Social Sciences, asked by ronakkardam152, 4 months ago

Describe the importance of the Civil Disobedience Movement in the freedom struggle.

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Answered by Anonymous
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a. On 31st March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi sent a letter

to Viceroy Irwin, Mahatma Gandhi had stated

eleven demands in this letter out of which some

were of general interest and some were specific demands of different classes. The demands were

wide ranging in order to bring together everyone

under a united campaign. The most important

demand was to abolish the salt tax as it was the

most important item in food that is consumed by

both the rich and the poor.

b. Now Gandhiji wanted Indians to refuse all sort

of cooperation with the British and also break

the colonial rules. Thereafter, people broke salt

law, manufactured salt, staged demonstrations,

boycotted the foreign clothes, picketed up the

liquor shops, peasants refused to pay the taxes

and revenues and the forest people violated the

forest laws.

c. When Mahatma Gandhi went for the Round

Table Conference in December 1931, he returned

disappointed as the negotiations were broke down.

He discovered this new cycle of repression by the

British. The important Congress leaders were in

jail and meetings, demonstrations and boycotts

were prevented. As a result Gandhiji relaunched

the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1932 which

again lost its momentum by 1934.

d. These rich peasants were the main producers

of the commercial crops. Due to the trade

depression, falling prices and disappeared cash

income they were not able to pay the revenue

and also the government refused to reduce the

revenue. Their notion for Swaraj struggle was

basically a struggle against high revenue. For the

poor peasantry groups, the meaning of Swaraj

was lowering the revenue demand and also they

wanted the unpaid rent to be remitted. But the

Congress was reluctant to support to no rent and

thus the relationship between the poor peasantry

groups and Congress remained uncertain.

e. The Indian merchants and the industrialists

became rich and powerful due to huge profits

they made during the First World War. Thus

they started opposing the colonial policies which

restricted their business to expand. They had

two demands - protection against the import of

foreign goods and a favourable exchange ratio of

rupee and sterling. Some of the industrial workers

who participated in the Civil Disobedience

Movement were the Nagpur industrial workers

who selectively adopted some of the Gandhian

ideas such as boycott of the foreign goods. They

participated in the movement as part of their own

movement against the low wages and the poor

working conditions in the industries. Women also

participated in large scale in the Civil Disobedience

Movement during the Salt March by Gandhiji.

They belonged to the high caste families from the

urban areas and rich peasant households from the

rural areas. For them it was a sacred duty to serve

the nation.

f. The untouchables who called themselves Dalits

or oppressed were not taking part in any such

movements due to the ignorance of the Congress

and the fear of offending the Sanatanis. But

Gandhiji was of the view that Swaraj would

not come for hundred years if the problem of

untouchability is not removed from the country.

g. The Dalit organisations were quite strong in

Maharashtra and Nagpur and therefore in these

regions only they participated in the Civil

Disobedience Movement.

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