Nationalism in India

The First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation

Impact of the First World War

• Economic Hardships: The war led to a huge increase in defence expenditure, financed by war loans and increasing taxes (customs duties raised, income tax introduced). Prices doubled between 1913 and 1918, causing extreme hardship for common people.
• Forced Recruitment: Villagers were called upon to supply soldiers, causing widespread anger in rural areas.
• Crop Failure and Epidemics: In 1918-19 and 1920-21, crops failed, leading to acute food shortages. This was accompanied by an influenza epidemic, resulting in the death of 12 to 13 million people.

The Idea of Satyagraha

• Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in January 1915 and introduced the concept of Satyagraha.
• It emphasised the power of truth and the need to search for truth. It suggested that if the cause was true and against injustice, physical force was not necessary. A satyagrahi could win through non-violence by appealing to the conscience of the oppressor.
• Early Movements:
  • Champaran (1917): Inspired peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system.
  • Kheda (1917): Supported peasants who could not pay revenue due to crop failure and plague.
  • Ahmedabad (1918): Organised a movement amongst cotton mill workers.

The Rowlatt Act (1919)

• Passed hurriedly despite Indian opposition, it gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities and allow detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.
• Gandhi launched a nationwide satyagraha (Rowlatt Satyagraha). Rallies were organised, and shops closed down.
• Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (13 April 1919): General Dyer fired upon a peaceful crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwala Bagh to create terror. Hundreds were killed.
• The incident led to strikes and clashes. The government responded with brutal repression (humiliating satyagrahis). Gandhi called off the movement as violence spread.

Khilafat and Non-Cooperation

• Gandhi felt the need to unite Hindus and Muslims for a broad-based movement.
• Khilafat Issue: The Ottoman Emperor (Khalifa) faced a harsh peace treaty after WWI. To defend his powers, a Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay (1919) by Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.
• Gandhi saw this as an opportunity for unity. At the Calcutta Congress session (September 1920), he convinced leaders to start a Non-Cooperation Movement in support of Khilafat and Swaraj.
• Why Non-Cooperation? In Hind Swaraj, Gandhi declared British rule survived only because of Indian cooperation. If Indians refused to cooperate, British rule would collapse, and Swaraj would come.
• The Plan: Surrender of titles, boycott of civil services, army, police, courts, schools, and foreign goods. Adopted at the Nagpur Congress session (December 1920).

Differing Strands within the Movement

The Movement in the Towns

• Thousands of students left government schools; lawyers gave up practice.
• Council elections were boycotted (except by the Justice Party in Madras).
• Economic Boycott: Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and foreign cloth burnt. Import of foreign cloth halved between 1921 and 1922. Production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up.
• Slowdown: The movement slowed in cities because Khadi was expensive for the poor, and there were no alternative Indian institutions for students and teachers to join.

Rebellion in the Countryside

• Awadh Peasants: Led by Baba Ramchandra (a sanyasi). The struggle was against talukdars and landlords demanding high rents and begar (forced labour). They demanded revenue reduction and social boycott of oppressive landlords (nai-dhobi bandhs). The Oudh Kisan Sabha was set up by Jawaharlal Nehru and Baba Ramchandra.
• Tribal Peasants: In the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh, a militant guerrilla movement spread under Alluri Sitaram Raju. Rebels attacked police stations and carried on guerrilla warfare to achieve Swaraj. Raju was captured and executed in 1924.

Swaraj in the Plantations

• For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely and link with their villages.
• Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, they were not permitted to leave tea gardens without permission.
• Defying authorities, thousands left the plantations, believing "Gandhi Raj" was coming and they would get land in their villages. They were caught by police and brutally beaten.

Towards Civil Disobedience

Formation of Policies

• Swaraj Party: Formed by C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru to argue for a return to council politics.
• Radical Leaders: Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose pressed for full independence.
• Simon Commission (1928): A statutory commission arrived to review India's constitutional system. It had no Indian members. It was greeted with "Go back Simon".
• Purna Swaraj: At the Lahore Congress (December 1929) under Jawaharlal Nehru, the demand for "Purna Swaraj" (full independence) was formalised. 26 January 1930 was declared Independence Day.

The Salt March and Civil Disobedience

• Gandhi chose salt as a powerful symbol uniting the nation. He sent an ultimatum to Viceroy Irwin with 11 demands, the most stirring being the abolition of the salt tax.
• Dandi March: Gandhi started the march with 78 volunteers from Sabarmati to Dandi (240 miles). On 6 April, he reached Dandi and violated the law by manufacturing salt.
• The Movement: Unlike Non-Cooperation, people were now asked to break colonial laws. Salt laws were broken, foreign cloth boycotted, and peasants refused to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes. Village officials resigned, and forest people violated forest laws.
• Government Response: Brutal repression, arrests of leaders (including Gandhi and Abdul Ghaffar Khan), and violence.
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931): Gandhi called off the movement and agreed to join the Round Table Conference in London. The conference failed, and upon returning, Gandhi relaunched the movement, but it lost momentum by 1934.

How Participants Saw the Movement

• Rich Peasants (Patidars and Jats): Hard hit by trade depression and falling prices. They participated to fight against high government revenue demands. They were disappointed when the movement was called off without revenue revision.
• Poor Peasants: Struggled with rent payments to landlords. They joined radical movements led by Socialists/Communists, but Congress was hesitant to support "no rent" campaigns to avoid alienating rich peasants.
• Business Class: Led by industrialists like Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G.D. Birla (FICCI formed in 1927). They wanted protection against imports and a favourable exchange ratio. They supported the movement initially but became apprehensive of militant activities and socialism later.
• Industrial Workers: Participation was limited (except in Nagpur). Some workers participated by boycotting foreign goods and striking for higher wages.
• Women: Large-scale participation. They marched, manufactured salt, and picketed shops. However, Congress was initially reluctant to give them positions of authority.

The Limits of Civil Disobedience

• Dalits (Untouchables): Congress had long ignored them to avoid offending conservative high-caste Hindus (sanatanis).
  • Gandhi called them Harijan (children of God) and organised satyagraha for temple entry.
  • Dr. B.R. Ambedkar demanded separate electorates for Dalits.
  • Poona Pact (1932): Resulted from a compromise between Gandhi and Ambedkar. It gave Depressed Classes reserved seats in provincial and central councils but they were voted in by the general electorate.
• Muslims: After the decline of the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat movement, Muslims felt alienated from Congress.
  • Relations between Hindus and Muslims worsened, leading to communal riots.
  • The Muslim League (led by Jinnah) demanded reserved seats and separate electorates to safeguard minority interests.
  • Leaders like Muhammad Iqbal feared the culture of minorities would be submerged under Hindu domination.

The Sense of Collective Belonging

Nationalism spreads when people believe they are part of the same nation. This was achieved through:

• United Struggles: The experience of fighting together against colonial rule.
• Cultural Processes:
  • Bharat Mata: The identity of the nation was visualised as a mother figure. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay created the image and wrote 'Vande Mataram'. Abanindranath Tagore painted Bharat Mata as an ascetic figure.
  • Folklore: Nationalists recorded folk tales and songs to preserve traditional culture and discover national identity (e.g., Rabindranath Tagore in Bengal, Natesa Sastri in Madras).
  • Icons and Symbols: The Tricolour flag. The Swadeshi flag (1905) had 8 lotuses and a crescent moon. Gandhi’s Swaraj flag (1921) had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing self-help.
  • Reinterpretation of History: Indians wrote about the glorious ancient times of art, science, and law to instill pride and counter the British view of Indians as backward.

Quit India Movement (1942)