Nationalism in India

Ans. The main reason to withdraw Non-cooperation as follow:

• Mahatma Gandhi called off the Non-cooperation Movement as the movement had turned violent in many places.
• The Chauri Chaura incident in 1922 turned into a violent dash and 22 policemen were killed. Gandhiji felt satyagrahis were not ready for mass struggles.

Ans. Indigo Planters Movement in Champaran, Bihar in 1916.

Peasants Satyagraha Movement was organized in Kheda district in Gujarat in 1917 to support peasants in the demand for relaxation of revenue collection.

Ans. Novel – Ananda Math

Author – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

Ans. Problems faced by the peasants of Awadh were:

• Talukdars and landowners sought expensive rents and a slew of extra fees from peasants.
• Peasants were forced to labour for free on the fields of their landlords.
• They had no security of tenure as tenants were routinely evicted, preventing them from acquiring any rights to the leased land.

Ans. People could not boycott foreign cloth for long because Khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass produced mill cloth and poor people could not afford to buy it. Also, the production of Khadi was very time taking and hence was a challenge to meet the demand as people of India used to wear dhoti, saree, etc.

Ans. History and fiction

Folklore and songs

Popular prints and symbols

All played a part in the making of nationalism.

Ans. During the ‘Swadeshi Movement’ in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed.

It had eight lotuses, representing eight provinces of British India.

It also had a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims.

Ans. The Rowlatt Act authorized the government to imprison any person without trial and conviction in a court of law.

Ans. Khilafat movement was started by Mahatma Gandhi and the Ali Brothers, Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali in response to the harsh treatment given to the Caliph of Ottoman empire and the dismemberment of the Ottoman empire by the British.

(The First World War had ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey. And there were rumours that a harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on the Ottoman emperor – the spiritual head of the Islamic world (the Khalifa). To defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers, a Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March 1919.)

Ans. Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation workers were not allowed to leave their tea gardens without permission, which they were rarely given.

For the plantation workers of Assam, ‘Swaraj’ meant freedom to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they all were enclosed and also to be able to keep the link with their native village intact.

Ans. Satyagraha emphasised the importance of truth and the necessity to seek it out.

It was a noble form of protesting through mass agitation, in which the oppressor might be persuaded to see the truth without resorting to violence, and the truth would ultimately triumph.

It implied that if the cause was correct, there was no need for aggressiveness or physical force in a fight against injustice. Victory could be won by appealing to the oppressor’s conscience.

Ans. Simon Commission was to look into the functioning of the constitutional system in India and suggest changes. The Commission did not have a single Indian member. They were all British. According to Indians. The commission did not hold any hopes for further constitutional reforms.

Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928. It was greeted with slogan ‘Go Back Simon’ and black flags.

All parties including the Congress and Muslim League, participated in the demonstrations.

Ans. Mahatma Gandhi saw ‘salt’ as a strong symbol that could bring the country together.

• He sent Viceroy Irwin a letter with eleven demands on January 31. 1930. The most important demand was the abolition of the salt tax.
• People from all walks of life, both wealthy and poor, ingest salt. It is one of the most essential nutritional components.
• The imposition of salt tax and a government monopoly on its manufacture, according to Mahatma Gandhi, was the British government’s most oppressive step.
• Mahatma Gandhi chose salt because it could be recognised by people from all walks of life and could bring people together in a common struggle.

Ans. Congress wanted to include the demands of the masses as a whole and not a particular group or class.

If the demand of the workers were included, then industrialists would get offended. The Industrialists were supporting the Congress financially. The Congress did not want to alienate the industrialists and create anti-imperialist feelings.

A big portion of the Congress membership and funding came from Industrialists apt small businessman.

Ans. At the second Round Table conference, Dr. B R Ambedkar demanded separate electorates for dalits.

When the British Conceded Dr. Ambedkar’s demand, Gandhiji, who was opposed to this, went on a fast unto death.

He believed that separate electorate for dalits would slow down the process of their integration into society.

Ambedkar ultimately accepted Gandhiji’s position by signing a pact on 24 September 1932, known as the Poona Pact.

The Poona Pact gave the depressed classes reserved seats in the provincial and legislative councils but they were to be voted by general electorate.

Ans. One of the most important features of the Civil Disobedience Movement was the large scale participation of women. They participated in the movement in the following ways:

• Thousands of women came out of their homes and participants in various activities during Gandhiji’s salt satyagraha.
• They marched in protests, made salt, and picketed establishments selling foreign products, whiskey, and other items.
• Many of them were apprehended and imprisoned.
• Women from high caste families regarded service to the nation as a sacred responsibility in urban regions, but women from rich peasants households regarded service to the nation as a sacred obligation in rural areas, inspired by Gandhiji’s demand.

Ans. Evolution of ‘Salt March’:

• Gandhiji started the historic Dandi March (Salt March) from Sabarmati Ashram (Ahmedabad) accompanied by 78 trusted volunteers.
• The distance from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, a coastal town on the coast of Gujarat was 240 miles.
• The volunteers walked for 24 days, 10 miles a days.
• Thousands of people came to hear Gandhiji. They explained the meaning of Swaraj to them.
• On 6^th April, he reached Dandi, violated the salt law and manufactured salt by boiling sea water.

Ans. As the news of the Jallianwala Bagh spread, the crowds took to streets in many towns of North India.

• There were strikes, clashes with the police and attack on government buildings.
• The government reciprocated with brutal repression to terrorise the people.
• Satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses on the ground, crawl on the streets and do salaam to all officers.
• People were flogged and villages around Gujranwala in Punjab (now in Pakistan) were bombed.
• It was also one of the underlying causes behind the launch of NCM.

Ans. By the end of the 19^th century, many Indian felt that people should take pride in their glorious past and started re-interpreting history.

• The British saw Indians as backward and primitive people incapable of governing themselves. The Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements.
• In India, during ancient times there was an all-round development in mathematics and science, in art and architecture, religion and philosophy, culture and law. Trade with other countries flourished during ancient times.
• The glorious time was followed by period of decline when India was colonised.

Ans. The tribal peasants of Gudem Hill in Andhra Pradesh fought for swaraj and revolted against the British. The following were the causes that led the tribals to the revolt in the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh:

• The colonial government had closed large forest areas under the forest Act 1927, preventing the tribals from entering the forest to graze their cattle and felt that their traditional rights were being taken away.
• The tribal who were strongly dependent on the forests for food, fruits and fuel were prevented to carry out these activities affecting their livelihood which enraged them.
• The government was forcing the peasants of the Gudem Hill to carry out begar (unpaid work) for the building of roads.
• A militant movement had begun to resist the repressive measures of the colonisers. The tribals here became violent and attacked police station and attempted to kill the British.

Ans. The effects of the Non-cooperation Movement on the economic front were

• The import of foreign cloth halved between 1921 and 1922 and its value dropped from 102 crores to 57 crores.
• Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.
• In many places traders and merchants refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign good.
• As the boycott movement spread people refused to wear imported clothes and wore only Indian ones.
• Production of Indian textiles and handlooms went up.
• There were some misinterpretations of NCM, which also affected the economy. Ex peasants refuses to pay taxes, beggar etc.

Ans. Mahatma Gandhi felt that British rule was established in India with the cooperation of the Indian people. If the Indians would refuse to cooperate, British rule would collapse.

• According to Gandhiji, non-cooperation could become a movement by unfolding in stages.
• It would begin with the surrender of titles that the government awarded, and a boycott of civil services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools and foreign goods. Then if the Government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched.
• Throughout 1920, Gandhiji and Shaukat Ali toured extensively mobilising popular support for the movement.
• In the cities, the movement started with middle class participation. Thousands of students left government controlled schools and colleges, Headmasters and teachers resigned and lawyers gave up their legal practices.
• The Council elections were boycotted, foreign goods and foreign cloth was boycotted. Traders and merchants also refused to trade in foreign goods.

Ans. B R Ambedkar tried to improve the conditions of the Depressed Classes in the following ways:

• In 1930, Dr B R Ambedkar organised the Dalits (the untouchables) into an organisation called the Depressed Classes Association, now known as scheduled caste.
• His ideas regarding depressed class deferred from that of Mahatma Gandhi. He wanted separate electorates for Dalits.
• Whilst at Round Table Conference in London he demanded separate electorates for Dalits and the British coloniser conceded his demand. This caused Mahatma Gandhi to fast unto the death because he believed that separate electorate for the Dalits would slow down the process of their integration into the main society.
• He signed the Poona Pact with Gandhiji and the Congress giving the opportunities to depressed to secure reserved seat for Dalits in the provincial and Central Legislative Council to be voted in general election.

Ans. The people reacted differently to the Civil Disobedience Movement.

• Thousands of people broke colonial laws and salt laws, manufactured salt and demonstrated in front of government owned salt factories.
• Foreign cloth was boycotted, liquor shops were picketed. Peasants refused to pay taxes, revenue and chowkidari taxes. In many places people violated forest laws, going into reserved forests to collect wood and graze cattle.
• In Peshawar, the angry crowd demonstrated in streets, facing armoured cars and police firing.
• The colonial government reacted ruthlessly. Worked by the popularity of the movement, the government arrested eminent leaders. It led to violent clashes.
• Peaceful satyagrahis were arrested, people were beaten and 1,00,000 were arrested.
• Congress was declared illegal. Gandhiji signed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact and agreed to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London and the withdrawal of CDM for the first time.

Ans. Dalit participation was limited in Civil Disobedience Movement because the Congress did not want to offend to ‘Sanatanis’ the upper caste Hindus by including the Dalits.

The dalits believed that political empowerment would solve all the problems of their social disabilities.

Many dalit leaders were keen on a different political solution to their problems They organised themselves and demanded reserved seats in educational institutions and separate electorate that would choose dalit members for councils.

Ambedkar had clashed with Gandhiji at Second Round Table Conference for demanding separate electorate for dalits, Gandhiji viewed this as slowing down the process of unity and their integration into society.

The dalits continued to be apprehensive of Congress led movements because it was dominated by conservative high class Hindus. So the dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement was limited, particularly in Maharashtra and Nagpur region where their organisation was strong.

Ans. During the Non-Cooperation Movement, the peasants of Awadh under the leadership of Baba Ramchandra – a sanyasi, participated

(i) Cause:

(a) the talukdars and landlords demanded high rents and other cesses from the peasants who had to do beggar and work at landlord’s farms without payment.

(b) As tenants, there was no security of tenure and no right over the leased land.

(ii) Object and demands:

The demands included reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, and social boycott of oppressive landlords.

(iii) Activities during the movement:

(a) In many places, nai-dhobi bandhs were organised by panchayats to deprive landlords of the services of even barbers and washermen.

(b) By October 1920 Oudh Kisan Sabha was formed. It was headed by Jawaharlal Nehru who had gone there, talked to the villagers to understand their grievances.

(c) Within a month over 300 branches had been setup in the villages around this region.

(d) After the start of non-cooperation movement Congress tried to integrate the Awadh peasants struggle into a wider struggle.

(e) The peasant movement, however, developed in forms that the Congress leadership was unhappy with because in 1921 the houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazars were looted, and grain hoards were taken over.

The local leaders told peasants that Gandhiji had declared that no taxes were to be paid and land was to be redistributed among the poor. The name of Gandhiji was used to sanction all actions and aspirations.

Results: As the peasants struggle had turned violent, the Congress was unhappy.

Ans. After the suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1922, there were two groups in the Congress.

Some leaders were tired of mass struggles and wanted to participate in the council elections. They were of the opinion that the British policies should be opposed within the councils.

They should ask for more reforms and demonstrate that these councils were not truly democratic. These leaders were C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru who formed Swaraj Party for fighting elections and to return to council politics.

The other group was led by younger elements like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose who were in favour of more radical mass agitation and for full independence.

However, the swarajists were allowed to fight elections. They succeeded only to some extent in 1923. In 1926, elections they did not succeed due to death of C.R.Das.

Ans. (a) Gandhiji decided to call off the movement and entered into a Pact with Irwin on 5^th March 1931.

1. The main feature of the agreement was that Gandhiji consented to participate in the 2^nd Round Table Conference in London.

2. The government agreed to release the Non-violent political prisoners.

(b) Gandhiji attended the Second Round Table Conference as the sole representative of the Congress.

(c) Gandhiji returned empty handed only to further his disappointment find that the British government had rolled back on its word- following a repressive policy. Ghaffar Khan and Jawaharlal Nehru had already been arrested.

(d) Congress had been declared illegal. The government had taken many steps to prevent meetings, demonstration and boycotts. Gandhiji restarted the movement again on 1^st January, 1932. It continued but soon lost its momentum and was withdrawn in 1934.

Thousands of people in different parts of the country broke the salt laws and boycotted foreign cloth. Liquor ships were picketed by women who participated in protest marches and manufactured salt. But there were many social groups that did not participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement. These were as given below:

• Different sections of people like poor peasant in the Civil Disobedience movement had their own aspirations, hence the struggle was not united and there was discontent among the participants.
• Dalits participation in the Civil Disobedience movement was also very limited.
• The participation of Muslim political groups were lukewarm, as there was atmosphere of distrust and suspicion.
• The role of Sanatanis and Hindu Mahasabha was very dominant.
• In 1930 Dr. B. R. Ambedkar clashed with Mahatma Gandhi at the second-round table conference by demanding separate electorate for Dalits.

Ans. It is true to say that nationalism is a feeling when people begin to believe that they are all part of the same nation, when they discover some unity that binds them together. In India such sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles. Thus nationalism spreads in the ways as mentioned below:

1. Symbol of figure or image: The identity of India was visualised with the image of Bharat Mata. The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. Devotion to mother figure was treated as evidence of one’s nationalism.

2. Revival of Indian folklore: In the late nineteenth century, revival of folklore helped in the development of nationalism. Folk songs and legends, gave a true picture of traditional culture. It helped in discovering national identity and restoring a sense of pride.

3. Icons and symbols: More icons and symbols helped in unifying people and inspiring in them a feeling of nationalism. The examples are designing of a tricolour flag during Swadeshi movement, Swaraj flag by Gandhiji in 1921. The carrying, of Swaraj flag during marches and demonstration became a symbol of defiance.

4. Interpretation of history: The interpretation of history also helped in raising the sense of nationalism among the Indians. Nationalist history drew the attention of the Indians to the great achievements of the past as was done by the extremists like Lokmanya Tilak.

5. The sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles such as Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement and Quit India Movement.

There were also variety of cultural processes through which nationalism captured people’s imagination. History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.