th century many Indians felt that to instill a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently. Indians started looking into the past to rediscover India’s achievements. They wrote about the development in ancient times when art, architecture, science, mathematics, religion, culture, law, crafts and trade had flourished.
When past being glorified was Hindu and celebrated images were drawn from Hindu iconology, the people of other communities felt left-out.

IMPORTANT TERMS
Nationalism: Patriotism; a feeling of collective belonging to one’s nation; sharing common feelings of identity.
Nation-states: A state having common territory and inhabited by people sharing common language, race, culture, etc.
Satyagraha: A method of agitation and protest, based on truth and non-violence. This was first introduced by Gandhiji in Indian National Movement.
Rowlatt Act: An Act passed by British Government in India in 1919. It authorized the government to arrest and imprisons a person without trial. The act was against civil rights.
Khalifa: The spiritual and temporal head of all Muslims or the Muslim world. Khalifa was also the ruler of Turkey till 1922.
Boycott: A method of resistance used by Indian nationalists under which they refused cooperation with the British in every sphere – stopping to use foreign goods by not attending British institutions.
Picket: A method of protest by which the people block the entrance of a shop, factory or office. One or more persons stand outside a place of work or shop to dissuade others from entering.
Begar: Forced labor compelling people to work free without any remuneration.
Martial Law: Law of military government. When martial laws were imposed, ordinary laws are suspended.
Civil Disobedience: Refusal to comply with certain laws as a method of peaceful protest.
Gudem rebels: The people who participated in the militant guerilla movement in the Gudem hills of Andhra Pradesh. It was a resistance movement against the colonial government who prevented the people from entering the forests for gazing their cattle or collect firewood or fruits from the region.





















MIND MAP

Non-Cooperation Movement
A mass movement aim to achieve Swaraj.
Participation of all section of society but they gave different meaning to Swaraj.
Tremendous Hindu-Muslim unity.
Ultimately the movement called off by 1922.
First World-War
Brought economy misery.
Large scale demonstration.
Passing of Rowlatt Act to check demonstration.
Launch of Khilafat movement.
Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Further arose the anger of the people.
Role of Mahatma Gandhi
Made national movement a mass movement.
Innovative method of Satyagraha attracted common people.
Champion of Hindu Muslim unity.
Great Social reforms.
Civil Disobedience
Aim to achieve Purna Swaraj.
Participation of people on large scale.
All that in lacked, Hindu Muslim unity.
Participation of women on large scale.
Called off by Gandhiji-Irwin Pact