Non cooperation movement in brief explanation
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The Non-Cooperation Movement was a significant phase of the Indian independence movement from British rule. It was led by Mahatma Gandhi after the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. It aimed to resist British rule in India through non-violent means, or "Ahimsa". Protesters would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts and picket liquor shops. The ideas of Ahimsa and non-violence, and Gandhi's ability to rally hundreds of thousands of common citizens towards the cause of Indian independence, were first seen on a large scale in this movement through the summer of 1920. Gandhi feared that the movement might lead to popular violence. The non-cooperation movement was launched on 1 August 1920.
Factors leading to the movement Edit
The non-cooperation movement was a reaction to the oppressive policies of the British Indian government such as the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. A meeting of civilians held at Jallianwala Bagh near the Golden Temple in Amritsar was fired upon by soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Dyer, killing and injuring thousands of protestors. The outcry generated by the massacre led to thousands of unrests and more deaths at the hands of the police. The massacre became the most infamous event of British rule in India.
Gandhi was horrified. He lost all faith in the goodness of the British government and declared that it would be a "sin" to cooperate with the "satanic" government.
Indian Muslims who had participated in the Khilafat movement to restore the status of the Caliph gave their support to the non-cooperation movement. In response to the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and other violence in Punjab, the movement sought to secure Swaraj, independence for India. Gandhi promised Swaraj in one year if his Non-Cooperation programme was fully implemented. The other reason to start the non-cooperation movement was that Gandhi lost faith in constitutional methods and turned from cooperator of British rule to non-cooperator.
Other causes include economic hardships to the common man, which the nationalists attributed to the flow of Indian wealth to Britain, the ruin of Indian artisans due to British factory-made goods replacing handmade goods, and resentment with the British government over Indian soldiers dying in World War I while fighting as part of the British Army.
The calls of early political leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Congress Extremists) were called major public meetings. They resulted in disorder or obstruction of government services. The British took them very seriously and imprisoned him in mandale in Burma and V.O.Chidambaram Pillai Got 400 years imprisonment . The non-cooperation movement aimed to challenge the colonial economic and power structure, and British authorities would be forced to take notice of the demands of the independence movement .
Gandhi's call was for a nationwide protest against the Rowlatt Act. All offices and factories would be closed. Indians would be encouraged to withdraw from Raj-sponsored schools, police services, the military, and the civil service, and lawyers were asked to leave the Raj's courts. Public transportation and English-manufactured goods, especially clothing, was boycotted. Indians returned honours and titles given by the government and resigned from various posts like teachers, lawyers, civil and military services. [1]
Veterans like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, and Sammed Akiwate opposed the idea outright. The All India Muslim League also criticized the idea. But the younger generation of Indian nationalists was thrilled and backed Gandhi. The Congress Party adopted his plans, and he received extensive support from Muslim leaders like Maulana Azad, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Abbas Tyabji, Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali.
The eminent Hindi writer, poet, playwright, journalist, and nationalist Rambriksh Benipuri, who spent more than eight years in prison fighting for India's independence, wrote:
When I recall Non-Cooperation era of 1921, the image of a storm confronts my eyes. From the time I became aware, I have witnessed numerous movements, however, I can assert that no other movement upturned the foundations of Indian society to the extent that the Non-Cooperation movement did. From the most humble huts to the high places, from villages to cities, everywhere there was a ferment, a loud echo.[2]