Emergence of Gandhiji (1915-1918)
The focus is solely on Mahatma Gandhi. From his early political endeavours in South Africa to his entry into Indian Politics, we will cover diverse topics. We will also explore Gandhi's strategies in the Freedom Struggle, such as non-cooperation, civil disobedience and hunger strikes. Emergence of Mahatma Gandhi in Indian politics marked the beginning of a new phase in the Indian national movement and this phase is described as the era of mass mobilisation. Before Gandhiji’s entry into Indian politics in 1915, and from 1893 to 1914, he was in South Africa where the racial arrogance shown by the colonial rulers and the exploitation of the local people made Gandhiji to think seriously of taking up the battle against colonialism. In the course of his struggle in South Africa he developed his political philosophy based on non-violence and Satyagraha to give new direction to mass movement. His knowledge of India’s rich cultural tradition and religious ideas and his reading of western thinkers like Leo Tolstoy, John Ruskin, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau largely shaped his political ideas.
GANDHIJI AND HIS POLITICAL EXPERIMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA
In the course of his stay in South Africa he provided effective leadership to local Indians to fight against racial discrimination.
It was in South Africa that he developed his philosophy of passive resistance and civil disobedience which was popularised later on as Satyagraha as an effective means of political mobilisation.
On his way to South Africa his painful personal experience of racial arrogance by the whites familiarised him with humiliations and sufferings that Indians were facing in South Africa.
Indians in South Africa at that time were primarily engaged in trading and many lacked not only education but also political sophistication. Gandhiji was instrumental in establishing the Natal Indian Congress in 1894. For creating public opinion in support of their grievances, he started a newspaper— the Indian Opinion.
He represented the Indian merchants who questioned the applicability of Transvaal Law No. 3 of 1885 which restricted where they could trade and reside, and gave a petition to the Colonial Secretary signed by over 1,000 Indians.
PHASE OF PASSIVE RESISTANCE OR SATYAGRAHA (1906-1914) Satyagraha against Registration Certificates (1906)
In 1906, the Transvaal government introduced a new law requiring the Indian residents of the colony to register themselves.
This legislation made it mandatory for Indians in South Africa to carry registration certificates that included their fingerprints at all times.
That same year, during a large protest meeting in Johannesburg, Mahatma Gandhi introduced his new method of resistance—Satyagraha—for the first time.
To lead this campaign of civil disobedience and acceptance of punishment, Gandhi established the Passive Resistance Association.
The movement persisted for several years, during which thousands of Indians, including Gandhi himself, were imprisoned. Despite this, the Indian community continued to resist registration.
The widespread public opposition ultimately compelled South African General Jan Christian Smuts to enter into negotiations with Gandhi, resulting in the government agreeing to some of the movement’s demands.
Campaign against Restrictions on Indian Migration
The earlier campaign was widened to include protest against a new legislation imposing restrictions on Indian migration.
GANDHIJI’S TECHNIQUE OF SATYAGRAHA
The Indians defied this law by crossing over from one province to another and by refusing to produce licences. Many of these Indians were jailed.
Campaign against Poll Tax and Invalidation of Indian Marriages
A poll tax of ‘three pounds’ was imposed on all ex-indentured Indians, prompting increased opposition to the unfair taxation.
A Supreme Court order invalidated marriages not conducted according to Christian rites and registered by the registrar of marriages, leading to widespread outrage.
This judgement was seen as an insult to the honor of Indian women, which drew many women into the movement due to the indignity imposed on their marital and familial rights.
Protest against Transvaal Immigration Act
The Indians protested the Transvaal Immigration Act by illegally migrating into Transvaal, leading to their imprisonment. Miners and plantation workers participated in a sudden strike.
Gokhale toured India to mobilize public opinion in support of the Indians in South Africa. Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy, condemned the repression and called for an impartial inquiry.
Gandhiji developed the technique of Satyagraha during his stay in South Africa, based on truth and non-violence.
A satyagrahi refuses to submit to what he perceives as wrong, maintaining truthfulness, non-violence and fearlessness.
The principle of Satyagraha involves withdrawal of cooperation and boycott of unjust laws or actions.
Methods of Satyagraha include non-payment of taxes and refusal of positions of authority or honours.
A satyagrahi willingly accepts suffering as part of the struggle against wrongdoing, seeing it as a way to express love for truth.
Hatred has no place in the path of Satyagraha, as the struggle is conducted without animosity towards the wrongdoer.
A true satyagrahi stands firm against evil, regardless of the consequences, refusing to bow before injustice.
Satyagraha requires courage and strength; it is not meant for the weak or cowardly. Thought and practice are interconnected and ends do not justify means. Tolstoy Farm
The Tolstoy Farm was founded in 1910 and named as such by Gandhiji’s associate, Herman Kallenbach, after the Russian writer and moralist, whom Gandhiji admired and corresponded with.
Besides being an experiment in education, it was to house the families of the satyagrahis and to give them a way to sustain themselves.
The Tolstoy Farm was the second of its kind established by Gandhiji. He had set up the Phoenix Farm in 1904 in Natal, inspired by a reading of John Ruskin’s unto This Last.
As at the Phoenix settlement, at Tolstoy Farm too, manual work went hand-in-hand with instruction.
Vocational training was introduced to give “all-round development to the boys and girls”. Co-educational classes were held, and boys and girls were encouraged to work together.
The activities included general labour, cooking, scavenging, sandal- making, simple carpentry and messenger work.
Manual work such as sweeping, scavenging and fetching water was perceived to be invaluable to the psychological, social and moral well-being of an integrated community.
Gandhiji’s objective in this context was to inculcate the ideals of social service and citizenship besides a healthy respect for manual work from the early formative years itself. The farm worked till 1913.
GANDHIJI IN INDIA
Gandhiji returned to India on January 9, 1915, which is celebrated as ‘Pravasi Diwas’ or NRI Diwas. His efforts in South Africa gained widespread recognition among both educated individuals and the masses.
He chose not to take any political position for at least one year. During this period, he assessed the limitations of moderate politics and opposed the growing popularity of the Home Rule agitation.
Gandhiji declared that he would join no political organization unless it adopted the principle of non-violent Satyagraha.
Between 1917 and 1918, Gandhiji was actively involved in struggles in Champaran, Ahmedabad, and Kheda before initiating the Rowlatt Satyagraha.
CHAMPARAN SATYAGRAHA (1917)—FIRST CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Gandhiji’s success in his movement against racial discrimination in South Africa made him famous in India as a leader who fought for the common people against colonial rule. After coming back from South Africa, he initially decided to set up a base in Gujarat and to work for the welfare of people. Gandhiji tried to develop a political base by interacting with a cross section of people. Politics of the Moderates or the Extremists could not convince Gandhiji for achieving Swaraj nor did he have any conviction in the politics of violence. His belief after his successful political movement in South Africa in the strength of Satyagraha encoura’ged him to wait for a suitable opportunity to launch Satyagraha in India. The movement of peasants at Champaran in Bihar against indigo planters in 1917 provided Gandhiji that desired opportunity. Champaran was in North Bihar having large villages and two major towns— Motihari and Bettiah. Being covered by the permanent settlement of 1793 three proprietors— Bettiah, Ramnagar and Madhuban Estates—controlled most of the lands of the district but the landlords instead of directly managing the lands leased out lands to temporary tenure-holders. The European tenure-holders got hold of a sizeable section of cultivable lands and because of big profit they started cultivating indigo. In 1917 with the declining demand of indigo in the world market the pressure on the tenants increased and made them the worst victims of the slump in market. Besides the general economic hardship of the tenants, the ‘tinkathia’ system caused immediate unrest among the cultivators. The name ‘tinkathia’ came from the arrangement in which three kathas per bigha of a peasant landholding was fixed for cultivation of indigo. Planters also insisted that in best cultivable lands indigo should be cultivated so that the production of crop is more. The price paid to the ryots was fixed based on the area of land not on the volume of crop production. This was the reason for pressurising the cultivators to cultivate indigo in good lands to get maximum crop. The cultivators also faced other forms of economic and social exploitation which made them agitated against the existing planter raj. The situation in Champaran was not much different from other parts of India where cultivators were facing various forms of exploitation. But it was Gandhiji’s intervention and leadership which made the Champaran movement exceptional. On the invitation of local Congress leader Raj Kumar Shukla, Gandhiji came to Champaran in 1917 to have firsthand experience of the plight of Champaran peasants. Gandhiji demanded an enquiry by the government of the grievances of cultivators and asked the government to stop illegal exactions from cultivators. The Bihar government, under the pressure from the central government and much against its wish, agreed to appoint a commission which included Gandhiji to look into the condition of Champaran peasants. As a result of the Committee of Enquiry appointed by the government and the recommendations of this Enquiry Committee the Champaran Agrarian Act was made in 1917 (Gandhiji was also part of this committee). The Act abolished the ‘tinkathia’ system and also partly addressed the grievances of the tenants. Although neither the planters nor the tenants were happy with this arrangement but definitely by his intervention Gandhiji Succeeded in making the struggle of Champaran peasants the first successful experiment of Satyagraha in the Indian political movement. As a compromise with the planters, he agreed that only 25 percent of the money taken should be compensated. In the course of Champaran movement a group of local intelligentsia like Rajendra Prasad, Rajkumar Shukla, J. B. Kripalani, Indulal Yagnik, Mahadeo Desai, Narhari Parekh, Mazhar- ul-Haq etc. came in close contact with Gandhiji and worked as his emissaries among masses in organizing movements. Other popular leaders associated with Champaran Satyagraha were Brajkishore Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Ramnavmi Prasad and Shambhusharan Varma. The Champaran Agrarian Act of 1918 which was the immediate outcome of the movement brought some respite for the peasants and put certain restrictions on the planters.
AHMEDABAD SATYAGRAHA (1918) – FIRST HUNGER STRIKE
In 1918, Gandhiji organised another Satyagraha movement in Ahmedabad in support of mill workers. Ahmedabad was known for its textile industry and the textile mills in Ahmedabad witnessed steady growth in cloth production. Labour was in demand to keep pace with rise in production. But the outbreak of plague in Ahmedabad in 1917 forced many labours to leave Ahmedabad to save them from plague. The mill owners in order to retain workers paid bonus to them as high as 75% of their pay. But when the threat of plague was over, the mill owners decided to stop the plague bonus from February 1918. This created resentment among workers who were facing hardship because of the rise in prices caused by the war. The workers were demanding a rise of 50 per cent in their wages so that they could manage in the times of wartime inflation. The mill owners were ready to give only a 20 per cent wage hike. The workers went on strike. The workers of the mill turned to ‘Anusuya Sarabhai’ for help in fighting for justice. Anusuya Sarabhai was a social worker who was also the sister of Ambalal Sarabhai, one of the mill owners and the president of the Ahmedabad Mill Owners Association (founded in 1891 to develop the textile industry in Ahmedabad), for help in fighting for justice. Anusuya Behn went to Gandhiji, who was respected by the mill owners and workers, and asked him to intervene and help resolve the impasse between the workers and the employers. Ambalal Sarabhai was known to Gandhiji. Gandhiji requested Ambalal for enhancement of wages and decided to help in finding solutions to workers problems.
Gandhiji represented the workers in a board of arbitration formed by the local government. Gandhiji on his part after a careful study of the situation asked the workers to go on a strike and demand a 35 per cent increase in wages instead of 50 per cent. Gandhiji advised the workers to remain non-violent while on strike. Coming under the pressure of the mill owners when some workers started to join the mills Gandhiji announced his decision of fasting to create moral pressure. What prompted the mill owners to settlement has different interpretations but a settlement was made in which a 35% increase in wages was agreed. Fasting was conceived as a means of self-suffering to create moral pressure over the opponent and this was Gandhiji’s first use of fasting as a political weapon in India.
KHEDA SATYAGRAHA (1918)—FIRST NON-COOPERATION
In 1918, due to a drought in Kheda district of Gujarat, crops failed, leaving farmers unable to meet revenue demands. According to the Revenue Code, if the yield was less than one-fourth of the normal produce, farmers were entitled to remission, but the government remained firm and threatened to seize property if taxes were not paid. Local leaders Mohanlal Kameshwar Pandya and Shankar Lal Parikh appealed to the Bombay government and sought support from the Gujarat Sabha in Ahmedabad. They contacted Gandhiji, who was in Champaran at the time. Gandhiji advised them to remain firm but could not personally participate. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and other devoted Gandhians, including Narahari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandya, and Ravi Shankar Vyas, took the lead in organizing the peasants. Despite efforts by the Gujarat Sabha to seek exemptions and postponement of revenue demands, the government refused to accede to their demands. Gandhiji arrived in Bombay in February 1918 and conducted a personal inquiry into the hardship faced by the peasants. After visiting the villages and witnessing their plight, Gandhiji decided to lead a Satyagraha. At a meeting in Nadiad on March 22, he urged volunteers to take a sacred pledge of non-violence and resistance. Despite government confidence in Gandhiji’s commitment to passive resistance, the government avoided harsh revenue collection and land confiscation. Eventually, Gandhiji decided to call off the Satyagraha without obtaining a concrete assurance from the government.
Significance of all the movements of Gandhiji
The movements in Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad were organized around local issues but Gandhiji’s intervention paved the ground for bringing masses into broader political movement.
Issues in Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad were different. The social and political context was also different. But in all three places Gandhiji made use of Satyagraha as the mode of political mobilisation.
Rejecting violence as a form of protest and focusing on passive resistance, and moral force rather than physical force, as his political weapon Gandhiji succeeded in giving a new direction to political mobilisation.
His intervention not only provided direction to the movements already started by the masses but Gandhian non-violence provided an effective and legitimate form of movement which was still unknown.
In the course of these three movements Gandhiji was able to influence local educated youths like Rajendra Prasad, J. B. Kripalani in Bihar, Vallabhbhai Patel, Indulal Yagnik in Gujarat who later on played significant roles in nationalist politics.
Gandhiji had not yet decided about his future course of association with nationalist politics, but these movements definitely laid the ground for Gandhiji’s greater role as a national leader.