Comprehensive Notes on Nationalism in India
Nationalism in India
The Emergence of Nationalism
Modern nationalism in Europe led to the formation of nation-states, altering people's understanding of identity and belonging.
New symbols, icons, songs, and ideas created new links and redefined community boundaries.
National identity formation was a lengthy process in most countries.
In India, modern nationalism grew intertwined with the anti-colonial movement.
Struggling against colonialism fostered a sense of unity among people.
Colonial oppression served as a shared bond for diverse groups.
Experiences of colonialism varied across classes and groups, resulting in differing notions of freedom.
The Indian National Congress, under Mahatma Gandhi, aimed to unify these groups into a single movement, though conflicts arose.
The chapter focuses on the 1920s, covering the Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience Movements.
Exploration of how the Congress developed the national movement, the participation of different social groups, and how nationalism captured people's imagination.
The First World War, Khilafat, and Non-Cooperation
Post-1919, the national movement expanded, incorporating new areas and social groups, and developing new methods of struggle.
The war created a new economic and political landscape.
Increased defense expenditure was financed through war loans and taxes, including raised customs duties and the introduction of income tax.
Prices doubled between 1913 and 1918, causing hardship for common people.
Villages were required to supply soldiers, leading to forced recruitment and widespread anger, especially in rural areas.
Crop failures in 1918-19 and 1920-21 caused acute food shortages, exacerbated by an influenza epidemic.
The census of 1921 reported that 12 to 13 million people died due to famines and the epidemic.
Hopes for relief after the war's end were unmet.
Forced recruitment: A process by which the colonial state forced people to join the army
A new leader emerged with a new mode of struggle: Mahatma Gandhi.
The Idea of Satyagraha
Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in January 1915, after his experiences in South Africa, where he fought the racist regime using satyagraha.
Satyagraha emphasizes the power of truth and the search for truth.
If the cause is true and the struggle against injustice, physical force is unnecessary.
Satyagrahis can win through non-violence by appealing to the oppressor's conscience.
Persuading people, including oppressors, to see the truth is crucial instead of using violence.
Through this struggle, truth is destined to triumph.
Gandhi believed non-violence could unite all Indians.
Gandhi organized satyagraha movements in various places after arriving in India.
1917: Champaran, Bihar: Inspired peasants against the oppressive plantation system.
1917: Kheda district of Gujarat: Supported peasants affected by crop failure and plague, demanding revenue collection relaxation.
1918: Ahmedabad: Organized a satyagraha movement among cotton mill workers.
The Rowlatt Act
In 1919, emboldened by success, Gandhiji launched a nationwide satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act.
The Rowlatt Act (1919) was passed despite Indian members' opposition in the Imperial Legislative Council.
It granted the government powers to repress political activities and detain political prisoners without trial for two years.
Gandhi advocated non-violent civil disobedience against these unjust laws, starting with a hartal on April 6.
Rallies were organized, workers went on strike, and shops closed down.
The British administration, alarmed by the upsurge, clamped down on nationalists, arresting local leaders and barring Gandhi from Delhi.
April 10: Police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession, leading to attacks on banks, post offices, and railway stations.
Martial law was imposed, and General Dyer took command.
Jallianwalla Bagh Incident
April 13: The Jallianwalla Bagh incident occurred.
A large crowd gathered in Jallianwalla Bagh to protest and attend the Baisakhi fair.
Many villagers were unaware of the imposed martial law.
Dyer blocked the exit points and opened fire, killing hundreds, to create terror and awe among satyagrahis.
As news spread, crowds took to the streets in North Indian towns, leading to strikes, clashes, and attacks on government buildings.
The government responded with brutal repression, forcing satyagrahis to rub their noses on the ground, crawl on streets, salute all sahibs, flogging people, and bombing villages.
Gandhi called off the movement due to the spread of violence.
Khilafat issue and Non-Cooperation
The Rowlatt Satyagraha was limited to cities and towns.
Gandhi felt the need for a broader movement, uniting Hindus and Muslims.
The First World War ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey, and rumors spread of a harsh peace treaty on the Ottoman emperor (the Khalifa), the spiritual head of the Islamic world.
The Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March 1919 to defend the Khalifa's temporal powers.
Muslim leaders like the brothers Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali discussed united mass action with Gandhi.
Gandhi saw this as an opportunity to unify the national movement.
At the Calcutta session of the Congress in September 1920, he advocated for a non-cooperation movement supporting Khilafat and swaraj.
Why Non-Cooperation?
In Hind Swaraj (1909), Gandhi stated that British rule was established and sustained by Indian cooperation.
Non-cooperation could lead to the collapse of British rule within a year and achieve swaraj.
The movement would unfold in stages, starting with surrendering government-awarded titles and boycotting civil services, army, police, courts, legislative councils, schools, and foreign goods.
Repression by the government would lead to a full civil disobedience campaign.
Gandhi and Shaukat Ali toured extensively in the summer of 1920, mobilizing support.
Many within the Congress were concerned about boycotting council elections and feared violence.
Compromise was reached at the Congress session in Nagpur in December 1920, and the Non-Cooperation programme was adopted.
Boycott: The refusal to deal and associate with people, or participate in activities, or buy and use things; usually a form of protest
Differing Strands within the Movement
The Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement started in January 1921.
Various social groups participated, each with specific aspirations, responding to the call of Swaraj with different interpretations.
The Movement in the Towns
It began with middle-class participation in cities.
Thousands of students left government schools and colleges, and teachers and lawyers resigned.
Council elections were boycotted, except in Madras, where the Justice Party of non-Brahmans sought power.
The economic impact was significant, with foreign goods boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and foreign cloth burnt.
The import of foreign cloth halved between 1921 and 1922, dropping from crore to crore.
Merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods.
As imported clothes were discarded for Indian ones, Indian textile mills and handlooms' production increased.
The movement slowed down due to Khadi cloth being more expensive and the lack of alternative Indian institutions.
Students and teachers returned to government schools, and lawyers to government courts.
Picket: A form of demonstration or protest by which people block the entrance to a shop, factory or office.
Rebellion in the Countryside
The Non-Cooperation Movement spread to the countryside, drawing in peasants' and tribals' struggles after the war.
In Awadh, peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra against talukdars and landlords who demanded high rents and cesses, as well as begar.
Begar: Labour that villagers were forced to contribute without any payment
Peasants demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, and social boycott of oppressive landlords. Nai-dhobi bandhs were organized.
In June 1920, Jawaharlal Nehru engaged with villagers to understand their grievances.
By October, the Oudh Kisan Sabha was set up, led by Nehru, Ramchandra, and others, with over 300 branches.
The Congress aimed to integrate the Awadh peasant struggle into the wider movement.
The peasant movement became violent, with attacks on talukdars and merchants, looting of bazaars, and grain hoards taken over.
Local leaders claimed that Gandhi had declared no taxes were to be paid and land was to be redistributed.
Tribal Peasants
Tribal peasants interpreted Gandhi's message and swaraj differently.
In the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh, a militant guerrilla movement emerged in the early 1920s due to colonial forest policies restricting access to forests.
The hill people also revolted against being forced to contribute begar for road building.
Alluri Sitaram Raju, who claimed special powers, led them, asserting India could only be liberated by force.
Raju, seen as an incarnation of God, attacked police stations and carried out guerrilla warfare.
Raju was captured and executed in 1924, becoming a folk hero.
Swaraj in the Plantations
Plantation workers in Assam understood swaraj as the right to move freely and maintain links with their villages.
Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, they were not permitted to leave tea gardens without permission.
Hearing of the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands defied authorities and headed home, believing Gandhi Raj was coming and they would be given land.
They were stranded due to a railway and steamer strike, caught by the police, and beaten up.
These movements weren't defined by the Congress programme, interpreting swaraj as the end of suffering.
Chanting Gandhi's name and demanding Swatantra Bharat showed emotional connection to an all-India agitation.
Acting in Gandhi's name linked their movement to the Congress, going beyond local limits.
Towards Civil Disobedience
In February 1922, Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement because of violence and the need for trained satyagrahis.
Some Congress leaders wanted to participate in elections to provincial councils formed by the Government of India Act of 1919 to oppose British policies and demonstrate the undemocratic nature of the councils.
C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party to advocate for council politics.
Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose pushed for mass agitation and full independence.
Two factors shaped Indian politics in the late 1920s: the worldwide economic depression and the Simon Commission.
Agricultural prices fell from 1926 and collapsed after 1930, causing turmoil as peasants struggled to pay revenue.
The British Tory government formed the Statutory Commission under Sir John Simon to review the constitutional system in India and suggest changes; however, it lacked Indian members.
The Simon Commission was greeted with the slogan 'Go back Simon' in 1928, with participation from the Congress and the Muslim League.
Lord Irwin offered 'dominion status' in the future and a Round Table Conference, which did not satisfy Congress leaders.
Radicals within the Congress, led by Nehru and Bose, became more assertive.
Liberals and moderates lost influence and In December 1929, the Lahore Congress, under Nehru, demanded 'Purna Swaraj' or full independence.
January 26, 1930, was declared Independence Day, but it attracted little attention.
Gandhi sought to connect the abstract idea of freedom to concrete issues.
The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement
Gandhi chose salt as a symbol to unite the nation.
On January 31, 1930, he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin with eleven demands, including abolishing the salt tax.
The demands aimed to be wide-ranging for broad appeal. The salt tax affected everyone.
Gandhi's letter was an ultimatum: if demands were unmet by March 11, the Congress would launch civil disobedience.
Irwin refused to negotiate.
Gandhi started the Salt March with 78 volunteers, covering 240 miles from Sabarmati to Dandi over 24 days.
Thousands gathered to hear him, and he urged them to defy the British peacefully.
On April 6, he reached Dandi, violated the law, and manufactured salt, marking the start of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
People were asked not only to refuse cooperation but also to break colonial laws.
Thousands broke the salt law, boycotted foreign cloth and liquor shops, and picketed.
Peasants refused to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes, and village officials resigned.
Forest people violated forest laws.
The government arrested Congress leaders, leading to violent clashes and around 100,000 arrests.
Gandhi called off the movement and entered the Gandhi-Irwin Pact on March 5, 1931, agreeing to participate in a Round Table Conference and the government agreed to release political prisoners.
In December 1931, Gandhi went to London for the conference, but negotiations failed. Back in India, he found that the government had begun repression. Nehru and Khan were in jail and the Congress had been declared illegal.
Gandhi relaunched the Civil Disobedience Movement, which continued for over a year but lost momentum by 1934.
How Participants Saw the Movement
The Civil Disobedience Movement included rich peasant communities like the Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh.
They were affected by trade depression and falling prices, making it impossible to pay revenue.
They supported the movement but were disappointed when it was called off in 1931 without revenue rates being revised.
Poorer peasantry wanted unpaid rent to be remitted and joined radical movements, often led by Socialists and Communists.
The Congress, apprehensive of upsetting rich peasants and landlords, didn't support 'no rent' campaigns.
Business Classes
During World War I, Indian merchants and industrialists made profits but were keen on expanding their business.
They wanted protection against imports and a rupee-sterling exchange ratio that would discourage imports.
They formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920 and FICCI in 1927.
Industrialists like Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G. D. Birla supported the Civil Disobedience Movement initially.
They saw swaraj as a time when colonial restrictions would end.
However, after the Round Table Conference, they became apprehensive due to militant activities and the growing influence of socialism.
Working Classes
The industrial working classes largely did not participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement, except in the Nagpur region.
Some workers adopted ideas like boycott as part of their movements against low wages.
There were strikes by railway workers in 1930 and dockworkers in 1932.
The Congress was reluctant to include workers' demands to avoid alienating industrialists.
Women
The Civil Disobedience Movement saw large-scale participation of women who participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, and picketed.
They saw service to the nation as a sacred duty, though it didn't necessarily change their position in society.
Gandhi believed women should look after home and hearth.
The Congress was reluctant to give women positions of authority and was only keen on their symbolic presence.
The Limits of Civil Disobedience
Not all social groups were moved by swaraj, including the 'untouchables' (dalits).
The Congress had ignored the dalits to avoid offending conservative high-caste Hindus.
Gandhi stated that swaraj would not come if untouchability wasn't eliminated; he called them harijan but dalit leaders wanted reserved seats and separate electorates.
Dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement was limited, and B.R. Ambedkar clashed with Gandhi, who began a fast unto death.
Ambedkar accepted Gandhi's position, resulting in the Poona Pact of 1932, which granted reserved seats in legislative councils, but they were to be voted in by the general electorate.
Muslim Political Organizations
Some Muslim political organizations were lukewarm in their response to the Civil Disobedience Movement.
After the decline of the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat movement, Muslims felt alienated from the Congress, which was associated with Hindu religious nationalist groups like the Hindu Mahasabha.
Hindu-Muslim communal clashes increased, and distrust grew.
The Congress and the Muslim League tried to renegotiate, but differences remained over representation in future assemblies.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was willing to give up separate electorates if Muslims were assured reserved seats and representation in Muslim-dominated provinces.
The All Parties Conference in 1928 failed when M.R. Jayakar opposed compromise.
There was an atmosphere of suspicion when the Civil Disobedience Movement started.
Many Muslim leaders were concerned about the status of Muslims as a minority under a Hindu majority. In 1930, Muhammad Iqbal reiterated the importance of separate electorates.
The Sense of Collective Belonging
Nationalism spreads when people believe they are part of the same nation.
This sense came through united struggles and cultural processes, like history and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols.
The nation's identity is symbolized in a figure or image.
In the twentieth century, India was visually associated with Bharat Mata, first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 'Vande Mataram.'
Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata.
Devotion to this mother figure became evidence of nationalism.
Ideas also developed through reviving Indian folklore to discover national identity.
Rabindranath Tagore collected ballads and myths, and Natesa Sastri published Tamil folk tales.
During the Swadeshi movement, a tricolour flag (red, green, and yellow) was designed, with eight lotuses and a crescent moon.
By 1921, Gandhi had designed the Swaraj flag, with a spinning wheel.
Reinterpretation of history was another means of creating nationalism.
Indians began looking into the past to discover India's great achievements and wrote about the developments in ancient times.
These nationalist histories urged pride in India's past and struggle against British rule.
When the past being glorified was Hindu, other communities felt left out.
Conclusion
Growing anger against the colonial government was bringing together various groups and classes of Indians into a common struggle for freedom.
The Congress under Gandhi tried to channel grievances into organized movements but diverse groups and classes participated with varied aspirations and expectations.
Freedom from colonial rule meant different things to different people.
The Congress attempted to resolve differences, but unity often broke down and nationalist unity were followed by phases of disunity and inner conflict between groups.
What was emerging was a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.
Quit India Movement
The failure of the Cripps Mission and the Second World War led Gandhi to launch a movement for complete withdrawal of the British from India.
The Congress Working Committee passed the 'Quit India' resolution on 14 July 1942.
On 8 August 1942, the All India Congress Committee endorsed the resolution, calling for non-violent mass struggle.
Gandhi delivered his 'Do or Die' speech, and the call for Quit India brought the state machinery to a standstill.
The movement was a mass movement involving students, workers, and peasants. Leaders included Jayprakash Narayan, Aruna Asaf Ali, and Ram Manohar Lohia.
The British responded with force but took over a year to suppress the movement.