Question

The middle class played on important role in non-cooperation Movement in the cities explain why do you think the movement slowed down in the cities.

Answer 1

Middle classes played an important role in the Non-cooperation movement in the cities

i. Thousands of students left the government- controlled schools and colleges, headmasters and teachers resigned, and lawyers gave up their legal practices.

ii. The council elections were boycotted in most provinces except Madras.

iii. Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.

The movement in the cities gradually slowed down for a variety of reasons-

i. Khadi cloth was more expensive than mass-produced mill cloth and poor people could not afford it and therefore could not boycott mill cloth for very long.

ii. Similarly boycotting British institutions also posed a problem as there were no alternative national institutions to fulfil the educational needs.

iii. As a result students and teachers began trickling back to government schools and lawyers joined back work in government courts.