Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement

"Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." — Albert Einstein

1. Chapter Overview

Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) transformed the Indian freedom struggle. Before Gandhi: the Congress was an ELITE organisation of lawyers and intellectuals. After Gandhi: it became a MASS MOVEMENT, bringing in peasants, workers, women, and students. This chapter traces Gandhi's leadership through the major movements: Non-Cooperation (1920–22), Civil Disobedience (1930–34), and Quit India (1942) — the struggle that led to independence in 1947.

2. Gandhi's Arrival and Early Satyagrahas (1915–1919)

• Returned from South Africa in 1915. Already a hero: had led successful satyagrahas against racist laws.
• Early campaigns: Champaran (1917, indigo peasants), Kheda (1918, tax relief for drought-hit peasants), Ahmedabad mill strike (1918).
• These established his METHOD: truth (satyagraha), non-violence (ahimsa), willingness to suffer, moral pressure on the opponent.

3. Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–1922)

Why?

• Rowlatt Act (1919) — arrest without trial
• Jallianwala Bagh massacre (April 13, 1919) — General Dyer's troops fired on a peaceful gathering. Hundreds killed.
• Khilafat issue (defeat of Ottoman Caliph, Muslim anger) — Gandhi combined Khilafat with the nationalist movement, creating Hindu-Muslim unity.

The Movement

• Programme: BOYCOTT — British schools, courts, legislatures, titles, foreign goods. Promotion of swadeshi and khadi.
• Mass participation: Peasants. Students. Lawyers (Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das gave up lucrative practices). Women.
• Withdrawn: after CHAURI CHAURA (Feb 1922) — a crowd set fire to a police station, killing 22 policemen. Gandhi, committed to non-violence, withdrew the movement. Many leaders were DISAPPOINTED — but Gandhi refused to compromise on means.

4. Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–1934)

The Salt March (March 12 – April 6, 1930)

• Gandhi's GENIUS: make SALT the symbol of British oppression. Salt was consumed by EVERY Indian — and taxed by the British.
• 240 miles. Sabarmati Ashram to DANDI (coastal Gujarat). 24 days. 78 followers. Thousands joined along the way.
• April 6: Gandhi picked up a lump of salt. BROKE THE SALT LAW.
• The act was SIMPLE. Its impact was PROFOUND. Across India, people made salt illegally. The salt monopoly — a pillar of British revenue — was CHALLENGED.

Spread and Participation

• Beyond salt: refusal to pay taxes. Boycott of foreign cloth. Picketing of liquor shops.
• WOMEN participated in LARGE NUMBERS — picketing, making salt, marching.
• British response: 90,000+ arrested. Lathi charges. Gandhi arrested.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931) and Round Table Conference

• Gandhi SUSPENDED the movement. Attended Round Table Conference in London (1931).
• The conference FAILED. No agreement on constitutional reform.
• Gandhi returned. Civil Disobedience RESUMED — but was gradually withdrawn by 1934.

5. Quit India Movement (1942)

'Do or Die'

• August 8, 1942: Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement. 'Do or Die. We shall either free India or die in the attempt.'
• The British responded IMMEDIATELY. Gandhi, Nehru, Patel — all Congress leaders arrested within hours.
• The movement became a SPONTANEOUS, LEADERLESS upsurge. Students, workers, peasants — strikes, demonstrations, attacks on government property.
• It was the MOST MASSIVE uprising since 1857.

Significance

• The British realised: India could NO LONGER BE GOVERNED by force. After WWII (1945), the newly elected Labour government in Britain decided to TRANSFER POWER.

6. Gandhi's Vision — A Different Kind of Freedom

• For Gandhi: SWARAJ was not just INDEPENDENCE from the British. It was: self-rule, self-discipline, moral governance.
• He envisioned: DECENTRALISED India — village republics, not a centralised industrial state (Nehru disagreed).
• He insisted: MEANS matter as much as ENDS. Non-violence was not a tactic. It was a MORAL ABSOLUTE.

7. The Limits of Gandhi's Leadership

• Dalits (Ambedkar): Gandhi fought untouchability (called Dalits 'Harijans'). But Ambedkar argued: Gandhi's approach was PATERNALISTIC — he wanted to REFORM Hinduism rather than ABOLISH caste. Ambedkar demanded POLITICAL RIGHTS: separate electorates. Gandhi fasted unto death against separate electorates → Poona Pact (1932): reserved seats WITHIN the general electorate.
• Muslims: Hindu-Muslim unity during Non-Cooperation and Khilafat FRAyED by the 1930s-40s. The Muslim League, led by Jinnah, demanded PAKISTAN. Gandhi, deeply opposed to partition, could not prevent it.
• Workers and peasants: Gandhi supported their causes — but was RELUCTANT to endorse class conflict. For him, capitalists and workers, landlords and peasants, should be PARTNERS — not enemies.

8. Exam Focus

1. Non-Cooperation — programme, social base, withdrawal (Chauri Chaura)
2. Civil Disobedience — Salt March (1930), Dandi, mass participation, Gandhi-Irwin Pact
3. Quit India (1942) — 'Do or Die.' Spontaneous leaderless upsurge.
4. Gandhi vs Ambedkar on caste — separate electorates, Poona Pact
5. Gandhi's vision — swaraj, non-violence, decentralisation vs Nehru's industrialisation
6. Limits of Gandhian nationalism — dalits, muslims, workers/peasants

9. Conclusion

Gandhi was not just a political leader. He was a MORAL FORCE:

• METHOD: Satyagraha. Truth-force. Non-violent resistance. Willingness to suffer.
• MOVEMENTS: Non-Cooperation (1920–22). Salt March (1930). Quit India (1942). Each BROUGHT NEW SECTIONS into the freedom struggle.
• VISION: Swaraj as self-rule — not just British departure. An India of village republics. A unity of means and ends.
• LIMITS: His leadership was NOT universally accepted. Ambedkar, Jinnah, and others had very different visions. Partition — the ultimate failure of Gandhian unity — broke his heart.

'Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948. But his method — non-violent resistance to injustice — had already spread across the world: to Martin Luther King Jr., to Nelson Mandela, to movements Gandhi never lived to see.'