explain the circumstances which led to the launching of non cooperation and khilafat movement
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Answer:
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and the Khilafat issue collectively united the country to oppose the colonial powers and not to cooperate with the British- ultimately leading to the non-cooperation movement by Gandhiji who felt the need of organising a broad movement incorporating all sections of Indian society.
a. In the year 1919, Gandhiji organized a Satyagraha
against the Rowlatt Act which was passed
hurriedly by the Imperial Legislative Council
despite the opposition by the Indian members. He
planned a non¬violent Civil Disobedience against
this Act which would start with a hartals on 6th
April 1919.
b. The Rowlatt Act gave enormous power to the
government for repressing the political activities.
According to this Act the government can detain
the political prisoners without trial for a period
of two years.
c. On 13th April 1919, huge crowd had gathered in
the Jallianwalla Bagh. The crowd had two different
objectives. Some of them gathered to protest
the new repressive measures of the government
whereas others gathered to attend the annual
Baisakhi fair. Those who came from outside city
were not aware of the martial law. General Dyer
entered the ground, closed the exit points and
opened fire in which hundreds of innocent people
were killed. This was basically done to create a
feeling of terror in the minds of Satyagrahis.
d. A harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on
the Khalifa of the Ottoman empire the defeat in
the First World War. In March 1919, a Khilafat
committee was set up in Bombay to defend the
temporal powers of the Khalifa. Mohammad Ali
and Shaukat Ali were the two brothers among
the youth generation of the Muslim leaders who
discussed the issue with Mahatma Gandhi. Finally,
in September 1920 session of Congress in Calcutta
it was decided to start a Non-Cooperation in
support of Khilafat and also for the Swaraj.
e. In the year 1909 Mahatma Gandhi wrote a book
named ‘Hind Swaraj’ in which he wrote that
the British survived in India only because of the
cooperation of the Indians, otherwise they would
have collapsed within a year.
f. Gandhiji planned to unfold the movement in stages.
In the first stage the people surrendered the titles,
boycotted civil services, army, police, schools,
foreign goods, courts and legislative councils. The
full Civil Disobedience Campaign was planned for
the second phase, if the government try to repress
the first phase. Many within the Congress were
reluctant to boycott the council election which
was scheduled for November 1920. Finally in
December 1920, a compromise was made to adopt
the non-cooperation.