Mahatma Gandhi announced his plan to begin Non-Cooperation with the government as a sequel to the Rowlatt Act, Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the Khilafat Movement. It was approved by the Indian National Congress at the Nagpur session in December, 1920.
Must read: Non-cooperation Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement – the strategic shifters
Background of Non-Cooperation Movement
The Non-Cooperation movement was launched by the Gandhi-led Congress Party in order to pressurize the British to redress three of its grievances:
• Punjab wrong
• Khilafat wrong
• Denial of Swaraj
September 1920
At a special session in Calcutta, the Congress approved a non-cooperation programme till the Punjab and Khilafat wrongs were removed and swaraj was established. The programme was to include:
● boycott of government schools and colleges;
● boycott of law courts and dispensation of justice through panchayats instead;
● boycott of legislative councils;
● boycott of foreign cloth and use of khadi instead; also practice of hand-spinning to be done;
● renunciation of government honours and titles;
The second phase could include mass civil disobedience including resignation from government service, and non-payment of taxes.
During the movement, the participants were supposed to work for Hindu-Muslim unity and for removal of untouchability, all the time remaining non-violent.
December 1920
At the Nagpur session of the Indian National Congress:
(i) The programme of non-cooperation was endorsed.
(ii) An important change was made in the Congress creed: now, instead of having the attainment of self-government through constitutional means as its goal, the Congress decided to have the attainment of swaraj through peaceful and legitimate means, thus committing itself to an extra constitutional mass struggle.
Programmes of Non-Cooperation Movement
The programmes of the Non-Cooperation Movement were:
֎ Surrender of titles and honorary positions.
֎ Resignation of membership from the local bodies.
֎ Boycott of elections held under the provisions of the 1919 Act.
֎ Boycott of government functions.
֎ Boycott of courts, government schools and colleges.
Must read: Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was far ahead than Non-Cooperation Movement (NCM)
֎ Observance of strict non-violence.
֎ Boycott of foreign goods.
֎ Establishment of national schools and colleges.
֎ Establishment of Panchayats for settling disputes.
֎ Popularizing swadeshi goods and khadi.
Must read: Since the decade of the 1920s, the national movement acquired various ideological strands
Participation in Non-Cooperation Movement
The response of different social groups and classes to the movement was quite varied.
Students and teachers
Students and teachers actively participated in the movement. Hence, the programme of educational boycott was quite effective, particularly in Bengal. A considerable number of national schools and colleges were also founded (like the Jamia Millia Islamia in Aligarh, later shifted to Delhi, the Kashi Vidyapeeth at Banaras and the Gujarat Vidyapeeth).
Peasants
Peasants’ participation was massive. In general, the peasants turned against the landlords and the traders. The movement gave an opportunity to the toiling masses to express their real feelings against the British as well as against their Indian masters and oppressors (landlords and traders).
Labourers
Labourers seemed to be running amuck throughout 1921 by the middle of 1920. The post war boom had succeeded by a recession particularly in the Calcutta industry, with the mill-owners trying to cut back production with a four-day week. The workers fought back, and there were a number of strikes in Bengali jute mills in 1921.
Muslims
There was massive participation of Muslims. In many places, two-thirds of those arrested were Muslims, and such type of participation had neither been seen in the past nor would be seen in the future.
Women
Women gave up purdah and offered their ornaments for the Tilak Fund. They joined the movement in large numbers and took active part in picketing before the shops selling foreign cloth and liquor.
Upper and middle classes
The initial appeal for self-sacrifice to the upper and middle classes was hardly successful. Only 24 titles were surrendered out of 5,000 odd, and the number of lawyers giving up practice stood at 180 in March 1921.
Merchants
A good number of merchants participated in the movement by refusing to indent foreign cloth. The value of imports of foreign cloth fell from Rs. 102 crores in 1920-21 to Rs. 57 crores in 1921-22. Their support was decisive in bringing about a qualitative change in the Congress funds. The Congress had only Rs. 43,000 in its coffers in 1920 but was able to collect more than Rs. 130 lakhs between 1921 and 1923.
Big industrialists and capitalists
The big industrialists and capitalists, however, still remained hostile, and an Anti-Non-Cooperation Association was started in 1920 by Purshottamdas Thakurdas, Jamunadas Dwarkadas, Setalvad etc. While the textile was certainly helped by the national Swadeshi upsurge, fear of labour unrest was probably
crucial in keeping industrialists ambivalent.
Why Non-Cooperation Movement was abruptly called off – The Chauri Chaura incident
The whole movement was abruptly called off on 11th February 1922 by Gandhi following the Chauri Chaura incident in the Gorakpur district of U.P.
The Chauri Chaura Incident took place on 4 February 1922. The police there fired upon a large group of protesters participating in the non-cooperation movement. In retaliation, the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, killing all of its occupants. The incident led to the deaths of three civilians and 22 policemen.
Trial and conviction
A total of 225 people were brought to trial at Gorakhpur Sessions Court of Judge H. E. Holmes, on charges of “rioting and arson” in conjunction with the Chauri Chaura affair. The sessions court sentenced 170 persons to the gallows for the attack.
Madan Mohan Malaviya provided the legal defence to the people arrested in the aftermath of Chauri Chaura incident and defended them in the Allahabad High Court and was able to save 155 of them. The remaining 15 also were recommended for clemency by the High Court, whereafter their sentences were commuted from death to life imprisonment.
Was the decision to withdraw Non-Cooperation Movement, only due to Chauri Chaura incident?
No, absolutely not. The movement was showing signs of fatigue. This was natural as it is not possible to sustain any movement at a high pitch for very long. The government seemed to be in no mood for negotiations.
The central theme of the agitation—the Khilafat question—also dissipated soon. In November 1922, the
people of Turkey rose under Mustafa Kamal Pasha and deprived the sultan of political power. Turkey was made a secular state. Thus, the Khilafat question lost its relevance. A European style of legal system was established in Turkey and extensive rights granted to women. Education was nationalised and modern agriculture and industries developed. In 1924, the caliphate was abolished.
Moreover, Gandhi felt that people had not learnt or fully understood the method of non-violence. Incidents like Chauri-Chaura turn the movement to become generally violent. A violent movement could be easily suppressed by the colonial regime who would make the incidents of violence an excuse for using the armed might of the State against the protestors.
Significance of the Non-Cooperation Movement
It was the real mass movement with the participation of different sections of Indian society such as peasants, workers, students, teachers and women. It was this politicisation and activisation of millions of men and women which imparted a revolutionary character to the national movement.
It witnessed the spread of nationalism to the remote corners of India.
It also marked the height of Hindu-Muslim unity as a result of the merger of Khilafat movement.
The masses lost the hitherto all-pervasive fear of the colonial rule and its mighty repressive organs.
It demonstrated the willingness and ability of the masses to endure hardships and make sacrifices.
Failure of the Non-Cooperation Movement
The movement brought the urban Muslims into the national movement, but at the same time it communalised the national politics, to an extent. Although Muslim sentiments were a manifestation of the spread of a wider anti-imperialist feeling, the national leaders failed to raise the religious political consciousness of the Muslims to a level of secular political consciousness.
Progress regarding untouchability was much less marked, though Gandhi deserves all credit for bringing the issue to the forefront of national politics for the first time.
Conclusion
The Non-Cooperation movement, despite its failure to achieve any of its three major objectives (redressal of – Punjab wrong, khilafat wrong and denial of Swaraj), had great significance in the Indian national movement. The Indian nationalist movement, for the first time in its history, acquired a real mass base with the participation of different sections of Indian society. The movement inspired the people for further sacrifices in the cause of national independence.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
QUES . Consider the following subjects with regard to Non-Cooperation Programme : UPSC PRELIMS 2025
I. Boycott of law-courts and foreign cloth
II. Observance of strict non-violence
Ill. Retention of titles and honours without using them in public
IV. Establishment of Panchayats for settling disputes
How many of the above were parts of Non-Cooperation Programme?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) Only three
(d) All the four
Answer – (c)
QUES . Who provided legal defence to the people arrested in the aftermath of Chauri Chaura incident? UPSC PRELIMS 2025
(a) C. R. Das
(b) Madan Mohan Malaviya and Krishna Kant
(c) Dr. Saifu.ddin Kitchlew and Khwaja Hasan Nizami
(d) M. A. Jinnah
Answer – (b)
QUES . Consider the following statements in respect of the Non-Cooperation Movement: UPSC PRELIMS 2025
I. The Congress declared the attainment of ‘Swaraj’ by all legitimate and peaceful means to be its objective.
II. It was to be implemented in stages with civil disobedience and non payment of taxes for the next stage only if ‘Swaraj’ did not come within a year and the Government resorted to repression.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) Both I and II
(d) Neither I nor II
Answer – (c)
