The making of nationalist movement

              The making of nationalist movement

Sovereign – The capacity to act independently without outside interference

Demands of congress in modrate phase

It demanded a greater voice for Indians in the government and in administration.

 It wanted the Legislative Councils to be made more representative, given more power, and introduced in provinces where none existed.

 It demanded that Indians be placed in high positions in the government. For this purpose it called for civil service examinations to be held in India as well, not just in London

Other demands included the separation of the judiciary from the executive,

the repeal of the Arms Act and the freedom of speech and expression.

The Congress demanded reduction of revenue, cut in military expenditure, and more funds for irrigation.

Repeal – To undo law; to officially end the validity of something such as a law

Publicist – Someone who publicises an idea by circulating information, writing reports, speaking at meetings

“Freedom is our birthright”

In Bengal, Maharashtra and Punjab, leaders such as Bepin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai were beginning to explore more radical objectives and methods. They criticized the Moderates for their “politics of prayers”, and emphasized the importance of self-reliance and constructive work.

people must fight for swaraj. Tilak raised the slogan, “Freedom is my birthright and I shall have it!

Partition of bengal

In 1905 Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal.

The British argued for dividing Bengal for reasons of administrative convenience.

Swadeshi movement,

The partition of Bengal infuriated people all over India. All sections of the Congress – the Moderates and the Radicals, as they may be called – opposed it.

Large public meetings and demonstrations were organised and novel methods of mass protest developed.

The struggle that unfolded came to be known as the Swadeshi movement,

The Swadeshi movement sought to oppose British rule and encourage the ideas of self-help, swadeshi enterprise, national education, and use of Indian languages. To fight for swaraj, the radicals advocated mass mobilisation and boycott of British institutions and goods.

Revolutionary violence The use of violence to make a radical change within society Council – An appointed or elected body of people with an administrative, advisory or representative function

A group of Muslim landlords and nawabs formed the All India Muslim League at Dacca in 1906.

the Congress and the Muslim League signed the historic Lucknow Pact and decided to work together for representative government in the country

The Growth of Mass Nationalism

1. The First World War

It led to a huge rise in the defence expenditure of the Government of India. The government in turn increased taxes on individual incomes and business profits. Increased military expenditure and the demands for war supplies led to a sharp rise in prices which created great difficulties for the common people.

2. Villages were pressurised to supply soldiers for an alien cause. A large number of soldiers were sent to serve abroad.

3. in 1917 there was a revolution in Russia. News about peasants’ and workers’ struggles and ideas of socialism circulated widely, inspiring Indian nationalists.

The advent of Mahatma Gandhi

arrived in India in 1915 from South Africa.

Mahatma Gandhi spent his first year in India travelling throughout the country, understanding the people, their needs and the overall situation.

 First role in movement was Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad satyagraha where he came into contact with Rajendra Prasad and Vallabhbhai Patel

The Rowlatt act( 1919, indefinitely extending the emergency measures of preventive indefinite detention, incarceration without trial and judicial review)

The Act curbed fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and strengthened police powers.

The Rowlatt Satyagraha

Gandhiji asked the Indian people to observe 6 April 1919 as a day of non-violent opposition to this Act, as a day of “humiliation and prayer” and hartal (strike).

In April 1919 there were a number of demonstrations and hartals in the country and the government used brutal measures to suppress them. The Jallianwala Bagh atrocities, inflicted by General Dyer in Amritsar on Baisakhi day (13 April), were a part of this repression

Knighthood – An honour granted by the British Crown for exceptional personal achievement or public service. Due to jjallian wala massacre  Rabindranath Tagore expressed the pain and anger of the country by renouncing his knighthood.

Khilafat agitation and the Non-Cooperation Movement

In 1920 the British imposed a harsh treaty on the Turkish Sultan or Khalifa

Indian Muslims were keen that the Khalifa be allowed to retain control over Muslim sacred places in the erstwhile Ottoman Empire. The leaders of the Khilafat agitation, Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, now wished to initiate a full-fledged Non-Cooperation Movement. Gandhiji supported their call and urged the Congress to campaign against “Punjab wrongs” (Jallianwala massacre), the Khilafat wrong and demand swaraj

Effacts of non coopration

Thousands of students left governmentcontrolled schools and colleges. Many lawyers such as Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, C. Rajagopalachari and Asaf Ali gave up their practices. British titles were surrendered and legislatures boycotted. People lit public bonfires of foreign cloth. The imports of foreign cloth fell drastically between 1920 and 1922.
Picket – People protesting outside a building or shop to prevent others from entering
Mahants – Religious functionaries of Sikh gurdwaras Illegal eviction – Forcible and unlawful throwing out of tenants from the land they rent.
The happenings of 1922 -1929
Mahatma Gandhi, abruptly called off the Non-Cooperation Movement when in February 1922 a crowd of peasants set fire to a police station in Chauri  Chaura. Twenty two policemen were killed on that day.
Simon Commission
In 1927 the British government in England decided to send a commission headed by Lord Simon to decide India’s political future. The Commission had no Indian representative. The decison created an outrage in India. All political groups decided to boycott the Commission. When the Commission arrived it was met with demonstrations with banners saying “Simon Go Back”.
 Purna Swaraj (complete independence) in 1929 under the presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru. Consequently, “Independence Day” was observed on 26 January 1930 all over the country.
HSRA
Revolutionary nationalists such as Bhagat Singh and his comrades  founded the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928 at Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi.
 Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt, threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929.
The March to Dandi
According to  salt law, the state had a monopoly on the manufacture and sale of salt. Mahatma Gandhi along with other nationalists reasoned that it was sinful to tax salt since it is such an essential item of our food.
Gandhiji and his followers marched for over 240 miles from Sabarmati to the coastal town of Dandi where they broke the government law by gathering natural salt found on the seashore, and boiling sea water to produce salt.
The government tried to crush the movement through brutal action against peaceful satyagrahis. Thousands were sent to jail.
The combined struggles of the Indian people bore fruit when the Government of India Act of 1935 prescribed provincial autonomy and the government announced elections to the provincial legislatures in 1937. The Congress formed governments in 7 out of 11 provinces.
In September 1939, after two years of Congress rule in the provinces, the Second World War broke out.
Quit India movement, August 1942
Mahatma Gandhi decided to initiate quit India immediately, he told them. To the people he said, “do or die” in your effort to fight the British.
  Sarojini Naidu She was the first Indian woman to become President of the Indian National Congress (1925).
Subhas Chandra Bose A radical nationalist, raised the Azad Hind Fauj or the Indian National Army (INA), to free India from British control.
 Chakravarti Rajagopalachari  free India’s first Indian Governor-General.
General”constituencies Election districts with no reservations for any religious or other community.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Pashtun leader from the North West Frontier Also known as Badshah Khan, he was the founder of the Khudai Khidmatgars, a powerful non-violent movement.
Cabinet mission
 In March 1946 the British cabinet sent a three-member mission to Delhi to examine the demand of muslim league's for “Pakistan” and to suggest a suitable political framework for a free India. 
This mission suggested that India should remain united and constitute itself as a loose confederation with some autonomy for Muslim-majority areas.
“Direct Action Day”
the Muslim League decided on mass agitation for winning its Pakistan demand. It announced 16 August 1946 as “Direct Action Day”. On this day riots broke out in Calcutta, lasting several days and resulting in the death of thousands of people.