The Gandhian Era (1915–1947): Gandhi's Mass Movements

4.1 Gandhi's Return and Early Satyagrahas

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948): Born Porbandar (Gujarat); trained as a lawyer in London. He spent 1893–1915 in South Africa developing non-violent resistance (satyagraha — "truth force"). He returned to India in 1915 and spent one year travelling at Gokhale's suggestion before entering politics.

Early Satyagrahas (1917–18) — "training exercises":

• Champaran (1917): First satyagraha in India — on behalf of indigo cultivators forced to grow indigo on 3/20 of their land (Tinkathia system); Gandhi's investigation led to abolition of the forced indigo contract
• Ahmedabad Mill Workers' Strike (1918): First hunger strike by Gandhi — on behalf of cotton mill workers demanding wage increase; he achieved their demands
• Kheda Satyagraha (1918): On behalf of Kheda (Gujarat) peasants demanding suspension of land revenue due to crop failure; Vallabhbhai Patel joined Gandhi here for the first time

4.2 Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22)

Context:

• Jallianwala Bagh massacre (April 1919)
• Khilafat issue (Ali Brothers)
• Congress-Khilafat alliance formed at September 1920 Calcutta special session

Programme:

• Surrender of titles and honorary offices
• Boycott of legislative councils
• Boycott of government educational institutions
• Boycott of law courts and elections
• Boycott of foreign cloth; picketing of liquor shops

Scale and Key Participants:

• 30,000 arrests in the first year
• Subhas Chandra Bose joined the movement (returned from ICS studies)
• C.R. Das resigned from his legal practice
• Khilafat leaders led Muslim participation

Chauri Chaura Incident (4 February 1922):

A protesting crowd in Chauri Chaura village (Gorakhpur, UP) attacked and burnt a police station — 22 policemen killed. Gandhi called off the entire movement two weeks later (12 February 1922), arguing that non-violence had been violated. This decision was criticised by many leaders (Motilal Nehru, Subhas Bose) as abandoning a movement at its peak.

4.3 Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March (1930–34)

Context Leading Up to 1930:

• Simon Commission (1928, all-British, no Indians) boycotted
• Nehru Report (1928): First Indian-drafted constitutional proposal, but rejected by Muslim League
• Lahore Congress (December 1929): Purna Swaraj (complete independence) declared
• 26 January 1930 observed as first Independence Day (now Republic Day)

Dandi March (12 March–5 April 1930):

Gandhi selected the Salt Tax as the focus — universally applicable, morally clear, economically felt by the poorest. He led 78 followers on a 240-mile march from Sabarmati Ashram (Ahmedabad) to Dandi (Gujarat coast), making salt from seawater on 5 April 1930.

• Gandhi arrested 5 May 1930
• Dharsana Salt Works raid (21 May 1930): Led by Sarojini Naidu and Abbas Tyabji; non-violent marchers beaten with steel-tipped batons — covered by American journalist Webb Miller, creating international outrage
• Peshawar: Massive demonstrations; Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan's Khudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of God") — non-violent Pashtun movement

Round Table Conferences and Pact:

• First Round Table Conference (November 1930): Boycotted by Congress; attended by princes and Muslim League
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact (5 March 1931): Gandhi suspended Civil Disobedience; Irwin released political prisoners, allowed salt manufacture on coast; Gandhi attended Second Round Table Conference (September–December 1931) but it failed
• Communal Award (August 1932): Ramsay MacDonald gave separate electorates to Scheduled Castes — Gandhi fasted unto death in protest
• Poona Pact (24 September 1932): Agreement between Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar — replaced separate electorates with reserved seats within a joint Hindu electorate

4.4 Quit India Movement (1942)

Context:

• World War II had reached India's doorstep (Japanese army at Burma-India border, 1942)
• Cripps Mission (March–April 1942) offered dominion status after the war — not immediate self-government
• Congress rejected it as "a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank" (Nehru)

The Resolution (8 August 1942):

At the AICC meeting at Gowalia Tank Maidan (now August Kranti Maidan), Bombay, Congress passed the Quit India Resolution demanding immediate British withdrawal. Gandhi's slogan: "Do or Die" (Karo Ya Maro).

Immediate Arrest:

Within hours of the resolution, British authorities arrested the entire Congress leadership — Gandhi at Birla House, Pune; Nehru, Patel, Azad all imprisoned. The movement became leaderless.

Aruna Asaf Ali (1909–1996):

• Appeared at Gowalia Tank Maidan on 9 August 1942 and hoisted the Congress flag, becoming the symbol of the 1942 revolt
• Went underground for three years, coordinating activities
• Awarded the Bharat Ratna (1997, posthumously); called the "Heroine of the Quit India Movement"
• Also served as the first Mayor of Delhi (1958)

Scale of Repression:

• About 100,000 people arrested
• 1,028 people killed in police firing
• 3,200 police stations, 749 government buildings, 88 railway stations, 231 telegraph offices damaged or destroyed
• Movement effectively suppressed by end of 1942 but demonstrated the impossibility of long-term British rule

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