Gandhi's Arrival, Rowlatt Satyagraha, Jallianwala Bagh and the Non-Cooperation–Khilafat Movement

Gandhi before India

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (born 2 October 1869, Porbandar) trained as a lawyer in London and went to South Africa in 1893 to work on a legal case. After being thrown out of a first-class train compartment at Pietermaritzburg, he spent about 21 years fighting racial discrimination against Indians. There he developed satyagraha – non-violent resistance based on truth and the willingness to suffer rather than inflict harm.

• Founded the Natal Indian Congress (1894) and the journal Indian Opinion (1903).
• Set up the Phoenix Settlement (1904) and Tolstoy Farm (1910).
• Led satyagraha against the registration law (the "Black Act") and the £3 poll tax.
• Wrote Hind Swaraj (1909), criticising modern civilisation and explaining his idea of swaraj.

He returned to India on 9 January 1915 (now observed as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas), toured India on Gokhale's advice for a year, and set up the Sabarmati Ashram at Ahmedabad (first at Kochrab, 1915; Sabarmati, 1917).

First experiments in India (1917–18)

These struggles gave Gandhi a mass base and a group of loyal followers.

The Rowlatt Act and satyagraha (1919)

The Rowlatt Act (Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act), March 1919, based on the Sedition Committee chaired by Justice Sidney Rowlatt, allowed the government to imprison people without trial for up to two years and to try cases without juries. Indians called it the "Black Act" – "no vakil, no dalil, no appeal". Gandhi formed the Satyagraha Sabha and called for a nationwide hartal on 6 April 1919 – the first all-India mass protest. There was violence in some places, and Gandhi called off the movement, calling his mistake "Himalayan".

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 April 1919)

In Amritsar, two popular leaders, Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal, were arrested on 10 April. On 13 April 1919, the day of Baisakhi, a large crowd gathered at Jallianwala Bagh, a walled ground with a narrow entrance, unaware of a ban on meetings. Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer blocked the exit and ordered his troops to fire without warning for about ten minutes until ammunition ran out. Official figures said 379 killed; Indian estimates were far higher, around a thousand. Martial law followed in Punjab, with public floggings and the "crawling order".

Reactions:

• Rabindranath Tagore returned his knighthood.
• Gandhi gave up the Kaiser-i-Hind medal he had received for his work in South Africa.
• The Hunter Committee enquiry criticised Dyer mildly; Dyer was removed from service but praised by many in Britain, and the House of Lords supported him.
• The Congress set up its own enquiry committee.
• Udham Singh later shot Michael O'Dwyer in London (1940).

The Khilafat Movement

After the First World War, the Ottoman Sultan, regarded by many Indian Muslims as the Khalifa (spiritual head of Islam), lost his empire under the Treaty of Sèvres (1920). Indian Muslims formed the Khilafat Committee (1919), led by the Ali brothers (Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali), Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Hasrat Mohani. Gandhi saw this as a chance to build Hindu–Muslim unity and became president of the All India Khilafat Conference (1919).

The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22)

The Khilafat Committee launched non-cooperation on 1 August 1920 (the day Tilak died). The Congress accepted the programme at a special session at Calcutta (September 1920) under Lala Lajpat Rai, and confirmed it at the Nagpur session (December 1920) under C. Vijayaraghavachariar.

Nagpur also reorganised the Congress: the goal became swaraj by peaceful and legitimate means; Provincial Congress Committees were formed on a linguistic basis; a Congress Working Committee of 15 was set up; membership fee was 4 annas to bring in the masses; and Hindi was to be used where possible.

Programme:

• Boycott: of government schools and colleges, law courts, foreign cloth, the elections under the 1919 Act, and surrender of titles.
• Constructive work: national schools and colleges (Jamia Millia Islamia, Kashi Vidyapith, Gujarat Vidyapith, Bihar Vidyapith), Tilak Swaraj Fund (target ₹1 crore), enrolment of 1 crore members, distribution of 20 lakh charkhas, khadi, Hindu–Muslim unity and removal of untouchability.
• Gandhi promised "Swaraj in one year".

Participation: students left colleges in thousands; lawyers such as Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, Rajendra Prasad, Vallabhbhai Patel, C. Rajagopalachari, Asaf Ali and T. Prakasam gave up practice; bonfires of foreign cloth were held; the boycott of the Prince of Wales's visit (November 1921) saw hartals across India. The movement merged with local struggles: the Awadh Kisan Sabha (Baba Ramchandra), the Eka movement, forest satyagrahas in Andhra (Alluri Sitarama Raju), the Akali movement in Punjab, tea garden workers in Assam, and the Moplah rebellion in Malabar (which turned violent and communal).

Chauri Chaura and withdrawal

On 5 February 1922, at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur district (UP), an angry crowd set fire to a police station after police fired on protesters; 22 policemen were killed. Gandhi, feeling the people were not ready for non-violence, withdrew the movement on 12 February 1922 through the Bardoli resolution. Many leaders, including Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das and Subhas Bose, were shocked. Gandhi was arrested in March 1922 and sentenced to six years. The Khilafat issue itself became irrelevant when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk abolished the caliphate in 1924.

Significance

• The first truly mass, all-India movement, drawing peasants, workers, women, artisans, merchants and students.
• Hindu–Muslim unity reached a high point.
• The Congress became a mass organisation with a new structure.
• Fear of British power was broken; jail-going became a badge of honour.
• Weaknesses: Khilafat mixed religion and politics; the sudden withdrawal disappointed many and pushed some towards revolutionary action and, after 1922, towards communal riots.

Mains practice question

Q. "The Non-Cooperation Movement transformed the Congress into a mass organisation." Discuss. (250 words)

Framework: background (Rowlatt, Jallianwala, Khilafat, economic distress after the war); programme; Nagpur reorganisation; participation of classes and regions; Chauri Chaura and withdrawal; achievements and criticism.

Quick self-test

1. Who invited Gandhi to Champaran? *(Rajkumar Shukla)*
2. When did the Jallianwala Bagh massacre take place? *(13 April 1919)*
3. Which session reorganised PCCs on linguistic lines? *(Nagpur, 1920)*
4. When was the Non-Cooperation Movement withdrawn? *(12 February 1922, after Chauri Chaura)*