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Modern India: 15 March

GHADAR MOVEMENT
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West Coast of North America had since 1904, become home of Punjabi immigrants
(also ex-soldiers)

Restriction on Indian immigration into Canada in 1908.

Tarak Nath Das (student) started a paper called Free Hindustan in Vancouver.

Ramnath Puri - a political exile in the West Coast, issued Circular-e-Azadi in 1907

G. D. Kumar -- founded Swadesh Sevak Home in Vancouver

India House was already founded in London by Shyamji Krishna Verma

Gurumukhi Paper Swadesh Sevak (by G.D. Kumar) asked social reform and Indian
troops to fight British.

In 1910 T. N. Das & G.D. Kumar, set up United India House at Seattle in US.

Visit of Bhagwan Singh in 1912, a Sikh priest who had worked in Hong Kong and Malay
States. Advocated Bande Mataram and violent overthrow of British in India

Lala Har Dayal arrived in California in April 1911, taught briefly at Stanford.

Bomb attack on Hardinge in Delhi on 23 Dec, 1912 spearheaded by Rash Behari

Bose

Hindu Association formed at Portland (May 1913).

Weekly Paper The Ghadar was published

Yugantar Ashram founded in San Francisco.

First issue of Ghadar (meant Revolt) on November 1, 1913in Urdu, and Dec, 9, 1913 in
Gurmukhi.

Collection of Poems Ghadar di Goonj

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Komagata Maru : name of the ship: April 4, 1914 voyage to Canada from Hongkong.

Lala Hardyal was arrested on 25th March, 1914.

Gurdit Singh, an Indian contractor, chartered the ship Komagata Maru to Vancouver
carrying 376 passengers.

Ghadar activists visited the ship at Yokohama in Japan.

Canadian Supreme Court had allowed non-continuous journeyed Indians into Canada in
Nov, 1913. Encouraged by that verdict, Baba Gurdit Singh chartered the ship.

However, Canadian govt. amended the immigration laws & again disallowed noncontinuous journeyed Indians to disembark.

To fight for the rights of passengers, a Shore Committee was set under the
leadership of Hussain Rahim, Sohan Lal Pathak and Balwant Singh.

The ship was sent back. Moreover, in the wake of the 1st World War, the British
govt. asked the ship to straight away reach Calcutta & not stop allow any passenger
to get down anywhere en-route.

At Budge -Budge, Calcutta, when the ship disembarked, the passengers clashed with
the police out of frustration as well as police high handedness. 18 passengers were
killed and 202 arrested. Rest were forced to move to Punjab.

The Ghadar activists used this emotive issue to flare up a rebellion in Punjab.

Chief Khalsa Diwan proclaimed loyalty to Britishers, helped Government to track

down rebels.

Rash Behari Bose assumed leadership in mid-Jan, 1915. Around 8,000 immigrants
returned, 5000 were allowed to return.

45 rebels were sentenced to death. Kartar Singh Sarabha was hanged.

HOME RULE MOVEMENT

Annie Besant came to India in 1893 to work for the Theosophical Society.

In 1914, she planned a Home Rule League on the Irish model.

In 1915: Besant launched two newspapers viz. New India and Common Weal

Tilak started Home Rule League in April 1916 at Belgaum

Annies followers, Jamunadas Dwarakdas, Shanker Lal Banker and Indulal Yajnik set up a
Bombay based newspaper called Young India.

In Sept, 1916, Besants Home Rule started off with George Arundale as Organising
Secretary.

Tilaks league: Maharashtra (except Bombay) Karnataka, Central Provinces, Berar.

Besants League concentrated in Rest of India & Bombay.

Tilak advocated formation of provinces on Religions (on Linguistic) basis.

Tilak was defended against British by lawyers led by Jinnah.

Ramaswamy Aiyar, B.P. Wadia, Nehru, B. Chakravarti and J. Bannerjee Home Rule
Leaguers.

Servants of India Society : founded by Gokhale

In June 1917, government arrested Besant, Wadia and Arundale and in protest Sir S.
Subramanian Aiyar renounced his knighthood.

Madan Mohan Malviya enlisted as a Home Ruler Leaguer.

At Gandhijis instance, Shankerlal Banker and Jamnadas Dwarkadas collected 1000

signatures of men willing to defy Govt. to march to Besants place of detention.

Besant released in September 1917 and was elected as Congress President in December
1917.

Tilak went to England in 1918 to fight a libel case notified against Valentine Chirol,
author of Indian Unrest. In that book, Chirol held Tilak responsible for the
revolutionary unrest in India an allegation which Tilak vehemently opposed.

DEMANDS OF BAL GANGADHAR TILAK IN HOME RULE

SWARAJ

FORMATION OF STATES on a LINGUISTIC basis

EDUCATION through VERNACULARS

REMOVAL OF UNTOUCHABILITY

GANDHIS EARLY CAREER

Landed at Durban in 1893 on a 1-year contract to sort out the legal problems of Dada
Abdullah, a Gujrati merchant.

First Indian barrister, 1st highly educated Indian to have gone to South Africa.

Son of a Dewan (Minister) - Karamchand Gandhi, of an Indian State.

He was racially humiliated while travelling from Durban to Pretoria

Halted at Johannesberg.

Started a paper Indian Opinion

1906 = launched Satyagraha

He sarcastically called Jail as King Edwards Hotel.

Gandhiji was jailed in October 1908 for his protests against immigration laws.

Set up Tolstoy farm with the help of a German friend and architect Kallenbach (Tata
also sent Rs.26,000/-) Congress, Muslim League & Nizam of Hyderbad too sent help.

CHAMPARAN SATYAGRAHA (1917)

Raj Kumar Shukla asked Gandhijis help. Brij Kishore, Rajendra Preasad, Mahadev
Desai, Narhari Parikh, J. B. Kripalini, all part of the movement

Armed with evidence of 8,000 peasants, he convinced the Commission that the
teen-kathia system need to be abolished. Gandhiji agreed that the planters would
refund only 25% of the illegal exactions taken from the peasants.

Peasants were not supposed to grow Indigo on 3/20th of their farmlands [tin-kathia]

MILL WORKERS OF AHMEDABAD:

Employers wanted to withdraw the Plague Bonus once the epidemic had passed.
Workers wanted it to stay as a sort of compensation for the rise in the cost of
living during the 1st World War. Ambalal Sarabhai Mill Owner, Gandhis friend,
saved Sabarmati Ashram from extinction through a grand donation.

Employer offered 20% bonus and threatened to dismiss those who did not accept it.
Gandhi advised workers to go on a strike.
Asked for a 35% increase in wages.
He addressed workers every day on the banks of the Sabarmati River. Ambalals
sister Anusua Behn was with Gandhi went on a strike to strengthen to resolve the
issue of the workers. Millowners put the whole issue to tribunal. Strike was
withdrawn and the tribunal later awarded 35% increase in wages.

In KHEDA (Gujarat) 1918: A famine had struck the district and a large part of
Gujarat, and virtually destroyed the agrarian economy.
The poor peasants had barely enough to feed themselves, but the British
government of the Bombay Presidency insisted that the farmers not only pay full
taxes, but also pay the 23% increase stated to take effect that every year.

Remissions of land revenue ignored by government Gujarat Sabha

In Gujarat Sabha, Gandhiji was the President and advised peasants to fight unto
death against vindictiveness and tyranny. He also played a leading role in the
agitation.

Vallabhai Patel and Indulal Yagnik joined the struggle. At the end, Gandhiji withdrew
the movement in 1918, with the Government passing orders that revenue be
recovered only from those peasants who could pay the tax.

Rowlatt Act, 1919 passed

The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919 popularly known as

the Rowlatt Act was a legislative act passed by the Imperial Legislative

Council in Delhi on March 21, 1919, indefinitely extending "emergency measures"

(of the Defence of India Regulations Act) enacted during the First World
War in order to control public unrest and root out conspiracy in India. Passed on
the recommendations of the Rowlatt Committee and named after its president,
British judge Sir Sidney Rowlatt, this act effectively authorized the
government to imprison any person suspected of terrorism living in the Raj for
up to two years without a trial, and gave the imperial authorities power to deal
with all revolutionary activities. The unpopular legislation provided for stricter
control of the press, arrests without warrant, indefinite detention without trial,
and juryless in camera trials for proscribed political acts. The accused were
denied the right to know the accusers and the evidence used in the trial. Those
convicted were required to deposit securities upon release, and were prohibited
from taking part in any political, educational, or religious activities.

Hartal at Delhi on 30th March 1919

Hartal All Over India : 6th April 1919.

Jalliianwala Bagh : 13th April, 1919 ( it was Baisakhi day)

379 dead (officially)

and shooting went on for 10 minutes continuously by the Gorkha regiment at the
orders of General Dyer.

Accepting the report of the Repressive Laws Committee,

the Government of India repealed the Rowlatt Act, the Press Act, and
twenty-two other laws in March 1922
KHILAFAT MOVEMENT (1919 20)
Ali brothers [Maulana Mohd Ali & Shaukat Ali], Hasrat Mohani and Hakim Ajmal Khan
spearheaded the movement. Their chief demands were:
i)

Turkish Caliph should retain control over Muslims sacred places

ii)

Proper territorial adjustments for Caliph

iii)

Sovereign control of Muslims over Jazirat-ul-Arab (i.e. Arab, Syria, Iraq &
Palestine)

Alexander Muddiman enquired into the defects of the Montagu-Chelmsford Act of

1919. Committee included Sapru, Jinnah, Paranjape, Sivaswami Iyer, Motilal. But they
boycotted to be a part of it.

Motilal accepted seat in Skeen Committee in 1924, though he had declined a seat in
Muddiman Committee. Ramaswamy Iyer sat in Public Accounts Committee. Even C. R.
Das put some proposals to come to terms with the Government at Faridpur session in
1924.

NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT (1920 1922)

1)

Hunder Committee: was constituted to enquire into Punjab disturbances after the
passage of the Rowlatt Act. British public demonstrated its support by helping the
Morning Post and collected 30,000 dollars for Gen. Dyer.

2) Treaty of Sevres with Turkey in May 1920. Turkish empire is dismembered

(fragmented) by the British as Turkey was on the losing side in the 1st World War.
3) On June 09, 1920 Khilafat Committee adopted non-cooperation at Allahabad and
asked Gandhi to lead the combined movement.
4) Non-Cooperation

i) Surrender of title and honours.

ii) Boycott of Govt. schools and colleges
iii) Boycott of Law Court,
iv) boycott of Foreign [Manchester] Cloth

*It could be extended to resignation from services and non-payment of taxes. [this last option
meant Civil Disobedience]

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5) Congress Membership fee reduced to 4 annas per year to enable the poor to
become members Nagpur, Dec. 1920

Effects of Non-Cooperation
6) Value of Imports of foreign cloth fell from Rs.102 crore in 1920-21 to 57 crore in
1921-22.
7) AICC Session at Vijaywada in 1921 directed that for the next 3 months,
Congressmen should concentrate on collection of funds, enrolment of members and distribution
of Charkas.
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At Madurai in 1921, Gandhiji discarded his dhoti and Kurta for good.

Hartal Day on Prince of Wales visit : 17th November 1921

Congress Volunteer Corps (December 1921) alternative police, but they were termed
as illegal.

C. R. Das, Basanti devi (his wife) and his son were arrested in 1921 December and
imprisoned for 6 months by the British.

Ahmedabad session in Dec 1921 appointed Gandhi the sole authority on the issue of
starting Civil disobedience (CD).

Gandhi said that CD would begin in Bardoli of Surat district.

Chauri Chaura is a town near Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. The town is known most
for an event in 5th February 1922 during the British Raj when a police chowki was set on
fire by a mob of angry citizens, killing 23 policemen inside. The exact number is not
known.

On February 12, 1922, the Indian National Congress halted the Non-cooperation
Movement on the national level as a direct result of the Chauri Chaura tragedy, in
Bardoli resolution it was asked the Peasants to pay taxes and tenants to pay rents.

SWARAJISTS

Gandhiji was arrested 6 years for spreading disaffection against British government

Congress organized on Dec.,1922 at Gaya session a Swaraj Party viz. Khilafat.

President was C.R.Das and Secy. Motilal Nehru.

Patel, Prasad and Rajaji defeated Das & Nehru by 1748 890 votes

(council

entry : pro-changes: council boycott: no-changes)

Gandhi opposed to Council entry released on 5th February 1923 on health grounds.

Moonje was a Swarajist in Central provinces

Govt. on 25th October, 1923 arrested Subhash Bose, Anil Baran Roy and S. C. Mitra.

Belgaum session in 1924, mediation between Swarajist and no-changes.

6.2 million votes (3%) Swarajist won 42/101 elected seats in Central Legislative
Assembly. Jinnah led the Independents. But the Executive being responsible only to
Government.

March 1925, Vithalbhai elected as President of the Central Legislative Assembly.

Motilal put forward demand for a new Constitution for real transfer of power. This
resolution was passed by 64 vs. 48.

Das became Mayor of Calcutta with Bose as CEO (1923-24).

C. R. Das expired on 16th June, 1925.

Defeated Public Safety Bill (against communists) in 1928. Motilal termed it as the
slavery of India Bill No. 1.
Even industrialists like Purshottam Thakurdas and G. D. Birla firmly opposed the Bill.

In March 1929, being unable to pass the Bill, the govt. arrested 31 leading
communists and put them on trial at Meerut.

Swarajist finally walked out of Legislative in 1930 as a result of Lahore Congress and
beginning of Civil Disobedience.

Chimanlal Mehta, Jugatram Dave & Chimanlal Bhatt devoted for education of
Kalaparaj adivasi at Bardoli Ashram.

Ravishankar Maharaj among the lower caste.