In this article we will study about the Role of Mahatma Gandhi in making the Indian National Movement a mass movement. Gandhiji’s role in the National Movement of India was undoubtedly the most remarkable. The father of National “Mahatma Gandhi” played an important role in many major national movement of India for Independence agaisnt British Colonial rule in India.
Mahatma Gandhi and his role in Indian National Movement
Introduction :- Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 A.D. in Porbandar, Gujarat. His full name was Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi. His father’s name was Karamchand Gandhi and his mother’s name was Putlibai. His father was the Diwan of Rajkot.
At the age of 13, Mahatma Gandhi was married to Kasturba. He went to study law in England in 1888. After completing his study of law in England he returned to India in 1891. In 1893, Mahatma Gandhi went to South Africa to practise law. Gandhi ji was quickly exposed to the racial discrimination (apartheid) practised in South Africa. Once while he was traveling in a train to Pretoria, he was thrown out of the first class compartment at a station in Pietermaritzburg despite having a ticket.
Gandhi ji returned to India on 9 January 1915. Initially, he spent a year visiting various places in India to have understanding of the situation. His political engagement started in the 1917-1918 period when he took up the issues of Champaran Indigo farmers, Ahmedabad textile mill workers and the Kheda peasant movement. These struggles witnessed his specific method of agitation known as ‘Satyagraha’.
In Champaran peasants were forced to grow Indigo even when it was not profitable for them to do so. In fact peasants were suffering losses by cultivating indigo in their fertile lands. Gandhi was invited by the peasants to lead their struggle against the indigo planters who enjoyed the support of the colonial state. The Champaran Satyagraha was the first satyagraha movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in India.
In Kheda district of Gujarat, most of the crops were damaged due to excessive rain. The peasants of Kheda demanded from government that they should be allowed not to pay the revenue for that particular year. The government however refused. Gandhi ji started a Satyagraha movement on 22 March 1918 and advised peasants not to pay revenue. It was a test for the new method of agitation which Gandhi ji was trying in India. The agitation continued for some time. But Gandhiji realised that it was not possible for farmers to continue agitation for long. Meanwhile, government granted some concession to poorer peasants. The movement was then withdrawn.
In Ahmedabad, Mahatma Gandhi led the struggle of the workers for an increase in the wages due to rising prices during the war. The cotton mill owner wanted to withdraw the plague bonus to the workers while workers were demanding a hike of 35% in their wages. The Ahmedabad Textile Mill Labour Satyagraha of 1918 was one of the three early experiments of non-violent Satyagraha methods by Gandhi in India. The Satyagraha introduced the “hunger strike” to the Indian masses as a mean to secure the outcome. The Ahmedabad mill strike was successful and workers were granted the wage hike they wanted.
The struggle demonstrated to the Indian people Gandhi’s method of political struggle and his principles of non-violence and non-cooperation. On the other hand, these movements helped Mahatma Gandhi to familiarise himself with the Indian situation and understand the strengths and weaknesses of the Indian people.
Gandhi’s vision of a free India based on religious pluralism, however was challenged in the early 1940s by a new Muslim Nationalism which was demanding a separate Muslim homeland carved out of India. Eventually in August 1947 India got independence but the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim majority Pakistan at that time West Pakistan and East Pakistan (today’s Bangladesh). As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in the Punjab and Bengal. Eschewing the official celebration of Independence in Delhi, Mahatma Gandhi visited riots affected areas, attempting to provide solace. In the months following, he undertook several fasts unto death to promote religious harmony. The last of these, undertaken on 12 January 1948 at age 78 also had the indirect goal of pressuring India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan. Nathuram Godse assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on 30 January 1948.
National Movements led by Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhiji was the most influential and revered of all the leaders who participated in the freedom struggle. Mahatma Gandhi has been regarded as the ‘Father’ of the Indian nation.
The Satyagraha Movement
Satyagraha is a Sanskrit term made of two words Satya means ‘truth’ and Agraha means to ‘adhere’, roughly translates to the firm adherence to the truth. Gandhian Satyagraha was Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagraha. Gandhi was an activist who fought oppression with his philosophies of non-violent and peaceful resistance. Mahatma Gandhi described Satyagraha as the relentless pursuit of the truth with the method of non-violent means.
Champaran Satyagraha (1917) :- The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was the first Satyagraha movement led by Gandhi in India. When Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915, and saw peasants in northern India oppressed by indigo planters, he tried to use the same methods that he had used in South Africa to organize mass uprisings by the people to protest against injustice. Champaran Satyagraha was a farmer’s uprising that took place in Champaran district of Bihar, India, during the British colonial period. The farmers were protesting against having to grow indigo with barely any payment for it.
Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918) :- Mahatma Gandhi used hunger-strike as a tool to achieve his objective for the first time in this Satyagraha. The mill owners wanted to withdraw the plague bonus to the workers while the workers were demanding a hike of 35% in their wages. During the peaceful strike led by Mahatma Gandhi, he underwent a hunger strike. The Ahmedabad Mill Strike was successful and the workers were granted the wage hike they wanted.
Kheda Satyagraha (1918) :- In 1918 due to drought or excessive rains crop failed in Kheda district, Gujarat. Peasants of Kheda demanded the non-payment of the revenue against the backdrop of crop failure, a rise in prices, and the government’s insensitive increase in the tax rate. Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, under Gandhi’s guidance, led the farmers in protest against the collection of taxes in the wake of the famine. The protest was peaceful and people showed remarkable courage even in the face of adversities like confiscation of personal property and arrest. Finally, the authorities gave some concessions to the farmers.
In all these movements Mahatma Gandhi was able to involve the masses including farmers, artisans, so-called lower castes etc. This change in terms of participation of poor and lower classes of societies was drastic because earlier participation was limited to the upper and the middle classes.
Khilafat Movement (1919-1922)
The Khilafat Movement, a campaign that called the restoration of a caliphate spread across several countries, had started in 1919. Gandhiji saw an opportunity to form a Hindu-Muslim alliance against the British. He linked the Khilafat issue with India’s freedom struggle. Mahatma Gandhi’s participation brought more people into the movement and gave it mass appeal. The Khilafat movement started due to the fear of Muslims in India that the end of Ottoman Empire would negatively impact Islam as a religion. The feeling of betrayal by the British and the extreme views of Muslim leaders future fueled the movement.
Previous Year Question
Q.) Who among the following opposed Mahatma Gandhi’s association with the Khilafat movement ?
A.) Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan
B.) Fazlul Haque
C.) Mohammed Ali Jinnah
D.) Abul Kalam Azad
Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-1922)
Non Cooperation Movement was launched on 5th September 1920 by the Indian National Congress (INC) under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. The Non Cooperation movement was launched in the wake of series of events including the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and was called off because of Chauri Chaura incident of 1922.
The non-cooperation movement was to be non violent and consist of Indians resigning their titles, boycotting government educational institutions, the courts, government service, foreign goods, and elections and eventually refusing to pay taxes. After an angry mob murdered police officers in the village of Chauri Chaura (Uttar Pradesh) in February 1922, Gandhi ji himself called off the movement. The non-cooperation movement marked the transition of Indian Nationalism from a middle class to a mass basis.
Salt Satyagraha Movement or Dandi March (1930)
The Salt Satyagraha was a mass civil disobedience movement initiated by Mahatma Gandhi against the salt tax imposed by the British government in India. He led a large group of people from Sabarmati Ashram on March 12, 1930 till Dandi, a costal village in Gujarat, to break the salt law by producing salt from seawater. The movement is also known as ‘Dandi March’. They reached Dandi on April 5, 1930. On the morning of 6 April, 1930 Mahatma Gandhi broke the salt law by making salt.
Quit India Movement (1942)
Quit Indian Movement is also known as Indian August Movement or August Kranti. It was officially launched by the Indian National Congress (INC) led by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942. Mumbai’s Gowalia Tank Maidan also known as August Kranti Maidan is the place where the ‘Quit India Movement’ was launched by Mahatma Gandhi. The movement gave the slogans ‘Quit India’ or ‘अंग्रेजो भारत छोड़ो’. Mahatma Gandhi gave the slogan to the people- ‘Do or Die’ or ‘करो या मरो’.
The government’s response to the movement was quick. The Congress was banned and most of its leaders were arrested before they could start mobilizing the people. By December 1942, over sixty thousand people had been jailed. The few leaders who had escaped arrest went into hiding and tried to guide the mass movement. Among them were Jai Prakash Narayan, S.M Joshi, Aruna Asaf Ali, Ram Manohar Lohia, Achyut Patwardhan and Smt. Sucheta Kriplani.
After the Quit India movement the freedom struggle got even more intense and passionate. Entire India was united together in the movement for freedom. Everyone contributed what they could in the freedom struggle. The cry for Purna Swaraj or complete independence was raised. After much sacrifices and efforts, India gained its independence on the 15 August, 1947.
Conclusion
Mahatma Gandhi’s contribution to the Indian freedom struggle was immense. His philosophy of non-violence and civil disobedience, his resistance tools against oppression like non-cooperation and civil disobedience and his leadership played an important role in uniting the Indian masses to the struggle of national independence against Britishers.
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