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British India
In 1900 India
was the most treasured part of the British empire,
often called “the jewel in the crown”.
Britain had ruled over India since
the 18th Century.
In 1887 Queen Victoria
was made Empress of India, and British monarchs continued to hold this title
up to 1947.
Two-thirds of the people in India were Hindus. Most of the
rest were Muslims.
In addition to religious and social divisions, India had
great problems of poverty and lack of education. It was a country of poor
peasants using primitive farming methods. Diseases and famine were common.
Indian National
Congress Came Into Being 1885
The British rulers tried to tackle some of these problems: a railway
system was built to link the country, schools and hospitals were built, and
the English language was enforced as it was the only way in which the
Indians, who spoke different languages, could communicate.
But the British gained enormously from this British rule: indeed India
supplied raw materials such as cotton and bought British made goods. Very
little industry was developed in case it competed with British industry. All
the top jobs in the army and civil service were held by British people.
In December 1885, despite the Governor General of India’s
reluctance to endorse the idea, Allan Octavian Hume formed the Indian National Union (which would
soon be renamed Indian National
Congress), along with seventy-two learned Indian delegates coming from
different parts of the country.
In its early phase, referred to as the phase
of the Moderates (1885-1905), the
Congress pledged loyalty to the British. The moderates were a class of
elite erudite men who were into philosophy and intellectual discussions; the
much more popular peoples’ leaders were to follow. One of those, Dadabhai
Naoroji, wrote extensively to highlight the drain of wealth from India to Britain.
The Congress was soon to enter a turbulent phase, and in 1907, during the
session at Surat,
there was an open split in the party. The moderates led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Pherozeshah Mehta
and those that the British qualified as extremists
headed by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, parted ways. The Congress would regain its
vitality only years later (1919-1934) under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
Indian National Movement Continues
1916
While Great Britain was entangled in World
War I, India's
national movement, despite being at a nascent stage, continued to throw up
surprises. In December 1915, Bal
Gangadhar Tilak, the first nationalist leader with a deep understanding of India’s
grassroots, and a considerable following, voiced the idea of Home Rule . It was for the first time that someone had
alluded to Home Rule being the goal of the Indian National Movement. On April 28, 1916, the Home Rule League was
founded.
Laws were formulated to prevent
agitations, undesirable elements were banned from entering India,
propaganda came under government scrutiny – the British had reason to be
nervous.
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Gandhiji
and then Gandhi came.
Gandhi was born in 1869 and went to Britain to train as a lawyer.
In 1893 he went to South
Africa to work for the Indians who lived
there: he started to implement his ideas of non-violent protest. In 1915 he
answered a request to come to India to help the Congress
Party: although he refused to be the leader of the Party, he was its main
force and guide for the next 33 years.
He was a deeply religious man; he was a vegetarian and wore only
loincloth. He believed that violence only caused more violence, that truth
and right would always win in the end. His methods were sit-ins, strikes,
marches and boycotts. He and his followers never fought back.
Gandhi always worked with both Hindus and Muslims. He was called
Mahatma, which means the Holy one, was greatly respected by all Indians and
his beliefs and peaceful protests gained massive support.
He was not anyone's idea of a charismatic leader. Just a short,
thin, shrivelled man, with `Mickey Mouse ears’ and a twinkle in his eyes.
He talked of non-violence and pacific resistance.
When Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi finally returned to India from South Africa
at the age of 46, his arrival was preceded by his formidable reputation as
a political leader. Moments after having docked at
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Bombay, he was asked to
lead the National Movement.
Gandhi, however, declined, opting to get to know India thoroughly. The first
causes he chose to associate with were minor local affairs, and the
nationalist leaders of the time did not know what to make of this almost
too-mild, too-moral and too-impractical man.
During 1917-18, with
revolutionary conspiracies being on the rise within the country, the British
grew progressively uneasy. To counter these, Justice S A T Rowlatt
proposed the Rowlatt Acts. Among other things, this act empowered the
government with special wartime controls that included the right to try
political cases without a jury. Gandhi, in his typical style, said that the
repressive Rowlatt Acts raised issues of trust and self-respect, and hence
needed be met with a moral response in the form of a protest that entailed striking work on April 8, 1919.
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The Massacre
At Amritsar
1919
The flashpoint came in Punjab. On April 12, 1919, General
R E H Dyer who had taken over the troops in Punjab
the day before, prohibited all meetings and gatherings. So when a group of
unarmed people congregated at the Jallianwala Bagh, a walled park with only
a single narrow entrance, on April 13, 1919 to celebrate the Sikh festival of
Baisakhi, General Dyer’s troops opened fire.The firing lasted about 10
minutes and 1600 rounds were fired. Official sources place the casualties
at 379. According to private sources, the number was over 1000, with more
than 2000 wounded, and Civil Surgeon Dr Smith indicated that they were over
1800
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The brutality of the Jallianwallah Bagh massacre shocked the country. It also
shook the moderates out of their stupour and brought Gandhi out in the open.
Congress Launched Non-Cooperation
Movement 1920
In 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian National Congress
launched the first movement of protest – the Non-Cooperation Movement. It
involved surrendering all titles, honorary offices and nominated posts in
local bodies. Government functions
were to be boycotted.
Unfortunately, at a time when the
movement was showing signs of success, in Chauri Chaura, a mob of 3000 people
killed 25 policemen and one officer. Similar incidents had taken place
earlier on November 17,
1921, in Bombay
and on January 13, 1922,
in Madras. On
February 7, Gandhi suspended the movement. He was arrested on March 13, 1922. Suddenly,
the future of self-rule within a year
seemed uncertain.
Gandhi came under fire from several quarters for disassociating himself from
the Non-Cooperation Movement. The man of the masses took the masses along
when he made his exit.
On December 31, 1929, the Congress called for
complete Independence.
January 26, 1930,
was declared as Independence Day. From February 14 to 16, 1930, the Congress Working
Committee met at Gandhi's famous ashram in Sabarmati and requested him to
launch the Civil Disobedience Movement
‘at a time and place of his choice.
On March 12, 1930,
accompanied by 78 colleagues of the Sabarmati Ashram, Mahatma Gandhi embarked
on a 60-mile march to the sea coast of Dandi.
He intended to defy the new salt taxes that the government had levied and
that would directly impact each and every peasant. To begin with, the
government thought it better to ignore the event. However, soon the entire
country was abuzz with protests, agitations, processions. The rising tide of
discontent had to be checked. Gandhi was arrested on May 5, 1930.
"The British beat the Indians with batons and rifle butts. The Indians
neither cringed nor complained nor retreated. That made England
powerless and India
invincible."
First Round Table Conference 1931
The Mahatma and Lord Irwin finally met. The result was the Gandhi-Irwin pact. Amongst other
things, the Civil Disobedience Movement was withdrawn under the pact, and a
second Round Table Conference with Congress participation was agreed upon.
This peace did not last long. Gandhi attended the Second Round Table
conference in London
in 1931 as the sole representative of the Congress. He demanded control of
foreign affairs and defence, and the matter of minorities ended in a complete
deadlock. Gandhi returned to India
on December 28, 1931
empty-handed.
By May 1934, the Civil Disobedience
Movement had been completely withdrawn.
During World War II, the Congress decided that India should co-operate with Britain on
the understanding that complete independence would be granted to India after
that. The British, however were unwilling to discuss the issue of
independence during wartime. This had the members of the Congress wondering
about the intentions of the government. Meanwhile, the divide between Jinnah's Muslim League and the
Congress' aims and demands had grown sharper. In early 1940, Jinnah declared Pakistan as the goal of the
League.
The Launching of Quit India
movement 1942
Gandhi with his usual innovative skill now had the country and Congress
rallying behind him. The moment had arrived to launch the Quit India
movement. The unnerving part was that the launch of another Civil
Disobedience Movement could coincide with the Japanese advances from the
far-east towards India.
"After all," Gandhi said, "this is open rebellion." The
country was willing to court risks for the freedom that was to be won.
The movement was launched on August
8, 1942 in Bombay.
Gandhi declared: "I want freedom immediately, this very night, before
dawn, if it can be had. You may take it from me that I am not going to strike
a bargain with the Viceroy for ministers and the like… Here is the mantra, a
short one, that I give you…” Do or die. We shall either free India or die
in the attempt."
From 1942 onwards it was quite clear that the countdown to an independent India had
begun.
Arrival of Lord Mountbatten 1946
In 1946, Lord Mountbatten arrived in Delhi
amid a buzz of political activity. After World War II, the British seemed
keen to wash their hands off India.
However, there were too many emotional ties – the British and the Indians
went too far back together for the British to just pack up and leave.
Mountbatten was entrusted with the responsibility of transferring power to
the Indians, safeguarding British interests and prestige for future
interaction with independent India
and Pakistan.
and in the bargain, if Partition was inevitable, the nations would have to
live with the realisation and the consequences
Partition of India 1947
It was one of the worst movements of people in recent history after that of
the Jews in the World War II. A nation was dismembered. On August 15, 1947 – India became
an independent country. Following an announcement on August 17, 1947 Pakistan
became the other independent state.
Gandhi, the father of the nation, did not join in the celebrations that
followed. He was elsewhere working in riot
areas, praying for peace. For him independence was tinged with sadness
and disappointment. He was ready to withdraw from active politics.
Accusations of siding with the Muslims and giving Pakistan away too easily,
followed Gandhi since the day the state of Pakistan was declared. On January 30, 1948, a Hindu
fundamentalist called Nathu Ram Godse shot the Mahatma. India lost
the man who, along with so many others, had taught it to dream of
independence.
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