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| Motto:Jai Hind |
Thenon-cooperation movement was apolitical campaign launched on 4 September 1920 byMahatma Gandhi to haveIndians revoke their cooperation from theBritish government, with the aim of persuading them to grantself-governance.[1][2][3]
This came as result of theIndian National Congress (INC) withdrawing its support for British reforms following theRowlatt Act of 18 March 1919 – which suspended the rights ofpolitical prisoners insedition trials,[4] and was seen as a "political awakening" by Indians and as a "threat" by the British[5]—which led to theJallianwala Bagh massacre of 13 April 1919.[4][6]
The movement was one of Gandhi's first organized acts of large-scalesatyagraha.[7] Gandhi's planning of the non-cooperation movement included persuading all Indians to withdraw their labour from any activity that "sustained the British government and also economy in India,"[8] including British industries and educational institutions.[8] Through non-violent means, orahimsa, protesters would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts, and picket liquor shops.[9] In addition to promoting "self-reliance" by spinningkhadi, buying Indian-made goods only, and boycotting British goods, Gandhi's non-cooperation movement also called for stopping planned dismemberment of Turkey (Khilafat Movement) and the end tountouchability. This resulted in publicly-held meetings and strikes (hartals), which led to the first arrests of bothJawaharlal Nehru and his father,Motilal Nehru, on 6 December 1921.[10]
The non-cooperation movement was among the broadermovement for Indian independence from British rule[11] and ended, as Nehru described inhis autobiography, "suddenly" on 4 February 1922 after theChauri Chaura incident.[12] Subsequent independence movements were theCivil Disobedience Movement and theQuit India Movement.[11]
Though intended to be non-violent, the movement was eventually called off by Gandhi in February 1922 following theChauri Chaura incident. After police opened fire on a crowd of protesters, killing and injuring several, the protesters followed the police back to their station and burned it down, killing the shooters and several other police inside.[3] Nonetheless, the movement marked the transition ofIndian nationalism from a middle-class basis to the masses.[2]
The non-land movement was a reaction towards the oppressive policies of theBritish Indian government such as theRowlatt Act of 18 March 1919, as well as theJallianwala Bagh Massacre of 13 April 1919.[citation needed]
Although theRowlatt Act of 1919, which suspended the rights ofpolitical prisoners insedition trials,[4] was never invoked and declared void just a few years later,[6] it motivated Gandhi to conceive the idea ofsatyagraha (truth), which he saw as synonymous with independence.[citation needed]
Motivation for Gandhi's movement was further solidified following the events of13 April 1919, when a large crowd had gathered atJallianwala Bagh near theGolden Temple inAmritsar to protest against the arrest ofSaifuddin Kitchlew and Dr.Satyapal,[13] while others had come to attend the annualBaisakhi festival.[14] The civilians were fired upon by soldiers under the command of Brigadier-GeneralReginald Dyer, resulting in killing and injuring thousands of protesters. The outcry generated by the massacre led to thousands of unrests and more deaths by the hands of the police. The bagh became the most infamous event of British rule in India.[citation needed]
Gandhi, who was a preacher ofnonviolence, 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. Likewise, the idea ofsatyagraha was subsequently authorised byJawaharlal Nehru, for who the massacre also endorsed "the conviction that nothing short of independence was acceptable."[4]
Gandhi derived his ideologies and inspiration from ongoing non-cooperation movements, particularly that bySatguru Ram Singh, who is credited as being the firstIndian to usenon-cooperation and boycott of British merchandise and services as a political weapon.[15][16]
In response to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and other violence inPunjab, the movement sought to secureSwaraj, independence for India. Gandhi promised Swaraj within 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 campaigning for Indian independence from colonialism.[17]
Other causes include economic hardships to the common Indian citizen, which thenationalists attributed to the economic exploitation of India under colonial rule, the hardships faced Indian artisans due to British factory-made goods replacing handmade goods, andconscription being employed by theBritish Indian Army to gather enough recruits during theFirst World War.[18]
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 theRowlatt Act. In promoting "self-reliance," his planning of the non-cooperation movement included persuading all Indians to withdraw their labour from any activity that "sustained the British government and also economy in India,"[8] including British industries and educational institutions.[8]
Through non-violent means, orahimsa, protesters would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts (by spinningkhadi, etc.), and picket liquor shops.[9] Moreover:[19]
Gandhi's non-cooperation movement also called for the end tountouchability.
For Gandhi, the use of charkha to spin khadi and abandoning foreign clothes was important for the movement. According to Shashi Tharoor in the Inglorious Empire, the British Empire enriched itself by exploiting India’s cotton: raw cotton was bought cheaply, shipped to Manchester for processing, and sold back in India through the railways, while heavy duties of 70–80% crippled Indian textiles—so much so that historian H. H. Wilson admitted Manchester could not have competed otherwise. India’s share in global textile trade collapsed by 25%, master weavers were reduced to beggars, and British exports of cotton goods skyrocketed from 60 million yards in 1830 to nearly a billion by 1870. Gandhi’s call for the charkha and khadi became both an economic and symbolic weapon against colonialism, embodying simplicity and self-reliance. In India’s Struggle for Independence, historian Bipan Chandra recounted an episode from 1921, when students in Madurai complained khadi was costly, Gandhi shed hiskurta anddhoti, donning only a langot(loincloth) as he felt that the problem could be solved by wearing less clothes.[20]
Publicly-held meetings and strikes (hartals) during the movement ultimately led to the first arrests of bothJawaharlal Nehru and his father,Motilal Nehru, on 6 December 1921.[10] The calls of early political leaders likeBal 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 inMandalay inBurma andV. O.Chidambaram Pillai received 40 years of imprisonment.
Veterans such asBal Gangadhar Tilak,Bipin Chandra Pal,Mohammad Ali Jinnah, andAnnie Besant opposed the idea outright. TheAll India Muslim League also criticized the idea. However, the younger generation of Indian nationalists was thrilled and backed Gandhi, whose plans were adopted by theCongress Party in September 1920 and launched that December.[2]
Gandhi strengthened the movement by supporting the contemporaneousKhilafat Movement, the Muslim campaign to restore the status of theKhalifa and protest the dismemberment of theOttoman Empire afterWorld War I. As such, Gandhi received extensive support fromIndian-Muslim leaders likeMaulana Azad,Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari,Hakim Ajmal Khan,Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi,[21]Abbas Tyabji,Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar andMaulana Shaukat Ali.[2]
The eminentHindi writer, poet, playwright, journalist, and nationalistRambriksh Benipuri, who spent more than eight years in prison campaigning 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.[22]
The impact of the revolt was a total shock to British authorities and a massive support to millions of Indian nationalists. Unity in the country was strengthened and many Indian schools and colleges were created. Indian goods were encouraged.[11]On 4 February 1922 a massacre took place atChauri Chaura, a small town in the district ofGorakhpur,Uttar Pradesh. A police officer had attacked some volunteers picketing a liquor shop. A whole crowd of peasants that had gathered there went to the policechowki (station). The mob set fire to the policechowki with some 22 policemen inside it. Around 30 mobs were there for this incident. This cruelty made Gandhi think to end the movement.
Mahatma Gandhi felt that the revolt was veering off-course, and was disappointed with the rise of violent nature of the movement. He did not want the movement to degenerate into a contest of violence, with police and angry mobs attacking each other back and forth, victimizing civilians in between. Gandhi appealed to the Indian public for all resistance to end, went on a fast and on 12 February 1922 called off the non-cooperation movement.
The non-cooperation movement was withdrawn after the Chauri Chaura incident.Although he had stopped the national revolt single-handedly, on 12 February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi was arrested. On 18 March 1922, he was imprisoned for six years for publishing seditious materials. This led to the suppression of the movement and was followed by the arrest of other leaders.
Although most Congress leaders remained firmly behind Gandhi, the determined leaders broke away, including the Ali brothers (Shaukat Ali andMohammad Ali Jouhar).Motilal Nehru andChittaranjan Das formed theSwaraj Party, rejecting Gandhi's leadership. Many nationalists had felt that the non-cooperation movement should not have been stopped due to isolated incidents of violence, and most nationalists while retaining confidence in Gandhi, were discouraged.[23]
Gandhi's commitment to nonviolence was redeemed when, between 1930 and 1934, tens of millions again revolted in theSalt Satyagraha which made India's cause famous worldwide for its unerring adherence to non-violence. The Satyagraha ended in success. The demands of Indians were met and the Congress was recognized as a representative of the Indian people. TheGovernment of India Act 1935 also gave India its first taste in democratic self-governance.
Gandhi had promoted Swadeshi campaign during this movement, which made good results. 62% of cloth sold in India was being made locally by 1936, rising to 76% by 1945. His promotion of the charkha enabled people to produce their own yarn, striking at the heart of British economic dominance while rallying anti-colonial sentiment, and this Gandhian influence on self-reliance has manifested in different forms in post-independence India as well.[24]
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