Civil Disobedience Movement

The Civil Disobedience Movement started by Gandhiji has an important place in the history of Indian
independence. This movement continued from 1930 to 1934. This period of Civil Disobedience Movement can be
divided into two parts- (1) from 1930 to 1931 and (ii) from 1932 to 1934. According to the Gandhi Irwin Pact in
1931, this movement was suspended, but in view of the government's repression cycle, Gandhiji had to start this
movement again in 1932. The description of the beginning, program, progress and importance of this movement
is as follows:

1. Boycott of Simon Commission- The appointment of Simon Commission in November, 1927 once again
intensified the Indian National Movement. This commission was appointed by the British government to review
the reform law of 1919 and to further consider constitutional reform.The chairman of the Simon Commission was
Sir John Simon. This commission had 7 members. All these members were British. Since not a single member of
this commission was Indian, the Indian people were deeply shocked by the appointment of this commission. They
felt that the British government had deliberately hurt their self-respect. Due to this, a wave of protest against the
Simon commission
British rule spread throughout the country. In 1927, a convention was held in Madras under the chairmanship of
Dr. Ansari. In this convention, the commission was boycotted in every step and in every form. The Muslim League
and national parties also bitterly criticized the appointment of this commission and decided to boycott it.

The British government did not care about the strong opposition of the Indian people. Hence, this commission
reached Bombay on 3rd May 1928. On that day, a strike was organized in the entire country and meetings were
held against the commission. Wherever the commission went, there were massive demonstrations and strikes
against it. The entire nation resounded with the slogans of 'Simon Commission go back'. Seeing this nationwide
protest movement, the British government resorted to ruthless repression. When this commission reached
Lahore on 30th October 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai led a huge procession against it. The government, which was
furious with these protests, ordered lathicharge on this peaceful procession. Due to this, Lala Lajpat Rai was badly
injured and he died on 17th November 1928. Similarly, Jawaharlal Nehru and Govind Ballabh Pant, who were
leading the protesters in Lucknow, had to face the lathicharge of the police. These incidents further increased the
hatred of the Indians towards the British rule. In the words of Dr. Lal Bahadur,
"Instead of allaying political discontent it aggravated the situation."

2. Nehru Report- At the time of appointment of Simon Commission in 1927, India Minister Lord Birkenhead
declared in his statement that Indians are unable to prepare a constitution which is acceptable to all. Political
leaders of India considered this statement of the India Minister as a challenge and they started efforts to prepare
a constitution. To fulfill this objective, an all party conference was called in Delhi on 12 February 1928.
Representatives of 29 political parties of India participated in it. In this, a committee of 9 persons was formed
under the leadership of Pandit Moti Lal Nehru to prepare the draft of the Indian Constitution. This committee
presented its report on 10 August 1928. This report became famous as Nehru Report. This report was confirmed
in the annual conference of the Indian National Congress held in Calcutta (Kolkata) in December, 1928. The main
recommendations of this report were as follows- (1

1) India should be given the status of a dominion.

(2) Responsible government should be established at the centre and in the provinces.
(3) The cabinet should be answerable to the legislature for its policies and actions.
(4) The Central Parliament should have two houses. The lower house should be directly elected for a term of five
years. In this, men and women aged 21 years, unless disqualified by law, should be given the right to vote. The
upper house should be indirectly elected.
(5) The Central Executive Council should be collectively responsible to the Central Parliament for all its actions.
(6) A joint election system should be adopted but seats should be reserved for minorities in the Central and
Provincial Legislatures.
(7) All India Federation should be established and powers should be clearly divided between the centre and the
provinces.
(8) There should be a Supreme Court of India which would be the final place of appeal and the Privy Council.The
practice of appealing should be stopped.
(9) Indians should be given the 19 fundamental rights.
(10) While reserving the rights of the rulers of Indian princely states, they were asked to establish responsible
government in their states as soon as possible.
(11) Separate representation was declared unnecessary and harmful. Seats were reserved only for Muslims
among the minorities.
Although this report was progressive, the Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha and Sikhs rejected it due to their
selfish interests.

3. Lahore Session of the Congress -In the Calcutta (Kolkata) session of the Congress in December, 1928, the
British government was warned that if it did not implement the Nehru Report within a year, which demanded
Dominion States, then it would demand complete independence and start a mass movement to achieve it. But
during this time, the British government announced to give India Dominion States but did not fix a time for it.

In such an environment, the Lahore session of the Congress began in December 1929. It was presided over by
Jawaharlal Nehru. Now the Congress leaders were convinced that unless the British government was forced, it
would not give anything to India. Jawaharlal Nehru declared that continuing to be a slave to the British rule would
be a crime against humanity and God. Therefore, the Congress passed the resolution of complete independence
on 31 December 1929. The important aspects of this resolution were-

(1) Under the present circumstances it is futile for the Congress to participate in the Round Table Conference.

(2) Poorna Swarajya means complete independence.

(3) The Nehru Committee Report is withdrawn as it has no relevance now.

(4) The Congress appealed to its members and others engaged in the national movement to concentrate their
entire attention on achieving complete independence for the country and not to participate in future elections and
to resign from the Legislatures and other Government committees.

(5) This Congress Session authorizes the All-India Congress Committee to launch a Civil Disobedience Movement
whenever it deems fit.
(6) Independence Day should be celebrated every year on 26 January. The first Independence Day was celebrated
on 26 January 1930.
Thus, the Lahore session of the Congress is considered a turning point in the Indian freedom struggle.

4. Refusal of the Demands of Gandhi by Lord Irwin- As per the decision taken by the Indian National Congress in
its annual conference in Lahore in 1929, Mahatma Gandhi decided to launch a civil disobedience movement
against the British government in 1930, but before this, on 2 March 1930, he wrote a letter to the Viceroy Lord
Irwin demanding that if he accepts his 11-point program, then this movement will not be launched. In connection
with this, Mahatma Gandhi also demanded a meeting with Lord Irwin. Lord Irwin not only refused to accept
Gandhi's conditions but also clearly refused to meet him. As a result, Mahatma Gandhi had no other option but to
launch a civil disobedience movement against the government.

5. Programme of the Movement- Mahatma Gandhi started civil disobedience

To start the programme the following was prepared-

(1) The Salt Laws should be violated wherever possible.

(2) Let women sit in front of shops selling liquor and foreign goods.

(3) Foreign clothes should be burnt.

(4) Students should boycott government educational institutions.

(6) No tax of any kind should be paid to the government.

(5) Government employees should resign from their jobs.

(7) Lawyers and people should boycott government courts.

6. Beginning and Development of the Movement-Mahatma Gandhi decided to start the Civil Disobedience
Movement by violating the salt law from a village named Dandi, situated on the seashore at a distance of 375 km
from Gujarat. On 12 March 1930, he started for Dandi from Sabarmati Ashram (Gujarat) along with 73 other
companions. This journey is famous in history as 'Dandi Yatra'. It took him 24 days to complete this journey.
During this journey, people welcomed Mahatma Gandhi very warmly in the cities and villages he passed through.
It seemed as if the whole country had started moving towards Dandi. The speeches given by Mahatma Gandhi at
various places generated new motivation in the people. Hundreds of people resigned from their posts. The
encouraging news published daily related to this journey had a magical effect on the hearts of Indians. They were
ready to sacrifice for the freedom of the country. This procession of Mahatma Gandhi reached Dandi on 5 April
1930. On 6 April 1930, Mahatma Gandhi violated the salt law by making salt on the seashore after praying in the
morning.

Due to violation of the salt law, the British government arrested Mahatma Gandhi and his associates. This news
spread like wildfire throughout the country. People all over the country started violating the salt law. Where this
law could not be violated, they started violating other laws. At various places, processions were taken out against
the government and strikes were held. People stopped paying taxes to the government. Women also participated
in large numbers in this movement. They staged sit-ins in front of shops selling foreign clothes and liquor. Their
enthusiasm was in no way less than that of men. In the North-West Frontier Areas, this movement was led by
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. He formed an organization of Pathans named 'Khudai Khidmatgar' (those who serve
God). This organization gave every possible support in the progress of the Civil Disobedience Movement. In short,
this movement spread very fast throughout the country.

7. Government Attitude- In the beginning, the British government did not pay much attention to this movement. It
kept making fun of it. But as the influence of this movement increased, the government's behavior started
changing. It acted very strictly to crush this movement. It declared the Congress organization illegal and
censorship was imposed on the press. The government started arresting the agitators who took part in the
movement. During this movement, the government arrested 90,000 agitators and committed inhuman atrocities
on them. Their property was confiscated. According to a government report, 110 people died and more than 300
were injured due to the bullets and lathis fired by the police on the agitators during this movement. In reality, this
number was much more than this. In this way, the government started a terror state.

8.First Round Table Conference- In June 1930, Simon Commission released its report. To consider this report
and find a solution to the political problem of India, the first Round Table Conference was called in London on 12
November 1930. 89 people attended this conference. Among them were Tej Bahadur Sapru, Muhammad Ali
Jinnah and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Congress boycotted this conference because at that time Civil Disobedience
Movement was going on in India. The government had arrested almost all the famous leaders of Congress. Prime
Minister Ramsey MacDonald presided over this conference. This conference continued till 19 January 1931. Due
to the absence of Congress, this conference could not reach any result, due to which it failed. In fact, this
conference without Congress was like a wedding in the absence of the groom.

9. Gandhi-Irwin Pact- The British government wanted Mahatma Gandhi to attend the Second Round Table
Conference. For this purpose, he was released from prison in January 1931. On March 5, 1931, Mahatma Gandhi
and Viceroy Lord Irwin signed an agreement. This agreement is famous in history as the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
According to this agreement, the government made the following promises- (1) It will release all those agitators
who did not participate in the violence. (2) It will withdraw all its repressive laws issued to suppress this
movement. (3) It will return the confiscated property of the agitators. (4) It will waive off the fines imposed on the
agitators. (5) People will be allowed to prepare salt. (6) It will allow people to stage peaceful dharnas in front of
shops selling foreign clothes and liquor. (7) The government will sympathetically consider reinstating all those
employees who had resigned from their jobs. On the other hand, Mahatma Gandhi gave these promises - (1)
Congress will withdraw the Civil Disobedience Movement. (2) He will participate in the Second Round Table
Conference. (3) Congress will not pressurize for an impartial inquiry into police atrocities. This agreement was
certainly an important event in Indian history.

10. Second Round Table Conference- The Second Round Table Conference was held in London on 7 September
1931. This conference continued till 1 December 1931. This conference was chaired by the Prime Minister of
England, Ramsay MacDonald. 120 delegates attended this conference. Only Mahatma Gandhi participated in this
conference from the Congress side. During this conference, Mahatma Gandhi gave very impressive speeches. He
demanded immediate full independence for India. But the British government rejected this demand. Despite
Mahatma Gandhi's efforts, the Muslim League and other organizations kept putting pressure to expand the
communal election system. This conference also failed completely due to no unanimous decision. As a result,
Mahatma Gandhi returned to India disappointed.

11. Resumption of Civil Disobedience Movement- In December 1931, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India after
attending the Second Round Table Conference in London. He was shocked to hear about the atrocities being
committed on Indians by the government. Lord Willingdon had become the new Viceroy of India in place of Lord
Irwin. He was not ready to accept the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. He had imposed martial law in Bengal. The government
arrested Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan and many other main Congress leaders and put them
in prisons. Apart from these, the government had also imprisoned many Indians. Mahatma Gandhi wanted to
meet the Viceroy in this regard but he refused to meet Gandhiji. Due to these reasons, Mahatma Gandhi decided
to restart the Civil Disobedience Movement on January 3, 1932. The very next day the government arrested
Gandhiji and declared the Congress an illegal organization. Due to this the movement flared up once again.The
government somehow tolerated every atrocity of the government during the first five years of independence. The
government implemented strict laws to suppress this movement. The value of this can be gauged from the fact
that 1,20,000 agitators were arrested. Indians protested against the government.

12. The Communal Award 1932 A.D.- British Prime Minister Donald announced the 'Communal Award' on 16
August 1932. At the end of the second round table conference, Ramte MacDonald had said that if all the castes of
India agree on communal issues, then the government will have the right to give its decision. The Communal
Award was announced on this basis. Its main points were- (i) Seats will be divided in the provincial legislatures.
(#) Separate election system will be arranged for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Europeans and women. (iii)
Special election areas will also be arranged for trade, industry, landlords, labour and universities. (iv) Harijans will
be given separate voting rights and they will also get equal rights in general elections.

This declaration was only a government decision, it was severely criticized in the country. By this decision, the
government had tried to separate Harijans from Hindus. In the provinces where Hindus were in minority, they were
not given as much representation as Muslims were given in their minority provinces. European castes were also
given more representation than their population. In this way, the government's aim was only to divide the castes
of India. Therefore, it was strongly opposed by the nationalist public opinion of India. According to the Congress
Working Committee, this decision was a matter of humiliation for Indians. This decision complicated the
communal problem even more. Gandhiji was so saddened by this that he decided to start a fast unto death in
protest against it.

13. Poona Pact 1932 A.D.- In the second round table conference, Gandhiji had clearly stated that if any attempt
was made to separate Harijans from Hindus, he would oppose it even at the cost of his life. Hence, after the
announcement of the 'Communal Decision', Gandhiji requested the government to withdraw its decision, but the
government did not pay any heed to his request. Hence, Gandhiji, who was in Poona jail those days, started his
fast on 20 September 1932. This created a stir in the whole of India. All the leaders of the country started
worrying. Leaders like Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, C. Gopalacharya, Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel and Dr. Rajendra Prasad started making efforts to get Gandhiji to reach a compromise with the government.
Due to his efforts, the 'Poona Pact' was signed on 26 September 1932. On the same day, Gandhiji also broke his
fast. The main conditions of this new pact were-
(1) The representation of Hindus and Harijans shall be combined.

(ii) Seats for Harijans will be reserved. Their number was increased to 148 instead of 71. (iii) For the election of
Harijans, first the Harijans themselves will choose four candidates for each seat and then there will be a general
election among them.

One of them will be elected by the general voters.

(iv) Provision will also be made for the representation of Harijans in local institutions and public services.

(v) Recommendations will be made for financial assistance for the education of Harijans.

(vi) This entire scheme will be initially implemented for a period of 10 years.

Writing about the importance of the Poona Pact, Dr. Prakash Chandra says that,

"This averted the danger of a permanent division within the Hindu community
14. Third Round Table Conference 1932- A.D. Civil Disobedience Movement was still going on when the third
Round Table Conference was called on 17 November 1932. Many representatives of India participated in it, but
Congress did not participate in it. Labour Party of England also boycotted this conference. In this some decisions
were taken regarding the creation of future constitution, on the basis of which the Act of 1935 was passed. But no
special attention was paid to Indian demands in the conference.

15. End of the Civil Disobedience Movement- The activities of the Civil Disobedience Movement continued even
after the end of the Third Round Table Conference. Mahatma Gandhi was still in jail even during the Civil
Disobedience Conference. He was engaged in the work of Harijan upliftment in those days. In this regard, he
started a 21-day fast on 3 May 1933 for self-purification. On the very first day of the fast, the government released
Gandhiji without any condition. Therefore, seeing some improvement in the attitude of the government, Gandhiji
suspended the Civil Disobedience Movement on 14 July 1933. By the time Gandhiji returned from jail, the pace of
the movement had slowed down. The reason for this was that the people were very fed up with the repressive
policy of the government and wanted to avoid this oppression. Under these circumstances, the 'Civil Disobedience
Movement' was declared to be completely ended on 7 April 1934.

Thus we see that this movement continued for four years with minor interruptions. Then suddenly its pace
slowed down and it was ended. The objective for which it was started was still not accomplished. From this point
of view it can be said that this movement was unsuccessful. Many leaders of Congress- Jawaharlal Nehru,
Subhash Chandra Bose, Vallabh Bhai Patel condemned Gandhiji for ending the movement and said, "Gandhiji has
failed as a political leader." English journalist Grellsford said sarcastically, "The British emperor cannot be
dethroned by boiling sea water in a vessel." Dr. R.C. Majumdar even says,

"It was not only a grave mistake but also a sad event that Gandhiji suspended this type of movement. He had no
right to play with the lives and wealth of the people in such an unfair manner. His political weapon of Satyagraha
proved futile. '70
16. Importance of Civil Disobedience Movement- Although the Civil Disobedience Movement failed to achieve its
objectives, it still has a special place in India's freedom struggle. Due to this movement, national sentiment spread
very rapidly among the people. For the first time, women participated in this movement in large numbers. This
was undoubtedly a new turn in the history of India's freedom struggle. It is difficult to find any other example of
the calm spirit with which people tolerated the atrocities of the government during this movement. This statement
of the famous historian Dr. Tara Chand is absolutely correct,

"In fact this movement was largely successful in achieving both its objectives - raising the moral morale of the
people and destroying the political pride of the government."

Conclusion
The Civil Disobedience Movement fully exposed the real nature of British rule in India in all its naked hideousness
and lowered its moral prestige in the eyes of the whole world." Dr. R. C. Majumdar, History of the Freedom
Movement in