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INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT (1920-1939)

During the period of 1919-22, the British were opposed through 2 mass movements; they
were, Khilafat & Non-Cooperation Movement. Though these two movements emerged from
separate issues, they adopted a common programme of action- that of non-violent non-
cooperation. The khilafat issue was not directly linked to Indian political issues, but it
provided the immediate background to the Movement and gave an added advantage of
cementing Hindu-Muslim unity against the British. In 1919, in this, particularly all sections
of Indians saw a strong feeling of discontent for several reasons such as:

• The economic situation of the country in the post-war years had become alarming
with the increase of prices of commodities, a decrease in the production of Indian
industries, rise in the burden of taxes and rents etc.
• The Rowlatt Act, the imposition of martial law in Punjab and the Jallianwala Bagh
massacre exposed the brutal and uncivilized face of foreign rule.
• The Hunter Committee on the Punjab atrocities proved to be an eyewash. The
Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms with their ill-conceived scheme of diarchy got failed to
fulfil the increasing demand of Indians for self-government/individual government.

Rowlatt Act (1919)

• In 1917, a committee was made under the leadership of Sir Sydney Rowlatt to look
into the militant Nationalist activities
• Rowlatt Act came into effect by March 1919 by the Central Legislative Council
• It is due to this Act, and any person could be arrested on the basis of suspicion.
• No appeal or petition could be applied against such kind of arrests.
• This Act was known by the name the Black Act & it was largely contrasted.
• An All-India hartal was arranged on 6th April 1919.
• Several meetings were held around the whole country.
• M.K, Gandhi was detained near Delhi.
• Two important leaders of Punjab, Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satya Pal were
detained in the Amritsar (in Punjab).

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (13th April 1919)

• The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place on 13th April 1919 & it remained a major
point in the history of freedom movement of India.
• In Punjab, there was unparalleled support to the Rowlatt Satyagraha
• Facing an extreme situation, the Punjab government handed over the administration to
the military officials under General Dyer.
• He banned entire public meetings & detained the political leaders.
• On 13th April, the Baisakhi day,i.e. harvest festival, a public meeting was organized at
the Jallianwala Bagh (garden).
• Dyer marched in & without any warning opened fire on the crowd.
• The firing continued for about 10-15 minutes & it got stopped only after the
ammunition exhausted
• According to the official Report, 379 people were killed & 1137 wounded in the
incident.
• Rabindranath Tagore rejected his knighthood as a sign of protest.
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• The Jallianwala Bagh massacre gave an immense impetus to the freedom struggle.

Khilafat Movement (1920)

• The chief impact of the Khilafat Movement was the loss of Turkey in the 1st World
War.
• The severe terms of the Treaty of Sevres in 1920 were felt by the Muslims as a great
offend to them.
• The entire Movement was aimed at the Muslim belief that the Caliph,i.e. the Sultan of
Turkey was the religious head of the Muslims over the entire world.
• M.A. Ansari, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad & the Ali brothers were
the prominent leaders of this Movement.
• Gandhi was made President of the All-India Khilafat Conference in 1919.
• M.K. Gandhi was particularly focused on bringing the Hindus & the Muslims together
to achieve the country’s independence.
• The Khilafat Movement combined with the Non-Cooperation Movement, began by
M.K. Gandhi in the year 1920.

Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-1922)

• Non-Cooperation Movement was the follow-up to the Rowlatt Act, Jallianwala Bagh
massacre & the Khilafat Movement
• It was passed by the INC at the session held at Nagpur in December 1920.
• The programmes of the Non-Cooperation Movement were:
o Surrender of titles & respectable honorary positions.
o Forbearance of membership from the local bodies.
o Boycott of elections which were conducted under the 1919 Act provisions.
o Boycott of functions conducted by the Government.
• Boycott of government schools, colleges and courts.
• Boycott of foreign goods
• Establishment of colleges, national schools & private panchayat courts.
• Popularizing swadeshi goods and khadi.
• National schools such as the Bihar Vidyapeeth, Kashi Vidyapeeth and the Jamia
Millia Islamia were set up.
• None of the leaders of the Congress came in front to fight for the elections for the seat
of Legislatures.
• In 1921, mass demonstrations were conducted against the Prince of Wales during his
tour of India.
• Many households took to weaving cloths with the assistance of the charkhas.
• But the entire Movement was gradually called off on 11th February 1922 by Gandhi
followed-up by the Chauri-Chaura incident
• In the Gorakhpur district of U.P. Earlier on 5th, Feb. an annoyed mob set fire to the
police station at Chauri-Chaura, and 22 policemen were burnt till death

Significance of the Non-Cooperation Movement

• It was the actual mass movement with the engagement of many sections of Indian
society. The movement was led by the people from the middle classes initially but
later they showed a lot of reservations.
• Many sections such as peasants, students, workers, teachers & women.
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• It observed the spread of nationalism to the remote corners of India.

• It also marked the height of Hindu & Muslim unity as an outcome of the merger of
the Khilafat movement.
• It demonstrated the ability and willingness of the masses to endure hardships & make
many sacrifices.
• Along with Non-Cooperation, other Gandhian social reform movements like the anti-
liquor campaign achieved some success.

Why Gandhiji withdrew the Movement

• Gandhiji realized that people had not fully understood the method of Non-violence.
Incidents like Chauri-Chaura could lead to a kind of excitement and passion that
would turn the Movement to become generally violent. A violent movement could be
easily suppressed by the colonial regime who would make the incidents of violence an
excuse for using the armed might of the State against the protestors.
• The Movement was also representing the signs of fatigue. This was natural as it is not
possible to sustain any movement at a high pitch for very long. The government
seemed to be in no mood for negotiations.
• The central theme of the agitation- the Khilafat question- also got dissipated soon. In
Nov. 1922, the people of Turkey rose under Mustafa Kamal Pasha and deprived the
sultan of political power. Turkey was also made a secular state. Thus, the khilafat
question lost its relevance/objectives. A European style of the legal system was
established in Turkey and an extensive right granted to women. Education was made
nationalised, and modern agriculture and industries got developed. In the year 1924,
the caliphate was abolished.

Swaraj Party

• The adjournment of the Non-Cooperation Movement results in a split inside the

Congress in its Gaya session held in December 1922.
• Leaders like Motilal Nehru & Chittaranjan Das formed a individual groups within the
Congress came to be known as the Swaraj Party on 1st January 1923.
• The Swarajists wanted to conduct the council elections and sinking of the
Government from inside.
• The Swaraj Party acquired impressive successes.
• In the Central Legislative Council, M.L. Nehru became the leader of the party, at the
same time in Bengal the party was presidented by C.R. Das.
• It demanded the creation of a responsible & accountable Government in the country.
• By making essential changes in the Government of India Act of 1919.
• The party could pass significant resolutions against the repressive laws of the
Government.
• After the implementation of C.R. Das in June in 1925, the Swaraj Party started getting
weakened.

Simon Commission

• In Nov. 1927 the British Government scheduled the Simon Commission to look into
the ongoing workings of the Government of India Act of 1919 & to suggest essential
changes.
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• The Commission comprised of Englishmen in which not a single Indian

representative was there.
• The Commission came about in India in February 1928 and then was met with pan
India protests.
• Even the majority of the members of the Central Legislative Assembly boycotted the
Commission.
• Anti-Simon Committees were formed all over the country to organize demonstrations
and hartals wherever the Commission went.
• Peaceful demonstrators were beaten by the police in many places. Lala Lajpat Rai was
assaulted and soon after died.

Nehru Report (1928)

• In the meanwhile, the SOS, i.e. Secretary of State, Lord Birkenhead, challenged the
Indians to produce a Constitution
• The challenge was welcomed by the Congress, which convened an all-party meeting
on 28 February 1928
• A committee comprising of 8 was constituted to draw up a blueprint for the future
Constitution of India.
• It was presided by Motilal Nehru.

The Report favoured

• Dominion Status as the next immediate step

• Full responsible & accountable Government must be made at the centre level.
• Autonomy should be given to the provinces.
• Separation of power between the centre & the provinces.
• A bicameral legislature at the centre.
• Mohammad Ali Jinnah regarded it as harmful to the Muslims interests.
• Jinnah summoned an All India Conference of the Muslims where he drew up a list of
14 Points as a Muslim League demand.

Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-1934)

• In the prevailing environment of restlessness, the annual session of the Congress was
conducted at Lahore in Dec. 1929.
• During this session headed over by J.L. Nehru, the Congress came with the Poorna
Swaraj resolution
• Moreover, as the Government remained unsuccessful to accept the Nehru Report,
Congress gave a call to initiate the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• The Congress had also observed 26th Jan. 1930, as the Day of Independence for the
country.
• The equivalent date later became the Republic Day when the Indian Constitution
came into effect in 1950.

Dandi March

• On 12th March 1930, Gandhi called his famous March to Dandi with his chosen
seventy-nine followers to unleash the salt laws.
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• He then reached the coast of Dandi on 5th April 1930 after marching a distance of
approx. 200 miles
• On 6th April, formally he launched the Civil Disobedience Movement by breaking the
salt laws.
• On 9th April, Mahatma Gandhi initiated the programme of the Movement which
imparted with the making of salt in each individual village in infringement of the
existing salt laws.
• Picketing by women before the shops that were selling liquor, opium & foreign
clothes.
• Spinning clothes by making use of charkha fighting untouchability.
• Refusal of schools & colleges by the students and resignation made by the working
people from the government jobs.
• Soon, the Movement got spreaded to the entire parts of the country. Students, farmers,
workers and women, all were engaged in this Movement with great enthusiasm.

Round Table Conferences

First Round Table Conference

• It was held in Nov. 1930 at London & it was boycotted by the Congress.
• In Jan. 1931 in order to make a helpful environment for talks.
• The Government removed the ban on the Congress Party & than expelled out its
leaders from prison.
• On 8th March 1931, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was made signed.
• According to the pact, M.K. Gandhi agreed to suspend the Civil-Disobedience
Movement & participate in the 2nd Round Table Conference.
• In Sept. 1931, the 2nd Round Table Conference was conducted at London
• Mahatma Gandhi participated in the Conference but came back to India disappointed
as no agreement could be reached on demand for full independence & on the
communal question.
• In Jan. 1932, the Civil-Disobedience Movement was resumed again.
• The Government replied to it by arresting Gandhiji & Sardar Patel and by reposting
the ban on the Congress party

Communal Awards

• The Communal Award was declared by the then British Prime Minister, Ramsay
MacDonald, in Aug. 1932.
• This was yet another expression of the British policy of divide and rule.
• The Muslims, Sikhs and Christians had already been recognized as minorities.
• The Communal Award declared the depressed classes also to be minorities and
entitled them to separate electorates.

Poona Pact (1932)

• By 1930, Dr B.R. Ambedkar had become a leader of the national stature advocating
the misery of the depressed people of the country.
• While presenting the actual picture of the condition of these people in the 1st Round
Table Conference, he had called for the separate electorates for them.
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• On 16th Aug. 1932, the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald made a
declaration, which came to be known as the Communal Award.
• Mahatma Gandhi objected against the Communal Award & went on a fast unto death
in the Yeravada jail on 20th Sept. 1932.
• lastly, an agreement was reached between Dr Ambedkar and Gandhi.
• This agreement came to be known as the Poona Pact. The British Government also
approved of it.
• Accordingly, one hundred and forty-eight seats in different Provincial Legislatures
were reserved for the Depressed Classes in place of seventy-one as provided in the
Communal Award.

Third Round Table Conference (1932)

• Congress again didn’t take part in it.

• Nevertheless, in March 1933, the British Government issued a White Paper.
• Which became the foundation for the enactment of the Government of India Act,
1935.

Congress Socialist Party

The move towards the formation of a socialist party was made in the jails during 1930-31 and
1932-34 by a group of young Congressmen who were disenchanted with Gandhian strategy
and leadership and attracted by socialist ideology. They came together and formed the
Congress Socialist Party (CSP) at Bombay in October 1934 under the leadership of
Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Minoo Masani. The four basic propositions
of the CSP were:
• The primary struggle in India was the national struggle for freedom and that
nationalism was a necessary stage on the way to socialism.
• Socialists must work inside the National Congress because it was the primary body
leading the national struggle and it would be a suicidal policy for them to cut
ourselves off from the national movement.
• They must give the Congress and the national movement a socialist direction
• To achieve this objective, they must organize the workers and peasants in their class
organizations, wage struggles for their economic demands and make them the social
base of the national struggle.

Work programme of CSP:

• Transfer of all power to the masses.
• Development of economy to be planned and controlled by the state.
• Socialization of key Industries such as railways, steel, cotton, jute etc.
• Abolition of titles
• Redistribution of land among the peasants

Government of India Act, 1935

Government of India Act, 1935 was passed on the basis of –

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• Simon Commission report

• the outcome of the Round Table Conferences
• the White Paper issued by the British Government in 1933

Main features of this Act were -

• Provision for establishment of All India Federation at the Center, including British
Indian Provinces and the Princely States.
• Since the idea of a union was refused by Princely states, it never came into existence.
• Division of powers into three lists viz. Federal, Provincial and Concurrent.
• Introduction of Diarchy at the Centre
• The Governor-General and his council administered the “Reserved subjects”
• The responsiblity of the “Transferred” subjects held on the Council of Ministers.
• Abolition of Diarchy and the initiation of Provincial Autonomy in the provinces.
• The Governor as the head of the Provincial Executive was anticipated (not bound) to
manage the administration as per the advice of the Council of ministers.
• Provincial Legislatures of Bengal, Bombay, Madras, United Provinces, Bihar and
Assam were made bicameral.
• Separate Electorates were extended to Europeans, Sikhs, Anglo Indians and Indian
Christians.
• A Federal Court was established at Delhi with a Chief Justice and 6 judges.