Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22)

Nature

Gandhi trying to encourage swadeshi through khadi (homespun clothing)
tangible and accessible to the masses- everyone could get involved regardless of caste

Universal appeal to non-violence (ahimsa) which coincided with Hindu religious beliefs
Refused to cooperate with British policies - hoped it would cause the British government to become non-functioning
All titles and honours conferred by the British were given up and merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods

Impact

On Nationalism

Mobilised the working and peasants classes (majority of society relied on the caste system)
Reached the masses- they now understood nationalistic ideas and were then able to spread it
Exposed the injustices of the British → people less content to exist under the discriminatory rule of the British
Importation of cotton textiles declined significantly because of khadi

Significance

Had to end prematurely because of the Chauri Chaura event so not as significant as it could have been
Introduced Gandhi’s satyagraha and ahimsa techniques to the nation
Overall, campaign was successful as there was high participation, Hindus and Muslims collectively offered resistance

The Rowlatt Act Hartel

Nature

Tangible and accessible to the masses- everyone could get involved regardless of caste

The Rowlatt Act was an extension of the Defence of India Act made during WW1: No civil rights, martial law, gatherings illegal, can be arrested without charge
Gandhi claimed that the Rowlatt bills would deprive the people of their God-given right of freedom of expression – so for him was a religious cause
Conducted a hartel whereby all shops and businesses would close for a day.
People spent the day fasting and in prayer
Worked best in Bombay on the 6th April 1919
Appealed to the mass as it was an accessible form of protests

Impact

British government are reluctant to arrest Gandhi as they feel he will become a matyr however on April 8 he is arrested
The masses got behind the movement → showed individuals that they had the capacity to make a difference

Significance

Considered a failure since the Rowlatt Act remained unchanged
However showed the Indian people that there was an alternative to the kind of politics that had been practiced

As A Result of this…

Amritsar Massacre 13th April 1919

Nature

In Amritsar on 13th April 1919 a meeting to protest his arrest formed in an area called Jallianwala Bagh – Dyer, the British military commander, invoked the Rowlatt Act and ordered his troops to open fire on the group

Impact

Destroyed any moral justification the Brits had of remaining in India
Hunter Commission of Inquiry held on October 1919 (though report was released in 1920) was not seen by the Indian people to be sufficiently critical in its response to Dyer’s actions
The public opinion in Britain was that of praise for Dyer, they believed that his actions were all a part of the liberation progress, that he was teaching the Indians the ways of civilisation

Significance

Many historians believe that the brutality of the shooting (at the amritsar massacre) was a turning point – the severe and humiliating British response destroyed any moral justification the Brits had of remaining in India, “a scar was drawn across Indo-British relations deeper than any which had been inflicted” (Percival Spear, The Oxford History of India)

	Created by Dylan MacDonald almost 9 years ago