Ch: 8 INDIAN NATIONAL

MOVEMENT

The rise of nationalism among the

Indians

• 1. Economic exploitation by the British angered the people and

they were united to fight against the British.

• 2. One set of laws of British Government for the entire country

led to political and administrative unity.

• 3. The social and religious reform movements of the 19th century also

contributed to the feeling of Nationalism.

The social and religious reform movements

Indian National Congress

• The Indian National Congress was founded by Allan Octavian Hume in 1885.

• To give a safe and constitutional outlet to Indians,

so that their anger

would not develop into

agitation against British.

EARLY NATIONALISTS

The Indian National Congress believed

that if they would place their problems

before the British government,

they would try to solve them.

The congress placed its demands

before the government

always in the form of petitions. Firoz Shah

MehtaGopal Krishna

GokhaleDada Bhai

Naoroji

The demands of the Moderates

Unfortunately, their efforts did not bring

many changes in the policies and administration

of the British in India.

(a) Representative

legislatures,

(b) Reduction of

military expenditure,

(c) Education,

employment and

holding of the ICS

(Indian Civil Services)

examination in India, (d) Defence of civil

rights,

(e) Separation of the

judiciary from the

executive, (f) Change in the

tenancy laws,

(g) Reduction in land

revenue and salt duty, (h) Policies to help in

the growth of Indian

industries and

handicrafts,

(i) Introduction of

welfare programmes for

the people.

The achievements of the moderates

2. A resolution was passed

for holding Indian Civil Services Examination

to be held in London

and in India at the same time.

1. The enactment of the Indian Councils Act 1892,

that increased the size of the legislature and

allowed nonofficial members to join it.

3. The Moderates provided a platform for Indians to discuss major national issues.

4. It created a foundation for a strong

national movement.

British reaction towards the Early nationalists

The British who were earlier supporting the

Moderates soon realized

that the movement could turn into a National

force

that would drive them out of the country.

This totally changed their attitude.

They passed strict laws to control

education and curb the press.

Minor concessions were given so as to

win over some congress leaders.

The Universities Act 1904

• Lord Curzon passed the Indian Universities Act in

1904.

• The Act imposed stiff control over Indian

Universities.

• He wanted to suppress the rising Nationalism in

India.

Lord Curzon 1905

Since 1765 Bengal along with Bihar, Orissa and Assam had formed a single

province. By the early 1900s the province of Bengal, along with Calcutta, was one

of the most densely populated provinces, it proved to be too large an administrative

entity for one governor to administer. In 1905 Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India,

sent a proposal to London to redraw its boundaries and divide it into two parts.

Lord Curzon’s reason for the Partition

of Bengal

• Lord Curzon’s reason for the Partition of Bengal

to improve administration

because according to him Bengal was too

large an area to be administered

hence it had to be separated into smaller

areas.

The real motive or reason for the partition of

Bengal

• The real aim was to ‘Divide and Rule’.

• The Indians viewed the partition

• as an attempt by the British

• to stop the growing national movement in Bengal

• and divide the Hindus and Muslims

The impact of the Partition of Bengal

in India

• There were widespread riots.

• People of different parts of India opposed the

partition of Bengal all over the country. Organized

meetings, processions and demonstrations were

held

• Hindus and Muslims tied ‘rakhi’ on each other’s

hands to show their unity and their protest.

SWADESHI AND BOYCOTT

MOVEMENTs

The Swadeshi and Boycott Movement

Swadeshi means

the use of goods

made in our own country

by our own people.

Boycott movement included

boycott or not using any foreign

goods.

Tilak used boycott as a weapon

against the British .

The movement spread to all classes and groups of people.

Everyone, including women and children, school and

college students.

This made the British reverse the partition of Bengal and

unite it in 1911.

The boycott and Swadeshi movements

helped in the establishment of swadeshi industries -

textile mills, banks, chemical works and insurance

companies.

Swadeshi stores were opened.

National education and Indian languages were

encouraged.

Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal GangadharTilak and Bipin Chandra Pal (Lal-Bal-Pal) were important leaders of

the Radical group.

Radicals

The radicals

• They felt that the British wanted to exploit Indians and drain

India of its wealth.

• They felt that Indians should now become free of foreign rule

and govern themselves.

• They did not believe in making petitions to the government, but

believed in organizing mass protests, boycotting foreign goods

and use of Swadeshi (home-made) goods etc.

• Bal Gangadhar Tilak gave a slogan ‘Freedom is our birth right

and we must have it’.

December, 1906,

the All India Muslim League was founded.

Aga Khan was chosen as its president.

The Muslim League

• The radical movement grew stronger.

• The British were trying to break the unity among Indian.

• They tried by the Partition of Bengal.

• They sowed the seed of communalism among Indian people.

• They encouraged the Muslims to form a political party of their own.

• So in December, 1906, the All India Muslim League was founded. Aga Khan was chosen as its president.

• The main objective of the league was to protect the rights of Muslims in India and represent their needs to the government.

• They wanted separate electorates.

MORLEY-MINTO REFORMS (1909)

• Morley-Minto reforms was an extension of the

Indian Councils Act 1892,

• It increased the members of the Legislative

Assembly from sixteen to sixty

• but they had no real powers.

• A few non-elected members were also added.

The Montague-Chelmsford reforms

of

1919

Edwin Montagu, Secretary of State for India visited India in November to review

the situation under Lord Chelmsford's Government.

The Montague-Chelmsford reforms of 1919

• In order to pacify the Indians,

• the Montague Chelmsford Reform came in 1919.

• It introduced Dyarchy –– which was a kind of

double government in the provinces.

• The provisional government

• was to be divided into two parts –– one to be responsible to the Indian Electorate through

the Legislature,

– and other to the Governor.

Dyarchy

The Kilafat Movement

• Turkey was a sacred place for the Muslims.

• The Sultan of turkey was the spiritual head of the Muslims.

• After the First World War,

• a new treaty was imposed on the Turkish Sultan and Ottoman Empire was divided.

• This angered the Muslims

• who took it as an insult to the Khalipha.

• Shoukat Ali and Mohammad Ali started the KhilafatMovement against the British government.

The Rowlatt act of 1919

• After the end of the First World War,

• the British government also passed another Act known as the Rowlatt Act.

• The Act authorized the British government

• to arrest and imprison any person

• without trial in a court of law.

• It also banned Indians from keeping any type of weapon.

The Rowlatt Act banned Indians from keeping any

type of weapon.

This angered the Sikhs who kept a Kripan with

them as part of their religion. On 13th April, 1919 people gathered at the

Jallianwala Bagh (Amritsar),

for peaceful protest against this Act.

A British officer, General Dyer

ordered his troops to open fire on the

crowd

The gates were closed and

the people could not escape to

safety.

Thousand persons were killed.

Gandhiji

• The technique used by Gandhiji was Satyagraha or

non-violence.

• His first experiment in Satyagraha began at

Champaran in Bihar in 1917 when he inspired the

peasants to struggle against the oppressive

plantation system.

The Non-Cooperation Movement

(1920-22)

• The non-cooperation movement was launched

against the proposed Rowlatt act of 1919.

• 1. This Act gave powers to the government to

repress political activities.

• 2. It allowed detention of political leaders without

any trials.

• Therefore he started his non-cooperation

movement in August 1920.

The main programme of the non-

cooperation movement• Gandhiji laid down the following points:

• 1. Surrender of titles.

• 2. Refusal to attend official or non-official functions.

• 3. Remove children from officially controlled schools and colleges.

• 4. Refuse to be a part of the military.

• 5. Boycott British courts.

• 6. Boycott of legislative assembly elections.

Three principle features of the non-

cooperation movement

• 1. Promotion of Swadeshi

• 2. Removal of untouchability

• 3. Promotion of Hindu- Muslim unity.

Swadeshi Hindu- Muslim unity

The two incidents which brought a stop to the non-

cooperation movement

• The Chauri Chaura incident

– (22 policemen were killed)

• and the violence at Bareilly in 1922

– (mob violence )

• made Gandhi withdraw his non-cooperation

• on February 14, 1922.

The Simon commission

• In 1927 the British government

– appointed a commission under Sir Simon.

• The commission was

– to study the reforms of 1919 and

– suggest further measures for constitutional reforms.

• There were no Indian in this committee.

• So the Indians boycotted this commission.

• There were protests and ‘Go back Simon’ cry’s.

January 26th so important in Indian

history

• In 1929 at the Congress meeting in Lahore they

declared January 26th as the

• Purna-Swaraj day.

• On the same day in 1950 the constitution of India

was adopted.

• Since then we celebrate this day as our republic

day.

DANDI MARCH - 1930

Gandhiji marched to Dandi on the Gujarat coast to protest

against the salt tax.

• The British government

• imposed taxes on the use of salt on April 1930.

• This was opposed by the people.

• Gandhiji marched to Dandi on the Gujarat coast to

protest against the salt tax.

• Gandhiji picked up the sea salt.

• By doing this he violated the salt law

• and hence was arrested and put in prison.

• This was his first challenge to the government.

REVOLUTIONARIES

V.D

Savarkar, Khudiram Bose

Sardar Bhagat Singh

Bhupendra Nath Dutt, Lala Hardayal

Prafulla Chaki, Chandra Sekhar

Azad

Raj Guru

Sukh Deo

• The revolutionaries throw a bomb

– in the Legislative Assembly to protest against

the Public Safety Bill and the Trade dispute bill.

• The prominent socialist and communist leaders.

• M.N Roy, S.A Dange,

• Abani Mukhopadhyaya, NAlini gupta,

• Muzaffar Ahmed, P.C Joshi.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

MOVEMENT

October 1940.

Government of India Act

on august 1935

• The British government passed

– the Government of India Act on august 1935.

• Some features of the Act were as follows:

• A . An all India federation

comprising of provinces of

British India and the Princely States

was to be established.

• B. It was compulsory

for the provinces to join and

for the princely states it was voluntary.

• C. the powers of the legislative was restricted.

– It had no control over defence and foreign relation

• All nationalists were against the act

Civil disobedience movement launched

• When the Second World War broke out in 1939,

• the Congress attitude was one of sympathy.

• The Congress demanded that “India must be declared an independent union.

• The British did not agree and as a result all the ministries resigned in protest in 1939.

• A demand for Provisional National Government at the Centre was made.

• It was turned down.

• So in October, 1940 the Civil Disobedience Campaign was launched.

• Acharya Vinoba Bhave was the first to offer individual Satyagraha.

Azad Hind Fauz led by Subash Chandra Bose in

the Indian National Movement

• Subhas Chandra Bose started the Forward Bloc after he left the

Congress.

• The struggle for independence was carried on by Subhash

Chandra Bose from abroad.

• In 1942, the Indian Independence League was formed and a

decision was taken to form the Indian National Army (INA) for

the liberation of India.

• Subhash Chandra Bose was made president of the Indian Independence League and the leader of the INA popularly called ‘Azad Hind Fauj’.

• He gave the famous battle cry ‘Chalo Dilli’.

• He promised independence to Indians saying, ‘tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe Azadi dunga’

• It is said that he lost his life in an air crash in August 1945.

QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT

8th August 1942.

• Unhappiness among the Indian people was increasing

due to wartime shortages and growing unemployment.

• There was a constant danger of Japanese attack.

• The Congress under Gandhiji felt that the British must

be compelled to accept Indian demands or quit the

country.

• Quit India Resolution passed on 8th August 1942.

• The Congress decided to launch a mass struggle on

non-violent lines.

• But before the Congress leaders could start the movement formally,

• all important leaders of Congress were arrested.

• Congress was banned.

• The Press was censored.

• This angered the people and began burning government buildings, police stations, post offices.

• Railways and telegraphs lines were disconnected.

• The British with its army and police came down heavily on the Indian people.

• The people were shot indiscriminately.

• At the end of the World War in 1945, the British government started to talk about the transfer of power to Indian Hindus and Muslims.

• The Quit India movement paved the way for India’s freedom.

• It was the final call from Gandhiji to ‘Do or Die’.

• The Quit India Movement became one of the greatest mass- movements of historical significance.

PARTITION OF INDIA.

• Differences soon arose between the Congress and the Muslim League concerning the powers of the Constituent Assembly.

• Muslim League demanded the formation of Pakistan for Muslims which led to the partition. India got its freedom on 15th August, 1947.

• Congress formed the government at the Centre. The League refused to be a part to it.

• The conflict resulted in widespread communal riots in different parts of India.

• Thousands were killed in the riots, lacks of people became homeless.

2wo independent states

• Lord Mountbatten, the Viceroy to India

put up his plan in June 1947

which included partition of India.

In spite of strong opposition by Gandhi,

all the parties agreed to the partition and

the Indian Independence Act, 1947 came into being.

• It created two independent states in the Indian sub-continent,

• i.e. Indian Union and Pakistan.

India got its independence on 15th August, 1947.