Category Mahatma Gandhi

            The Chauri Chaura incident is a black mark in the pages of Indian history. This happened on 5th February 1922. On this day, a large group of peaceful protesters participating in a procession had an encounter with the police, who opened fire.

            Combat broke out between the police and the mob. Then, the demonstrators set fire to a police station in Chauri Chaura, killing all of its occupants. This incident led to the deaths of three civilians and 22 policemen. Gandhiji was dis-heartened by this incident and halted the non-cooperation movement on the national level.

            On the other hand, British declared a martial law in response to the incident. Numerous raids were conducted and hundreds of people were arrested. Gandhi went on a fast for five days after this incident. Thus, Chauri Chaura became a backlash for the Indian way of peaceful resistance.

          The Swadeshi policy was part and parcel of non-cooperation movement. Gandhiji urged people to boycott British goods and to throw their foreign clothes into the fire. Gathering at crossroads, people burnt their imported clothes. They picketed the shops selling western goods. People took firm decisions like using only goods made in India and this was famously called the Swadeshi movement.

          Gandhiji always wanted Indians to spin their clothes by themselves. He promoted Khadi products as an alternative to British made clothes. Every day Gandhiji would spin 182 metres of yarn. He would never take rest without completing his daily chores. He perceived the spinning wheel as a symbol of liberation. It was common in the congress meetings and also wherever nationalists gathered. The spinning wheel was viewed as one of Gandhiji’s efforts to revive village economy, and to help the village folk to come out of their poverty. 

            Gandhiji published two journals, ‘Young India’ and ‘Navjivan’ to air his views and to educate the public about Satyagraha. Educating his countrymen was his priority when he started these newspapers. Young India was one of the prominent newspapers introduced by Gandhiji. He used Young India to propagate his unique propaganda regarding the use of non violence in organizing movements. He urged the readers to consider, organize and plan for India’s eventual struggle for Independence from the British imperialism.

            He began publishing another weekly newspaper called Harijan in 1933 in English. The word ‘Harijan’ means ‘the people of God’. The newspaper lost its popularity in 1948. During this time, Gandhiji also published Harijan Bandu in Gujarati and Harjan Sevak in Hindi. ‘Young India’ and ‘Harijan’ became the influential voices of his own views on all subjects. The language in which he wrote in newspapers was passionate and powerful, and he wrote about burning issues of the time. 

            The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885, by a British named A.O. Hume. It started as an elitist organization and was an association of intelligentsia.

            In 1924, Gandhiji emerged as the president of the Indian National Congress. He put forth a number of reforms within the party. The first major change was in the party’s reach to the masses who resided in the remote villages of India, thereby eliminating the elitist status of the party. Gandhiji famously stated that the soul of India lies in our villages, both in monetary and in logistical terms. Hence, no movement can be truly fruitful without the whole hearted support of the dwellers of the Indian villages. After taking the presidential ship of the Indian National Congress, he introduced the principles of Satyagraha. The party witnessed the birth of many charismatic leaders with great public appeal. They were also loyal to Gandhiji. Thus the non-cooperation movement naturally reached massive national dimensions with a huge number of followers. This movement marked the beginning of the life of Gandhiji as the leader of the masses. 

            Non-cooperation was a highly powerful weapon of protest and mass action introduced by Gandhiji. This became immensely popular after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. This movement later became an intrinsic part of India’s freedom struggle and was launched on 1st August, 1920.

            The purpose of this movement was to fight British rule in India through peaceful means. It encompassed numerous actions like refusal to buy British goods, encouragement of the use of local handicrafts and picketing liquor shops. The dictum of non-cooperation movement was ahimsa or non-violence. Gandhiji’s ability to rally thousands of common citizens towards the cause of Indian Independence under the umbrella of non-cooperation was noticeable. Gandhiji feared that the movement might lead to widespread violence. The motivation behind such a movement was nothing but Gandhiji’s lost faith in the constitutional methods and he was evolved into a non-cooperator. 

          We cannot trivialize the Rowlatt Act as a black act. The introduction of this act, acted as a catalyst for many other events that led to India’s Independence. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre was one such event.

          On April 13th, 1919 a peaceful protest meeting was going on in Amritsar, in a garden surrounded on three sides by high walls. This place was called Jallianwala Bagh. The crowd consisted of some non-violent protesters and pilgrims who had come for Baishakhi celebrations. The British commander General Dyer decided to crush the meeting with utmost brutality. The innocent crowd was fired at without giving them a warning to disperse.

          About 379 lives were lost in the massacre and more than 1200 were injured. This brutality traumatized Indians. Many Indians, who were at once staunch believers of peace, took to weapons, in reaction to the callous attitude of the British.

          Gandhiji was horrified and was determined to free India from the pitiless hands of the British without bloodshed. As an act of protest, he returned the medals which he was given by the British during the Boer War.