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