Gandhi’s Early Satyagrahas in
India
Gandhi
regarded Gopal Krishna Gokhale, whom he had met on previous visits to India, as
his political guru. On his advice, Gandhi travelled the length and breadth of
the country before plunging into politics. This enabled him to understand the
conditions of the people. It is on one of these journeys through Tamil Nadu
that Gandhi decided to discard his following robes and wear a simple dhoti.
In
Champaran in Bihar the tinkathia
system was practiced. Under this exploitative system the peasants were forced
by the European planters to cultivate indigo on three-twentieths of their land
holdings. Towards the end of nineteenth century German synthetic dyes had
forced indigo out of the market. The European planters of Champaran, while
realising the necessity of relieving the cultivators of the obligation of
cultivating indigo, wanted to turn the situation to their advantage. They
enhanced the rent and collected illegal dues as a price for the release of
cultivators from the obligation. Resistance erupted. Rajkumar Shukla, an
agriculturist from Champaran who suffered hardships of the system, prevailed on
Gandhi to visit Champaran. On reaching Chamaparan, Gandhi was asked by the
police to leave immediately. When he refused he was summoned for trial. The
news spread like wild fire and thousands swarmed the place in support of
Gandhi. According to Gandhi, “The country thus had its first object-lesson in
Civil Disobedience”. He was assisted by Brajkishore Prasad, a lawyer by
profession, and Rajendra Prasad, who became the first President of independent
India. The Lieutenant Governor eventually formed a committee with Gandhi as a
member which recommended the abolition of the tinkathia system, thereby ending the oppression of the peasants by
the Indigo Planters.
The
success of Champaran satyagraha, followed by his fruitful intervention in
Ahmedabad mill strike (1918) and the Kheda Satyagraha (1918) helped Gandhi
establish himself as a leader of mass struggle. Unlike earlier leaders, Gandhi
demonstrated his ability to mobilise the common people across the country.
The
Government of India Act 1919, however, caused disappointment, as it did not
transfer real power to the Indians. Besides, the government began to enforce
the permanent extension of war time restrictions. The Rowlatt Act was enacted
which provided for excessive police powers, arrest without warrant and
detention without trial. Gandhi called it a ‘Black Act’ and in protest called
for a nation-wide satyagraha on 6 April 1919. It was to be non-violent struggle
with fasting and prayer, and it was the earliest anti-colonial struggle spread
across the country. The anti-Rowlatt protest was intense in Punjab, especially
in Amritsar and Lahore. Gandhi was arrested and prevented from visiting Punjab.
On 9 April two prominent local leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal
were arrested in Amritsar.
On 13
April 1919 a public meeting was arranged at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. As it
happened to be Baisaki day (spring harvest festival of Sikhs) the villagers had
assembled there in thousands. General Reginald Dyer, on hearing of the assemblage,
surrounded the place with his troops and an armoured vehicle. The only entrance
to the park that was surrounded on all sides by high walls was blocked, and
firing took place without any warning. The firing lasted for ten minutes till
the troops ran out of ammunition. According to official report 379 were killed
and more than thousand injured. Unofficial estimates put the toll at more than
a thousand. After the incident martial law was declared and many people in the
Punjab especially Amritsar were flogged and forced to crawl on the streets. The
brutality enraged Indians. Rabindranath Tagore returned his knighthood. Gandhi
surrendered his Kaiser-i-Hind medal.
The First
World War came to an end in 1918. The Caliph of Turkey, who was considered the
head of Muslims of the world, was given a harsh treatment. A movement was
started called Khilafat Movement led by the Ali brothers, Maulana Mohamed Ali
and Maulana Shaukat Ali. Gandhi supported the movement and saw in it an opportunity
to unite Hindus and Muslims. He presided over the All India Khilafat Conference
held at Delhi in November 1919. Gandhi supported Shaukat Ali’s proposal of
three national slogans, Allaho Akbar, Bande Mataram and Hindu -Musslamanki Jai.
The Khilafat Committee meeting in Allahabad on 9 June 1920 adopted Gandhi’s
non-violent non-cooperation programme. Non- Cooperation was to begin on 1
August 1920.
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