Mahatma Gandhi’s Recurring Settlement: Two Major Movements Compared
The Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-22 and the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930-31 stand among the most significant mass campaigns associated with Gandhi's leadership of India's independence movement. Nearly a decade separates them, and their immediate circumstances were different. Yet examining the two together raises important historical questions about political objectives, mass pressure, leadership decisions, negotiations, and the outcomes experienced by participants.
The Non-Cooperation Movement began in 1920 with Swaraj
within one year as its stated objective. Gandhi publicly committed to this goal
at the Calcutta special session of the Congress in September 1920. During 1920
and 1921, the movement expanded across urban and rural areas and generated
increasing pressure on the British administration.
By November 1921, British authorities were recording serious
concern. Viceroy Reading's despatches to Montagu described the movement as
threatening the basic operation of governmental authority. Mass arrests
occurred across different centres. Thousands were imprisoned, courts were
overwhelmed, and administrative machinery faced substantial disruption.
The movement had therefore reached a high level of political
pressure before its suspension. The immediate turning point came at Chauri
Chaura on February 4, 1922. Police fired on protesters, the crowd retaliated,
and 22 policemen were killed. Gandhi regarded the incident as a Himalayan
miscalculation.
On February 12, Gandhi suspended the movement through the
Bardoli Resolution. The decision was made without a vote of the wider Congress
membership and despite objections associated with Nehru, Bose, Das, and Lajpat
Rai.
The suspension produced no negotiated political settlement.
There was no prisoner release, salt concession, property return, or documented
British commitment corresponding to the pressure generated by the movement.
Gandhi was arrested on March 10, 1922.
The consequences for participants were severe. In the Chauri
Chaura case, 172 defendants were sentenced to death. Malaviya's efforts helped
save 153 of them.
The Civil Disobedience Movement began in 1930 with Purna
Swaraj, or complete independence, as its stated political objective. Gandhi's
Salt March became its defining early action. By early 1931, approximately
60,000 people were in prison. Provinces were facing difficulties in maintaining
administrative control, customs revenues were falling, and the British
administration was under substantial pressure.
The circumstances changed through negotiation rather than a
violent incident. Gandhi negotiated with Viceroy Irwin, and the Gandhi-Irwin
Pact was signed on March 5, 1931. Gandhi received a place at the Second Round
Table Conference in London.
The Congress Working Committee formally considered and
ratified the agreement. Gandhi, however, had conducted the direct negotiations
with Irwin as Congress's principal representative.
The conference did not produce Purna Swaraj. No dominion
status was achieved, no timetable for independence was established, and no
fiscal autonomy was secured. Gandhi returned to Bombay on December 28, 1931.
On January 4, 1932, Viceroy Willingdon introduced Emergency
Powers Ordinances. Gandhi and Sardar Patel were arrested, Congress was banned,
and more than 100,000 people were imprisoned within weeks. Bhagat Singh was
hanged eighteen days after the Pact was signed.
The comparison does not make the two movements identical. Their objectives, triggers, and circumstances differed. It does, however, reveal a recurring historical question: what happened when substantial mass pressure reached a high point but the stated political objective remained unachieved?
For the complete original analysis and comparative
examination, visit
Read the Hindi Blog
Watch the
Related Video
Gandhi’s Recurring
Settlement: Two Movements, One Documented Pattern | HinduinfoPedia
Watch the Video
in Hindi
गांधी का बार-बार समझौता:
दो आंदोलन, एक प्रलेखित क्रम | HinduinfoPedia
Comments
Post a Comment