Civil Disobedience Movement

Introduction & Launch

• The Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 as a major phase of the Indian national movement after the Lahore Session (Dec 1929) which declared Purna Swaraj.
• Core idea: disciplined, mass non‑violent violation of specific unjust laws (beginning with the Salt Law) to assert Indian self‑rule and moral sovereignty.

Dandi March — The Symbolic Beginning

• Plan: Gandhi and a group of 78 volunteers leave Sabarmati Ashram (Ahmedabad) on 12 March 1930 and march ~240 miles to Dandi (coast of Gujarat).
• Objective: violate the salt law by making/collecting salt from the sea — a simple act symbolizing rejection of British monopoly and economic exploitation.
• On 6 April 1930 Gandhi broke the salt law at Dandi by picking up a lump of salt — an act that provided a clear, replicable, and massifiable form of civil disobedience.

Gandhi’s Directives to the Nation

• Wherever possible, start civil disobedience of the salt law (salt satyagraha).
• Picket foreign liquor and cloth shops.
• Refuse to pay taxes (where strength permits).
• Lawyers to give up practice; public to boycott law courts and use panchayats for dispute settlement.
• Government servants could resign; but all action must adhere strictly to truth and non‑violence (Satya and Ahimsa).
• Local leaders’ authority to be respected after Gandhi’s arrest — to maintain unity and discipline.

Spread and Forms of Satyagraha

• Rapid nationwide diffusion — salt acts, picketing, burning of foreign cloth, hartals, no‑tax campaigns, forest law violations, boycott of courts and elections, and resignations.
• Movement fitted local grievances and tactics — peasants and workers used the opportunity to press economic demands.

Major Regional Movements & Events
1. Gujarat (Origin and stronghold)

• Dandi & coastal salt satyagrahas; large-scale no-tax campaigns in Anand, Borsad, Nadiad (Kheda), Bardoli (Surat), Jambusar (Bharuch).
• Dharasana Satyagraha (May 21, 1930): After Gandhi’s arrest, Sarojini Naidu, Manilal Gandhi and others led the attempt to raid the Dharasana Salt Works; non‑violent satyagrahis were brutally beaten — the international publicity helped galvanize support.

2. Tamil Nadu

• C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) led march from Trichy to Vedaranniyam (Tanjore coast) to make salt.
• Strong picketing of foreign cloth/anti‑liquor campaigns; some violent clashes despite Rajaji’s emphasis on non‑violence.

3. Malabar (Kerala)

• K. Kelappan organized salt marches; P. Krishna Pillai (future communist leader) defended the flag at Calicut beach under police attack.

4. Andhra

• Salt marches in East/West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur; formation of ‘Sibirams’ (organized camps) for satyagraha volunteers. Merchants and upper-caste cultivators actively supported, though mass peasant support was less than hoped.

5. Odisha (Orissa)

• Salt satyagrahas in Balasore, Cuttack, Puri under leaders like Gopal Bandhu Chaudhuri; local picketing and no‑tax actions.

6. Bengal

• High number of arrests and violent repression. Rural pockets (Midnapore, Arambagh) saw strong salt and chaukidari‑tax agitation.
• Chittagong Armoury Raid (April 1930) by Surya Sen’s group occurred simultaneously — a parallel revolutionary armed action.

7. Bihar

• Champaran & Saran led early satyagrahas; many areas moved from salt to no‑chaukidari (no‑watchman tax) agitation; foreign cloth & liquor sales plunged in many districts.

8. North‑West Frontier Province (NWFP), Peshawar

• Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (“Frontier Gandhi”) mobilized Khudai Khidmatgars (Red Shirts) for non‑violent direct action; strong local participation.

9. Sholapur (Maharashtra)

• Significant and violent episode; textile workers’ strike began May 7 with burning of liquor shops and government symbols. Administration declared martial law after May 16 as activists set up parallel administration.

10. Dharasana (Gujarat)

• On May 21, 1930 Sarojini Naidu led volunteers against the salt works. The brutal lathi‑charge was captured by foreign journalists, swaying international opinion.

11. Manipur & Naga Hills

• Young leaders like Rani Gaidinliu (and earlier Haipou Jadonang) joined anti‑tax and anti‑government campaigns inspired by the CDM, blending local religious and political resistance.

Mass Participation & Social Composition

• Women: Large scale participation in picketing liquor/cloth shops, donating jewellery for the movement. CDM marked entry of many women into public political action.
• Students & Youth: Energetic volunteers; played key roles in burning foreign cloth, picketing, and organizing camps.
• Muslims: Participation was uneven — generally lower than 1920–22 due to communal tensions and government efforts to divide communities; however, NWFP saw robust Muslim involvement under Ghaffar Khan.
• Traders & Business: Supported boycotts especially where local industry (textiles) benefited — notable in Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
• Tribals: In Central Provinces, Maharashtra, and Karnataka volunteers engaged in forest law violations and local direct actions.
• Workers & Peasants: Strikes and agrarian no‑tax movements occurred in many regions (Bombay, Sholapur, UP, Bihar, Gujarat).

Government Reaction & Repression

• Initial ambivalence quickly turned into repressive measures: ordinances banning civil liberties, press censorship, bans on organisations, lathi charges, shootings and thousands of arrests.
• Massive incarcerations included Gandhi and many Congress leaders. Repressive ordinances and police excesses drew domestic indignation and international criticism.
• Economic impact: government revenue from salt, excise (liquor), and land receipts fell significantly.

Political Negotiations & Gandhi–Irwin Pact

• By mid‑1930: Viceroy Irwin offered discussions. Quiet talks (August 1930) between Gandhi, Nehrus and Irwin were held in Yeravada jail and elsewhere.
• Gandhi–Irwin Pact (Delhi, 14 February 1931) 
• Key terms:
  1. Government agreed to: immediate release of political prisoners (non‑violent ones), remission of fines, return of seized lands (where not sold), lenient treatment of resigning government servants, and permit making of salt for personal use in coastal villages; withdrawal of repressive ordinances; right to non‑violent picketing.
  2. Government refused: public inquiry into police excesses; commutation of Bhagat Singh and comrades’ death sentences.
  3. Gandhi agreed to: suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement and participate in the Round Table Conference.

Consequences of the Pact

• Short term: Release of Congress leaders and temporary suspension of mass agitation.
• Long term: Gandhi accepted to attend Round Table Conference as Congress’s representative — a contentious decision among Indian revolutionaries and younger activists, especially given execution of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru (23 March 1931).
• The pact showed both the movement’s capacity to coerce concessions and the limits of purely non‑violent tactics in obtaining wholesale structural change.

Evaluation of the Movement
Successes

• Wide national mobilisation across classes, genders, and regions.
• Economic pressure on British revenue (salt/ excise/land revenue declines).
• Internationalized the Indian struggle — foreign press coverage of brutal repression increased sympathy.
• Demonstrated ability of Indian masses to sustain disciplined mass non‑cooperation and civil disobedience.
• Enhanced Congress organisational strength; clarified a substantive political programme (Karachi session resolutions).

Limitations & Failures

• No immediate transfer of sovereignty or major constitutional change.
• Muslim participation was limited compared to 1920–22; communal tensions hampered national unity in many areas.
• Violence in pockets (Sholapur, incidents in Bengal) undermined the strictly non‑violent ethos and provided pretext for repression.
• Economic losses and activist exhaustion caused decline in momentum by late 1930.
• Round Table Conference did not deliver immediate gains; many leaders were frustrated by limited concessions.

Karachi Congress Session (March 1931)

• Special session to endorse Gandhi–Irwin Pact and to reaffirm Purna Swaraj.
• Held on 29 March 1931 — Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed six days earlier; their martyrdom cast a shadow
• Resolutions adopted:
  • Endorsement of Gandhi–Irwin Pact (while dissociating from political violence).
  • Reiteration of Purna Swaraj (complete independence).
• Two major new resolutions:
  1. Fundamental Rights: free speech/press, assembly, association, universal adult franchise, equality before law, neutrality of state in religion, free & compulsory primary education, protection of minority languages & culture.
  2. National Economic Programme: reduction of rent and revenue, relief from indebtedness, control of usury, better working conditions, right to form unions, and state ownership/control of key industries and transport.
• Significance: First time Congress spelled out socio‑economic content of Swaraj — emphasising that political independence must be coupled with social and economic emancipation.

Legacy

• Civil Disobedience Movement remains a landmark that demonstrated the power of non‑violent mass action; it reshaped public life by involving women, peasants, workers, and tribal communities.
• Set the stage for future negotiations, reforms, and eventual transfer of power.
• Showed both the strengths (moral force, mass mobilisation) and limits (partial concessions, negotiations needed) of Gandhian strategies in anti‑colonial struggles.

Key Dates at a Glance

• 12 March 1930 — Gandhi begins Dandi March from Sabarmati.
• 6 April 1930 — Gandhi breaks salt law at Dandi.
• May 1930 — Dharasana raid & severe repression in regions like Sholapur.
• 14 Feb 1931 — Gandhi–Irwin Pact signed (Delhi).
• 23 March 1931 — Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev & Rajguru executed.
• 29 March 1931 — Karachi Congress Session endorses pact and reaffirms Purna Swaraj.

---

PDF File:

No PDF attached

---

Subject: Modern History

← Back to Chapter