Praveen Davar
From 1920 to 1942, it took Mahatma Gandhi only two decades to end the might of the nearly 200 year old British Empire. The Nagpur session of the Indian National Congress in December 1920 established Gandhi as undisputed leader of not only the Congress, but of entire India. It marked a watershed in the history of the freedom struggle because constitutional methods of agitation became a thing of the past. Gandhi introduced a new dimension in Indian politics: mass mobilization for nationalistic goals. This is how the coming of Gandhi at the helm of affairs is described by Jawaharlal Nehru in the Discovery of India:-
“And then Gandhi came. He was like a powerful current of fresh air that made us stretch ourselves and take deep breaths; like a beam of light that pierced the darkness and removed the scales from our eyes; like a whirlwind that upset many things, but most of all the working people’s minds. He did not descend from the top; he seemed to emerge from the millions of India, speaking their language and incessantly drawing attention to them and their appalling condition.”
Mahatma Gandhi was elected President of the Congress which met in Belgaum in December 1924 where he spoke not of independence but of dominion status, not of civil disobedience but of constructive programme. In February 1928, the Simon Commission arrived in India. As it was all white commission, it was greeted with black flags wherever it went. Demonstrating against the commission at Lahore, Lala Lajpat Rai died from lathi blows of the police on 17 November, 1928. In Lucknow, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru was seriously injured when he was demonstrating against the Commission on 29thNovember, 1928. Pt Motilal Nehru was elected the President of the Congress session at Calcutta where the resolution on Dominion Status was passed which was opposed by young radicals led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Subash Chandra Bose. A compromise was reached wherein it was decided if the dominion status is not granted within one year the Congress will ask for complete independence.
In December 1929, Jawaharlal Nehru presided over the Congress session at Lahore where, on the banks of the river Ravi, at the stroke of the midnight hour on 31 December 1929, the Congress declared its goal as Purna Swaraj, complete independence, and Gandhiji was authorized to start the civil disobedience movement to realize such a Swaraj. Independence Day was declared on 26 January, 1930 and an Independence Day pledge was undertaken by people through out the country.
The Purna Swaraj call electrified the political atmosphere in the country and Gandhiji decided to launch the next decisive phase of the freedom struggle: the Salt Satyagraha. With 78 followers, Mahatma Gandhi started on foot from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on 12 March, 1930 and reached Dandi on 5 April. The long march, which received world wide publicity, served as a big morale booster that acted as a catalyst for attainment of independence.
The Karachi session of the Congress held in March 1931, was another landmark session of the Congress. It was presided over by Sardar Vallabhai Patel in which the historic resolution on Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy was moved by Jawaharlal Nehru.
The years 1934 to 1939 saw three stalwarts of the Congress become President. Dr Rajendra Prasad (1934), Pt Jawaharlal Nehru (1936, 1937) and Subash Chandra Bose (1938, 1939). Following differences with Gandhiji, Bose resigned from the Congress, formed the Forward Block and suddenly left the country to ultimately fight his own battle for independence leading the Indian National Army.
As WWII neared the eastern borders of India, the British govt., under American pressure, sent the Cripps Mission to offer proposals for creation of new Indian union as a Dominion at the end of the war. The proposals were rejected by Gandhi resulting in Congress launching its last battle against imperialism. The AICC met in Mumbai on August 8, 1942 and gave its final clarion call to the British Empire to ‘Quit India’. The Mahatma gave the inspiring slogan ‘Do or Die’ which became an instant inspiration for the Indian people wanting to free themselves from the shackles of slavery.
Gandhiji was arrested on the morning of August 9 and taken to Yervada prison in Pune. Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad, Rajendra Prasad, Sarojini Naidu and many other Congress stalwarts were also arrested and taken to different destinations. Jawaharlal Nehru for whom it was his 9th imprisonment was incarcerated in the Ahmednagar Fort where he spent his last and longest spell in jail lasting 2 years and 9 months. The wholesale arrest of Congress leaders touched off a spontaneous peoples’ revolt throughout India, the like of which was never seen before. Only the Muslim League, RSS and Hindu Mahasabha kept away from the movement. The authorities let loose cruel repression. According to official figures 1008 people were killed, 3,275 injured and over a lakh imprisoned. The popular estimate was atleast 3/4 times higher.
The Quit India Movement was the last nail in the coffin of British Empire. It left the imperial Government with no option but to give India freedom. But freedom came at a price: the partition of India. According to Kriplani, the Congress President at the time of independence, “India could not have achieved its independence but for the accession of strength which the nation received by the successive struggles started by Gandhiji.”
(The writer is former member of the National Commission for Minorities and a political analyst)
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