Social Scientist

Civil Disobedience 1930-31

Author(s): Irfan Habib
Source: Social Scientist, Vol. 25, No. 9/10 (Sep. - Oct., 1997), pp. 43-66
Published by: Social Scientist
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3517680 .
Accessed: 24/06/2014 22:39

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Social Scientist is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Social Scientist.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
IRFANHABIB*

1930-31
CivilDisobedience

Britishimperialism's position,afteritstriumphin 1918 over its main

challenger, Germany,and thelargelysuccessful containment of Soviet
Russia, was now reinforcedin India by the embarrassingly abrupt
withdrawaloftheNon Cooperationmovementin February1922.The
Union Jackseemedunassailablyascendantover the "IndianEmpire",
withthenationalists forcedintoa demoralised and disorderlyretreat.A
divisionin the nationalistcamp eruptedbetweenthe Gandhian"No
Changers"stickingto individualnon cooperationand the "Swarajist"
proponentsofelectoralparticipation as a meansofcarrying on political
oppositionto thegovernment. Whenin 1926theSwarajists experienced
severereversesin theelections,comparedwiththeir1923performance,
the "Responsivists", seekingto becomeministers underthe Dyarchy,
beganto splitthe Swarajistcamp as well. Simultaneously, the Hindu-
Muslimchasmgrewas the Hindu criticsof nationalism'sespousalof
Khilafat,on theone hand,and Muslimleaders'outcryagainstitsalleged
betrayalofthesameKhilafat, on theother,undermined theplatform of
communalunitythatNon Cooperationin 1920-22had so splendidly
built up. Gandhi's fast in 1924 in protest against the growth of
communalism had onlylimitedeffect;1925sawtheestablishment ofthe
RSS, and SwamiShraddhanand's murder. Well could Lord Birkenhead,
the secretaryof stateforIndia,claimin 1925,that"theunsubstantial
ghostofnationalism" was beinglaidto rest.
The Britishgovernment accordingly feltthatthiswas thebesttime
for itto institute
a reviewthatwouldplacethenationalists
constitutional
further intheirplace.The Government ofIndiaAct,1919,hadprovided
for the appointment,afterten years,of a statutorycommissionto
recommend,afterscrutiny, whether"to extend,modifyor restrict the

* FormerlyProfessor
ofHistory,AligarhMuslimUniversity,
Aligarh.
Vol. 25, Nos. 9-10,Sept.-Oct.1997
SocialScientist,

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
44 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

degree of[existing] responsiblegovernment".' Theappointment ofthis

commission wasnowadvanced bytwoyears, andon 8 November 1927
theannouncement wasmadeofthecommission thatwasto be headed
bythe"liberal", SirJohnSimon.India'sfatecouldnowbe determined
firmly by sevenmenrepresenting thedifferent components of the
Imperial establishment,2whiletheIndians bickered andquarrelled among
themselves.
In theevent,thestepprovedto be a grossmiscalculation, turning
outtobe a provocation ratherthana coup.Thiswasbecauseitsauthors
ignored thebasicreality thatdespitenationalism'srecent discomfitures,
thetwofundamental factorshadnotchanged, namely, India'scontinuing
impoverishment underBritish rule,andtheIndianpeople'surgefor
freedom.
Whatelsecouldrepresent thecontinuing poverty of Indiamore
dramatically thantheaverageexpectation oflifeat birth, estimated at
lessthan25 yearsoverthedecade1921-31; ithadpractically remained
stagnant, sincefourdecadesearlier(1881-91), whenit was25.5years.3
Onlyninepercentofthepopulation wasreturned as literatein 1931,
whichreflected the acuteculturalbackwardness fromwhichIndia
suffered, aftersome150yearsofBritish rule.EachsectoroftheIndian
economywas underpressure.The Royal Commissionof Indian
Agriculture,reporting in1928,drewa sombre pictureofland-exhaustion,
forwhichit couldofferonlytrivialremedies,a prudent government
having placedoutside thescopeofitsenquiries, thetwomajordrains on
thepeasant'sessential resources,viz.,rentandtaxation. At thesame
timethe1931censusfoundonlyone Indianoutofninelivingin the
towns, showing howlittleemployment outsideagriculturewasavailable.
A 'freetrade'policyhadbeenrelentlessly followed to throttle Indian
industry in the interests of importsfromBritain.The 1923Fiscal
Commission's schemeof'discriminating protection'(withwhichallits
Indianmembers leftthe bulkof Indianindustrial
dissented), sector
unprotected. In orderfurther to encourage Britishimports therupee
wasstatutorily peggedat ls.6d.(upfromls.4d.)in 1927.Everyclassof
Indians, except,perhaps, thelargeland-owners, hadreason tonursedeep-
setgrievances, whichno constitutional jugglerycouldsweepaway.
It wasnotonlythattheground forthegrievances existed: political
consciousness wasalsospreading atdifferent
levelsandindivergent forms,
whichnecessarily undermined andrestrictedtheauthority commanded
bytheloyalist andcollaborationist camps.Firstofall,after hisrelease

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1930-31 45

fromprisonin February1924,Gandhihad thrownhimselfbody and

soul intothepursuitofhis'constructive programme', concentrating on
'Swadeshi',especiallythroughthepromotionof khadi(hand-spunand
hand-woven cloth), Hindu-Muslim unity, and the removal of
untouchability; he also preachedtemperance andtheneedforspreading
education. His major objectivewas the villages,and he combined
extensivetourswithcarefulorganisational work,buildingup bodiessuch
as the Khadi Board.By 1928he had builtup a networkof centresand
volunteers throughout India,givinghimpracticalaccessto hundredsof
thousandsof the ruralpoor. In the North-WestFrontierProvince
(NWFP), Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, braving intermittent
imprisonments, builtup an educationaland social movementamong
the Pathans,centredroundthe PakhtoonJirga,establishedin 1926;it
would soon becomea vanguardcomponentofnationalmovement.
The Swarajistappeal lay more amongthe educatedmiddleclasses
despitetheirlate leaderC.R. Das's (d.1925)declaredcommitment to
"the98 percent".Buttheircontinuousand oftenableoppositionto the
Britishgovernment in thecentrallegislativeassembly(whereevenafter
1926theyheld38 out ofthe 100 electedseats)and provincialcouncils,
constantly projected the nationalist case to everyone who read
newspapers.
Beyondthesetwo majorcomponentsofthe Congresscamp,there
wasbeginning to comeintothepicturea newcurrent, admittedly affected
by the resoluteoppositionto imperialismby Soviet Russia, and the
practicalillustration it gaveto the liberationof workersand peasants
undersocialism.Its mostprominentexponentwas JawaharlalNehru,
son of the SwarajistleaderMotilalNehru. In December 1927,at the
Congress session at Madras having "recentlyarrivedfromRussia,
addressed thedelegates as 'comrades'."4He alsomoveda resolutionwhich
was dulypassed,muchto thechagrinoftheestablished leaders,declaring
that"thegoaloftheIndianpeoplewascompletenationalindependence."
WithSubhas ChandraBose, he had just establishedthe Independence
forIndia Leagueto organiseradicalyouthforthecause.
Under the new socialistimpulsetherewas a re-orientation of the
revolutionary nationalistgroupsas well. Tryingto recoverfromthe
KakoriConspiracyCase (following uponthetrainattackatKakorion 8
August1925),inwhichfourrevolutionaries Bismil,Roshan
(Ashfaqullah,
Singhand Lahiri)werehanged,andtwenty-one otherssentencedto life
andlong-term imprisonments. In March1926BhagatSinghfoundedthe

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
46 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

NaujawanBharatSabha,withtheaim of establishing "a republicof

labourers He andChandrashekhar
andpeasants". Azadweretoreorganise
theoldHindustan Republic Army(H.R.A.)astheHindustan Republican
Army(H.S.R.A.)inSeptember
Socialist 1928ina secret
meeting atDelhi.
were,of course,mostdirectly
Sovietand socialistinfluences the
sourceofinspirationforthecommunists. Constantly harassed bythe
police- fouroftheir
leaders weresentencedtofouryears'imprisonment
intheKanpurConspiracy Case(1924)- thecommunists stillsucceeded
in establishing
theWorkers' andPeasants'Partyinthemainprovinces
andbecoming forceinthetradeunions.
militant
an influential

Without theoftensilentimpactofthesevarious within

currents the
national
movement, itisnotpossibletoexplainwhytheviceroy Irwin's
confidentboastinMay1927ofbeing"ableto breaktheboycott ofthe
HinduCongress" oftheprojected SimonCommission provedsuchan
emptyone. He wouldonlynow discoverthatthe Indiannational
sensitivities
hadreached sucha pointthata commissionduetoreportto
the Britishparliamentwas not acceptable,even forpreliminary
negotiations,
simply becauseitwasall-white no Indian.
andcontained
A constitutionalwar has been declaredon Great Britain.
arenotto comefromourside.LettheGovernment
Negotiations
sueforpeace.We aredeniedequalpartnership.We willresist
the
newdoctrineto thebestofourpower.Jallianwallah Baghwasa
theSimonCommission
physicalbutchery, is a butcheryof our
souls.By appointing whiteCommission,
an exclusively Lord
Birkenheadhasdeclaredourunfitness
forself-government..
.

Thesewordscamenotfrom Nehru,butMohammad
Jawaharlal Ali
JinnahattheMuslimLeague'sCalcutta session,
on 1January1928,ashe
declaredhissupport forthenational
boycottoftheSimonCommission.
In thisboycotttheCongresswas also joinedby theliberalsandthe
HinduMahasabha.In February eventhecentralassembly carrieda
motionexpressing intheSimonComuission:the
"lackofconfidence"
votewas68to 62 ina housewherenearlya thirdofthemembers were
or government
officials nominees.
Itwasnotonlythatpractically
everyleaderwithanylargefollowing,
refusedto riseto thebaitofgiving
"evidence"beforetheCommission.
Forthefirst timesincetheendofNon cooperation, theredeveloped a

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1930-31 47

nation-wide An all-India
agitation. hartalwasorganised on 3 February
1929 when the Commission landed at Bombay, and protest
demonstrations (usuallywithblackflags andtheslogan"SimonGo Back")
andlocalhartals werewitnessed ateveryplacesubsequently visitedby
theCommission initstwojourneys inIndia.Thiswasnotwithstanding
anunrestrained degreeofpolicerepression: whentheCommission arrived
atLahoreon30October, a hugeprocession, ledbytheredoubtable Lala
LajpatRai,wasattacked bythepolice,and,gravely injured,he diedon
17November.
The politicalagitation wasaccompanied bya newmilitancy inthe
working class.Official
returns indicated a jumpinthenumber ofworking
dayslostdueto"disputes" from a mere2.0million in 1927 to31.6million
in 1928;andsome150,000 Bombaytextile workers remained on strike
fromAprilto October,ultimately winning many of their demands
through thegovernment-appointed FawcettCommittee. Leadership in
thesestruggles almostcompletely passedfromthehandsofthenon-
trade-unionists
political intothoseofthecommunists.
Peasantstirringsweresimilarly beingharnessed, byGandhi'skhadi-
cladarmy. Thecentre stageinthiswasoccupied bytheBardoli satyagraha,
undertaken ofGujarat
ina district against revenue enhancements imposed
aftera new settlement. Led by Vallabhbhai Patel,thepeasantsfrom
February 1928onwards refused topaytheenhanced revenue, andbraved
forfeitures;byAugusttheyhadforcedthegovernment practicallyto
capitulate.
The importance oftheBardoliagitation is defined,notnecessarily
lessened, bythefactthatit was essentially one ofpeasant-proprietors
notpeasant-tenants.
("pattidars"), Thenational attention itreceived was
richlydeserved, sinceit foreshadowed thefuture massiveentryofthe
peasants intheCivilDisobedience movement.
The revolutionaries madetheirownmarkon thepoliticalscene,
whenBhagatSinghandhiscomrades shotdeadanEnglish policeofficer
on 17December1927to avengethedeathofLala LajpatRai.Forlong
theauthors remained undetected.
Bothto sustainthemomentum ofthenationalist agitation andto
consolidatethealliancewiththeothergroups thathadcometogether in
opposing theSimonCommission, itwasimperative to present a united
platform ofwhat'PoliticalIndia'(a favourite expression ofthosedays)
wanted.Accordingly, an all-parties conference metin Delhiatthecall
oftheCongress, on 12February 1928,witha secondsessionatBombay

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
48 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

on 19May; a reporton whatIndia'sconstitution shouldbe wasprepared

by a committeeheadedby MotilalNehru;and thiswas approvedat the
all-partiesconferenceat Lucknow in late August. The reportwas
moderatein askingonlyfor"dominionstatus",of thesametypeas the
whitedominions.The Muslimswereto be givenreservation ofseats,in
joint electorates,in provinceswhere they were in a minority;the
electoratewas to be basedon universaladultsuffrage; andtheprovinces
wereto have autonomyin specifiedspheres.In late Decemberthe all-
partiesconventionmetat Calcuttato considerthedetailedprovisions.
It was hereunfortunately that,by whatnow seemsto have been a
tacticalerrorbytheCongressleadership, thealliancesuffered a setback.
Jinnahproposedfivepoints,amongwhichthemostimportant werethe
raisingof Muslimrepresentation in the centrallegislature from27 per
centto 33.3 percent,and a federation withresiduary powersvestedin
theprovinces.By sidingwiththeHindu Mahasabhain rejecting all the
fivepoints,the Conventionseeminglyhelpedto fulfilBirkenhead's
objectiveofleaving"Jinnahhighand dry".6Gandhi;anxiousto present
the fruitsof the all-parties'laboursto the Congresssession,meeting
almostsimultaneously at Calcutta,foronceabstainedfromtheroleofa
peace-maker.Scornfulof such wrangles,JawaharlalNehru in his
Autobiography passesovertheepisodeinsilence.7The latter'sview-point
was sharedby the communistsspeakingthroughthe Workersand
PeasantsParty,which,while accepting"thesolutionproposedto the
communalquestion"bytheall-parties' Report,arguedthatthequestion
hardlymeritedsuch"excessiveamountof attention", since"experience
tends to show thatthere is little communal feeling among themasses"!8
This can now be recognised as a wishfuldowngrading oftheideological
factor in the name of simple economism or nationalism.
idealistic One
can onlyagreewiththeofficialhistoryofthefreedommovement, that
an
such attitude at this time, leading to a "parting of the ways" with a
veryinfluential sectionof the Muslimleadership,createda persistent
divisionamongthepeople,whichimperialism washenceforth so gleefully
to exploit.'
For the moment,however,the majorcontroversy in the congress
sessionat Calcuttawas over whetherto compromiseover dominion
statusor go forward to a struggle forindependence directly.The matter
was of morethan academicinterest, becausethe recommendations of
theall-parties' Report were so draftedthat control over the armed forces
and foreignaffairs couldpossiblycontinuewithBritain.10 The two sides

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1930-31 49

wereso evenlymatchedin the CongressthatGandhicompromisedby

moving a resolution(31 December 1928) that the offerto accept
Dominion StatusstoodonlyiftheBritishgovernment acceptedthe all
parties'Reportbytheendof 1929;ifitfailedto do so,Non Cooperation
wouldbe thenextresortandtotalindependence theaim.Even so Subhas
Bose's amendment,contestingthe compromiseon dominion status
gathered973 votes(includingJawaharlal's), with1,350against.
It mightnot havebeenclearin Calcuttaon thatday,but Gandhi's
compromise resolution
byconceding thatno agitation
wouldbe launched
fortheall-parties'
Report,leftitall butpoliticallydead.For all practical
purposes,Gandhihimselfwas now committed to thegoal of complete
independence(Purna Swaraj),which,withhis instinctive espousalof
tactically
moderateslogans,was an enormousconcessionto theradicals.
Hi
The CalcuttaCongressresolution,whileit serveda defiantnotice
on imperialism, also gave it a year'srespite.The Britishgovernment
soughtto usethisperiodto deprivetheCongressofitsexistingallies,by
repression as well as blandishments.
Firstcametheturnofthecommunists. Theirgrowingstrength had
beendisplayedbya processionofsome50,000red-flag wavingmill-hands
of Calcutta,who beforethe inceptionof the Calcuttasessionof the
Congresshad occupiedthepandalfornearlytwohours,demanding that
it should acceptthe goal of completeindependence.On 21 February
1929,thegovernment ofIndiaaddresseda policyletterto theprovincial
governments voicingthe suspicionthat"Congressmen likeJawaharlal
Nehru" mightenterinto "temporary alliancewithCommunists,who
hadbeenactiveamongtheindustrial workersofCalcuttaandBombay"'.11
The verynextmonth,in a suddensweep,the government arrested31
communistand labourleaders(withone morearrested later)in various
partsof the country,chargingthemwithconspiracy"to deprivethe
Kingofthesovereignty ofBritishIndia".Theywerebroughtto Meerut
(L.P.) fortrial("MeerutConspiracyCase") and remainedprisonersas
undertrials untilJanuary1933,when heavysentenceswere imposed,
MuzaffarAhmadreceivingone oftransportation forlife.In April1929
thegovernment re-introduced a PublicSafetyBillinthecentrallegislature
to armitselfwithmorepowers.Accompanying thiswas muchofficial
propagandaaboutRussiangoldand "Bolshevik"conspiracy.
Had the Congressleadershipfalteredand joined in the clamour

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
50 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

againstcommunists, thegovernment mighthavegainedpoliticalmileage

byappearingas a defender oflaw andorderinIndia.ButCongressleaders
of even moderatecomplexionspiritedly denouncedthe government's
actions,immediatelyforminga defencecommitteefor the Meerut
accused,with Motilal Nehru as chairmanand Dr M.A. Ansari and
JawaharlalNehru as members.How "non-cooperation fromwithin"
could take place withinthe legislature was illustrated
not only by the
stoutoppositionto the Public SafetyBill in the centralassembly,but
also, remarkably, by the assemblypresidentVithalbhaiPatel's refusal,
to allow a discussionofthe Bill,sinceit could prejudicethe defenceof
theMeerutaccused,and,then,byhisuse ofhiscastingvoteto defeatthe
Bill.The viceroyhadto invokehisspecialpowersto promulgate thebill
as thePublicSafetyOrdinance.Whilethegovernment's seizureoftheir
entiretop leadershipimmenselyweakenedthe communists'striking
power, the defiantresistanceto the government' s action by the
nationalistsenabledpeopleto see it as one moreattackon civilliberties
and constitutional propriety at thehandsof imperialism.
The othertargetofthegovernment was therevolutionariesseeking
to reorganiseand revivetheirgroup. On 8 April BhagatSingh and
Batukeshwar Dutt threwbombsat thecentralassembly,to marktheir
protest,significantly enough,againstthe Public SafetyBill and the
repressiveTrade Disputes Bill. They wishedto publicisetheircause
throughtheirtrial,which was short,both being sentencedto life-
transportation in June.Unfortunately, by now BhagatSinghand his
comradeswerelinkedto Saunders'assassination; practicallythe entire
groupwas arrested, andtheirtrialbeganinJuly.This,again, was a great
blow; but the factthatthe youngmen weresacrificing themselvesfor
India, not onlymadeBhagatSingh"a symbol",butcreateda freshsource
ofbitterness againsttheBritishgovernment. 12 Theircomrade JatinDas's
deathon 13 Septemberfroma longfastoverprisonconditions,spread
griefall overthecountry, withoverhalfa millionpeopleaccompanying
-
his coffinat Calcutta Jawaharlal Nehruwas to beginhis presidential
speechat theLahoreCongresson 29 Decemberwitha homageto Jatin
Das and theBurmesemartyrVizaya.
Side by side withrepression, the Britishgovernment attempted to
entice away the moderateelements.It recognisedthat the Simon
Conimissionwas so fartarnished, and theseveralpartiesand groupsso
stronglycommitted to its boycott,thatit was not practicalpoliticsto
makeanyoffers throughitsagency.On 31 October1929Irwindirectly

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1930-31 51

issued a declarationagreeingto a Round Table Conferenceof

oftheBritish
representatives andIndianparties
government andinterests
- whichhadbeenearlier a demandoftheCongress itself. in
Secondly,
hedged
wordscharacteristically itcommitted
inwithqualifications, the
Britishgovernment to a grantof "DominionStatus",not now,but
sometimesin future.13
The statement, so blatantlyputtingtheSimonCommission in the
limbo,wonan initialresponse fromtheCongress andliberals;indeed,
on 2 November, Gandhi,MotilalNehru,Jawaharlal Nehru,Madan
MohanMalaviya, Tej Bahadur Sapruandothersissueda jointstatement
atDelhi,welcoming theIrwinstatement ofthegovernment's
asindicative
Indian
to placate
"desire.... opinion" and cooperation
offering ifcertain
substantive conditions(or "points")weremet.Theremaybe reasons
whyGandhi,though initially committed
cautious, Congress leadership
tothisambiguous position.Anexpectation, thatunder
perhaps, England's
Labourgovernment,
first thathadrecentlytakenoffice,
Indiacould hope
forsomething Or,a hopethatinreturn
better. foranacceptance ofthe
Irwindeclaration,morespecific andpolicy
constitutional concessions
might be obtainedfromtheBritish government. Buttheperilous walk
intoimperialism'sparlour wasblockedbytwoidentifiable factors.
One wasSubhasBose'sbluntrefusal toendorse theDelhistatement
followed theCongress
from
byhisresignation Committee,
Working
andJawaharlal's
pangsofconscience overit("abitter
anddeepregret
tobetalked
myself
pill...I allowed even
But,perhaps,
intosigning").14
morethan theinternaldissent camp,
inthenationalist wasthepremature
exposure oftherealnatureoftheIrwin onthefloors
Declaration ofthe
houses ofparliament inLondon, inthevery weekofNovember.
first
TheLabour government's response ToryandLiberal
totheferocious
onslaught on"theDominion status" wasextremely
concession tepid;
anditsspokesmen, including for
ofstate
thesecretary India,Wedgewood-
Benn, argued thatnothing newhadbeenoffered, andthattheSimon
Commission's finalauthorityremainedunaffected.After this,the
Congress Working Committee, on19November
compelled toformally
endorse theDelhideclaration, buttogive
hadnotchoice burial
ita quiet
aswellbymaking itsDelhioffer totheyear-end
alsosubject deadline.
Intheend,itwasonly theLiberalsandResponsivists,
who,already
left
high anddrybytheCongress's fortheall-parties'
deadline Report,
whoprofessed toremain attheIrwin
delighted andtogooff
statement,
toLondon toattendtheFirst Round TableConferencein1930,when

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
52 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

theirco-signatories
oftheDelhistatement hadbeenclappedintogoal.
ButiftheIrwinstatementwasephemeral, so wasthefollowingofthese
motleygroups.
How a followingcouldinfactbe assembledwasshownbyGandhi
bythehecticcampaign the"beloved
slave-driver"
organisedthroughout
1929.He concentratedon theboycottofforeign clothandpromotion
ofkhadi,andhetouredvariousruralpartsofthecountry carrying
the
messageof hisconstructive He devotedmuchattention
programme. to
themobilisationofwomenandto thefight againstuntouchability. Of
all theCongressleadershe showedthemostconcernforfurthering
Hindu-Muslim understanding. WhilehisnegotiationswithJinnah (who
hadbynowenlarged hisearlier fiveproposalsinto"14points")proved
unsuccessful,
Muslimleaders closetotheCongress established (27July)
theNationalist MuslimPartyavowedly to opposecommunalism and
takethe"proper shareinthenational struggle".
Itsleadersincluded Abul
KalamAzad,Dr AnsariandCh. Kahliquzaman.
Theefforts
to expandthemembership oftheCongress, whichnow
had Jawaharlal Nehruas one of its generalsecretaries, werealso
important.Congress membership crossedthehalfa million markbythe
endoftheyear(1929).15 Despiteinefficiency in reporting fromsame
areas,itwasclearthattherewasno otherpoliticalorganisation in the
country whichcouldevenremotely compare withtheCongress in size
andmobilising power.Forthecritical annualsessionatLahore, Gandhi's
namewasproposedforpresident in September, an
but,in unexpected
move,Gandhinotonlyrefused forhimself,
theoffice butsidelining the
nextname,Vallabhbhai Patel,insisted
onJawaharlal Nehru being elected
as president.
So Jawaharlalentered theoffice"by a trap-door", elected
a
by "bewildered" AICC,muchtothePresident-elect's own discomfort.16
Behindthisdecisionwas obviouslyGandhi'ssinceredesireto build
bridges withtheradicalrankswithin theCongress, evenifit weakened
thedominance ofhisownphilosophy overthemovement.
GandhiandMotilalNehru,withJinnah andSapruas mediators,
metIrwinon 23December, 1929.Frombothsidesitturned outtobe a
formal statementofpositions; GandhiandMotilalinsisting onthefour
conditionsoftheDelhistatement, andIrwinrefusing to go beyondhis
ownoriginal declaration.
Therewas,therefore, no doubtleftthatthe
deadlinesetbytheCalcutta Congress wouldpasswithout anysubstantive
concession madebytheBritish government.

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1930-31 53

IV
WhentheLahoresessionoftheCongress openedon 29 December
1929,thepath wasthusclearedfora direct callfora struggleto attain
fullindependence - "purnaswarajor azadi"intheofficial terminology
of the Congress.JawaharlalNehru's addresswas importantfor
underlining thisfact,and,no lesstoo,forgivinga visionoffreeIndia
whichwasdifferent bothfromthatofthemoderate constitutionalism
oftheearlier leadershipandfromGandhi'snostalgia fora machineless
India,withtherichseenastrustees
village ofthepoor:Jawaharlal proudly
proclaimed thathe was "a socialistand a republican". Speakingof
socialism he assertedthat"Indiawillhaveto go thatway,too,ifshe
seeksto endherpoverty andinequality"."7 Thiswasto be a newbasis
forrallyingtheIndianpoortothecauseofnational freedom, and,from
nowon,thisstress onequality andchange inthe propertysystem wasto
findincreasing inCongress
assertion declarations.
Therewasan attempt tooto assureMuslimandSikhleadersofthe
readinessoftheCongress toaccommodate Jawaharlal
theirclaims. said:
"SofarasI amconcerned I wouldgladly askourMuslim and Sikh friends
totakewhattheywillwithout orargument
protest fromme.""8 Gandhi
reopened theissueofthecommunal "solution" Report,
oftheall-parties'
bysayingthat"nowthattheNehruReporton thelinesofDominion
Statuswillbe declared to havelapsed",he hopedthat"theSikhsand
Muslims andallothersections whohadoneorothergrievances against
theNehruReportwillseenoobjection" touniting withtheCongress in
itsstruggle.19 On thisexplicitbasistheCongress passeda resolution
"assur[ing]theSikhs,theMuslims andotherminorities thatno solution
[ofcommunal inanyfuture
questions]... constitutionwillbe acceptable
to the Congressthatdoes not givefullsatisfaction to the parties
concerned". It was,perhaps, to hopethatthisassurance
entitled would
clearup themisgivings entertained byJinnah andothersabouttheall-
Report.
parties' AtthesametimetheCongress spurned theBritish offer
ofa RoundTableConference, andofconducting anynegotiations under
itsaegis.
As immediatestepsintheensuing itwasdecided
struggle to callfor
from
resignations anda boycott
thecouncils oftheir toorganise
elections,
a campaigntocnrolCongressmembers andvolunteers,andtoholdpublic
meetings.26January 1930wasto be observedastheindependence day.
On thisdaythenationaltricolourwasunfurled at countlessmeetings
throughout thecountry. Everywherea pledgedrafted by Gandhi was

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
54 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

themajorgrievances
taken:itrecited oftheIndianpeopleagainst British
ruleanddeclared thatit wouldbe "a crimeagainstmanandGod" to
submitanylongerto suchrule.The British government alsobeganits
ownonslaught: justthreedaysbeforeindependence day,SubhasBose
wassentenced to a year'srigorous
imprisonment on charges ofsedition
andconspiracy.
The campaign ofcivildisobediencewasyetto begin;in effect its
dateandformhadbeenleftto Gandhito determine. He hadas lateas
September 1929deniedthat"themassesareimpatient to be ledto civil
disobedience",20 and he was now clearlyanxiousabout creating
intermediateslogansformobilisation. His "elevenpoints"in Young
in replyto a speechby Irwin,wereclearlyaddressed
India,21ostensibly
notso muchtotheBritish government as tothevarioussections ofthe
Indianpeople. The peasants were to be enticed by the demand for a 50
percentreduction inland-revenue, tobemadepossible bycorresponding
reductions inmilitaryexpenditure andsalaries in"higher gradeservices";
andallthepoor,generally, wouldbenefit from theabolition ofthesalt
tax."Protective tariffon foreigncloth"wouldappealtothemillions of
handspinners andweaversas wellas theindustrialists andworkers in
themodern industry;
textile thedemand for the devaluation ofthe rupee
to ls. 4d. andthereservation ofcoastaltraffic to Indianshipping were
designed to harness thesympathies of Indian capital. Total prohibition
hadreligious appealforbothHindusandMuslims, andGandhihadbeen
appealing to women to
particularly support it.Finally, thedischarge of
politicalprisoners, abolition oftheC.I.D., andissueoffire-arm licenses
represented preliminary demands
political affecting both thenationalists
andordinary people.22
One can imagineGandhisubsequently scanningthislist and
narrowing thechoiceofthetarget fortheinitialoffensive topointno.4,
"abolition ofthesalttax".Thiswasanentirely regressive itscollection
tax:
in 1929-30 amounted toRs.6.76crores, a sumequaltotwo-fifths ofthe
realization fromincometax.The saltdutynotonly fell heavilyupon
thepoor,butitslevynecessitated bansonsmalllocalsalt-makers. Inline
withGandhi'sstrategic thought, the demand for its abolition was
moderate andreasonable all,saltdutydidnotexceed8.5percent
(after
of thetotalcentralrevenues), while,by doubling thepriceofsaltin
mostareas,itaffected a verylargenumber ofpeople.Moreover, itwasa
causewithwhichthepoorwouldidentify. Afterobtaining an explicit
authorization from theCongress Working Commitee (14-16February),

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1930-31 55

Gandhiannouncedthedecisionto beginthesatyagraha in a letterof 2

Marchto Irwin;and on 12 March 1930he beganit by starting on the
famousDandi MarchfromhisSabarmati AshramatAhmadabadto Dandi
on the Gujaratcoast,wheresaltcould be madefrompans.As the 241-
milelongmarchproceeded,thenumbersofthesatyagrahis grewas well
as thosewho attendedhis meetings, in which,incidentally, he insisted
on participation by the 'untouchables'as equals. The degreeof local
supportwas shownby the factthat,accordingto officialreports,227
villageheadmeninthearearesigned theirpostsaspartofnon-cooperation.
On 6 April Gandhi and his companionsdefiantlybroke the law by
extractingsalt.The newscausedgreatexcitement andsimilarsalt-making
satyagrahaswereorganised all overthecountry.On 14April,Jawaharlal
Nehru was arrested,to be tried and sentenced to six months'
imprisonment underthe Salt Act. VithalbhaiPatel, presidentof the
centralassembly(notnowtechnically a Congressmember)resigned from
the assembly,as did Malaviya(who had opposed Civil Disobedience),
on 25 April.
The growingnationalist upsurgeinspiredSurjyaSen and his fellow
revolutionaries of "theIndianRepublicanArmy"to carryout a very
bold undertaking, the Chittagongarmouryraid on 18 April. Having
seizedthepoliceand auxiliaryforcearmouries thatnight,theyretreated
to thehills,whereon 22 Apriltheyfoughta battlewithBritishtroops,
withfatalities
on both sides.Thereafter theydispersed,SurjyaSenhimself
eludingcapturefornearlythreeyears,whereafter he died a martyr's
deathon 12January1934.
As repressiongrew(thePressOrdinanceto muzzle the presswas
imposedon 27 April),popularresistancealso grew;and in late April
Peshawar,on the otherside of Chittagong, seemedto becomeforthe
momentthestorm-centre ofthemovement.
KhanAbdulGhaffar Khan,thelegendary Pathanleader,hadattended
boththe Calcuttaand Lahore sessionsof the Congress,and had made
active preparationsfor Civil Disobedience, the membershipof his
volunteerPakhtoon organisation,"Khudai Khidmatgars"(popularly
known as "Red Shirts"),reachingan estimated50,000.On 19 April,
AbdulGhaffar Khanbegancivildisobedience witha massmeetingathis
villageofUtmanzai;andthepicketing ofliquorshopswassetto beginat
Peshawarfrom23 April.Earlyon thatday,however,the government
acted,andAbdulGhaffar Khanandtheothermainleaderswerearrested.
As a protestingcrowdgatheredat theKabuli Gate at Peshawar,British

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
56 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

troopswerebrought in,witharmoured cars.Whentheindignant crowd

didnotdisperse, theyopenedfirefrommachine-guns, whichcontinued
forhours,untilbytheevening about200to250laydead(official'count':
30).Martial
lawwas,then, imposed.Itwasallsoreminiscent
ofJallianwala
Bagh.In all butone respect, however:troopsof theRoyalGarhwal
Riflesdisobeyed ordersandrefused to openfire.Theycontinued their
stoicdefianceevenwhenthecrowd, maddened bythefiringfrom British
troops,threwbrickbats andmissilesinjuringtheGarwalis.Removed
from thesceneandthentotheirbarracks, theGarhwalis refused
toreturn
to the city:theysimplysaid,theycould not open fireon their
countrymen. GuardedbyBritish troops(fortheSikhRegiment refused
theduty),theysurrendered theirarms,sixtysevenofthemweresubjected
to court martial,and receivedheavy sentences,includinglife
imprisonment. However,no courtmartial in theworldcoulddenyto
theseGarhwalis theplacetheycametooccupyinthehearts oftheIndian
people.
Peshawaritselfremained unsubdued until4 May,whenBritish
controlwasreasserted overthecity.Thesamenight(4/5May)Gandhi
wasarrested undera Regulation of1827thatmadeit possibleto detain
himwithout trial.LordIrwin,whoinAprilhadbeenhopefully speaking
of an astrologicalpredictionof Gandhi'sdeath,had now to facethe
situationhe had so much feared:India's reactionto Gandhi's
incarceration.
The waveofprotest first
struckBombay, thenewssending people
intothestreets
insuchlargenumbers astocausea general withdrawalof
thepolice.Textileworkersandrailwaymen wereoutinthousands; cloth
merchants wenton a 6-dayhartal.Policeresortedto firing
atprotesting
crowdsinCalcuttaandDelhi.TroopshadtobeusedinPeshawar again
andin Kohatin mid-May. Butitwastheindustrial townofSholapur,
whichnowrepeated theAprilexploits ofPeshawar. On 7 Mayas the
textileworkerscameout on strike,Britishauthority was violently
overthrown (somepolicemen liquorshopsweresetonfire
beingkilled),
andcontrol byCongress volunteers
wasestablished overthetown.The
government's writcouldbe re-established
onlyafter theimpositionof
martiallawon 16May.
Beforehis arrestGandhiwas planninga new styagraha at the
Dharasanasalt-works in Gujarat.
Now SarojiniNaiduandImamSaheb
(Gandhi'scolleagueofSouthAfricans days)ledsome2500marchers on
21 May."Suddenly", reported an eye-witness,theAmerican journalist

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1930-31 57

WebbMiller, "ata wordofcommand, scoresofnativepolicemenrushed

upontheadvancing marchersandrainedblowsontheirheadwiththeir
steel-shod Not oneofthemarchers
lathis. evenraisedan armtofendoff
theblows...Thosestruck downfellsprawling unconsciousorwrithing
withfractured skullsor brokenshoulders.The survivors, without
breaking ranks,silentlyanddoggedly marched onuntilstruckdown".23
Nothingbetter brings outthebiasof 'theCambridge school',withits
silentsupposition thatEnglishmen couldneverlie,whilethewordof
Indiansisalwayssuspect, thanJudithBrown'sattributionofthe"blood-
curdlingaccounts to
ofpolicebrutality" the"excellent machine
publicity
oftheCongress": the"savagepolicebeatings"didnot,ofcourse,occur
weretheynot"refuted" bythegovernment - somethreeweeksafter the
incident,on 11June?24
The SaltSatyagraha in themeantime grewalmostspontaneously
intoa masssatyagraha. Everywhere merchants andshopkeepers dealing
in foreign cloth(especially English)hadto facepicketing and social
boycott;the unpopularforestlaws,weredefiedin Maharashtra,
Karnataka, andCentral Provinces. A newphasebeganwhenpeasants in
Gujarat,starting from Bardoli(10May)refused topayrevenue, braving
theseizureof theircropsandlands.In Midnapore district of Bengal
peasantdefiance tooktheformofrefusal to paychowkidar tax.
Thegovernment replied bythePrevention ofIntimidation Ordinance
andtheUnlawful Instigation Ordinance,bothpromulgated on30May.
On 20JulycametheNews-sheets andNewspapers Ordinance, followed
on 10OctoberbytheUnlawful Ordinance.
Association Correspondence
cameundercensorship, theCongress anditsassociate organisationswere
declared illegal,andtheirfundsmadesubject to seizure.
Thesemeasures didnotappeartohaveanyeffect onthemovement:
EvenMuslimnationalists, likeDr M.A.Ansari, whohadbeencritical of
theLahoredecision to launchCivildisobedience, trainedtheirgunson
theBritish government; Syed Mahmud, Tasadduq Sherwani, andRafi
Kidwainowwentto jail.So didMadanMohanMalaviya.The over-all
strongmiddle-class support tothemovement wasshownintheelections
inSeptember 1930,wheretheCongress-imposed boycott inthelimited
electoratesforced a fallfrom a pollpercentage of 48.07 in theprevious
elections(1926)to a mere26.1intheelections heldnowforthecentral
legislativeassembly; in the provincial councils a similartrendwas
noticeable in all provinces, butthesharpest fallwasin Bombay,from
48.2in 1926to 16.5in 1930.The declinealsoextended to mostMuslim

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
58 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

constituenciesintheprovincialcouncilelections,butitwassignificantly
less sharpthanin the general(non-Muslim) constituencies.25The large
numbersof personscourtingarrestexceededall expectations.Official
reports(boundto be conservative) indicatedthat29,054personswerein
prisonin connectionwithCivil Disobediencein mid-November 1930.
Of these359 werewomenand 1,150Muslims.Whilethespreadofthe
movementhad local variations, pocketsofintenseactivityinterspersed
withrelativelyquiet areas- an unevennesson whichmuchstresshas
been laid in recentwork - a largedegreeof participation was seen in
towns,andthemovementwas undoubtedly makingsignificant gainsin
thevillages.
The Civil DisobedienceMovementcoincidedwiththeonsetofthe
mostcriticalperiodof the 1929-32Depression.The weightedindexof
agriculturalpricesshowsthatpriceshadbeendeclining since1926(when
it was 283),butin 1930therewas a suddendipfrom252 (in 1929)to 206.
Such a fall meantthat peasantswould findit veryhard to pay the
zamindars(landlords)thecash rentsdue to thelatter,or to repaytheir
loans to the usurers,or, in areaswheretheywerethe revenue-payers
themselves, to paytherevenueto government. In Gujaratwherethelast
situationprevailed,the battlehad been enteredin rightearnestin May
itself.And now the conflagration spreadas the peasantsin increasing
numberssawtheirfinancial salvationin CivilDisobedience.Atthesame
time, the depression affectedthe towns differently.The rising
unemployment (together withtheorganisational oftheMeerut-
effects
case imprisonments) greatlyreducedworking-class militancy(reflected
in a mere2.2 millionworking-days lost in 1930,comparedwith 12.2
millionin 1929).Urbanmiddle-class participation hadperhapsalsopassed
itszenithby theautumn.
WhenJawaharlal Nehrucameoutofprison(briefly as itturnedout)
on 11 October 1930,he immediately saw the dualityin the situation:
therewas a vast opportunityofferedfor a no-taxcampaignamong
peasants,but wherepeasantswerezamindars'tenants,as in U.P., this
could, only become a no-rentcampaignand, therefore, raisea "class
issue". On the otherhand,the existingCivil Disobediencecampaign
was "gettinga bit stale";and "thecitiesand middleclasseswere a bit
tiredof hartalsand processions".Nehnr's instinctiveanswerto this
dilemmawas to takethebullbythehorns.Ifa "freshinfusionofblood"
had to come,ithad to be fromthepeasantry - "thereservestocksthere
wereenormous".CivilDisobediencewould,then,"againbecomea mass

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1930-31 59

movement,touchingthe vitalinterests of the masses".26About 1,600

delegategathered atAllahabadon 19Octoberto open"a no-taxcampaign"
in thedistrict.Jawaharlalspokeat it and was promptlyre-arrested,and
sentencedto a totaloftwoyears'rigorousimprisonment, witha further
fivemonthsin defaultoffines.
The sentenceon Jawaharlal ofthekindoftreatment
was illustrative
the civil resisterswere getting.Floggingsbeganto occur in prisons.
Accordingto an official therewerestillin February1931some
estimate
23-24,000Civil Disobedienceprisoners, and thetotalnumberof those
who hadbeenthroughjailwasputat 60,000.The AICC reported 92,000
convictionsduringtheperiodup to thesuspensionofthemovementin
March 1931. The massiveimpactof the movementwas seen in the
dramaticfallin theconsumptionofBritishcloth,theimportofBritish
cottonpiece-goods precipitately
falling from1,248millionyardsin 1929-
30 to only 543 millionyardsin 1929-30;and thisdespitea greatfallin
pricesin theratioof26.0 to 22.5 perunitof all foreignclothimported.
The psychologicalshiftamongthe Indianconsumerswas so profound
that the share in the Indian marketnow lost by Britainwas never
regained."

v
On 26January 1931,ontheveryfirst oftheIndependence
anniversary
pledge,all membersoftheCongressWorkingCommitteewerereleased,
includingGandhi and JawaharlalNehru. The unconditionalrelease
signalledthe Britishgovernment'swish to have anotherattemptat
negotiations.
An earlierabortiveattempthad been made throughmediatorsin
August1930.MotilalandJawaharlal Nehruhad beentakenfromNaini
Jailto YeravadaJailto meetGandhi,in orderto framethe Congress
responseto theBritishgovernment's desirethattheCongresstakepart
in the FirstRound Table Conference.The Congressleaderscountered
with a strongdemandforsome priorBritishcommitment to India's
rightto secedefromtheempire.The first RoundTable Conferencewas,
a
therefore,meeting between British inLondon(12November
politicians
1930to 19January1931)withmotleyloyalist,"liberal"and communal
leaders, and princes' representatives,which resulted in nothing
substantial,partlybecausethesegroupscouldnotagreeamongthemselves
on any point, and, partly,because withouttheircommandingany
influenceover any section of Indian opinion, theiragreementwas

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
60 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

politicallyworthless.On the closingday of the conference the British

primeminister RamsayMacDonald madea speechwhichseemedto lay
beforeIndia the verylimitedperspective of the grantof "responsible"
government in theprovinces;a "federation", whichwould includethe
princes,withtheirinternalpowersunimpaired; and thecontinuanceof
Britishauthority overthearmy,externalrelationsandtheprotectionof
Britisheconomicinterests and ofminorities. The Conferencewas to be
convenedagain.On 17JanuaryLord Irwinin his speechto thecentral
assembly,utteringsweet words about Gandhi ("no one can fail to
recognise thespiritualforcewhichimpelsMrGandhito countno sacrifice
too greatin thecause,as he believes,oftheIndiahe loves"),invitedhim
andtheCongressto participate in theSecondRoundTable Conference.
It is more or less clear why the Britishgovernment should have
endeavouredonce againto achieve an end to the Civil Disobedience by
concedingnothingsubstantial. Whatwasbeingoffered, onlyintheform
of vagueprinciples,was severelyconstrained: "self-government" was a
farcryfromdominionstatus,let alone "puma swaraj".All methodsof
repression had failedto bringtheCivilDisobediencemovementto heel;
and alreadyin December1930,Irwinhad admittedto the secretary of
thestatethattheadministration had "beensubjectto continuousstrain
fornearlynine months",and "we cannotaffordto allow thestrainto
getheavier".28 Therewas someofficial alarmbyMarchat theCongress
organisinga movementagainstfull-rent paymentin U.P.; and even a
friend oftheBritishgovernment, Tej BahadurSapruadmitted (25March)
thatthe economicsituationof the U.P. peasantswas "verybad", and
"theyhave been thoroughlyinfectedby the 'no-rent'doctrines".29 If
victorycould not be forcedover the Congressin theseconditions,a
trucecould be of inestimable advantageto thegovernment.
Whatdoesnotcomeoutimmediately so clearlyis whytheCongress
leadership, and Gandhi,in particular, shouldreversethepositiontaken
at Yeravadain Augustand move towardsa truce. SumitSarkarhas
arguedthat Indian big businesspressurewas now at work. Indian
industrialhouses had been placatedby a surchargeof 5 per cent on
importedpiece goods imposedin February1931; and he quotes D.P.
Khaitan'sspeechas presidentoftheIndianChamberof Commerce,11
February,suggesting "to MahatmaGandhiand the Congressthatthe
time has come when they should explore the possibilities of an
honourable settlement...We all want peace". Sir Purushottamdas
Thakurdas,the leadingindustrialist of Bombay,had invitedthe ire of

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1930-31 61

the Congressin November1931,forgivinga farewelldinnerto the

Bombay police commissioner;now, he was the principalbusiness
representative tryingto persuadeGandhito goto thenegotiating table.30
Gandhicouldnotwhollyignoretheopinionofthisclass,howevermuch
hisown backersfromamongstitsranksOikeAmbalalSarabhaiandG.D.
Birla)remainedloyaland appearedunassertive.
It is yetpossiblethattheprincipalfactormotivating a compromise
lay elsewhere:in an appreciation thatthe satyagrahaas conductedtill
hithertowas losingsteam;and neitherGandhinor the Congresswere
eitherideologicallyor organisationally preparedto harnessthe vast
reservesof peasantunrestover rentthatNehru had spokenof. There
was,first, thetacticaldisadvantagethat"neithergovernment northebig
zamindarstook any widespreadaction to terrorisethe recalcitrant
tenantryforseveralmonths",3" so thata politicalconfrontationcould
notimmediately emerge.Secondly,theCongressorganisation itselfhad
a largenumberof zamindarsand was hardlyanti-zamindar agitation.
Moreover,Nehruhimselfacknowledges thattherewas littlereflection
oftheagrarian orientationoftheCongressinprovincesotherthanU.P.32
The dangerin lettingthe Civil DisobedienceMovementlose its
momentumwithouta compromisewas the demoralisation thatwould
thereuponset in amongthose who had been imprisonedand whose
propertyand official postshad beenforefeited.Theirsituationweighed
heavilyon Gandhi'smind,as he andtheCongressWorkingCommittee
were compelledto takethe fatefuldecisionfornegotiations thatthey
did. Motilal Nehru's death (6 February1931) had deprivedthe top
Congressleadershipofan old moderatewho in hislastdayshad takena
veryuncompromising stand;andhisabsencetendedto isolateJawaharlal
in his forlornstruggle againstthecurrent.
The surrounding circumstanceswerestillby no meanspropitious
fora compromise. Chandrashekhar Azad,thewell-known revolutionary,
diedin an encounterwiththepoliceat Allahabadon 27 February.On 7
October 1930 BhagatSingh,Sukhdevand Rajguruwere sentencedto
deathby the specialtribunal,and theirhangingwas set for23 March
1931.All Indiawas anxiousforthesavingoftheiryounglives;butit was
clear that the Britishgovernmentwould exclude the case fromits
negotiations withtheCongress.
Conversations tookplacebetweenGandhiandIrwinattheViceregal
Lodge, Delhi, beginningon 27 February;and on 5 Marchthe official
GazetteofIndia Extraordinary publishedthetermsoftheGandhi-Irwin

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
62 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

agreement.33 By it,the Civil DisobedienceMovementof the Congress

was to be "discontinued" (notwithdrawn) whiletheGovernment would
releaseallpoliticalprisoners andwithdraw theOrdinancesissuedduring
theperiodofCivil Disobedienceas wellas thenotifications ofunlawful
associations.The agreementwent into detail in definingwhat the
Congresscouldnotdo (e.g.undertake defianceoflaws,agitatefor"non-
paymentofrevenue",resortto aggressive picketing);on theotherhand,
the matterof inquiries againstthe police was explicitlyshelved.
Government grantofreleasewouldnot applyto prisonersconvictedof
or chargedwithviolence.Civil resisters' land and immovableproperty
thathadbeenconfiscated wouldbe returned, butnotifithadbeen"sold
to thirdparties".Posts fromwhichsupportersof the movementhad
been removed mightbe restoredto them if no freshpermanent
appointments had been made.The ban on salt-making would be lifted
forthosewho did not makeit forthegeneralmarket.As forthelarger
politicalsettlement, theprinciplesofRamsayMacDonald'sspeechof 19
Januarywere to be made the basis for "the participationof the
representatives oftheCongressinthefurther discussions...on thescheme
of constitutional reform".
The announcementof the Gandhi-Irwin pact was greetedby the
Congressrankand fileas a greatsuccess.Withina fewdays,some 14000
of the politicalprisonerswere released;34 and as theycame out, they
receivedwarmpublicreceptions in theirtownsandvillages.It appeared
to them,as it didto WinstonChurchill,theinveterate enemyofIndian
freedom, thattheBritishviceroyhad atlistbeenforcedintonegotiating
withGandhi"as an equal and as ifhe (Gandhi)werethevictorin some
warlikeencounter"(Speech,12March).It couldbe arguedthatthetruce
would givetimeto theCongressto consolidateand reopenthestruggle
even morevigorously, ifthe promised"constitutional reform"proved
to the inadequate.Indeed,the government seemedmuchtroubledby
thesecountrywide celebrations oftriumph, whichseemedto giveto the
Congress so much added and
prestige strength.35
But those who had thoughtof an uncompromising strugglefor
independence, like JawaharlalNehru and Subhas Bose, were leftto
wonderifall thesoundand furyhad notendedin "a whimper".36 Their
premonitions to
proved be justified. Even thepromises ofthe MacDonald
statement wereneverfulfilled. IttookmorethanfouryearsfortheBritish
parliament to embodythem,underthemostrestrictive interpretation,
in the GovernmentofIndiaAct, 1935;and two yearsmorehad to pass

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1930-31 63

beforethis Act's provisionsfor "ProvincialAutonomy"were

implemented (afterthe 1937elections).The provisionsforsharing
atthecentre
"responsibility" theGovernment
wereneverputintoeffect,
of IndiaAct,1919,remainingin forcein partrightup to 1947.The
absenceof a time-frame pledgesof any
deprivedall constitutional
meaning. Therewereotherstoo outsidetheCongress whoprotested:
On 16Marchata labourmeeting atParel,Bombay, Gandhiconfronted
communist hecklerswhotauntedhim for the
forgetting Meerut accused,
hisownelevenpointsand"thesubstance Butthe
ofIndependence".3'
mostemotional outcrycame fromthe supportersoftherevolutionaries
whofeltthatenoughhadnotbeendoneforsavingBhagatSingh,who,
withhistwocomrades, wenttothegallowson 23 March,headhighto
thelast.
TheGandhi-Irwin pactwastobepresented totheCongress meeting
at Karachi,dueto meetin thelastweekofMarch1931.Despitesome
publicdemonstrations againstGandhiby groupsofradicalyouth,the
Congress passed(29 March)a resolution approving thetermsof "the
provisional settlement",butasserting that"theCongress goalofpurna
swaraj(complete independence)remains Whatwaspotentially
intact".38
farmoreimportant was,however, a resolutionon "fundamental rights
andeconomicchanges". The textwasoriginally drafted byJawaharlal
Nehru,and revisedby Gandhi.Thoughthe extentof revisionit
underwent fromGandhiji'shandsis notknown,theresultcontained
substantialdepartures fromthe Gandhiancreed.The resolution
demanded "substantialreductioninagriculturalrentorrevenue paidby
thepeasantry, andincaseofuneconomic holdingsexemption from rent".
Inhisspeechontheresolution Gandhimadeitclearthatlegislation, not
persuasion, wouldbe theinstrument to bringitintoeffect, thoughhe
appealed tothezamindars toanticipatethecoming Similarly,
legislation.
thepointabout'controlofusury"meant, in Gandhi'sownexposition
ofit,thatlegislation for"drastic reductions"in ratesofinterest would
be on theagenda.Fiveoutofthe20 pointsrelated to protectionand
rights ofthe working class. "control
Finally, by theStateof key industries
andownership ofmineral resources"was a remarkable concession to
thesocialist aspirationsgrowing within the Congress ranks.There were
alsoassurances oftheabolition equalrights
ofcastedisabilities, forwomen
andprotection tominorities(withthestateobliged tomaintain "religious
neutrality"),onwhich,ofcourse, therehadhardly beenanydifferences
hitherto between Gandhiandtheradicals.39

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
64 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

The shortresolutionwas expandedlaterby the AICC into a full-

fledgedprogramme, offering thevisionof a modern
whatis essentially
secular democracy with welfare policies and planned industrial
developmentunderstateaeigs. The Congressnow had a social and
economicplatform withwhichithopeditcouldrallypeasants,workers,
womenand minorities.
The KarachiResolutionas a blue-printoffreeIndiawasan important
achievemenit:to Sir Tej BahadurSapru,it appeareda tacticalmove to
winendorsement oftheGandhi-Irwin agreement,butstill"a heavyprice
forthe allegianceofJawaharlal".40But thereis no doubtthatGandhi
had himselfsincerelycome roundto theviewthatthe"reserves" ofthe
peasantsand workerscould not be calledup forthebattleforfreedom
withoutpromisesof profoundchangesin the land systemand the
industrialorder.It was on an appeal to thispledgethatthe national
movementhenceforth heavilyrelied.41
New days of trial would come soon: Congress leaders and
functionariesin thousandswereputin prisonagainin 1932whenCivil
Disobediencewasrenewed, withconvictionsapproaching75,000byApril
1933. In 1940 imprisonments beganagain;and withQuit-India(1942)
prison-entryhad yet anothercycle.All throughthesehardtimesthe
Indian people remainedunswervingin theirloyaltyto the national
movement;and theKarachiprogramme againand againby
reaffirmed
the Congressremaineda beacon lightforthem.As we celebrateour
fiftyyears of freedom,the Karachi resolutionmust surely be the
touchstoneby whichwe can testhow thepromisemadeto thosewho
workedand suffered forour freedomhas beenfulfilled.

NOTES
1. This was throughthe inserticnof Section84A into the Governmentof India
Act, 1915. The words "to restrict"are also includedin the textof the Royal
appointment oftheSimonCommission,formally issuedon 26 November1927.
2. A significantpointerto theincorporation ofa partoftheBritishLabour Party
in thisestablishmentwas theinclusionof two Labour members,one of whom
was the futureLabour PrimeMinister,ClementAttlee.
3. P. Das Gupta's revisedestimatesbased on censusage distribution, Population
XXV (1971),tabulatedbyL. andP. Visariain Cambridge
Studies, EconomicHistory
ofIndia,II, Cambridge,1983,p.502.
4. J.Coatman,Indiain 1927-28, OfficialGovernment ofIndiaStatementlaidbefore
Parliament,Calcutta,1928,p.61.
5. Quoted in StanleyWolpert,Jinnah ofPakistan,New York, 1984,p.90.
6. Quoted in Wolpert,p.93.

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1930-31 65

7. An Autobiography, London, 1936,pp.184-5,but see p.172.

8. Documents oftheHistory oftheCommunist PartyofIndia,ed. G. Adhikari,Vol.III
C (1928),New Delhi, 1982,p.218.
9. Tara Chand,History oftheFreedom Movement, PublicationDivision,Government
ofIndia,New Delhi, 1972,pp.111-116.
10. For example,Paragraph23(c) oftheRecommendations impliedthattherecould
be Departmentsnot administeredby membersof the Executive Council
responsibleto theLegislature.
11. Text as summarizedby JudithM. Brown, Gandhi and Civil Disobedience,
Cambridge,1977,p.60.
12. "He becomea symbols;theact[Saunders'assassination] wasforgotten, thesymbol
remained,and withina fewmonths[ofhis arrest]eachtown and villageofthe
Punjab,and to a lesserextentin the restof northernIndia,resoundedwithhis
name" (Nehru,Autobiography, p.175).
13. "I am authorized,on behalfofHis Majesty'sGovernment, to stateclearlythat,
in theirjudgement, it is implicitin the[Montagu]Declarationof 1917thatthe
naturalissue of India's constitutional progress,as therecontemplated, is the
attainment ofDominionStatus".The 1917Declarationhadcontemplated a stage-
by-stage"gradualdevelopmentof self-governing institutions".
14. Autobiogravhy, p.197.
15. The totalbeing5, 10,276 as reportedto theAICC beforetheLahore sessionof
the Congress(Brown,Gandhiand Civil Disobedience, p.52).
16. J.Nehru,An Autobiography, pp.194-5.
17. Selected'Wlorksoffawaharlal Nehru,ed. S. Gopal, IV, Delhi, 1973,p.192.
18. Ibid,p.187.
19. Gandhiat SubjectsCommittee, AICC, 27 Dec. 1929:CollectedWorksofMabatma
Gandhi,XI I, New Delhi, 1970,p.324.
20. CollectedWorks, XLI, p.519.
21. CollectedWorks, XLII, pp.432-35.
22. Nehru saw these points as "a surprisingdevelopment",a come-downfrom
"independence" (Autobiography, p.210);formuchharshercriticism on thisscore,
seeR.P. Dutt,India Today,Bombay,1947,p.298.JudithBrown'sanalysisseems
to me morereasonablehere(Gandhiand CivilDisobedience, pp.922-3).But,then,
we can now havetheadvantageofhindsight!
23. Quoted from:.Fischer,TheLifeofMahatmaGandhi,in Tara Chand,IV, p.127.
24. Brown,Gandhiand CivilDisobedience, pp.113-4.Browndoesnotpauseto think
how the Congress"publicitymachine"could haveworked,whenitspamphlet
TheBlackRegimeat Dharasanawas promptly banned,anditscopiesconfiscated.
25. See theusefultablesin Brown,pp.390-93.
26. Autobiography, pp.131-2.
27. Seethetable"GrossImportsofCottonPiece-goodsintoIndia,1900-1to 139-40"
in AmiyaKumar Bagchi,PrivateInvestment in India, 1900-1939,Cambridge,
1972,p.238.
28. Telegram,20 Dec., quotedby Brown,pp.168-9.
29. Quoted, ibid.,p.198.
30. SumitSarkar,'The LogicofGandhianNationalism',Li IndianHistoricalReview,
I11(1)(1976),esp.,pp.136-41.
31. Autobiography, p.237.ButGandhiinhisconversations withtheHome Secretary
H.W. Emersonon 6 April 1931 did referto "brutaltreatment of tenantsby
landlords"in U.P. (CollectedWorksofMahatmaGandhi,Vol. XLV, p.454).It is

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
66 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

interesting to impartto thetenant-landlord

thatEmersonwas all thetimetrying
strugglea communalcolouring,by stressingthe exceptionalcases of Hindu
tenantsvs. Muslimlandlords.
32. p.238.
Autobiography,
33. The textis convenientlygivenin ColkctedWorksofMahatma Gandhi,XLV,
pp.432-6.
34. CollectedWorksofMahatmaGandhi,XLV, p.324:Irwin'sreportofhisstatement
made to Gandhi on 19 March.The cases of the remainingpoliticalprisoners
were'being examined".
35. J.Nehru,Autobiography,p.263.
36. Ibid.,p.259.
37. For Gandhi'sown conciliatory,thoughratherpatronisingreply,see Collected
Works,LXV, pp.298-300.
38. Ibid.,p.363.
39. See bothfortheoriginalresolutionand Gandhi'sspeech,ibid.,pp.370-74.
40. Quoted in Brown,p.203.
41. The KarachiResolutionwas reaffirmed,forexample,in the Congresselection
manifestoofDecember1936.

This content downloaded from 62.122.77.83 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:39:15 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions