Non-cooperation Movement, Causes, Consequences, Chauri-Chaura Incident
Date: 1920 – 1922
Participant: Indian National Congress
Prominent People: Subhas Chandra Bose, Chitta Ranjan Das, Mahatma Gandhi, Gulzarilal Nanda, Motilal Nehru
cause of non-cooperation movement
The spirit of self-determination was greatly strengthened as a result of the First World War (1914-18). During this war, the Congress had given full cooperation to the British government. Mahatma Gandhi went from place to place and inspired people to join the British army and try for war. People used to call him as the ‘recruiting sergeant’ of the government.
Why changed the attitude of Congress and Gandhi
Gandhiji felt very sorry for some of the events of 1919. The movement began with widespread outrage in India over the passage of the Rowlatt Act (which empowered the administration to arrest and imprison a person without trial) and the massacre in Amritsar (Jallianwala Bagh massacre) in April 1919. When the British led army killed several hundred Indians. This anger was later fueled by outrage over the government’s alleged failure to take adequate action against those involved, most notably General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, who commanded the troops involved in the massacre.
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The Non-Cooperation Movement, a failed attempt organized by Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi in 1920–22, was an attempt to force the British government of India to grant India self-government, or Swaraj. It was one of Gandhi’s first organized acts of civil disobedience (satyagraha) on a large scale.
Even before starting this movement, Gandhiji had made it clear that it would be a non-violent movement and asked Indians to resign from official titles; boycott government educational institutions, boycott government courts, boycott government services, boycott foreign goods and elections; And, in the end, refused to pay taxes. On the contrary, to discipline oneself, to sacrifice, to save national educational institutions, to settle mutual disputes with the decision of the five, to use hand-spun and made cloth, etc., were to be done differently. The policies and program of the movement were agreed upon at the Calcutta (now Kolkata) session of the Indian National Congress in September 1920. Thus began this movement in December 1920.
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Non-Cooperation Movement, 1920-22
Chauri-Chaura incident and end of non-cooperation movement
In 1921, about 30,000 people went to jail under this non-cooperation movement. The British government, which faced a united Indian front for the first time in 1921, was clearly shaken, but the August 1921 rebellion and several violent outbursts by Muslim Moplahs from Kerala (south-west India) alarmed liberal opinion. After the murder of police officers by an angry mob in the village of Chauri-Chaura (now in the state of Uttar Pradesh) in February 1922, Gandhi himself called off the movement; The following month he was arrested without incident. The movement marked a mass awareness of Indian nationalism from a middle class.
Rebellion in Congress and formation of ‘Swarajya Dal’ after non-cooperation movement
Thus, with the sudden announcement of the end of the non-cooperation movement, Gandhi’s policies began to be opposed within the Congress. Dissatisfied with Gandhi’s policies, Shri Chittaranjan Das and Pandit Motilal Nehru formed a ‘Swarajya Dal’. This party believed in participating in the Legislative Council. The plan of this party was to be obstructed internally by joining the Legislative Councils. In the elections of 1923, the Swarajya Party got an absolute majority in the Central Provinces and Bengal and they did not allow them to work by obstructing the work of the ministers due to their opposition. . But gradually the supporters of Swarajya Party started coming closer to Gandhiji.
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Why did Gandhiji withdraw the non-cooperation movement
The Chauri-Chaura incident was mainly responsible for the withdrawal of the non-cooperation movement. Congress leaders at that time, mainly Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das, criticized this move of Gandhi and said that it was foolish to suddenly withdraw this movement when the movement was at its peak and the government was about to bow down.
But Gandhiji’s views here were opposite to his. Gandhi said that this movement started as a non-violent movement and this was his program as well. But the Chauri-Chaura incident turned the movement into violence and it is against my principles. Apart from this, if this movement was not withdrawn, then the British government would have adopted such a cruel method to suppress this movement that for many years in the future, even the name of the movement would create fear in the public.
The Chauri-Chaura incident was mainly responsible for the withdrawal of the non-cooperation movement. Congress leaders at that time, mainly Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das, criticized this move of Gandhi and said that it was foolish to suddenly withdraw this movement when the movement was at its peak and the government was about to bow down.
But Gandhiji’s views here were opposite to his. Gandhi said that this movement started as a non-violent movement and this was his program as well. But the Chauri-Chaura incident turned the movement into violence and it is against my principles. Apart from this, if this movement was not withdrawn, then the British government would have adopted such a cruel method to suppress this movement that for many years in the future, even the name of the movement would create fear in the public.
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The Chauri-Chaura incident was mainly responsible for the withdrawal of the non-cooperation movement. Congress leaders at that time, mainly Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das, criticized this move of Gandhi and said that it was foolish to suddenly withdraw this movement when the movement was at its peak and the government was about to bow down.
But Gandhiji’s views here were opposite to his. Gandhi said that this movement started as a non-violent movement and this was his program as well. But the Chauri-Chaura incident turned the movement into violence and it is against my principles. Apart from this, if this movement was not withdrawn, then the British government would have adopted such a cruel method to suppress this movement that for many years in the future, even the name of the movement would create fear in the public.
Conclusion
Thus both the sides had their own arguments but the arguments of both the sides were based only on future developments. Be that as it may, this movement made Indians aware of Satyagraha for the first time and played a major role in the rise of nationalism.