Jess302 PDF
Jess302 PDF
Jess302 PDF
Nationalism in India
As you have seen, modern nationalism in Europe came to be
associated with the formation of nation-states. It also meant a change
in people’s understanding of who they were, and what defined their
identity and sense of belonging. New symbols and icons, new songs
and ideas forged new links and redefined the boundaries of
communities. In most countries the making of this new national
identity was a long process. How did this consciousness emerge
in India?
in India
how the Congress sought to develop the national movement, how
different social groups participated in the movement, and how
nationalism captured the imagination of people.
Nationalism in India
Nationalism
29
2019-20
1 The First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation
First of all, the war created a new economic and political situation.
It led to a huge increase in defence expenditure which was financed
by war loans and increasing taxes: customs duties were raised and
income tax introduced. Through the war years prices increased –
doubling between 1913 and 1918 – leading to extreme hardship
for the common people. Villages were called upon to supply soldiers,
and the forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger.
Then in 1918-19 and 1920-21, crops failed in many parts of India, New words
resulting in acute shortages of food. This was accompanied by an
influenza epidemic. According to the census of 1921, 12 to 13 million Forced recruitment – A process by which the
people perished as a result of famines and the epidemic. colonial state forced people to join the army
People hoped that their hardships would end after the war was
over. But that did not happen.
30
2019-20
the racist regime with a novel method of mass agitation, which he Source A
called satyagraha. The idea of satyagraha emphasised the power of
truth and the need to search for truth. It suggested that if the cause Mahatma Gandhi on Satyagraha
was true, if the struggle was against injustice, then physical force was ‘It is said of “passive resistance” that it is the
not necessary to fight the oppressor. Without seeking vengeance or weapon of the weak, but the power which is
the subject of this article can be used only
being aggressive, a satyagrahi could win the battle through non- by the strong. This power is not passive
violence. This could be done by appealing to the conscience of the resistance; indeed it calls for intense activity. The
oppressor. People – including the oppressors – had to be persuaded movement in South Africa was not passive
but active …
to see the truth, instead of being forced to accept truth through the
‘ Satyagraha is not physical force. A satyagrahi
use of violence. By this struggle, truth was bound to ultimately does not inflict pain on the adversary; he does
triumph. Mahatma Gandhi believed that this dharma of non-violence not seek his destruction … In the use of
could unite all Indians. satyagraha, there is no ill-will whatever.
‘ Satyagraha is pure soul-force. Truth is the very
After arriving in India, Mahatma Gandhi successfully organised substance of the soul. That is why this force is
satyagraha movements in various places. In 1917 he travelled to called satyagraha. The soul is informed with
knowledge. In it burns the flame of love. … Non-
Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against the
violence is the supreme dharma …
oppressive plantation system. Then in 1917, he organised a satyagraha ‘It is certain that India cannot rival Britain or
to support the peasants of the Kheda district of Gujarat. Affected Europe in force of arms. The British worship the
by crop failure and a plague epidemic, the peasants of Kheda could war-god and they can all of them become, as
they are becoming, bearers of arms. The
not pay the revenue, and were demanding that revenue collection be
hundreds of millions in India can never carry arms.
relaxed. In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi went to Ahmedabad to organise They have made the religion of non-violence their
a satyagraha movement amongst cotton mill workers. own ...’
Source
1.2 The Rowlatt Act
Activity
Emboldened with this success, Gandhiji in 1919 decided to launch a
nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act (1919). This Read the text carefully. What did Mahatma
Act had been hurriedly passed through the Imperial Legislative Gandhi mean when he said satyagraha is
active resistance?
Council despite the united opposition of the Indian members. It
gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities,
and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two
years. Mahatma Gandhi wanted non-violent civil disobedience against Nationalism in India
such unjust laws, which would start with a hartal on 6 April.
31
2019-20
On 13 April the infamous Jallianwalla Bagh incident took place. On
that day a large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwalla
Bagh. Some came to protest against the government’s new repressive
measures. Others had come to attend the annual Baisakhi fair. Being
from outside the city, many villagers were unaware of the martial
law that had been imposed. Dyer entered the area, blocked the exit
points, and opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds. His object,
as he declared later, was to ‘produce a moral effect’, to create in the
minds of satyagrahis a feeling of terror and awe.
leaders like the brothers Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, began
discussing with Mahatma Gandhi about the possibility of a united
mass action on the issue. Gandhiji saw this as an opportunity to bring
Muslims under the umbrella of a unified national movement. At the
Calcutta session of the Congress in September 1920, he convinced
other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation movement in
support of Khilafat as well as for swaraj.
32
2019-20
Indians, and had survived only because of this cooperation. If Indians
refused to cooperate, British rule in India would collapse within a
year, and swaraj would come.
How did the movement unfold? Who participated in it? How did
different social groups conceive of the idea of Non-Cooperation?
Nationalism in India
33
2019-20
2 Differing Strands within the Movement
But this movement in the cities gradually slowed down for a variety
of reasons. Khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass-
produced mill cloth and poor people could not afford to buy it.
Activity
India and the Contemporary World
How then could they boycott mill cloth for too long? Similarly the
boycott of British institutions posed a problem. For the movement The year is 1921. You are a student in a
34
2019-20
which were developing in different parts of India in the years
after the war.
Source B
Nationalism in India
On 6 January 1921, the police in United Provinces fired at peasants near Rae Bareli. Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to go to
the place of firing, but was stopped by the police. Agitated and angry, Nehru addressed the peasants who gathered
around him. This is how he later described the meeting:
‘They behaved as brave men, calm and unruffled in the face of danger. I do not know how they felt but I know what
my feelings were. For a moment my blood was up, non-violence was almost forgotten – but for a moment only. The
thought of the great leader, who by God’s goodness has been sent to lead us to victory, came to me, and I saw the
kisans seated and standing near me, less excited, more peaceful than I was – and the moment of weakness passed, I
spoke to them in all humility on non-violence – I needed the lesson more than they – and they heeded me and
peacefully dispersed.’
Quoted in Sarvapalli Gopal, Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography, Vol. I.
Source
35
2019-20
Tribal peasants interpreted the message of Mahatma Gandhi and
the idea of swaraj in yet another way. In the Gudem Hills of Andhra
Pradesh, for instance, a militant guerrilla movement spread in
the early 1920s – not a form of struggle that the Congress could
approve. Here, as in other forest regions, the colonial government
had closed large forest areas, preventing people from entering
the forests to graze their cattle, or to collect fuelwood and fruits.
This enraged the hill people. Not only were their livelihoods
affected but they felt that their traditional rights were being denied.
When the government began forcing them to contribute begar
for road building, the hill people revolted. The person who came
to lead them was an interesting figure. Alluri Sitaram Raju claimed
that he had a variety of special powers: he could make correct
astrological predictions and heal people, and he could survive
even bullet shots. Captivated by Raju, the rebels proclaimed that
he was an incarnation of God. Raju talked of the greatness of
Mahatma Gandhi, said he was inspired by the Non-Cooperation
Movement, and persuaded people to wear khadi and give up drinking.
But at the same time he asserted that India could be liberated only
by the use of force, not non-violence. The Gudem rebels attacked
police stations, attempted to kill British officials and carried on
guerrilla warfare for achieving swaraj. Raju was captured and
executed in 1924, and over time became a folk hero.
which they were enclosed, and it meant retaining a link with the National Movement who were captured and
village from which they had come. Under the Inland Emigration put to death by the British. Can you think of a
Act of 1859, plantation workers were not permitted to leave the similar example from the national movement
in Indo-China (Chapter 2)?
tea gardens without permission, and in fact they were rarely given
such permission. When they heard of the Non-Cooperation
Movement, thousands of workers defied the authorities, left the
plantations and headed home. They believed that Gandhi Raj was
coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages.
They, however, never reached their destination. Stranded on the way
by a railway and steamer strike, they were caught by the police and
brutally beaten up.
36
2019-20
The visions of these movements were not defined by the Congress
programme. They interpreted the term swaraj in their own ways,
imagining it to be a time when all suffering and all troubles would
be over. Yet, when the tribals chanted Gandhiji’s name and raised
slogans demanding ‘Swatantra Bharat’, they were also emotionally
relating to an all-India agitation. When they acted in the name of
Mahatma Gandhi, or linked their movement to that of the Congress,
they were identifying with a movement which went beyond the limits
of their immediate locality.
37
2019-20
3 Towards Civil Disobedience
all British.
38
2019-20
Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose, became more assertive. Source C
The liberals and moderates, who were proposing a constitutional
system within the framework of British dominion, gradually lost The Independence Day Pledge, 26 January
their influence. In December 1929, under the presidency of Jawaharlal 1930
Nehru, the Lahore Congress formalised the demand of ‘Purna ‘We believe that it is the inalienable right of the
Indian people, as of any other people, to have
Swaraj’ or full independence for India. It was declared that 26 January freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil and
1930, would be celebrated as the Independence Day when people have the necessities of life, so that they may
were to take a pledge to struggle for complete independence. But have full opportunities of growth. We believe
also that if any government deprives a people of
the celebrations attracted very little attention. So Mahatma Gandhi these rights and oppresses them, the people
had to find a way to relate this abstract idea of freedom to more have a further right to alter it or to abolish it.
concrete issues of everyday life. The British Government in India has not only
deprived the Indian people of their freedom but
has based itself on the exploitation of the masses,
3.1 The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement and has ruined India economically, politically,
culturally, and spiritually. We believe, therefore,
Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite that India must sever the British connection and
attain Purna Swaraj or Complete Independence.’
the nation. On 31 January 1930, he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin
stating eleven demands. Some of these were of general interest; Source
others were specific demands of different classes, from industrialists
to peasants. The idea was to make the demands wide-ranging, so
that all classes within Indian society could identify with them and
everyone could be brought together in a united campaign. The most
stirring of all was the demand to abolish the salt tax. Salt was
something consumed by the rich and the poor alike, and it was one
of the most essential items of food. The tax on salt and the
government monopoly over its production, Mahatma Gandhi
declared, revealed the most oppressive face of British rule.
39
2019-20
Fig. 7 – The Dandi march.
During the salt march Mahatma
Gandhi was accompanied by
78 volunteers. On the way
they were joined by thousands.
with the British, as they had done in 1921-22, but also to break
colonial laws. Thousands in different parts of the country broke
the salt law, manufactured salt and demonstrated in front of
government salt factories. As the movement spread, foreign cloth
was boycotted, and liquor shops were picketed. Peasants refused to
pay revenue and chaukidari taxes, village officials resigned, and in
many places forest people violated forest laws – going into Reserved
Forests to collect wood and graze cattle.
40
2019-20
Round Table Conference) in London and the government agreed to Box 1
release the political prisoners. In December 1931, Gandhiji went to
‘To the altar of this revolution we have
London for the conference, but the negotiations broke down and
brought our youth as incense’
he returned disappointed. Back in India, he discovered that the
Many nationalists thought that the struggle
government had begun a new cycle of repression. Ghaffar Khan against the British could not be won through
and Jawaharlal Nehru were both in jail, the Congress had been non-violence. In 1928, the Hindustan Socialist
Republican Army (HSRA) was founded at a
declared illegal, and a series of measures had been imposed to prevent
meeting in Ferozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi.
meetings, demonstrations and boycotts. With great apprehension, Amongst its leaders were Bhagat Singh, Jatin
Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the Civil Disobedience Movement. Das and Ajoy Ghosh. In a series of dramatic
actions in different parts of India, the HSRA
For over a year, the movement continued, but by 1934 it lost
targeted some of the symbols of British power.
its momentum. In April 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar
Dutta threw a bomb in the Legislative Assembly.
In the same year there was an attempt to blow
3.2 How Participants saw the Movement up the train that Lord Irwin was travelling in.
Bhagat Singh was 23 when he was tried and
Let us now look at the different social groups that participated in the executed by the colonial government. During
Civil Disobedience Movement. Why did they join the movement? his trial, Bhagat Singh stated that he did not
wish to glorify ‘the cult of the bomb and pistol’
What were their ideals? What did swaraj mean to them?
but wanted a revolution in society:
In the countryside, rich peasant communities – like the Patidars of ‘Revolution is the inalienable right of mankind.
Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh – were active in the movement. Freedom is the imprescriptible birthright of all.
The labourer is the real sustainer of society …
Being producers of commercial crops, they were very hard hit by To the altar of this revolution we have brought
the trade depression and falling prices. As their cash income our youth as incense, for no sacrifice is too
disappeared, they found it impossible to pay the government’s revenue great for so magnificent a cause. We are
content. We await the advent of revolution.
demand. And the refusal of the government to reduce the revenue Inquilab Zindabad!’
demand led to widespread resentment. These rich peasants became
enthusiastic supporters of the Civil Disobedience Movement,
organising their communities, and at times forcing reluctant members,
to participate in the boycott programmes. For them the fight for
swaraj was a struggle against high revenues. But they were deeply
disappointed when the movement was called off in 1931 without
the revenue rates being revised. So when the movement was restarted
in 1932, many of them refused to participate.
Nationalism in India
The poorer peasantry were not just interested in the lowering of the
revenue demand. Many of them were small tenants cultivating land
they had rented from landlords. As the Depression continued and
cash incomes dwindled, the small tenants found it difficult to pay
their rent. They wanted the unpaid rent to the landlord to be remitted.
They joined a variety of radical movements, often led by Socialists
and Communists. Apprehensive of raising issues that might upset
the rich peasants and landlords, the Congress was unwilling to support
‘no rent’ campaigns in most places. So the relationship between the
poor peasants and the Congress remained uncertain.
41
2019-20
What about the business classes? How did they relate to the Civil
Disobedience Movement? During the First World War, Indian
Some important dates
merchants and industrialists had made huge profits and become
powerful (see Chapter 5). Keen on expanding their business, they 1918-19
now reacted against colonial policies that restricted business activities. Distressed UP peasants organised by Baba
They wanted protection against imports of foreign goods, and a Ramchandra.
rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports. April 1919
To organise business interests, they formed the Indian Industrial Gandhian hartal against Rowlatt Act; Jallianwala
and Commercial Congress in 1920 and the Federation of the Indian Bagh massacre.
The industrial working classes did not participate in the Civil Ambedkar establishes Depressed Classes
Disobedience Movement in large numbers, except in the Nagpur Association.
region. As the industrialists came closer to the Congress, workers March 1930
stayed aloof. But in spite of that, some workers did participate in Gandhiji begins Civil Disobedience Movement by
the Civil Disobedience Movement, selectively adopting some of breaking salt law at Dandi.
the ideas of the Gandhian programme, like boycott of foreign March 1931
goods, as part of their own movements against low wages and Gandhiji ends Civil Disobedience Movement.
India and the Contemporary World
poor working conditions. There were strikes by railway workers in December 1931
1930 and dockworkers in 1932. In 1930 thousands of workers in Second Round Table Conference.
Chotanagpur tin mines wore Gandhi caps and participated in protest 1932
rallies and boycott campaigns. But the Congress was reluctant to
Civil Disobedience re-launched.
include workers’ demands as part of its programme of struggle.
It felt that this would alienate industrialists and divide the anti-
imperial forces.
42
2019-20
Fig. 9 – Women join
nationalist processions.
During the national
movement, many women,
for the first time in their
lives, moved out of their
homes on to a public arena.
Amongst the marchers you
can see many old women,
and mothers with children in
their arms.
picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. Many went to jail. In urban
areas these women were from high-caste families; in rural areas
they came from rich peasant households. Moved by Gandhiji’s call,
they began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty of women.
Yet, this increased public role did not necessarily mean any radical
change in the way the position of women was visualised. Gandhiji
was convinced that it was the duty of women to look after home
Discuss
and hearth, be good mothers and good wives. And for a long time
the Congress was reluctant to allow women to hold any position Why did various classes and groups of Indians
participate in the Civil Disobedience
of authority within the organisation. It was keen only on their
Movement?
symbolic presence.
Nationalism in India
43
2019-20
or the children of God, organised satyagraha to secure them entry
into temples, and access to public wells, tanks, roads and schools.
He himself cleaned toilets to dignify the work of the bhangi (the
sweepers), and persuaded upper castes to change their heart and
give up ‘the sin of untouchability’. But many dalit leaders were keen
on a different political solution to the problems of the community.
They began organising themselves, demanding reserved seats in
educational institutions, and a separate electorate that would choose
dalit members for legislative councils. Political empowerment, they
believed, would resolve the problems of their social disabilities.
Dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement was
therefore limited, particularly in the Maharashtra and Nagpur region
where their organisation was quite strong.
large section of Muslims felt alienated from the Congress. From the
mid-1920s the Congress came to be more visibly associated with
openly Hindu religious nationalist groups like the Hindu Mahasabha.
As relations between Hindus and Muslims worsened, each
community organised religious processions with militant fervour,
provoking Hindu-Muslim communal clashes and riots in various
cities. Every riot deepened the distance between the two communities.
44
2019-20
Jinnah, one of the leaders of the Muslim League, was willing to give
up the demand for separate electorates, if Muslims were assured
reserved seats in the Central Assembly and representation in
proportion to population in the Muslim-dominated provinces (Bengal
and Punjab). Negotiations over the question of representation
continued but all hope of resolving the issue at the All Parties
Conference in 1928 disappeared when M.R. Jayakar of the Hindu
Mahasabha strongly opposed efforts at compromise.
Source D
In 1930, Sir Muhammad Iqbal, as president of the Muslim League, reiterated the importance of separate electorates for
the Muslims as an important safeguard for their minority political interests. His statement is supposed to have provided the
intellectual justification for the Pakistan demand that came up in subsequent years. This is what he said:
‘I have no hesitation in declaring that if the principle that the Indian Muslim is entitled to full and free development on the
lines of his own culture and tradition in his own Indian home-lands is recognised as the basis of a permanent communal
settlement, he will be ready to stake his all for the freedom of India. The principle that each group is entitled to free
development on its own lines is not inspired by any feeling of narrow communalism … A community which is inspired by
feelings of ill-will towards other communities is low and ignoble. I entertain the highest respect for the customs, laws,
religions and social institutions of other communities. Nay, it is my duty according to the teachings of the Quran, even to
defend their places of worship, if need be. Yet I love the communal group which is the source of life and behaviour and
which has formed me what I am by giving me its religion, its literature, its thought, its culture and thereby its whole past
as a living operative factor in my present consciousness …
‘Communalism in its higher aspect, then, is indispensable to the formation of a harmonious whole in a country like India.
The units of Indian society are not territorial as in European countries … The principle of European democracy cannot be
applied to India without recognising the fact of communal groups. The Muslim demand for the creation of a Muslim India
within India is, therefore, perfectly justified… Nationalism in India
‘The Hindu thinks that separate electorates are contrary to the spirit of true nationalism, because he understands the
word “nation” to mean a kind of universal amalgamation in which no communal entity ought to retain its private individuality.
Such a state of things, however, does not exist. India is a land of racial and religious variety. Add to this the general
economic inferiority of the Muslims, their enormous debt, especially in the Punjab, and their insufficient majorities in some
of the provinces, as at present constituted and you will begin to see clearly the meaning of our anxiety to retain separate
electorates.’
Source
Discuss
Read the Source D carefully. Do you agree with Iqbal’s idea of communalism? Can you define communalism in a
different way?
45
2019-20
4 The Sense of Collective Belonging
Nationalism spreads when people begin to believe that they are all
part of the same nation, when they discover some unity that binds
them together. But how did the nation become a reality in the minds
of people? How did people belonging to different communities,
regions or language groups develop a sense of collective belonging?
46
2019-20
The identity of the nation, as you know (see Chapter 1), is most
often symbolised in a figure or image. This helps create an image
with which people can identify the nation. It was in the twentieth
century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India
came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata. The
image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the
1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland.
Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during
the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. Moved by the Swadeshi
movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of
Bharat Mata (see Fig. 12). In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed
as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.
In subsequent years, the image of Bharat Mata acquired many
different forms, as it circulated in popular prints, and was painted
by different artists (see Fig. 14). Devotion to this mother figure came
to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.
Nationalism in India
47
2019-20
revival. In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume
collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed
that folklore was national literature; it was ‘the most trustworthy
manifestation of people’s real thoughts and characteristics’.
These efforts to unify people were not without problems. When the
past being glorified was Hindu, when the images celebrated were
drawn from Hindu iconography, then people of other communities
felt left out.
Source E
‘In earlier times, foreign travellers in India marvelled at the courage, truthfulness and modesty of the people of the Arya
vamsa; now they remark mainly on the absence of those qualities. In those days Hindus would set out on conquest and
hoist their flags in Tartar, China and other countries; now a few soldiers from a tiny island far away are lording it over the
land of India.’
Tarinicharan Chattopadhyay, Bharatbarsher Itihas (The History of Bharatbarsh), vol. 1, 1858.
Source
48
2019-20
Conclusion
A growing anger against the colonial government was thus
bringing together various groups and classes of Indians into a
common struggle for freedom in the first half of the twentieth
century. The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi
tried to channel people’s grievances into organised movements
for independence. Through such movements the nationalists
tried to forge a national unity. But as we have seen, diverse groups
and classes participated in these movements with varied aspirations
and expectations. As their
grievances were wide-ranging,
freedom from colonial rule also
meant different things to
different people. The Congress
continuously attempted to
resolve differences, and ensure
that the demands of one group
did not alienate another. This is
precisely why the unity within
the movement often broke down.
The high points of Congress
activity and nationalist unity
were followed by phases of
disunity and inner conflict
between groups.
In other words, what was emerging was a nation with many Fig. 14b
Women’s procession in Bombay during the Quit
voices wanting freedom from colonial rule. India Movement
49
2019-20
Write in brief
1. Explain:
a) Why growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to an anti-colonial movement.
b) How the First World War helped in the growth of the National Movement in India.
c) Why Indians were outraged by the Rowlatt Act.
Write in brief
d) Why Gandhiji decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.
2. What is meant by the idea of satyagraha?
3. Write a newspaper report on:
a) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre
b) The Simon Commission
4. Compare the images of Bharat Mata in this chapter with the image of Germania
in Chapter 1.
Discuss
1. List all the different social groups which joined the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1921.
Then choose any three and write about their hopes and struggles to show why they
joined the movement.
Discuss
2. Discuss the Salt March to make clear why it was an effective symbol of resistance
against colonialism.
3. Imagine you are a woman participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement. Explain
what the experience meant to your life.
4. Why did political leaders differ sharply over the question of separate electorates?
India and the Contemporary World
Project
Find out about the anti-colonial movement in Indo-China. Compare and contrast India’s national
movement with the ways in which Indo-China became independent.
Project
50
2019-20