Mahatma Gandhi and Nationalist Movement

 

Mahatma Gandhi and Nationalist Movement

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Leader of Indian nationalism and known in his later life as Mahatma (“great soul”) was one of the greatest national leaders of the twentieth century. His methods and philosophy of nonviolent confrontation not only led his own country to independence but affected people and events throughout the world.

Gandhiji was born in Porbandar Gujarat. After getting the degree of Barrister in England he moved to South Africa, where he started his protest movement based on the principles of Satyagraha. There he founded ashrams at Natal and Transvaal. His political guru GK Gokhale invited him to India in 1915. In India he successfully introduced the method of Satyagraha in Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad.

	Chronological overview of Gandhi's life:
02 Oct. 1869	M.K. Gandhi born Porbandar in Gujarat.
1883 1888-1890	Married Kasturba at the age of 13 Studied law in England
1891	Passed English Barrister returned to India
1893	went to South Africa, employed by a Muslim firm for legal work.
1894	foundation of Natal Indian Congress.
1896	returned to India and started on behalf of South African Indians.
1899	foundation of Indian Ambulance Corps during Boer wars.
1904	foundation of Indian opinion (Magazine)
1905	opposed the Bengal partition.
1906	supported “Home Rule” for India.
1907	organized “Satyagraha” (non-violent resistance) in Transwal
1909	Corresponded with Tolstoy, Founded Tolstoy farm.
1911	“Great March” arrested at Palmford and sentenced to 3 months in jail.
1914	Quits South Africa forever and returns back to India, awarded ‘Kaisar -i - Hind’ for raising and Indian Ambulance corps during Boer wars.
09 Jan, 1915	Anived Bombay (in India) Foundation of Satyagraha Ashrama at Kocharab near Ahmedabad.
April 1917	Gandhiji entered in active politics with Champaran campaign to redress grievances of cultivators oppressed by Indigo planters of Bihar.
20 May 1917 March 1918	:        Ashrama shifted to Sabarmati. :        Gandhiji worked for peasants of Kheda in Gujarat.

 

 

06 April 1919  : 13 April 1919  :	Gandhiji gave a call for Satyagraha against the Rowlett Act. Gandhi returns Kaisar-i-Hind gold medal to protest against Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Nov. 1919	The All India Khilafat conference elected Gandhi as its President.
01st Feb. 1920	Gandhiji leads the Non-co-operation and Khilafat Movement.
12 Feb. 1922	Gandhi calls off movement after the violent incident at Chauri-chaura.
1923	wrote Satyagraha in South Africa and part of his Autobiography while in prison.
1924                         :	Belgaum (Karnataka) session of INC- for-the first and the last time Gandhi was elected President of the congress.
1930                         :	Gandhiji launches the civil disobedience Movement with his Dandi March (Salt Satyagraha)
05 Mar. 1931 1931	Gandhi - Irwin pact. Gandhiji attends the second-round table conference in London.
1934 1939	Announced retirement from Politics set up Sevagram (Vardha Ashram) Gandhi resumed active politics.
1942	Call to Quit India Movement for which Gandhi raised the slogan, ‘Do or Die”
22 Feb. 1944 16 Aug to 18 Aug. 19-44 July 1947 15 Aug 1947	:        Kasturba died in detention at Agakhan Palace near Pune. The “Great Calcutta Killing” Independence of India Bill Passed Pakistan created. observes complete silence on the dawn of Indi as Independence.
Sep. 1947 30 Jan 1948	Gandhiji returns back to Delhi. Gandhiji was shot dead by Nathuram Godse while on his way to the evening prayer meeting at Birla House New Delhi.

 

Gandhiji’s Some Important Nationalist Movement

i) Non-Co-operation and Beyond

Non-Co-operation Movement (1920-22)

The Non -Co-Operation Movement is considered the first mass movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi was launched to press three main issues:

1)      The Khilafat issue.

2)       The redressal of the Punjab Wrongs.

3)       The attainment of Swaraj.

The programme of the movement had two side of coin:

1)      Destructive

2)       Constructive

The first category came in

i)          Surrender of lilies and honorary offices and resignation from nominated seats in local bodies.

ii)        Refusal to attend official functions.

iii)      Gradual withdrawal of children from officially controlled schools and colleges.

iv)      Boycott of British Courts by lawyers and litigants.

v)        Refusal on the part of the military clerical and labour classes to offer themselves as recruits for service in Mesopotamia.

vi)      Boycott the elections to the legislative council.

vii)     Boycott the foreign goods.

An unprecedented wave of enthusiasm for the national struggle swept the length and breadth of the country.

The Prince of Wales visited India during this period.

Chauri - Chaura Incident (1922)

In Chauri-Chaura near Gorakhpur (U.P.) a Police station including 22 policemen was burnt on February 5. 1922. Most of the nationalist leaders including G.R. Das, Motilal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, however expressed their bewilderment at Gandhi’s decision to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement Feb. 12,1922.

In March 1922 Gandhi ji was arrested and sentenced for six years in jail.

The Swaraj Party (1923)

C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru and N.C. Kelkar suggested that instead of boycotting the councils they should enter and expose them. In December 1922 Das and Motilal Nehru formed the congress Khilafat Swaraj Party with C.R. Das as the President and Motilal Nehru as one of the secretaries. The Swarajists contested elections to the legislative assembly and provincial councils. In 1923 elections they got 42 seats out of 101 elected seats in Bengal and central province. The Swaraj Party broke in 1926 after the death of C.R. Das.

Simon Commission (1927)

In November 1927 the British Government appointed the Indian Statutory Commission known as the Simon Commission John Simon a British politician was appointed chairman of the commission to review the situation in India with a view to introduce further reforms and extension of Parliamentary Democracy. Indian leaders opposed the Commission. At Madras session in 1927 presided over by Dr Ansari the Indian National Congress decided to boycott the Simon Commission.

In February, 1928 the Simon Commission reached Bombay and an all India hartal was organised wherever the Commission went, was greeted with Hartals and black flag demonstrations under the slogan. “Simon go back,” The police came down heavily on demonstrators. The lathicharge at Lahore Lala Lajpat Rai beaten and died because of injuries, (30 Oct 1928).

The Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34)

The Civil Disobedience Movement was started By Gandhi on 12 March, 1930 with his famous Dandi March.

Dandi March:                                                                                                     

Mahatma Gandhi launched the Salt Satyagraha on 12 March 1930. Gandhiji marched from his Sabarmati Ashram (Ahmedabad) with 78 followers. After 24 days long march he symbolically broke the salt law at Dandi on April 6,1930. The breaking of the salt laws formally inaugurated the civil Disobedience Movement. This movement even sparked off patriotism among the Indian soldiers in British Army. The Garhwali soldiers refused to open fire on the people of Peshawar.

The movement reached the extreme north-western provinces of India and stirred the brave and hardy Pathans. Under the leadership of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Popularly known as ‘’the Frontier Gandhi.” The Pathans organised the society of Khudai Khidmatgars (Servants of God) known popularly as Red sails.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931)-

In March 1931 the famous Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed. In accordance with the pact, the civil disobedience movement was called off and all prisoners were released. The salt law was amended so that people could collect salt from the sea-coast for personal use. Gandhiji was appointed as the representative of the congress to the Second Round Table Conference (1931)

 The Quit India Movement - (1942)

Also known as proposal and leaderless revolt. The Congress met at Bombay (Mumbai) on August 8, 1942 and passed the famous Quit India resolution. Gandhiji upheld the slogan ‘Do or Die’ The Quit India Movement became a powerful mass campaign galvanising people into vehemently demanding freedom from the British rule. 09 August 1942 Gandhiji and other Congress leaders were arrested and the Congress party was declared illegal once again. The violence that had broken out in different parts of the country. Many government offices were destroyed, telegraph wires were cut and communication preloved. Mahatma Gandhi disclaimed all responsibilities for the violence which was the consequence of repressive measure taken by the British. The government parallel government was set up in Ballia in Pastern UP Chitlu Pandey. Tamluk Jatiya Sarkar of Satish Samant. Satara-parati sarkar under Nana Patil Rajgopalae and the communists opposed the movement. Usha Mehta ran an illegal radio station Irom Bombay (Mumbai) Nehru were in Almora Jail, Maulana Azadin Bankara and Gandhiji in Agha Khan Palace (Poona). The movement finally crushed. Span of the movement was short lived but the importance of the movement lay in demonstrating the intensity of the nationalist feeling that people displayed and the extent to which people would go to make sacrifices in order to achieve freedom, The Muslim league didn’t support the Quit India movement. Mahatma Gandhi, Achyut Patwardhan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan and Aruna Asaf Ali were the movement leaders.

ii)    Implementation of Gandhian thoughts after Independence - 

a) Panchayati Raj - (Three tier system)

The Panchayati Raj system in India is closely related to the Gandhian concept of Gram Swaraj.  India had a unique system of self-sufficient villages and their assemblies from time immemorial. But colonial rule disrupted the existing system and imposed their own system of village Panchayats in India which lacked autonomy. The Government decided to organize village Panchayats all over the country. In 1957, The Bal want Rai Mehta Committee was appointed to inquire into this aspect. As a result of his recommendation the first Panchayat was established in 1959 in Rajasthan. This was followed by A.P., Bihar, Gujrat. H.P., Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, U.P., West Bengal. The Maharashtra government appointed the committee to Democratic Decentralization under the Chairmanship of Vasantrao Naik. On the recommendation of this commission Maharashtra Z.P and Panchayat Samiti Act was passed i n 1961. Panchayat Raj was established on 1^st May 1961 in Maharashtra.

On April 24, 1993 the Panchayati Raj institutions were further strengthened, when the 73^rd Constitutional Amendment Act 1992 came into force. The salient features of the Act are (i) to provide three - tier system of Panchayati Raj for all states having a population of over 20 lakhs; (ii) to hold Panchyat elections regularly after every five years (iii) to provide reservation of seats for scheduled castes Scheduled Tribes and Women (not less than 33 percent) (iv) to appoint State Finance Commission to make recommendations regarding the financial powers of the Panchayats (v) to constitute District Planning Committee to prepare draft development plan for the district as a whole. The Act provides the Gram Sabha with the power of ownership of minor forest produce, development plans approval, and control village functionaries in all sectors.

b) Co-operatives:

In 1958 the National Development Council (NDC) had recommended a national policy on co-operatives. But the idea of co-operatives took a concrete shape in India for the first time in 1904 when the Co-operative Credit Societies Act, a measure designed to combat rural indebtedness and provide for registration of credit societies was passed. Later in 1912 the Co-operative Societies Act also provided for registration of non-credit societies as well as federation of co-operatives. Since then the Co-operative Movement has made noticeable progress, especially in agricultural credit, marketing and processing of agricultural products, supply of farm inputs and distribution of consumer goods. One important feature is that the co-operative movement is largely village based. Governments emphasis on institutionalisation of distribution of inputs to fanners and marketing of their agricultural product through Cooperatives owned by them has helped a great deal in strengthening the Co-operative sector in the rural areas. The overall strategy in this regard has been to promote agricultural production through provision of inputs for increasing production and post-harvest facilities to protect the interest of farmers.

An idea of growth of Co-operative movement in India can be inferred from the fact that there were as many as 3.50 Lakh Co-operative societies of all types with a total membership of about 16 Crore and total working capital of about Rs. 62,500 Crore as on 30 June 1990. Among the Co­operatives societies the following may be mentioned:

i)        Agricultural Credit Societies and Co-operative Banks which offer loans to buy cattle, manure seeds, fertilizers and tools.

ii)      Non-Credit Societies which help the members by purchasing and supplying seeds, manures and tools.

iii)    Consumers Co-operative societies which sell articles of everyday rise to the village people at reasonable rates.

iv)     Co-operative marketing societies which enable the farmers to sell their produce at a reasonable price.

D) Sarvodaya and Bhoodan Movement

Sarvodaya

Sarvodaya, literally meaning the uplift of all, is the most appropriate name for Gandhian Socialism. The objective of the Sarvodaya plan is the establishment of a Sarvodaya social order. It is not a philosophy regarding the maximisation of material well-being as man’s only measure of social progress. It believes that institutions and relationships should be fashioned on the twin principles of truth and non-violence. It believes that the only enduring cohesive forms, that can weld people together in society of the free and equal, are love and co-operation and not constraint and coercion. These forces can neither be generated nor strengthened by giving free plan to the competitive and combative strains in man.

The main tenets of the Sarvodaya Philosophy as propounded by Gandhi and subsequently reiterated and explained by the pioneers of this movements are: -

*         It reiterates belief in God and, what is really important, it identifies that belief with faith in the goodness of man and with service to humanity.

*         It accepts Gandhiji’s ethical principle but lays greater emphasis on their social and positive aspects.

*         It provides a further clarification to the principle of trusteeship as implying the abolition of private ownership and the application of the principle of non-possession to public institutions is more pronounced in it.

*         The philosophy of work and the principle of equality for all religions find better elucidation in some of these thoughts.

*         The principle of Consensus of opinion to arrive at decisions, will minimise the danger of majority tyranny over minority.

*         It is more vocal in its denunciation of political parties, and its idea of partyless democracy, though consistent with ideas of Gandhi, is quite a new development.

*         It further develops Gandhi’s technique and organisation of construction work, and his ideas on planning and Satyagraha.

The philosophical and ethical implications of Sarvodaya is that it aims at the spiritualization of politics. It stands for integrating the principles of religion with politics. Further the economic implication of Sarvodaya is that it calls for villagisation, decentralisation and gifts as those of labour (Shramdan), of land (Bhoodan), of wealth (Sampattidan), and of big shares in village property (Gramdan). It outrightly discards the principle of ‘nationalisation’ of property by me action of the state with reasonable compensation, or by means of force, instead it appreciates the way of ‘trusteeship’ as given by Gandhi. It desires the establishment of small village communities in the form of Panchayats. Vinoba Bhave, Gandhiji’s spiritual disciple and a distinguished leader of Sarvodaya movement stated it as a principle of new philosophical, social, ethical, economic and political order whose aim is that “all may be happy.’                                                                                                  

Sarvodaya believed that the movement we succeed in creating a society free from exploitation, the intellectual and spiritual talent of the people of India will shine forth, showing the path of peach to the rest of the world. The believers of Sarvodaya, therefore, sought to change the existing structure of the society.

Bhoodan: -                                                                                                         

Bhoodan or gift of land was a unique concept pioneered by Acharya Vinoba Bhave. In his quest for a socialistic order of society and conforming to Gandhian principle of non-violent revolution, he sought to evoke a sense of moral obligation in the minds of the people who owned vast tracts of I and at the time independence, to donate land to the landless.

Bhoodan Movement dates back to 18^th April, 1951, in Telengana when the people agreed to donate their land to the landless Harijans on the request of Vinoba Bhave within a short period, he received about twelve thousand acres of land. This incredible phenomenon had its immediate impact on the whole of India and soon Bhoodan became a major land reform movement.

His aim was a three - fold revolution. Firstly, he wanted a change in people’s hearts. Secondly, he wanted to create a change in their lives, and thirdly, he wanted to change the social structure. He believed that if the policy of Bhoodan was accomplished, India would pass through the trail path to freedom and progress.

e) Secularism and Democracy

Secularism

The constitution of India declares that India is a secular country. The word secular was inserted into the preamble by the Forty-Second Amendment. It implies equality of all religions and religious tolerance India, therefore does not have an official state religion. Every person has the right to preach, practice and propagate any religion they choose. The government must not favour or disco mi mite against any religion. I must treat all religions with equal respect. All citizens, irrespective of their religious beliefs, are equal in the eyes of law. No religious instruction is imparted in government or government aided schools. Nevertheless, general information about all established world religions is imparted as part of the course in sociology, without giving any importance to any one religion or the others the content presents the basic fundamental information with regards to the fundamental beliefs, social values and main practices and festival of each established world religions.

* Democracy

India is a democratic country, democracy is not only viewed as a form of government but also as a social, political and moral ideal or as a way of life. In a democracy the people will supreme because sovereignty rests with them in the final analysis. All adult citizens enjoy the right to franchise and, if they so desire they can change the government in its entirely at the time of elections. The government is responsible for its actions and policies to the people who can openly and without fear criticize the government. Also, the government is limited by the constitution of the country and any violation of the law of the land may be challenged by any citizen in the court of law.

Rights of the people in a democracy are considered very important. Some of the rights like the right to life liberty and equality are considered sacrosanct and are included in the constitution as Fundamental rights or as Bill or Rights. The government cannot abridge or suspend or destroy these rights under normal circumstances. In order to safeguard the rights of the people, there is an independent judiciary. The government does not interfere in the functioning of the judiciary, so that it can protect the constitution and dispense justice without fear or favour.

Another feature of a democracy is that there are at least two major political parties one of which forms the government and other functions as the effective opposition. There may also be more than two parties forming coalition governments in certain situations and several parties forming the opposition. There are pressure groups within and outside the political parties which represent the interests of the different sections of a society.