IGNOU BA/BDP BSHF-101 Different Aspects of Non-cooperation Movement

IGNOU BA/BDP BSHF-101 Different Aspects of Non-cooperation Movement

Discuss the different aspects of the non-cooperation movement. 20

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Answer: (words 718)

Non-cooperation movement was the first nation-wide mass movement against the British rule in India. There was widespread political discontent in India by the end of 1919 which culminated in the Non-cooperation movement under Gandhi. The non-cooperation movement was a reaction against the Rowlatt Act (1919) and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. During the First World War, the prices of various commodities rose, the conditions of the people worsened and the government extracted many dues from the people in the name of war efforts. To contain this the Rowlatt Act had been hurriedly passed through the Imperial Legislative Council despite the united opposition of the Indian members. It gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years. Gandhiji in 1919 decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act. There were massive protest and demonstrations by the Indian people against this measure of the government. Mahatma Gandhi wanted non-violent civil disobedience against such unjust laws and gave a call for country-wide hartal which was observed in various places on different dates. The government responded with repression. On 13 April the infamous Jallianwala Bagh incident took place. On that day a large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwala Bagh. The military under General Dyer shot at unarmed people without warning. Hundreds of persons died. This horrified the whole country and generated anger against British rule.

While the Rowlatt satyagraha had been a widespread movement, it was still limited mostly to cities and towns. Mahatma Gandhi felt the need to launch a broad-based movement in India. But he was certain that no such movement could be organised without bringing the Hindus and Muslims closer together. Around the same time, the Indian Muslims formed a Khilafat committee in Bombay to defend the Khalifa’s (Sultan of Turkey who was deposed by the British) temporal powers and started Khilafat movement for the restoration of Khalifa in Turkey. Muhammed Ali and Shaukat Ali were the leaders of the movement. They called upon Gandhi to guide them. Gandhiji saw this as an opportunity to bring Muslims under the umbrella of a unified national movement. At the Calcutta session of the Congress in September 1920, he convinced other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat as well as for Swaraj. Gandhiji proposed that the movement should unfold in stages. It should begin with the surrender of titles that government awarded, and a boycott of civil services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools, and foreign goods. Then, in case the government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched. In the Nagpur Congress held in December 1920, the non-cooperation movement was adopted.

The non-cooperation-Khilafat Movement began in January 1921 at an unprecedented level. Various social groups participated in this movement, each with its own specific aspiration. All of them responded to the call of Swaraj, but the term meant different things to different people. Thousands of students left schools and colleges, hundreds of lawyers and many government servants left their jobs, most of the people refused to vote in the elections to the legislatures, the boycott of foreign cloth assumed massive proportions, thousand were involved in the picketing of the shops selling foreign cloth and liquor and in many places, peasants and workers were also involved along with students, middle classes, and women. Its influence was even more far-reaching. Millions of peasants and urban poor became familiar with the ideology of nationalism. Most section of the Indian population became politicised and women were drawn to the movement. An anti-imperialist feeling spread to wide areas of the country and the movement imbued the Indian people with self-confidence and self-esteem.

Such a big movement, however, did sometimes reached beyond the Gandhian tenet of non-violence. On 5 February 1922, in Chauri-Chaura, a crowd of peasants burnt the police station killing 22 policemen in retaliation to the police firing. Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement. He felt the movement was turning violent in many places and satyagraha is needed to be properly trained before they would be ready for mass struggles. This decision shocked many Congresspeople but Gandhi remained adamant and started a five-day fast as penance. This way the non-cooperation movement came to an end.

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