CHAPTER-15 Emergence of Gandhi

· The Indian struggle against imperialism took a decisive turn towards a broad-based popular struggle with
the emergence of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on the Indian political scene.

Why Nationalist Resurgence Now-

· Post-War Economic Hardships; inc prices recessions ;Industry-increased foreign investment .Workers and
Artisans- bore the brunt of high prices. Peasantry- high taxation and poverty,Educated Urban Classes
facing unemployment ;awareness of racism.

· Expectations of Political Gains for Cooperation in the War After the war, there were high expectations of
political gains from the British government .

· Nationalist Disillusionment with Imperialism Worldwide ; Paris peace conference imperial power no
itnention to loosen holdover colonies; end of WW1- resurgence of militant naltionalism asia africa.

· Impact of Russian Revolution (November 7, 1917): The Bolshevik Party of workers overthrew the Czarist
regime and founded the Soviet Union, under the leadership of Lenin. Showed immense power of masses.

Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms and Government of India Act, 1919-; REWARD +PUNISHMNT POLICY

· The carrot was represented by the insubstantial Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, while measures such as
the Rowlatt Act represented the stick.

· Main Features

Provincial Government—Introduction of Dyarchy

· Executive ; Dyarchy, i.e., rule of two—executive councillors and popular ministers—was introduced. The
governor was to be the executive head in the province.

· Subjects two lists: ‘reserved’ and ‘transferred’ subjects. The reserved subjects administered by the
governor transferred subjects were to be administered by ministers

· The ministers were to be responsible to the legislature and had to resign if a no-confidence motion was
passed against them by the legislature, while the executive councillors were not to be responsible to the
legislature.

· In case of failure of constitutional machinery? in the province the governor administration of transferred
subjects also.

· The secretary of state for India and the governor general could interfere in respect of reserved subjects
while in respect of the transferred subjects, the scope for their interference was restricted.

· Legislature; Provincial legislative councils expanded and 70 per cent of the members were to be elected.

· The system of communal and class electorates was further consolidated.

· Women were also given the right to vote.

· The legislative councils could reject the budget but the governor could restore .

Central Government—Still Without Responsible Government

· Executive.

· There were to be two lists for administration— central and provincial.

· In the viceroy’s executive council of eight, 3 to be Indians.

· The governor-general retained full control =reserved subjects in the provinces.

· The governor-general could restore cuts in grants, certify bills rejected by the central legislature and issue
ordinances.

· Legislature

· A bicameral arrangement was introduced. The lower house or Central Legislative Assembly would consist
of 145 members and the upper house or Council of State would have 60 members.

· The Council of State had a tenure of 5 years and had only male members, while the Central Legislative
Assembly had a tenure of 3 years.

· The legislators could ask questions and supplementaries, pass adjournment motions and vote a part of the
budget, but 75 per cent of the budget was still not votable.

· On the home government (in Britain) front, the Government of India Act, 1919 made an important change
— the Secretary of State for India was henceforth to be paid out of the British exchequer.

Drawbacks

· Franchise was very limited. The electorate was extended to some one-and-a-half million for the central
legislature, while the population of India was around 260 million, as per one estimate.

· At the centre, the legislature had no control over the viceroy and his executive council.

· Division of subjects was not satisfactory at the centre.

· Allocation of seats for central legislature to the provinces was based on ‘importance’ of provinces—for
instance, Punjab’s military importance and Bombay’s commercial importance.

· At the level of provinces, division of subjects and parallel administration of two parts was irrational and,
hence, unworkable. Subjects like irrigation, finance, police, press and justice were ‘reserved’.

· The provincial ministers had no control over finances and over the bureaucrats; this would lead to
constant friction between the two. Ministers were often not consulted on important matters too; in fact,
they could be overruled by the governor on any matter that the latter considered special.
Congress’s Reaction

· INC special session in August 1918 at Bombay reforms to be “disappointing” and “unsatisfactory”

· —a sunless dawn” by Tilak, even as Annie Besant found them “unworthy of England to offer and India to
accept”.

Making of Gandhi-

· Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar in the princely state of
Kathiawar in Gujarat. Having studied law in England, Gandhi, in 1898, went to South Africa. He stayed
there till 1914 after which he returned to India.

· The Indians in South Africa consisted of three categories—one, the indentured Indian labour; two, the
merchants; and three,the ex-indentured labourers.= suffered disablities

Moderate Phase of Struggle (1894-1906)- ; Petition to govt reagrding condition indians here british subjects thus
tried to unite .Natal Indian Congress and started a paper Indian Opinion.

Phase of Passive Resistance or Satyagraha (1906-1914)-The second phase, Oppose in non violent way

· Satyagraha against Registration Certificates (1906)- cumpulsory carry certification of registration -decided
not to submit- defying the law -gandh jailed- compromise settlement

· Campaign against Restrictions on Indian Migration-S.africa also colony mil na jaye dono -imposing
restrictions on Indian migration.

· Campaign against Poll Tax and Invalidation of Indian Marriages: poll tax on all ex indentured indians ;SC
invalidate all marriage not conducted acc to christan rites -insult to honour.

· Protest against Transvaal Immigration Act-The Indians protested the Transvaal Immigration Act, by
illegally migrating from Natal into Transvaal. Even the viceroy, Lord Hardinge, condemned the repression
and called for an impartial enquiry.

· Compromise Solution; inn sab ko hata dia due to pressure

Gandhi’s Experience in South Africa

· masses had immense capacity He was able to unite Indians .He was able to evolve his own style of
leadership and politics

Gandhi’s Technique of Satyagraha

· . It was based on truth and non-violence.

· A satyagrahi was not to submit to what he considered as wrong, but was to always remain truthful, non-
violent and fearless.

· A satyagrahi works on the principles of withdrawal of cooperation and boycott. Methods of satyagraha
include non-payment of taxes, and declining honours and positions of authority.
 · A satyagrahi should be ready to accept suffering in his struggle against the wrong-doer. This suffering was
to be a part of his love for truth.

· While carrying out his struggle against the wrong-doer, a true satyagrahi would have no ill feeling for the
wrong-doer; hatred would be alien to his nature.

· A true satyagrahi would never bow before the evil, whatever the consequence.

· Only the brave and strong could practise satyagraha;

Gandhi in India-

· Gandhi returned to India in January 1915. During 1917 and 1918, Gandhi was involved in three struggles—
in Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda—before he launched the Rowlatt Satyagraha.

Champaran Satyagraha (1917)—First Civil Disobedience

· The European planters had been forcing the peasants to grow indigo on 3/20 part of the total land
(called tinkathia system). The peasants were forced to sell the produce at prices fixed by the Europeans.

· When Gandhi, joined now by Rajendra Prasad, Mazharul- Haq, Mahadeo Desai, Narhari Parekh, and J.B.
Kripalani, reached Champaran to probe into the matter, the authorities ordered him to leave the area at
once.

· This passive resistance or civil disobedience of an unjust order was a novel method at that time. The
government appointed a committee to go into the matter and nominated Gandhi as a member.

· Gandhi was able to convince the authorities that the tinkathia system should be abolished and that the
peasants should be compensated for the illegal dues extracted from them.

· As a compromise with the planters, he agreed that only 25 per cent of the money taken should be
compensated.

Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918)— First Hunger Strike

· In March 1918, Gandhi intervened in a dispute between cotton mill owners of Ahmedabad and the
workers over the issue of discontinuation of the plague bonus.

· The workers of the mill turned to Anusuya Sarabhai for help in fighting for justice. Anusuya Sarabhai was a
social worker who was also the sister of Ambalal Sarabhai, one of the mill owners and the president of the
Ahmedabad Mill Owners Association (founded in 1891 to develop the textile industry in Ahmedabad).

· Gandhi asked the workers to go on a strike and demand a 35 per cent increase in wages instead of 50 per
cent.

Kheda Satyagraha (1918)—First Non- Cooperation

· Because of drought in 1918, the crops failed in Kheda district of Gujarat. According to the Revenue Code,
if the yield was less than one-fourth the normal produce, the farmers were entitled to remission.

· Gandhi asked the farmers not to pay the taxes. Patel along with his colleagues organized the tax revolt
 which the different ethnic and caste communities of Kheda supported. led to relase of consifacted
property agreed to suspension of tax

Gains from Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda

· efficacy of his technique of satyagraha.

· strengths and weaknesses of the masses.

· He acquired respect and commitment of many.

Rowlatt Act, Satyagraha, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre- (ACT an extension to DEFENCE ACT)

· The Rowlatt Act-

· Two bills were introduced in the Imperial Legislative Council. One of them was dropped, but the other—
an extension to the Defence of India Regulations Act 1915—was passed in March 1919.

· It was what was officially called the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, but popularly known as the
Rowlatt Act. It was based on the recommendations made by the Rowlatt Commission, headed by the
British judge, Sir Sidney Rowlatt, to investigate the ‘seditious conspiracy’ of the Indian people.

· The act allowed political activists to be tried without juries or even imprisoned without trial. It allowed
arrest of Indians without warrant on the mere suspicion of ‘treason’.

· The law of habeas corpus, the basis of civil liberty, was sought to be suspended. The object of the
government was to replace the repressive provisions of the wartime Defence of India Act (1915) by a
permanent law.

· if against british speak= 2 years jail no rule of law

Satyagraha Against the Rowlatt Act— First Mass Strike

· Gandhi =“Black Act”.There was a radical change in the situation by now.

· The masses had found a direction; now they could ‘act’ instead of just giving verbal expression to their
grievances.

· From now onwards, peasants, artisans and the urban poor were to play an increasingly important part in
the struggle.

· Orientation of the national movement turned to the masses permanently.

· Satyagraha was to be launched on April 6, 1919 but before it could be launched, there were large-scale
violent, anti-British demonstrations prior satyagraha

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (April 13, 1919)-HUNTER COMMITTEE REVIEWeD

· On April 9, two nationalist leaders, Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal, were arrested by the British
officials without any provocation except that they had addressed protest meetings, and taken to some
unknown destination.
· This caused resentment among the Indian protestors who came out in thousands on April 10 to show
their solidarity with their leaders. Soon the protests turned violent because the police resorted to firing
in which some of the protestors were killed.

· By then the city had returned to calm and the protests that were being held were peaceful. Dyer,
however, issued a proclamation on April 13 (which was also Baisakhi) forbidding people from leaving
the city without a pass and from organising demonstrations or processions, or assembling in groups of
more than three.

· On Baisakhi day, a large crowd of people mostly from neighbouring villages, unaware of the prohibitory
orders in the city, gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh, a popular place for public events, to celebrate the
Baisakhi

· The troops surrounded the gathering under orders from General Dyer and blocked the only exit point and
opened fire on the unarmed crowd.

· According to official British Indian sources, 379 were identified dead, and approximately 1,100 were
wounded. Indian National Congress, on the other hand, estimated more than 1,500 were injured, and
approximately 1,000 were killed. But it is precisely known that 1650 bullets were fired into the crowd.

· Gandhi gave up the title of Kaiser-i-Hind, bestowed by the British for his work during the Boer War. Gandhi
was overwhelmed by the atmosphere of total violence and withdrew the movement on April 18, 1919.

The Hunter Committee of Inquiry-

· On October 14, 1919, Disorders Inquiry Committee,=HC

· The purpose of the commission was to “investigate the recent disturbances in Bombay, Delhi and Punjab,
about their causes, and the measures taken to cope with them”.

· There were three Indians among the members,

· Dyer is reported to have explained his sense of honour by saying, “I think it quite possible that I could have
dispersed the crowd without firing but they would have come back again and laughed, and I would have
made, what I consider, a fool of myself.”

· The government had passed an Indemnity Act for the protection of its officers. The “white washing bill”
as the Indemnity Act was called, was severely criticised by Motilal Nehru and others. In the House of
Commons, Churchill condemned . HC didnt penalize dyerbc pressure from england

· A former prime minister of Britain, H.H. Asquith called it “one of the worst outrages in the whole of our
history”.

· The honouring of Dyer by the priests of Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, was one of the reasons behind the
intensification of the demand.

· Congress View-The Indian National Congress appointed its own non-official Committee and put forward its
own view.