Gathering Storm and Civil Disobedience Movement
Gathering Storm (1927-29)
In 1927, All India Congress Committee decided to boycott Simon Commission. At this time Jawahar Lal Nehru succeeded in getting passed a Snap resolution on 'Purna Swaraj', i.e. Complete independence is the goal of the INC.
Looking at the opposition of Indians, Secretary of State Birkenhead challenged Indians to propose the constitutional scheme wit the consensus of all the communities. As such Moti Lal Nehru Committee was constituted in February 1928 which released the report in August 1928.
Nehru Report
- Dominion status for India.
- Responsible government in centre and provinces.
- Rejected the principle of separate electorate.
- It proposed reservation of seats for Muslims in centre and province where they are in minority.
- Equal right to women.
- Adult suffrage and equal rights for women.
- Disassociation of state from religion in any form, i.e., a secular state.
Reactions to Nehru Report
- Jawahar Lal Nehru, Subash Chandra Bose and Satya Murti rejected the report on the issue of dominion states and they went on to create Independence for India league.
- Muslim league, Hindu mahasabha and Sikh community rejected the report (on the issue of separate electorate and reservation of seats).
INC proposed at this time that if government is not giving dominion status within one year then Indian National Congress would aim for 'Purna Swaraj'.
Meanwhile, a scheme of Round Table Conference came into picture.
Delhi Manifesto - Major National leaders met and issued Delhi manifesto in which they demanded that it should be made clear that the purpose of Round Table Conference is not to discuss, when the dominion status would be granted but to formulate a scheme for its implementation.
Lahore Session of INC (1929) -
- Jawahar Lal Nehru presided this session.
- Purna Swaraj declaration was passed and it was decided that Tricolour flag would be unfurled at the banks of River Ravi (in Lahore).
River Ravi (earlier name - Parushni) - The river where the battle of Dasrajan was fought in which Bharat Clan emerged victorious and thus the land was named after his clan, Bharatvarsha. Therefore, this river was choosen to unfurl the flag on 26 January 1930.
- On 26 January 1930, Independence pledge was read out and collectively affirmed.
- Gandhi ji was assigned to launch Civil Disobedience Movement.
Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)
Background -
- Salt Act 1882 prohibits Indians from collecting or selling Salt. Moreover, they were forced to buy salt from the British manufacturers and had to pay heavy taxes.
- So, Salt was chosen as the issue and symbol for the initiation of Civil Disobedience Movement.
Gandhi ji with 78 delegates started from the Sabarmati Aashram on 12 March 1930. On reaching the coast of Dandi, he picked up handful of salt and declared that it is a crime against god and humanity to submit any longer to the British authority. It marked the formal beginning of Civil Disobedience Movement.
In North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Civil Disobedience Movement was organised by Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan (also known as Frontier Gandhi) with his effective cadre Khudai-Khidmatgar (Servants of the god) also known as Red Shirt.
In Kerala, K. Kellappan started Salt march from Calicut to Payyanur to break the Salt law.
In Assam, band of Satyagrahis started from Sylhet to Noakhali coast in Bengal to break the Salt law.
In Dharshana, on 21 May 1930, Sarojini Naidu led the march along with Imam Saheb and Manilal. They were severely beaten up. This march got international attention as the British authority had beaten up a non-violent people who had just taken up the issue of salt.
In Peshawar, one incensed British officer commanded his Garhwali regiment to fire on unarmed crowd but they refused.
In Nagaland, Rani Gaidinliu revolted against the British authority and she was arrested.
In Tamil Naidu, C. Rajagopalachari started salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam.
At this point of time when Cunningham Circular was released which forced the students to display good behaviour and not to participate in any nationalist activity. As such students in Assam fiercely agitated against it.
Round Table Conference
The purpose of the Round Table Conferences was to have a discussion on Constitutional development in India. For deliberation British political parties, Indian political parties and representatives from different sections of Indian society were invited.
1. 1st Round Table Conference (1930)
- First Round Table Conference was held in London between November 1930 and January 1931.
- It was chaired by British PM Ramsay Macdonald.
- Indian National Congress refused to attend the conference (as the Round Table Conference was not as per the Delhi Manifesto)
- Parties and representatives who attend 1st Round Table Conference -
- Muslim League (Aga Khan III, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and others prominent leaders of league)
- Hindu Mahasabha
- Sikhs
- Parsis
- Women (represented by Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz and Radhabai Subbarayan)
- Liberals (represented by JN Basu, Tej Bhahdur Sapru, and others liberal leaders)
- Justice Party
- Labour (represented by NM Joshi and B. Shiva Rao)
- Depressed Class (represented by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar)
- Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans, Landlords, Universities are also represented by their respective leaders.
- Government of India was represented by Narendra Nath Law, Bhupendra Nath Mitra, C.P. Ramaswami Iyer and M. Ramchandra Rao.
- Outcome - As such Indian National Congress did not participate in the 1st Round Table Conference, the discussion seemed to be abortive.
The British government realised that the participation of the Indian National Congress was necessary in discussion on the future of constitutional government in India.
As such there was a pressure on Viceroy Irwin to bring Indian National Congress to the table.
Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931)
It is also known as Delhi Pact.
It happened due to the efforts of Tez bahadur Sapru and M.R. Jayakar. Gandhi ji proposed many proposals in front of Viceroy Irwin before attending the Conference.
Irwin accepted the following proposals of Gandhi ji -
- Immediate release of all the political prisoners not convicted for violence.
- Remission of all fines not yet collected.
- Return of confiscated land not yet sold to the third party.
- Linean treatment to the government servants who have resigned.
- Right to make salt for consumption.
- Right to peaceful and non-aggressive picketing.
Irwin rejected the following demands -
- Public enquiry into police excess.
- Commutation of Bhagat Singh and his comrades' death sentence to life sentence.
Karachi Session of INC (29 March 1931)
- President - Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel
- For the first time in this session 'meaning of Swaraj' was spelt out for the masses which was end of exploitation and political freedom must include economic freedom.
- Resolution on Fundamental rights and National economic plan was introduced.
- It also endorsed participation of Gandhi ji as the sole representative of INC in Second Round Table Conference.
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Raj Guru was executed on 23 March 1931 and this special session took place on 29 March 1931, 6 days after the execution.
Therefore, for the first time in his lifetime Gandhi ji was greeted with black flag demonstration by Punjab Naujawan Sabha, in protest against his failure to secure commutation of the death sentence for Bhagat Singh and his comrades.
2. 2nd Round Table Conference (1931)
- Even after powerful advocacy, Gandhi ji achieved nothing and came back empty handed. Moreover, Churchill called him "Seditious Fakir".
- Others who participated in 2nd Round Table Conference are given below -
- Muslims (represented by Aga Khan III, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, etc)
- Hindus (represented by M.R. Jayakar, B.S. Moonje and Diwan Bahadur Raja Narendra Nath)
- Liberals (represented by JN Basu, Tej Bahadur Sapru, VS Srinivas Shastri, etc)
- Justice Party
- Depressed Classes (represented by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Rettamalia Srinivasan)
- Sikhs
- Parsis
- Indian Christians
- Industry (represented by G.D. Birla, Purshottamdas Thakurdas and Maneckji Dadabhoy)
- Labour (represented by N.M. Joshi, B. Shiva Rao and V.V. Giri)
- Indian Women (represented by Sarojini Naidu, Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz and Radhabai Subbarayan)
- Universities
- Representatives from Burma, Sindh, Assam, Central Province and NWFP also attended the conference
- Government of India was represented by CP Ramaswami Iyer, Narendra Nath Law and M Ramachandra Rao.
3. 3rd Round Table Conference (1932)
- It was not attended by Gandhi ji and INC and was also ignored by most of the Indian leaders.
Note - B.R. Ambedkar, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha and Tej Bahadur attended all the three Round Table Conferences.
Sarojini Naidu (represented Indian Women) attended 2nd Round Table Conference.
By this time, in India Viceroy Irwin was replaced by Lord Willington and he applied Civil Martial Law and Civil liberties no longer existed and authorities could arrest and confiscate their property at will.
In this scenario Gandhi ji shifted his Satyagrah Aashram from Sabarmati, Ahmedabad to Wardha, Nagpur from 07 November 1933 till July 1934.
Gandhi made extensive harijan tours all over India. On the other hand the popular response was anger which was massive and within 4 months 80,000 Satyagrahis were jailed.
In this scenario in April 1934, Gandhi ji decided to withdrew Civil Disobedience Movement.
Previous Article - Revolutionary Activities
Next Article - Communal Award, Poona Pact & GoI 1935
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