Nationalism in India

Dr. Vinod Sonawane

 Nationalism
• It involves a strong identification of a group of
individuals with a political entity defined in
national terms, i.e., a nation.
– Modern nationalism was associated with the
formation of nation-states.
– In India, as in many other colonies, the
growth of nationalism is connected to the
anti-colonial movement under the leadership
of Mahatma Gandhi.
Mahatma Gandhi
 The First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement

• The war played an important role in shaping

India‟s freedom struggle.
– Increase in defense expenditure due to the war led
to the increase in taxes, custom duties, prices and
the introduction of war loans.
– Extreme hardships, poverty and forced recruitments
in the army made people hostile to the British rule.
– During 1918–19 and 1920–21, food shortages due
to the failure of crops and famines and epidemics,
that took a heavy toll of life, created resentment
among the people of India against the foreign rule.
 Satyagraha
• Satyagraha means appeal for truth. Mahatma Gandhi
introduced this concept during his stay in South Africa. It is
based on the ideals of truth and non- violence.
– January, 1915: Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from
South Africa.
– Champaran Satyagraha, 1916: First Gandhian mass-
movement in India against the oppressive plantation system
in Champaran (Bihar).
– Kheda Satyagraha, 1917: Gandhiji led the movement in
Kheda district of Gujarat, demanding relaxation of the
revenue tax owing to the poverty experienced by the
farmers because of the outbreak of plague and crop failure.
– Ahmedabad Mill Strike, 1918: Gandhiji organised a
Satyagraha against the cotton mill owners demanding an
increase in the workers‟ wages and bonus.
Jallilanwala Bagh Mascare
13 April, 1919
th
Sidney Rowlett
 The Rowlatt Act (1919)
– Passed by the British Government.
– The Act gave the government enormous
powers for repressing political activities
and allowed detention of political
prisoners for two years without any trial.
• 6th April, 1919: Mahatma Gandhi started
the non-violent civil disobedience
movement for opposing the Rowlatt Act
with a nation-wide hartal
 The Rowlatt Act (1919)
–Shops were closed down, rallies
were organised and rail workshop
workers went on strike. Widespread
attacks on banks, post offices and
railway stations took place.
–Government brutally repressed the
nationalists. Martial law was
imposed and General Dyer took
command.
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, 13th April, 1919.

A number of people had assembled

at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar for
attending the annual Baisakhi fair.
• General Dyer surrounded the
park and opened fire on the
crowd, killing hundreds of
people.
Structure of Jallianwala Bagh
Jalianwala Bagh Masscare
13th April, 1919
 Aftermath of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

• Crowds took to the streets in many north

Indian towns. Strikes, clashes with the police
and attacks on government buildings were
extensively witnessed.
• The British used brutal repression, seeking to
humiliate and terrorise people. People were
flogged and villages were bombed.
• This violence forced Gandhi to stop the
movement.
– Criticism: The Rowlatt Satyagraha was limited
mostly to cities and towns.
Non-Cooperation Movement & Khilafat
Movement in India
 Non-Cooperation Movement
• Began in January 1921
– Causes
• Khilafat issue: After the First World War, the
British sought to overthrow the Khalifa, the
spiritual head of the Islamic world and the
Turkish Emperor. This was deeply resented by
Muslims all over the world, including the
Indian Muslims.
• Rowlatt Act: The dissatisfaction from the
Rowlatt Act and the failure of the Rowlatt
Satyagraha.
Jallianwala Bagh Masscre (Dr. Satyapal & Dr.
Saifuddin Kitchlew)
 Non-Cooperation Movement
• Jallianwala Bagh: The atrocious killing of
hundreds of innocent people by the British at
Jallianwala Bagh had made the Indian masses
resentful towards the British rule.
• Gandhiji wanted to launch a mass movement
encompassing the entire nation and all
communities.
– Methods: Surrendering of government titles,
boycott of civil services, army, police, courts and
legislative councils, school, and foreign goods;
and a full civil disobedience campaign.
Swaraj Party
 Disagreements
• Few Congress members were not in
support of the idea of boycotting the
council elections as they wanted to bring
about changes in the system by being in
power. C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed
the Swaraj Party within the Congress to
argue for a return to council politics.
• Some leaders feared the movement to turn
violent
Khilafat Movement (Shaukat Ali & Mohmmed
Ali )
 Events
• March, 1919 (Bombay): Khilafat
Committee was formed with leaders such
as Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.
• September, 1920: Gandhi, in the Calcutta
session of the Congress, convinced other
leaders of the need to start a non-
cooperation movement in support of
Khilafat as well as for Swaraj.
• December, 1920 (Nagpur): Non-
cooperation programme adopted by the
Congress.
 Events
• The Movement in the Towns: The students left
government schools and colleges, headmasters
and teachers resigned, lawyers gave up their legal
practices and the council elections were
boycotted in most provinces except Madras.
Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops
picketed and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.
• 1921 and 1922: The import of foreign cloth
dropped. Merchants and traders refused to trade
in foreign goods or finance foreign trade.
Production of Indian textile mills and handlooms
went up.
Baba Ramchandra
Rebellion in the Countryside
• The peasants had to do begar and work without pay
in the farms of oppressive landlords. The peasant
movement demanded reduction of revenue,
abolition of begar and social boycott of oppressive
landlords. In Awadh, the peasants were led by Baba
Ramchandra. The houses of talukdars and
merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted and
grain hoards were taken over in many places. Local
leaders told the peasants that Gandhiji had declared
that no taxes were to be paid and land was to be
redistributed among the poor.
• Nai-dhobi bands were organised by the panchayats
for depriving landlords of the services of even
barbers and washer men.
Rebellion in the Countryside
• October, 1920: The Oudh Kisan Sabha was
set up headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba
Ramchandra and few others.
• Revolt by Tribals: The government had
closed large forest areas, preventing people
from entering the forest to graze their cattle
or to collect fuel wood and fruits. Alluri
Sitaram Raju led the guerrilla warfare in the
Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh. The rebels
attacked police stations, attempted to kill
British officials and carried on guerrilla
warfare for achieving swaraj.
 Swaraj in the Plantations
• Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, the
plantation workers were not allowed to leave
the tea gardens without permission.
Thousands of workers defied the authorities,
left the plantations and headed home. They
believed that Gandhi raj was coming and
everyone would be given land in their own
villages.
 Impediments
• Movement slowed because khadi cloth
was often more expensive than mass-
produced mill cloth and therefore,
expensive for the poor people.
• Indian educational institutions were
slow to come in place of the boycotted
British ones.
– February, 1922: Mahatma Gandhi
decided to withdraw the Non-
Cooperation Movement because of its
violent face in many places.
Simon Commission
 Simon Commission

– Constituted by the Tory government of Britain under

pressure of mass movements in India.
– Sir John Simon was the Chairman.
– Sought to look into the demands of the nationalists
and suggest changes in the constitutional structure of
India.
– Arrived in India in 1928.Congress and the Muslim
League along with the other parties received the
commission with black flags and slogans such as “Go
back Simon”.
– October, 1929: The Commission recommended a
„dominion status’ for India in coming future and a
Round Table Conference for discussing a future
 Effects of Simon Commission

– December, 1929: Under the

presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, the
Lahore session of Congress formalized
the demand of “Purna Swaraj”. 26th
January, 1930 was celebrated as the
Independence Day.
– 1930: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar established
the Depressed Classes Association.
 Civil Disobedience Movement
– Medium: Gandhiji chose salt as the medium
for protesting against the British rule.
– 31st January, 1930: Gandhi sent a letter to
Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands ranging
from industrialists to peasants. The most
important of the demands was the abolition of
salt tax as salt was the most essential
commodity for the common man.
– The government was asked to accept the
demands by 11th march, failing which a civil
disobedience movement would be started.
Salt March 1930
Salt March 1930
Civil Disobedience Movement
Civil Disobedience Movement
 Salt March
• Marked the beginning of the Civil
Disobedience Movement.
• Started from Gandhi‟s ashram in
Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town
of Dandi, spanning a distance of 240
miles.
• 6th April, 1930: Gandhi reached Dandi
with thousands of followers and
ceremonially violated the law by
manufacturing salt from sea water.
 Spread

• Soon, the movement spread to the entire

nation.
• Colonial laws were violated, salt was
manufactured in numerous places, foreign
clothes were burnt and liquor shops were
picketed.
• Peasants refused to pay revenue and
chaukidari taxes.
• Village officials resigned and at many places
people violated forest laws by going into
reserved forests for collecting wood.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan
 Government’s Response
• April, 1930: Abdul Ghaffar Khan was
arrested
• May, 1930: Gandhiji was arrested
• Women and children were beaten by
the government and peaceful
• satyagrahis were attacked.
• About 100,000 people were arrested.
Gandhi-Irwin Pact
 Gandhi-Irwin Pact and End of Movement

• 5th March, 1931: Gandhiji called off the

movement entering into a pact with Viceroy
Lord Irwin. He consented to participate in
the Round Table Conference and the
government agreed to release the political
prisoners.
• December, 1931: Gandhiji went to London
for the Second Round Table Conference. The
conference was a futile exercise as nothing
fruitful came out of it for India.
– The Civil disobedience movement was re-
launched but by 1934 it lost momentum.
 Participation by People
• Rich peasant communities such as the Patidars
of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh took
part in the movement. Trade depression and
falling prices caused a decrease in the cash
income of these rich peasant communities. They
decided to oppose the high revenue demands of
the government through their participation in
the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• The poorer peasantry found difficulties in paying
their rent due to the depression and the
decrease in the cash income. They wanted the
unpaid rent to the landlord to be remitted.
 Participation by People
• The business class wanted protection
against imports of foreign goods and a
rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio that
would discourage imports. They also
opposed the colonial policies that
restricted business activities.
• The business class, under the leadership of
prominent industrialists such as
Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G.D. Birla,
attacked colonial control over the Indian
economy, gave financial assistance and
refused to buy or sell imported goods.
 Causes of Failure
• The Civil Disobedience Movement was called off
without the fulfilment of the demand of the rich
peasant communities.
• Many rich peasant communities decided not to
join the restarted Civil Disobedience Movement.
• The Congress was unwilling to support the „no
rent‟ campaigns due to the fear of upsetting the
rich peasants and landlords.
• The spread of militant activities, worries of prolonged
business disruptions, growing influences of socialism
amongst the young Congress members and the failure
of the Round Table Conference led to the withdrawal of
support to the movement by the business class.
 Causes of Failure
• Industrial workers did not participate in the
Civil Disobedience Movement except in
Nagpur.
•
The dalits (untouchables) did not participate
as the Congress sided with the conservative
high-caste Hindus.
• Muslim organizations and communities also
sparsely participated in the movement. The
Muslims alienated from the movement due to
the fear of the dominance of the Hindu
 Causes of Failure
• 1920: Formation of the Indian
Industrial and Commercial Congress

• 1927: Formation of the Federation of

the Indian Chamber of Commerce
and Industries (FICCI).
 Demands of Dalits
– During the course of the civil- disobedience
movement, many dalit leaders separately
demanded reservation of seats in the
educational institutions and separate
electorate for the legislative council
elections.
– 1930: Dr B.R. Ambedkar organised the dalits
into the Depressed Classes Association
– Gandhiji began a fast unto death for opposing
the demand of separate electorates for
• dalits because he believed that this would
disunite the Indian masses.
Poona Pact (September, 1932)

• Signed between Ambedkar and

Gandhiji.
• It gave the depressed classes
reserved seats in provincial and
central legislative councils, which
were to be voted in by the general
electorate.
 Upsurge of Nationalism
– A sense of unity and nationalism was inspired by
history and fiction, folklore and songs, popular
prints and symbols.
– Abanindranath Tagore‟s image of Bharat Mata
and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay‟s song
Vande Mataram united many people and
communities.
– During the Swadeshi Movement, a tri-colour (red,
green and yellow) flag was designed. It had eight
lotuses representing eight provinces of British
India and a crescent moon, representing Hindus
and Muslims.
Tri-Colour (red, green and yellow)
 Upsurge of Nationalism
– 1921: Gandhiji had designed the tri-colour
Swaraj flag (red, green and yellow) with the
spinning wheel at the centre. This flag
represented the Gandhian ideal of self- help.
– The glorious developments in the ancient
times when art and architecture, science and
mathematics, religion and culture, law and
philosophy, and crafts and trade flourished
were discovered with the help of history. This
instilled pride and united the Indians.
Tri-Colour Swaraj flag