Non-cooperation Movement, 1920-22

• What was non-cooperation movement?

- Non-cooperation is a way of protesting in which one does not cooperate
with the evil-doer. Gandhi asked people not to assist foreign
government to rule over them.

Non-cooperation movement was one of the remarkable chapters of

Indian history. This movement was initiated by Mahatma Gandhi to
advance the Indian nationalistic movement. It was a significant phase of
the Indian struggle for freedom from British rule. The Indian National
Congress decided in 1920 to follow a policy of passive resistance to
British rule. It aimed to resist British occupation in India through non-
violent means.
• Mahatma Gandhi led his non-violent nationalist movement ‘satyagraha’,
as a protest against government repression evidenced, for example, in the
Rowlatt Act of 1919, the Jalian Wallah Bagh massacres. As consequences
of the Rowlatt Act, the Jalian Wallah Bagh massacres and law in Punjab
had belied the generous war time promises of the British, the non-
cooperation movement got its momentum. Beside earlier, the Montagu-
Chelmsford report with its ill-considered scheme of diarchy could not
satisfy Gandhi, so far believing in the justice and fair play of the
government, now felt that non-cooperation with the government must be
started. The most significant impact of then non-cooperation movement
was that, it brought Gandhi on the front seat of National Politics in India.
Objectives of the movement:
• It aimed to resist British occupation in India through non-violent means.
• Protestors would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local
handicrafts, picket liquor shops and try to uphold the Indian values of
honor and integrity.
• The ideals of Ahimsa or non-violence and Gandhi’s ability to rally
hundreds of thousand of common citizens towards the cause of Indian
independence, were first seen on a large scale in this movement through
the summer 1920.
• The movement was to consist of the resignation of the titles, boycott of
the government educational institutions, government service, foreign
goods, elections, courts and eventual refusal to pay taxes.
• Formation of Nyay Panchayats
• Development of small scale industries
• Development of communal harmony
• Use of Swadeshi articles
• Establishment of national schools
• End of untouchability and caste-system

List of the incidents that led for Non-cooperation movement:

• Khilafat Movement
• Rowlatt Act
• Jalliwanwala Bagh Tragedy
• Army discontent
• Inflation and economic crisis
• Farmers discontent
• Workers discontent
• Discontent of industrialists and businessmen
• Effects of war
• Breach of promise by the British government
• Dissection of Turkey
• The supporters of Non-violent Movement: Supported by the leaders of
the Indian National Congress.
From India: From Bengal:

• Mahatma Gandhi Chitta Ranjan Das

• Rajendra Prasad Subhas Chandra Bose
• Jawaharlal Nehru
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
• Maulana Azad
• Bhagat Singh
• Chandra Shekhar Azad
• Younger generation of India
Background/Causes:
• Rowlatt act imposed restrictions upon the people of the nation and
instructed closing down all the newspapers all over India.
• The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre,
took place on 13 April 1919 when Acting Brigadier-General Reginald
Dyer ordered troops of the British Army to fire their rifles into a crowd
of unarmed civilians in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab, killing at
least 400, including 41 children, one only six weeks old. Over 1,000
were injured.
• The diarchy system of Indian act, 1919 could not satisfy Gandhi. So he
called for non-violent movement.
• The significant causes of this movement were colonial oppression,
economic hardships to the common man due to a large chunk of Indian
wealth being exported from India, ruin of Indian artisans due to British
factory made goods replacing hand made goods.
• India was going through an economic hardship, so taxes had been
increased to quite an extent.
• Farmers were forced to produce trade crops (tobacco, cotton, spices, indigo
etc.) instead of food crops. This led to a famine.
• British used India as a machine thinking that it would never warm up.
• The death of Indian soldiers was increasing day by day in the World War –
I. This led the Indians to launch this movement.
• To enlist Muslim support, Gandhi supported the khilafat movement and
vice versa. So, Hindus and Muslims formed a united front against British
rule in India.
• The Spread of Non-cooperation Movement / Consequence:
 Positive:
• It caused a widespread unrest among the students. They left colleges
and schools.
• Lawyers like Asaf Ali and Prakasam left their legal practice and
joined this movement.
• Some provinces of Bengal and Punjab, there was a complete boycott
of foreign education. The leaders of Indian movement started
teaching in the pure Indian institutions.
• The shops which sold foreign clothes were closed. Khadi and
Charkha became the symbol of national movement.
• It gave a boost to Indian textile industries.
• Many new traders and manufacturers grew up as a result of this
movement.
• In Bengal S. Prasad Chowdhury let the peasants in an anti-indigo
cultivation.
• Bihar boycotted the liquor.
• Congress became the party of common men. It was the only
organization which could properly direct national effort to gain
freedom.
 Negative:
• The victims and martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh tragedy did not get any
justice during this movement.
• The boycott of many educational institutions was not accepted by
many leaders.
• Some leaders did not like the way the program was started and others
did not like the way it was conducted.
• Some new outfits were born parallel to Congress as it was left without
any political program.
• Government Reactions:
• In December 1921, the government declared the activities illegal and
banned all public meetings and assemblies.
• All main leaders of the movement were arrested excluding Gandhi.
Over 30,000 people were arrested from India.
• There were some clashes between the local police and the protestors.
The movement was eventually losing its non-violent nature.
• Upon witnessing this Gandhi went on a fasting lasting 3 weeks and
called off this movement.
 Swaraj Party and Bengal Pact 1922-1926
• Swaraj Party was established in late 1922 and early 1923 by members of the
Indian Ntional Congress. It was an agreement aimed at resolving the question
of Hindu-Muslim differences. Chitta Ranjan Das, a man of vision who
sincerely believed in the principle of sharing political power with the majority
Muslim community of the province, came forward to take up the task of
strengthening relations between Hindus and Muslims.
• After the calling-off of the Non-cooperation Movement and the boycott of
Legislatures, a group of leaders of the Indian Congress led by CR Das and
Pandit Motilal Nehru started thinking in favour of entering the Legislative
Council. Their object was to follow a policy of uniform and continuous
obstruction from within the Council with a view to putting an end to the
system of Diarchy as introduced under the Government of India Act of 1919.
• However, the annual session of the Indian National Congress, held at Gaya in
December 1922, rejected the proposal for Council entry. The Gaya session of the
Congress was followed by the resignation of CR Das as the President of the
organisation. He then formed within Congress a party called the Swarajya Party. In
the election to the Bengal Legislative Council held in 1923, the Swarajya Party
achieved remarkable success. It became the largest single party capturing 46 seats
out of 139 in the Provincial Legislature. CR Das became its leader.
• CR Das sought the active cooperation of the Muslim members of the Bengal
Legislative Council to make his political programme successful. He held
discussions with prominent Muslim leaders of Bengal and came to an agreement
with them. The terms of the Pact, commonly known as the Bengal Pact, were
passed in the meeting of the Swarajist Party Councillors held on 16 December
1923. It was made clear in the meeting that the Pact would be effective only after
the real foundation of self-government in the province. The Pact was also passed in
the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee meeting held on 18 December 1923.
The terms of the Pact included the following:
a) Representation in the Bengal Legislative Council would be on population basis
with separate electorates.
b) Representation in the local bodies would be on the proportion of 60 per cent to
the majority community and 40 percent to the minority community.
c) Regarding Government appointments, it was decided that fifty five percent of
the appointments should go to the Muslims. Till the above percentage was
attained, 80 per cent of posts would go to the Muslims and the remaining 20
percent should go to the Hindus.
d) No resolution or enactment would be allowed to be moved without the consent
of 75 percent of the elected members of the affected community.
e) Music in processions would not be allowed in front of the mosques.
f) No legislation in respect of cow killing for food would be taken up in the
Council and endeavour should be made outside the Council to bring about
an understanding between the two communities. Cow killing should be
taken up in such a manner as not to wound the religious feelings of the
Hindus and cow killing for religious purpose should not be interfered with.

Soon after its announcement, the Pact created a great outcry among Hindus
and Muslims in Bengal. Its bold provisions offended middle-class Bengali
Hindus who opposed it stubbornly because they thought that the
implementation of the Pact would diminish their power and influence in
political as well as administrative spheres. The Hindu press of Bengal
played a vital role in fomenting Hindu public opinion against what they
called a one-sided Pact. The members of his own community accused CR
Das of opportunism and even Muslim bias. He, however, remained firm in
the face of all opposition.
• Emphasising the necessity of the Pact, he remarked that Swaraj would not
come without Hindu-Muslim unity. He was supported in his stance by a
considerable number of Congressmen in Bengal. JM Sengupta, Subhas
Chanrea Bose, Kiran Shankar Roy, Anil Baran Roy, Birendranth Sasmal and
Pratap Chandra Guha were prominent among them. He got whole-hearted
support for his scheme from the majority of the Muslims of Bengal. The
latter welcomed the Pact wholeheartedly because in their opinion it was the
sensible solution to their problems. The Muslim leaders of Bengal held that,
if implemented, the Pact would strike at the root of communal strife. The
Muslim press thanked those Hindu leaders for their greatness in meeting the
just demands of the Muslims through formulating the Pact in consultation
with them. But the Muslims were very disheartened when the Bengal Pact
was rejected by the Coconada Session of the Indian National Congress, held
in December 1923. The decision of the Congress was characterised by them
as shortsighted and aggressively selfish.
• Though the Indian Congress discarded the pact, CR Das tried his best to get
the terms of the Pact ratified by the Bengal Provincial Congress Conference
held at Sirajganj in June 1924. Unfortunately, his premature death in 1925
came as a blow to the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity. His death was
followed by the repudiation of the Pact, even by some of his own followers.
A large number of Bengali Muslim politicians became shocked at this act
and began to move away from Congress as well as the Swarajya Party.
• The defection of the Muslims was marked by the formation of the
Independent Muslim Party in 1926 by some prominent Muslim leaders of
the province like Moulvi Abdul Karim, Maulana Abdur Rauf, Khan
Bahadur Azizul huq, M Abdullahi Baqi, Maulvi Asrafuddin Ahmed, Dr A
Suhrawardy, AK Fazlul Huq and others. Husayn Shaheed Suhrawardy
became the Provisional Secretary of the Party. Indeed, from this time on,
the Muslims of Bengal began to reconsider their stand in Bengal politics.
The result of all these manoeuvrings was a revival of communal politics in
the province around 1926.
The Government of India Act, 1935

• Introduction:
 The Government of India Act 1935 was the outcome of a long
constitutional development.
 The act passed in 1935 is one of the longest Acts the British
parliament has ever enacted.
 A significant document of the constitutional history of British India.
 But this act could not satisfy the Hindus and Muslims of British
India.
 It tried to pacify the movements taking place all over India.
Lahore Resolution, 1940

• Lahore resolution was prepared by Muslim League Working

Committee and was presented by A.K. Fazlul Haque, the then Prime
Minister of Bengal.

• This proposal was adopted by All India Muslim League on the

occasion of its three days general session in Lahore on 22-24 March,
1940.

• Lahore resolution was also known by Pakistan resolution.

• Main Concept/Characteristics:

• More than one independent and sovereign states should be formed in

North-western and Eastern Muslim inhabited areas of Indian
subcontinent.

• Adjoining places altogether should be identified as “Region”.

• North-western and Eastern India’s Muslim inhabited areas should be

used to form “Independent States”. If needed, the areas of the Muslim
inhabited places in India would be changed to form such independent
states.
• The provinces of these independent states will be autonomous and
sovereign.
• The rights and interests of Minority people will be preserved in the
constitution by discussing with them.

 Two Nation Theory:

• Muhammad Ali Jinnah proposed Two Nation Theory in 1940.
• The two nation theory is the basis of the creation of Pakistan.
• It states that, Muslims and Hindus are two separate nations by every
definition.
• Muslims should be able to have their own separate homeland in the
Muslim majority areas of India, in which Islam can be practiced as a
dominant religion.