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IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : Modern India - THE NON-BRAHMIN MOVEMENT IN WESTERN AND SOUTHERN INDIA

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

Modern India 1857-1964

SWARA JISTS AND CONSTRUCTIVE WORK

Structure
2 1.0 Objectives
2 1.1 Introduction
2 1.2 Background
; 21.3 Swaraj Party: Formation
21.3.1 Gandhi and Swarajists
I 21.3.2 Objectives and Aims
21 -3.3 Programme
21.3.4 Methods
21.4 Swarajists at the Polls
2 1.5 Work in the Legislatures
, 21.6 Constructive Work
21.6.1 Khadi
21.6.2 Untouchability
21.6.3 Other Soc~al Problems
2 1.7 Demoralisation and Decline
21.7.1 Drift
2 1.7.2 Merger
21.7.3 Disintegration
21.8 Causes for Decline
21 3.1 Rising Communal Tempo
2 1.8.2 Lure of Office
21.8.3 Class Character
2 1.9 Let Us Sum Up
21.10 Key Words
2 1.1 1 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

21.0 OBJECTIVES

This Unit intends to give you an account of the emergence of Swarajists as a new trend in the nationalist politics. Its manifestation was the foundation of the Swaraj Party under the leadership of Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das. After reading this Unit you will:

get familiar with how the Swaraj Party originated and what ideology it professed.
know its programme and reasons for its disintegration.
assess its contribution to Indian Politics.
get a summary of the sequence of events following the withdrawal of the Noncooperation movement.

21.1 INTRODUCTION

The period 1922-29 is important for many reasons. It began with the ending of the Non-Cooperation Movement and ended with the starting of yet another movement. It also enriched India's struggle for liberation by introducing new trends and forms of political action. It placed before the nation the twin programme of council entry and constructive works. It also brought to the forefront, new leaders with a different outlook. Besides, the period witnessed new problems, new tensions, new dilemmas and new constraints on India's fight for independence. In this unit you are going to be introduced to all those aspects of the period 1922-29.

21.2 BACKGROUND

Under the leadership of Mahat'ma Gandhi the Congress emerged as a great nationalist forum of all shades and opinions voicing anti-imperialist sentiments. During Gandhi's first Civil D~sobedience movement (1920-22), its roots spread out among all classes of people. The formal acceptance of Swaraj as the goal of the Congress really converted Noncooperation into a mass movement. Gandhi's catchy slogan 'Swaraj in one year' stirred the masses of men into action. The suspension of Non-Cooperation id February, 1922 ' created widespread disappointment and precipitated an opelS division in the leadership of the Congress. The Govpnment took advantage of the situation to take resort to a policy of repression. It invoked Bengal Regulation I11 of 1816 and promulgated an ordinance providing for summzuy arrest and trial before special commissioners. The BritisH Prime Minister, Lloyd George, delivered his 'steel frame' speech, praising the work and , efficiency of the I.C.S. cadre. This was in tune with the shift in policy which virtually repudiated the principles of self-government and strengthened the autocratic British
regime.

A sense of disillusionment led many at this stage to question ihe efficacy of Gandhian methods of struggle. Was it at all possible to train millions of people in the philosophy of non-violence? Even-if it was possible, how long would it take? Gandhi was now behind the bars and there was no definite political programme before the country: The artificial Hindu-Muslim unity was fast disappearing. Acute Hindu-Muslim tensions and outbreak of communal violence dissipated national energies. The Constructive Work of the Congress. an essentially socio-economic programme of amelioration, could not attract the upper middle class intellectuals. They had never appreciated Gandhi's emotional and metaphysical approach to politics. They looked at politics from the plane of reality, and were keen to rescue the Congress and its politics from the demoralisation that had set in after the withdrawal of Non-Cooperation.