CIVI DISOBEDIENCEMOVEMENT.

SirAP

Civildisobedienceistheactive,professedrefusalofacitizentoobeycertainlaws,demands,
ordersorcommandsofagovernment.Bysomedefinitions,civildisobediencehastobe
nonviolenttobecalled“civil”.Hence,civildisobedienceissometimesequatedwithpeaceful
protestsornonviolentresistance.

MahatmaGandhi,themanwhopavedwayforIndia’sfreedomstartedmanymovementsin Indiaand
theCivil DisobedienceMovementwasoneofthesignificantones.Itwasa massmovement based on
truth and non violence. It was the first important step taken towardscomplete independence
from the British rule after the Revolt of 1857. The movement
wasinitiatedintheyear1930toachievefreedomforIndia.Inthisyear,theCongresshaddeclared“Purn
a Swaraj” as the main aim of the Indians and January 26 was observed as the “PurnaSwaraj
Day.” To achieve this aim, Civil Disobedience was chosen as the ultimateweapon.While the
Non-Cooperation Movement was built on the lines of ‘non violent-non-
cooperation’,theessenceofTheCivilDisobedienceMovementwas‘defyingoftheBritish
laws’.

CAUSE

The unrest in social and political situations aided in the formation of the civil
disobediencemovement.Simoncommission,whichwasformedbytheBritishgovernmentin1927t
o formaliseIndia'sconstitutionandwasentirelycomposedofBritishmembers.Inotherwords,it
hadnomemberfrom India.Sothepeople opposedSimon Commission
whereveritwent.Theyraisedtheslogansof“SimonGoBack”beforetheSimonCommission.Inspite
ofthis,the report of the commission was published. It spread discontent among the people. It
wasrejected by the Indian National Congress and other political and social organisations and
wasdubbed the all white commission. In 1928, a new constitution was drafted in Calcutta by
acommittee led by Motilal Nehru. The INC demanded that the British government
acceptNehru’sReportin1928.ThemainthemeofthereportwastogiveIndiaDominionStatus.It
warnedandblackmailedtheBritishgovernmentthatiftheydidnotacceptthereport,theywould be
threatened and a civil disobedience movement would be launched. The main goal
oftheconstitutionalreform,accordingtotheGovernorGeneralofIndia,LordIrwin,wastoGrantIndia
dominion status. Following the declaration, Gandhi and other leaders proposed a
roundtableconferencetoresolvetheconstitutionalcrisis,andwhentheBritishgovernmentdidnot
respondpositivelytoanyoftheirdemands,thecivildisobediencemovementwaslaunched.

PROGRESSO MOVEMENT

For a long time, Mahatma Gandhi was planning a mass movement along the lines of the
CivilDisobedience Movement. He was looking for a symbol around which the entire
movementcouldbecentredandhehitupontheideaofsaltasataxonsalt,inhisopinion,wasthemost
oppressiveformoftaxwhichhumankindcoulddevisesincesaltwasabasic necessity of
humanexistence,justlikeairandwater.Asaresult,breakingsaltlawswouldbethemost
appropriatewayto launchtheCivilDisobedienceMovement.

GandhijistartedtheCivilDisobedienceMovementon12March1930withhisfamousDandiMarch.T
ogetherwith78chosenfollowershewalkednearly375kmfromSabarmatiAshramtoDandi,avillageo
ntheGujaratseacoast.On6April,GandhijireachedDandi,pickedupa
handfulofsaltabdbrokethesaltlawasasymboloftheIndianpeople'srefusaltoliveunder
British-madelawsandthereforeunderBritishrule.

IMPAC

Themovementspreadrapidly.Saltlawswereviolatedalloverthecountry.AsduringtheNon-
CooperationMovement,nowtoo,Gandhiji'scallhadencouragedIndiansofallclassesto make
manifest their own discontent with colonial rule. There were, at the same
time,numerousotherstreamsofprotest.Thepeopledefiedtheforestlaws,refusedtopaytherural
chaukidari tax, the peasants refused to pay land revenue and even some of the
soldiersrefusedtoopenfireonnon-violentmassdemonstrators.Factoryworkerswentonstrike,
lawyers boycotted British courts and students refused to attend government-run
educationalinstitutions. The government made all efforts to crush the movement through
ruthlessrepression.Over60,000satyagrahis,includingGandhijiwereimprisoned.TheCongresswa
s declaredillegal.

InordertoconsiderthereformsbytheSimonCommission,theBritishgovernmentconvened the
first round table conference in November 1930. It was however boycotted by the
IndianNationalCongress.TheconferencewasattendedbyIndianprinces,theMuslimLeague,
HinduMahasabha,andsomeothers.However,nothingcameofit.TheBritishrealizedthat
withouttheparticipationofcongressnorealconstitutionalchangeswouldcomeabout.

The viceroy, Lord Irwin made efforts to persuade Congress to join the second round
tablecongress. Gandhi and Irwin reached an agreement wherein the government agreed to
releasemost of thepoliticalprisonersagainst whomthere wereno charges ofviolence and
concededtherighttomakesaltforconsumption.Italsoacceptedtherightofthepeopletothepeacefulp
icketingofliquorandforeignclothshopsandinturncongresswouldsuspendthecivil
disobediencemovement.

CONCLUSIO

Themovementwasdisbandedin1934.
In1934,Congresspassedanimportantresolution.Itdemandedtheformationofaconstituentassem
bly,whichwouldbeelectedbythepeople
usingtheadultfranchise.Onlysuchanassembly,itdeclared,coulddraftaconstitutionfor
India.Asaresult,itclaimedthatonlythepeoplehadtherighttochoosetheformof
governmentunderwhichtheywouldlive.Thoughthecongressfailedtoachieveitsgoal,itwas
successfulinmobilisinglargesectionsofthepopulationinthecountry'ssecondgreatmassstruggle.It
hadalsosetforthradicalgoalsforthetransformationofIndiansociety.Civil
ways,thecivildisobediencemovementiscreditedforpavingthewayforfreedominIndia.It
wassignificantinmanywaysasitwasamovementspreadtotheurbanareasandwitnessedthepartici
pationofwomenandpeoplebelongingtothelowercastes.