Civil Disobedience Movement

M.K. Gandhi formally launched the Civil Disobedience

Movement on April 6, 1930 by picking a handful of salt after the completion of historic ‘Dandi March’ from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, thus breaking the salt law imposed by the Government. He was the major force behind the movement and inspired grass-root participation in the freedom struggle.

C. Rajagopalachari led a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore coast in Tamil Nadu, in support of the Civil Disobedience Movement. He was arrested on April 30, 1930.

K. Kelappan, a Nair Congress leader, launched the Vaikom Satyagraha and marched from Calicut to Payanneer in defiance of salt laws.

Jawaharlal Nehru was actively involved in the movement and was arrested on April 17, 1930 for defiance of the salt law. He formulated a radical agrarian programme and suggested formation of the Constituent Assembly as the prime political slogan.

P. Krishna Pillai defended the national flag and resisted lathicharge on the Calicut beach on November 11, 1930. He later founded the Kerala Communist Movement.

Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan formed a clan of non-violent revolutionaries, the Khudai Khidmatgars (known as Red Shirts), who played an active role in the movement.

Sarojini Naidu, the first Indian woman to become the president of the Congress, was involved in a march towards the Dharsana Salt Works, a government salt depot. Other leaders who participated in this total non-violent affair were Imam Saheb,

Gandhi’s comrade of the South African struggle, and Manilal, Gandhi’s son.

Surya Sen’s Chittagong Revolt Group carried out a raid on two armouries and declared the establishment of a provisional government. He issued a manifesto in the name of Indian Republican Army and called on the Indians to revolt against the British rule. Abbas Tayabji, a leader of the nationalist Muslims in Bombay,

took the place of Gandhi in the movement after the latter’s arrest. However, he too was arrested by the Government.

Ambalal Sarabhai and Kasturbhai Lakhai gave their cooperation to Motilal Nehru in removing the barriers between the Congress and the Bombay mill-owners and industrialists.

Industrialists such as G.D. Birla (who donated from one to five lakh rupees), Jamnalal Bajaj (who served as the AICC treasurer for several years and represented Gandhian leadership in Bombay), Homi Modi, Walchand Hirachand, Lalji Naranji, Purushottamdas Thakurdas, Lala Sri Ram etc., supported the movement in its first phase. Homi Modi, in his presidential speech to Bombay Mill-owners’ Association in March 1931 said that though the Swadeshi Movement had helped the Indian industry, frequent strikes had dislocated trade and industry. Naranji and Thakurdas, who had remained indifferent to the nationalist struggle in 1921, demanded Indian control over finance, currency, fiscal policy and railways. However, from September 1930, there was a sharp decline in support from the industrialists and traders; with the prominent businessmen having differences of opinion with the Congress.

Chandraprabha Saikiani instigated the aboriginal Kachari villagers in Assam to break forest laws.

Subhash Bose and J.M. Sengupta led the faction group in Bengal Congress and set up rival organisations to conduct civil disobedience. Bose criticised Gandhi, when the latter suspended the movement in May 1933. He was supported by Vithalbhai Patel. Bonga Majhi and Somra Majhi led the movement in

Hazaribagh along the sanskritising lines with the Congress.

Kalka Prasad, a local leader in Rai Bareilly, promoted the no-rent campaign.

Santi and Suniti Chaudhari assassinated the district magistrate

of Tippera, Stevens. Their action marked the entry of women in the revolutionary movement.

Seth Achal Singh, a nationalist landlord, financed the Gram Seva Sangh in Agra and remained indifferent to riots in the area, while strictly following the policy of non-violence.

Sheikh Abdullah, a Muslim graduate, started an agitation and attacked the Srinagar jail on July 31, 1931 where 21 persons were killed in police firing. He also developed close contacts with a group of anti-autocratic Jammu Hindus led by P.N. Bazaz.

Mohammed Yasin Khan, a Muslim leader in Punjab, organised the Meos (semi-tribal peasant community with leanings towards Islam) to protest against Maharaja Jaisingh Sawai’s hike in revenue, begar, and reservation of forests for the purpose of hunting.

K.M. Ashraf, who became India’s first Marxist historian, was associated with the movement.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, who was an upholder of Gandhian policies since 1920’s, began to drift away with the launch of Harijan campaign by Gandhi. He started a breakaway Congress Nationalist Party.

Satyamurthy, Bhulabhai Desai, M.A. Ansari and B.C. Roy demanded a return to electoral politics by way of a revived Swarajya Party.

Jayaprakash Narayan, Achhut Patwardhan, Yusuf Mehrali, Ashok Mehta and Minoo Masani wanted the Congress to have affinity with left-wing.

Sampurnanand formulated ‘A Tentative Socialist Programme’ for India and a Congress Socialist Party was started in 1934, which was supported by Narendra Dev.

K.F. Nariman and Yusuf Meher Ali led the Congress youth wing and later emerged as socialist leaders.

Swami Govindanand led the movement in Karachi and Sindh.

N.V. Gadgil with his socialist leanings lent support to a temple entry movement in 1929 and established friendly ties with the non- brahmin Satyashodhak Samaj (represented by Keshavrao Jedhe of Poona).

B.R. Ambedkar, who was the leader of the untouchable

Mahars, attended the Round Table Conference in 1930. However, the Congress failed to win over the political agitation of the Mahars.

Gopabandhu Chaudhuri popularised the movement in Orissa and led the salt satyagraha in the coastal areas of Balasore, Cuttack and Puri districts.

Tarunaram Phookan and N.C. Bardoloi, two prominent Congress leaders, were against the movement in Assam. They refused to take up forest satyagraha officially.

Jadunandan Sharma activated the Kisan Sabha Movement in Gaya district of Bihar.

Duggirala Balaramakrishnaya of the Krishna district initiated a no-revenue campaign in 1931 in coastal Andhra. He also wrote a Telugu ballad Gandhi Gita which aroused patriotic sentiments.

N.V. Rama Naidu and N.C. Ranga organised a forest satyagraha in Venkatagiri estate in Nellore in 1931.

A.K. Gopalan, a school teacher, was a popular activist at Guruvayoor in Kerala and later became Kerala’s most popular communist peasant leader.

Mannu Gond and Chaitu Koiku offered forest satyagraha in Betul in Central Provinces.

Maulana Bhasani, organised a large praja sammelan at Sirajgunj and demanded abolition of zamindari and reduction in debts.

B.T. Ranadeve and S.V. Deshpande in Bombay and Abdul Halim, Somnath Lahiri and Ranen Sen in Calcutta were the young communist militants who organised several labour strikes. V.B. Karnik, Maniben Kara, Rajani Mukherji and Niharendu Dutta were other leaders who started trade union activities.

M.N. Roy and his followers popularised socialist ideas in the villages and a no-tax campaign was started in Awadh.