Gandhian Era: Champaran to Civil Disobedience & Round Table Conferences

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948) returned to India from South Africa in January 1915 on the advice of Gopal Krishna Gokhale. In South Africa he had developed Satyagraha (truth-force/soul-force) as a political weapon.

Satyagraha Principles: Non-violence (Ahimsa) + Voluntary suffering + Civil disobedience of unjust laws.

A. Champaran Satyagraha (1917) — First Satyagraha in India:

• Champaran district, Bihar — against British planters' Tinkathia system (forced indigo cultivation on 3/20th of peasants' land at below-market prices).
• Gandhi arrived April 1917 despite British orders; conducted thorough investigation.
• Result: Bihar Agrarian Act (1917) — Tinkathia system abolished. Gandhi's first victory in India. Rajendra Prasad and J.B. Kripalani participated.

B. Kheda Satyagraha (1918):

• Kheda district, Gujarat — crop failure; peasants demanded suspension of land revenue.
• Non-payment campaign by peasants.
• Result: Government quietly exempted poor peasants from payment. Vallabhbhai Patel participated actively.

C. Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918):

• Workers demanded 35% wage increase; owners offered 20%.
• Gandhi's first hunger strike (fast-unto-death) in India — owners relented.
• Result: Arbitration; workers got 35% wage increase.

Rowlatt Act (March 1919):

• Formally: Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act (1919) — based on Rowlatt Committee Report (1918).
• Allowed arrest and detention without trial for up to 2 years.
• Indians called it "No Vakil, No Appeal, No Daleel" (No Lawyer, No Appeal, No Argument).
• Gandhi called for hartal (general strike) on April 6, 1919 — massive response across India.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (April 13, 1919):

• Amritsar, Punjab — Vaisakhi festival day; peaceful crowd of ~20,000 in an enclosed garden.
• Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered troops to open fire without warning.
• Official figures: 379 killed, 1,137 wounded. Actual estimates: ~1,000 killed.
• Firing for 10 minutes until ammunition exhausted. Martial Law declared in Punjab. Humiliating "crawling order" imposed.
• Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood. Gandhi renounced his war medals.
• Hunter Committee (1919) investigated. Dyer censured but not criminally punished.
• Significance: Permanently alienated Gandhi from any trust in British justice — transformed him from a believer in British fairness to an irreconcilable opponent.

Khilafat Movement (1919–22):

• Led by Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali (Ali Brothers) to protect the Ottoman Caliph.
• Gandhi supported it wholeheartedly to forge Hindu-Muslim unity — linked it with Non-Cooperation.
• Collapsed after Kemal Atatürk abolished the Caliphate (1924) in Turkey.

Launch: Special Calcutta Session (September 1920) and Nagpur Session (December 1920) — INC formally adopted. Goal: Swaraj within one year.

Programme:

1. Surrender titles and honours.
2. Boycott civil services, police, army, legislatures.
3. Boycott British courts — use panchayats.
4. Boycott government schools/colleges — national institutions established (Kashi Vidyapeeth, Bihar Vidyapeeth, Jamia Millia Islamia founded).
5. Boycott foreign cloth — promote khadi and charkha.

First truly mass-based movement:

• Lawyers (Motilal Nehru, Patel, C.R. Das, Rajendra Prasad) quit practice.
• Foreign cloth imports halved within two years.
• Women participated massively for the first time.

Chauri Chaura Incident (February 5, 1922):

• Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur (UP) — a crowd attacked and burned a police station, killing 22 policemen.
• Gandhi immediately called off the entire movement — country not ready for non-violent discipline.
• Leaders furious — Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das felt it was premature.
• Gandhi arrested March 1922 — sentenced to 6 years, served 2.

Significance: Though it failed to achieve Swaraj in one year, it was the most significant mass movement India had seen. Congress transformed from an elite talking shop to a genuine mass organization.

Simon Commission (1927–28):

• Indian Statutory Commission — seven members, all British, no Indian.
• Led by Sir John Simon. Boycotted by all parties: "Simon Go Back!"
• Lala Lajpat Rai led protest in Lahore (October 30, 1928) — lathi-charged; died of injuries November 17, 1928.
• Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru shot Deputy Superintendent Saunders (December 17, 1928) in revenge. Hanged March 23, 1931.

Nehru Report (1928):

• All-Parties Conference; committee chaired by Motilal Nehru.
• Key demands: Dominion Status (not full independence); joint electorates (no separate electorates); fundamental rights.
• Jinnah objected → proposed "Fourteen Points" (March 1929) → broke with Congress.

Lahore Session (December 1929):

• Presided by Jawaharlal Nehru (age 40 — youngest INC president).
• Declared Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence) as goal.
• January 26, 1930 — first Independence Day (now Republic Day).

Dandi March / Salt March (March 12 – April 6, 1930):

• Gandhi walked 241 miles from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi (Gujarat coast) with 79 followers.
• Broke the Salt Law on April 6, 1930 — launched Civil Disobedience Movement.
• C. Rajagopalachari led march in Tamil Nadu; Sarojini Naidu led raid on Dharasana Salt Works.
• Women participated massively — a major historical shift.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 5, 1931):

• Congress suspended CDM; British released political prisoners (except those convicted of violence — Bhagat Singh NOT released).
• Gandhi to attend Second Round Table Conference (London, Sept–Dec 1931) — no result.

Round Table Conferences:

• 1st RTC (1930–31): Congress boycotted. No result.
• 2nd RTC (1931): Gandhi attended alone. Ambedkar demanded separate electorates for Depressed Classes.
• 3rd RTC (1932): Congress boycotted. Communal Award (August 1932) by Ramsay MacDonald — separate electorates for Depressed Classes.
• Gandhi fast-unto-death against Communal Award.
• Poona Pact (September 24, 1932) between Gandhi and Ambedkar: Reserved seats (more in number) instead of separate electorates.