4. Nationalism In India
In India, the growth of modern nationalism is intimately connected to the anti-colonial
movement. People began discovering their unity in the process of their struggle with
colonialism. The sense of being oppressed under colonialism provided a shared bond
that tied many different groups together. But each class and group felt the effects of
colonialism differently, their experiences were varied and their notions of freedom were
not always the same. The Congress under Mahatma Gandhi tried to forge these groups
together within one movement. But the unity did not emerge without conflict.
In this presentation we will explore how the Congress sought to develop the national
movement, how different social groups participated in the movement, and how
nationalism captured the imagination of people.
5. Nationalism in India
First World War, Khilafat & Non-Cooperation
Impact of war on the Nationalist Movement
a) Increase in Taxes, Price rise
b) Forced Recruitment
c) Crop failure
d) Influenza epidemic
e) Emergence of a New leader
6. The idea of Satyagraha - meaning, Satyagraha before 1919
a) People had to be persuaded to see the truth,
instead of being forced to accept truth through
the use of violence. Mahatma Gandhi believed that
the Dharma of non-violence could unite all Indians
b) Champaran Satyagraha – 1916
c) Kheda Satyagraha – 1917
d) Ahmedabad mill workers strike – 1918
7. The Rowlatt Act - Meaning, its opposition
a) This Act gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities,
and allowed detention of Political prisoners without trial for two years.
b) Gandhi asked for a hartal on 6 April. Rallies were organised, workers went on
strike.
c) Local leaders were picked up from Amritsar, Mahatma Gandhi was barred
from entering Delhi, Martial Law was imposed and General Dyer took command
of Amritsar.
8. Jallianwalla Bagh Incident – Its opposition
a) On 13 April villagers unaware of martial law,
gathered at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar to attend
a fair.
b) Dyer blocked the exit points and opened fire,
Killing hundreds.
c) People opposed the killings, by attacking
government offices, police stations etc.
d) Government responded with brutal repression,
People were flogged and villages were bombed.
9. Khilafat Movement
a) Mahatma Gandhi wanted a broad based movement by bringing the Hindus and
Muslims close together.
b) After the First World War a harsh peace treaty was imposed on the Ottomon
emperor. To defend the Khalifa’s Temporal powers. A Khilafat committee was formed.
c) Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali discussed with Mahatma Gandhi about a united
mass action. Gandhi convinced Congress for the need to start a non –cooperation
movement in support of Khilafat.
10. Non-Cooperation- Why, its course
a) Gandhi in his book Hind Swaraj declared that British rule in India was only possible
due to the cooperation of Indians. If Indians refused to cooperate, British rule would
collapse.
b) Non-cooperation was to unfold in stages – surrender of titles, Boycott of
government, finally a full civil disobedience Movement to be launched.
c) Leaders in Congress were reluctant to boycott the Council elections and feared that
the movement might lead to Popular violence.
d) At Nagpur in December 1920, a compromise was worked out and the Non-
cooperation programme was adopted.
11. Differing strands within the movement
(i) The movements in the Towns
(ii) Rebellion in the countryside
a) Awadh Peasants movement
b) b) Tribal movement in the Gudam hills of Andhra
Pradesh
c) Swaraj in the Plantations
12. The movement in the Towns
How the people reacted
a) Middle class participation
b) Students lefts govt. schools, govt. officials resigned, lawyers gave up their
practices
c) Council elections were boycotted
d) Foreign goods boycotted, liquor shops picketed, foreign clothes burnt
e) Traders & Merchants refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign
trade.
Why the movement failed
a) Khadi cloth was too expensive, poor people could not afford it
b) Lack of alternative Indian Institutions
13. Rebellion in the Countryside Awadh Peasant Movement
1. Participation of the Peasants
a) Led by Baba Ramchandra
b) Was against landlords who demanded high rents and other cesses .
c) Peasants demanded – reduction of revenue, abolition of Begar, social
boycott of landlords
2. Support by Congress
Participation of Jawaharlal Nehru
b) Formation of Awadh Kisan Sabha
c) Over 300 branches had been set up
d) Efforts to integrate the Awadh peasant struggle into the wider struggle
3. Why the movement failed
a) Developed in forms that the congress leadership was unhappy with
b) Violence erupted (house of talukdars/merchants were attacked, bazaars
looted, grain hoards taken over)
c) Message of Mahatma Gandhi wrongly interpreted
14. Tribal movement in Gudam hills of Andhra Pradesh
Why tribals revolted
a) Govt. forest policy affected the livelihoods of tribals, denied their traditional
rights
b) When the government began forcing them to contribute begar for rood
building, tribals revolted.
2. Alluri Sitaram Raju
a) Rebels proclaimed that he was an incarnation of God.
b) Talked of the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi & persuaded people to wear
Khadi and give up drinking.
3. Outcomes of the Revolt
a) Raju believed that India could be liberated only by the use of force
b) Raju was captured and executed in 1924
15. Swaraj in the Plantations
a) The Inland Emigration Act of 1859 restricted the plantation workers
to leave the tea gardens without permission.
b) Workers defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home
c) Stranded or the way by a railway and steamer strike, were caught
by the police and brutally beaten up.
Towards Civil Disobedience
The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement
How Participants saw the Movement
The Limits of Civil Disobedience
16. Why Non Cooperation Movement was
withdrawn ?
In February 1922, Gandhi decided to
withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement
He felt the movement was turning violent in
many places. With in congress some
leaders were by now tired of mass
struggles and wanted to participate in
election of the provincial councils. C.R.
Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj
Party within the congress to argue for a
return to council politics.
17. Two factors that shaped Indian Politics towards the late 1920s
The worldwide economic depression
i) Agricultural prices began to fall
ii) Peasants found it difficult to sell their harvests and pay their revenue
b) Arrival of Simon Commission
i) Setup in response to the nationalist movement
ii) To suggest change in the functioning of the constitutional system in India
iii) Did not had a single Indian member
iv) When arrived in India was greeted with the slogan ‘Go back Simon’.
18. Congress Changed its goal from Swaraj to Purna Swaraj
a) Dominion status offered but in an unspecified future.
b) Radicals within the congress become more assertive.
c) Liberals & moderates gradually lost their influence. Thus Congress declared
complete independence as its goal & declared that 26 January 1930 to be
celebrated as the Independence Day
19. The Salt March
Mahatma Gandhi, on 31 January 1930, sent a letter to the Viceroy Lord Irwin, stating
eleven demands. Some of these were of general interest, some were specific demands
of different classes, from industrialists to peasants. The most stirring of all was the
demand to abolish the salt tax. He made the “Salt tax” his target and called it the most
repressive Act of the British government. Mahatma Gandhi’s letter was, in a way, an
ultimatum but Irwin was unwilling to negotiate. So, Gandhi started his famous “Salt
March” on March 12, 1930 from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, a small coastal village in
Gujarat. He started with 78 followers and thousands joined him on his 240 miles route.
On 6 April he reached Dandi, and ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt by
boiling sea water.
20. The Civil Disobedience Movement
People’s Participation
a) People were asked to refuse cooperation to
British and to break colonial laws
b) People broke salt law, foreign cloths
boycotted and liquor shops were picketed .
c) People refused to pay revenue and taxes,
officials resigned, forest people violated
forest laws.
2. Government’s reaction
a) Congress leader were arrested.
b) Violence erupted in Peshawar when
Abdul Ghaffar Khan was arrested
c) In Sholapur workers attacked British
Offices when Gandhi was arrested
d) Peaceful satyagrahis were
attacked, women and children were
beaten, and about 100,000 people
were arrested.
21. 3. Gandhi-Irwin Pact
a) Gandhiji
consented to
participate in a
Round Table
Conference,
Government
agreed to release
the political
prisoners.
b) The negotiations
broke down and
Gandhi returned
disappointed.
c) Gandhi re-launched
the Civil
Disobedience
Movement, but by
1934 it lost its
momentum.
22. How Participants saw the Movement
Rich Peasant Communities
a) were hard hit by the trade depression and falling prices
b) Refusal of the government to reduce the revenue demand led to widespread
resentment and they actively participated in the movement.
c) were deeply disappointed with the Gandhi-Irwin pact
d) When movement was restarted, many of them refused to participate.
Poorer Peasantry
Because of the economic depression, small tenants found it
a) Difficult to pay their rent, wanted the unpaid rent to the Landlord to be remitted.
b) Congress was unwilling to support ‘no rent’ campaigns in most places.
23. The Business Class
a) Reacted against colonial policies that restricted business activities
b) Wanted protection against imparts of foreign goods, and a Rupee-Sterling foreign
exchange ratio that would discourage imports.
c) Formed their organisations, attacked colonial control over the Indian economy &
supported the Civil Disobedience Movement.
d) Worried of the militant activities, prolonged disruption business & the growing
influence of socialism in the congress, the business group withdrew their support
from the movement.
Industrial working class
Other than the workers of Nagpur region, workers were not much interested in the
movement
b) The workers started their own movements against law wages and Poor working
conditions.
c) Congress felt that if it supported workers than it would alienate Industrialists and that
would divide the anti-imperial forces
24. Participation of women
a) Women participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, picketed foreign cloth &
liquor shops, they began to see service to the nation as a scared duty.
b) Never got good response from the congress as, Gandhi ji was convinced that it was
the duty of women to look after home & Congress was keen only on their symbolic
presence.
25. The Limits of the CDM
Demands of the Untouchables/Dalits
(i) Congress had ignored dalits, for fear of offending the Sanatanis.
(ii) Mahatma Gandhi called the untouchables, harijans and declared that India would not
achieve ‘Swaraj’ for hundred years, if untouchability was not totally eliminated. (iii) The
Dalits - Wanted a political solution for their problems. They demanded reservation of
seats, in educational institutes, separate electorate to choose their own candidates to the
legislative councils.
(iv) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the leader of the Dalits, formed an association in 1930, called the
Depressed Classes Association. He clashed with Gandhiji at the Second Round Table
Conference by demanding separate electorates for dalits. The British Government
accepted Dr. Ambedkar's demand.
(v) Gandhiji began a fast unto death against this. Dr. Ambedkar finally signed a pact with
Gandhiji in September 1932, called the Poona Pact. It gave reserved seats in provincial
and Central Legislative Councils to the Depressed Classes. They were to be voted in by
the general electorate.
26. Muslim political organisations also kept away from Civil Disobedience Movement.
(i) Muslims felt alienated from Congress after the decline of Non-Cooperation - Khilafat
Movement.
(ii) From mid-1920's the Congress seemed to be more visibly associated with Hindu
religions nationalist groups like the Hindu Mahasabha.
(iii) There were Hindu-Muslim Clashes and riots in many cities, which further worsened
the relations between the two communities.
Attempt was made in 1927 by the Congress and Muslim League to form an alliance. It
seemed possible as M.A. Jinnah, one of the leaders of Muslim League, agreed to give up
the demand for separate electorates if:
(A) Muslims were assured reserved seats in Central Assembly.
(B) Representation in proportion to population in the Muslim dominated provinces,
(Bengal and Punjab).
Negotiations failed in 1928 when M.R. Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha strongly opposed
efforts at compromise.
27. Sense of Collective Belonging
Identity of a Nation Symbolised in
figure or image
Movement to revive Indian
Folklore
Use of Icons & Symbols
Reinterpretation of History
Problems
Image of Bharat Mata :
The identity of India came to
visually associated with the image
of Bharat Mata. The image was
first created by Bankim Chandra
Chatatopadhyay. Through his
poem ‘Vande Materam’, as a
hymn to the motherland.
Moved by the Swadeshi
movement, Abanindranath Tagore
painted his famous image of
Bharat Mata. In this painting
Bharat Mata is portrayed as a
ascetic figure: she is calm,
composed, divine and spiritual.
28. Revival of Indian Folklore :
In late-nineteenth century India, nationalist began recording folk tales sung by bards and
they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. This was done to promote the
traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by western forces. It was
essential to preserve this folk tradition in order to discover one’s national identity and
restore a sense of pride in one’s past. In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore and in Madras
Natesa Sastri made important contributions.
Icons and Symbols :
In Bengal, a tricolour flag was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces
of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims.
By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj Flag , it has a spinning wheel representing
the Gandhian ideal of self-help.
29. Reinterpretation of History :
Modern education, in course of time, evoked interest
in the correct understanding of India’s past.
Attempts were made to rediscover and re-study the
past India to enhance the understanding of the
present.
Much of the new knowledge about India’s past gave a
sense of pride to the Indian people and helped in their
awakening.
Many Indian scholars took up the study of Indian
history and culture in a systematic way and the
appreciation of India from a specifically Indian point of
view began.
This urges the readers to take pride in India’s great
achievements in the past and struggle to change the
miserable conditions of life under British rule.
When the past being glorified was Hindu, images
were drawn from Hindu iconography, then people of
other communities felt left out.
