Gandhi and the Nationalism of India

India was part of the British Empire in 1900. It was considered the jewel of Britain. India was under the British rule for the longest part of the 1900s.There was a significant British military presence all over the country during this reign. The Indians were not involved in any policy making both at local level and at the central government level. The Indian national conference (INC) was formed in 1885 by the educated middle class Indians. The aim was to improve government participation by having a say on how India was being governed. To respond to this move, the Morley-Minto reforms were introduced in 1909. The two were secretary of state and viceroy respectively. The reforms that they initiated led to the individual provinces in India going under the leadership of a governor. In addition, nationals were then allowed to participate in the running of government at this level. The nationalism in India intensified after 1918 because most of the educated nationals were not satisfied with the reforms. The INC wanted more than what was being offered. In addition, Woodrow Wilson sensitized the locals to embrace the idea of self-rule. He believed that every country had to be ruled by its own nationals. This meant that Indians had to govern themselves. By 1920s, three prominent men surfaced to help direct the path of freedom. These men were to have a significant impact on the nationalism of India. They were Jawaharlal Nehri, Muhammad Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi. This paper explores the impact of Gandhi on the nationalism of India.

Gandhi went back home to India in 1915 after a long stay of about twenty years in South Africa. He had been practicing as a lawyer and was made the Indian leader in the area. While in South Africa, Gandhi made significant strides in developing a certain style of leadership. He came up with the non-violent protest technique, which he referred to as Satyagraha. This move was meant to tackle two issues. It was important to help the upper caste Indians stop their discriminatory actions against women and the lower caste Indians as well as promote religious harmony. When Gandhi returned to India in 1915, he could not help but notice striking differences from what he left in 1893. Even though it remained a British colony, India had changed in terms of heightened political participation. A good example was the presence of branches of the Indian National Congress in every city. 

The Swadeshi movement of 1905 to 1907 had improved the political appeal to the middle class residents. It is the same movement that had brought to light great leaders such as Lal ,Pal and Bal. These were significant in the struggle for India’s independence and liberation because their native communities played a major role in ensuring that the freedom acquisition was possible. The three leaders were in favor of a military approach towards colonial rule resistance. However, a number of other moderates believed that the colonialists could be conquered through a different approach that involved negotiations and persuasion Gopal Krshna, Gandhi’s political mentor was among the moderates with the view of a peaceful approach. He advised Gandhi to take a year travelling around the British led India as a way of the understanding the people. As such, Gandhi set out on his journey with a first public appearance in Banaras Hindu University where a number of important dignitaries attended the event including the prince and congress leaders like Annie Besant. 

At his public address, Gandhi told those in attendance most of whom were mainly elites, that the salvation of India rested in them stripping themselves of honor and instead holding the country in trust for the local Indian. This was a statement of the facts at the time because the Indian nationalism at the time was comprised of the societies finest. It was comprised of lawyers, property owners and doctors. His intention was to make the nationalism of India more wholesome in terms of representation. The opportunity to practice this desire arrived later in the same year when Gandhi was allowed to put his believes in practice. He was approached by a Champaran Peasant while at the annual congress meeting in Luck now in December 1916. This peasant told him that the British treated them unfairly. 

Noncooperation Movement

From this incidence, Gandhi spend most of his year in 1917 in Champaran trying to strike a deal for the peasant farmers. His goal was to secure tenures as well as freedom to cultivate their own crops of choice. In 1918, he was participated in campaigns in his own Gujarat home State. The first was a labor intervention for a dispute that was ongoing in Ahmedabad, which focused on advocating for improved conditions of work for textile mill employees. In the same year he backed up peasants in Kheda demanding the State not to tax the peasants after their crops failed. The three initiatives were the mark of Gandhi as an Indian nationalist with a passion and sympathy for poor people. Furthermore, the struggles in these cases were all localized. 

In 1919, Gandhi was given an opportunity by the British government to create a wider movement. The British colony had instituted a press censorship and detention with no trial during the war of 1914 to 1918. A committee under the leadership of Sir Sidney Rowlatt suggested the continuation of such measures. This is what triggered Gandhi’s country wide campaign against the act. Life in the Western and Northern parts of India stood still for a while as people responded to the country wide call. Punjab experienced the greatest protest because of their participation in the war besides the British. They were ignored despite their expectations of reward after helping the British in the war. This protest led to Gandhi’s detention as he proceeded to Punjab. A prominent congressman was also arrested. The tension grew stronger in 1919 when it climaxed in April with British Brigadier with his troops opened fire at a national meeting. This led to the death of more than 400 people in what is referred to as the JallianwalaBagh massacre.

Gandhi called for Rowlattsatyagraha. This movement encouraged noncooperation with the colonial regime. The Indians who wanted freedom from the British rule were asked to stop doing what the government expected them to do. No schools were to be attended, no taxes were paid and no one was to attend law court summons. It was Gandhi’s belief that properly following the noncooperation move would win them the Swaraj within the first year. For a stronger sense of resistance, Gandhi joined hands with the Khilafat movement whose aim was to bring back the pan-Islamism that had been phased out by a Turkish leader. It was Gandhi’s hope that joining hands with the Khilafat would bring victory because India’s major religions came together. The two movements triggered strong counter actions that no one had anticipated. Students stopped attending government run schools and colleges, lawyers stopped attending court sessions and employees in different cities, and towns went on strike. In fact, there was a register of more than 600,000 workers being involved in 396 strikes. This led to the loss of about seven million working days, which culminated in significant tax loses. 

This move did not happen in the towns and cities alone. The countryside joined the movement with farmers in Awadh refusing to pay taxes and Andhra tribes violating the forest rules. Farmers in Kumaun also participated in the non-cooperation movement by refusing to transport loads for the colonial rulers. The non-cooperate movement was in defiance of the local national leadership since farmers and workers interpreted it in a way that best suited their interests. This move was both positive and negative. Its negativity was enough to foster peace whereas its positivity was enough to effect results. The movement was only possible because the participants were self-disciplined and self-denying.

Khilafat Movement

This was an Indian-Islam movement led by Muhammad and Shaukat Ali. This movement demanded that the Turkish Khalifa must be in control of the Muslim sacred places in the Ottoman Empire whereas Jazirat-ul-Arab was to remain under the sovereignty of Muslims. The movement demanded that Khalifa was to be given enough power to protect the Islamic faith. This movement was supported by the congress, which was why Gandhi decided to join forces with it bringing the non-cooperation and Khilafat movements together. The power of the two forces was strong enough to threaten the British rule. It was even scarier when a peasant group burnt a police station in Chauri Chaura in February 1922. The non-cooperation movement led to the arrest of thousands of Indians with Gandhi being arrested in 1922 for sedition in March. The law directed that Gandhi was to be sentenced to six years imprisonment although the presiding judge said that he would be free to let him go free if the provisions of the law allowed it. By this year, Gandhi had transformed India’s nationalism by taking it from the elite class ad bringing it to the local or ordinary Indian. This was a fulfillment of his first speech in 1916. It was now possible for the peasants to take part in nationalism. Gandhi supported the poor through everything he did including his dressing, lifestyle and language. 

Gandhi encouraged other nationalist to dress like the peasants and take part in their activities such as spinning the wheel if they are to truly understand the local folks. This explains why Ghandi with the chakra is the unshakable symbol of nationalism in India even today. As a show of his nationalism, Ghandi shaved his hair in 1921 as he toured South India. The presence of Gandhi became a symbol of abstinence. A group of highly talented individuals from 1917 to 1922 joined Gandhi. The associates were drawn from different regions and communities making it easy to inspire other Indians to join he move and work in favor of the congress. This attracted different traditions and religions to the course. Gandhi came out of prison in February of 1924. He focused his efforts on the abolishment of untouchability as well as making of homespun clothes known as the khadi. Gandhi concentrated on reform works a few years after the noncooperation movement ended. By 1928, he reconsidered re-entering politics. There was an all-Indian resistance against a Simon commission that had been sent to investigate the colony’s performance. Even so, Gandhi did not participate in the resistance just as he did not take part in a peasant Satyagraha. In December 1929, the congress held its annual session in the city of Lahore.

This meeting was significant for the presidential election, which led to Jawaharlal Nehru, which was a show of the leadership mantle being passed to the younger generation. The second significant achievement that the meeting intended to get was the proclamation for complete independence. This is what led to politics rising once again. In January 26, 1930, independence was observed. The national flag was hoisted in different venues and songs of independence sang all over. After Independence Day Gandhi made an announcement that he was going to lead a march that would break a British law that was disliked. This law gave the state the monopoly of producing and selling salt. This was a show of his wisdom. He knew that salt was a necessity in every home yet the government forbid them to make salt even for domestic use thus compelling them to buy from shops at prices that were expletively high. The state salt monopoly was very unpopular. By targeting this rule, Gandhi hoped that he would be able to mobilize a greater dissatisfaction against the British rule.

The salt march was a significant event for the nationalism of India and Gandhi’s world recognition. The march received a considerable press coverage by both American and European press. In addition, it was the first movement in the world that had a large number of women protestants. This was after one of the followers of Ghandi known as Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay asked Gandhi not to restrict the march to men alone. She was among the women who had been arrested for violating salt and alcohol laws. She was a renowned social activist of her time. The most significant impact of this march was the realization that finally downed on the British rulers that their reign was not going to last forever. This was the beginning of the power devolvement to the Indians. It led to the British government arranging for meeting in London to discuss the emerging leadership concerns. The first round table meeting was held in 1930 but turned out to be an effort of futility because the Indian political leader was not present.

Ghandi was later released from jail in 1931 in February. He had numerous meetings with the viceroy. This is what led to the formation of the Ghandi-Irwin Pact. The pact called for the stop of the disobedience move when the prisoners arrested during the protest were released and locals given the freedom to mine salt along the coast. This pact was criticized by the radical nationalists back in India because they felt that Ghandi had not done enough since he failed to secure a pact for Indians political independence that they had hoped for. All he was able to get was the assurance that talks that would eventually lead to that end were possible in the near future. Later the same year, a second conference meeting was organized in where Gandhi attended as a congress representative. However, he faced some opposition when he claimed that his part was the main representative of all Indian’s choices. The Muslim league came up with the claim of being the representative for the Muslim minority whereas the princes dissociated themselves with the congress. By 1935, a new Indian Government act was passed to allow a form of representation in government. However, after two years in a franchise based election, the congress took the lead with a comprehensive win. This led to the formation of a congress prime minister in eight of the eleven provinces. The prime minister worked under the supervision of the British government through the governor. The second round table conference that took place in November 1931, Ghandi opposed the need for separate elections for the lower caste Indians. He had the belief that allowing such to happen would lead to the segregation and prevention of the lower caste group from entering the mainstream and permanently causing a rift that would not be easy to bridge in future years.

In the month of March 1940, the Muslim league demanded for an autonomous measure for the areas densely populated with muscles in the subcontinent. The political scene in India at this time was getting more complex than before. It had ceased to be a fight between the British and Indians. The battle had become a three-way struggle that involved the congress, the British and the Muslim league. By this time, the British government has a government plan that included all parties under an agreement. The labor members of the British government were sympathetic to the aspirations of the Indians. However, their prime minister, Churchill was a strong imperialist. He insisted that he was not acting under the appointment of the king. He was convinced in 1942 to send one of his ministers to India to work out an agreement. Stafford Cripps was sent to discuss with Ghandi and the congress in order to reach an agreeable compromise. The talks did not amount to much though because the congress wanted a member of the Indian political community to be appointed as the defense member in order to help the British government to defend Indians effectively.

The Second World War broke in December 1939 just two years after the congress ministers took office. Gandhi and Nehru had harshly criticized Hitler and the Nazi regime. This explained their offer of congress support towards British efforts to end the oppression. In return, British promised to give India its independence once all the hostility had come to an end.

Quitting India

Gandhi took the initiative of launching his third move against the British after talks with Cripps failed to bear any fruits. The ‘quit India’ campaign started in 1942 in the month of August. Even when he was in jail, Gandhi had young activists on the ground who mobilized strikes and sabotaged acts throughout the country. There were active underground resistance such as one led by Narayan. Independent governments were claimed in certain areas such as the Satara district in the West. The British government responded with a significant amount of force even though it had to take more than a year to subdue the uprising. The Quit India movement brought together a large number of ordinary Indians with the youths leaving school to go to jail as a way of showing their solidarity.

Parallel Government

It was during the struggle for independence that a parallel government known as Pratisarkar was formed. This brought the people of Satara who were being led by Nana Patil into power. During the ‘Quit India’ movement, this government took charge for four and a half years. As a result, parallel governments were formed in areas such as Midnapore and Prunia. These governments were so effective that in the period that they were leading the British did not attempt to capture the areas. Meanwhile the Muslim league worked tireless on expanding their territory and influence in the area. During these years, the league made a mark by increasing its presence in the provinces of Punjab and the Sind where it hardly had any recognition before. By the time the war approached in June 1944, Gandhi was released from prison. In the same year, he called for meetings to discuss ways through which the bridge between the congress and league could be covered. By 1945, a labor government was in place and the British committed itself to providing independence for India. Around the same time, the Viceroy of India known as Lord Wavell organized for a meeting that brought the Congress and the Muslim league together. Elections were organized early in 1946 to seek new provincial leadership. During this election, the Congress won in the general category but the League took most if not all the seats that were specifically reserved for Muslims. This marked the end of political polarization in India.

In 1946 the cabinet sent a representative to get the Congress and the Muslim league to agree on a federal governing system. This attempt failed to achieve its goals. The system was meant to foster unity in India but also allow provinces to run independently. Due to breakdown of these talks, Jinnah organized for a Direct Action Day. This was meant to force the league to exert pressure in order for them to acquire Pakistan. On the day that this action was to take place, bloody riots occurred in Calcutta on the 16th day of August 1946. This violence also spread to other places including rural Bihar and Bengal. It intensified to the point where the spread was all over the country’s provinces reaching Punjab. The suffering targeted both Muslims and Hindus depending on the specific locations. In February of 1947, Lord Mountbatten replaced the Viceroy Wavell. This new viceroy attempted to call for a last round table talks to no avail. When he realized that, the people were determined to gain their independence he announced that freedom was finally dawning in British India although it was going to be divided. Formal power transfer was then scheduled for 15th august the same year. This day received significant recognition and appreciation in the whole of India. Delhi is one area that observed a prolonged applause when the father of nation, Gandhi was invoked by the president of the Constituent assembly.

The final days

Although these days were considered heroic, Gandhi did not celebrate them. He was not available for the festivities held on August 15 in the year 1947. He missed a significant part of the ceremony, which involved hoisting of the flag. This is because he was going through a one day long fast. Even though he had fought for India’s freedom for the longest time possible, it had finally arrived but at a price that he was not ready to accept. The division between the Hindus and Muslims was devastating. He spent most of September and August visiting camps and hospitals consoling with the distressed persons. It was his goal to convince the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims to be united. They were to forget what had transpired in the past. He wanted them to let go and stop dwelling on their past hurt and instead try to build a united nation. People were urged to extend a hand of fellowship to each other in order to assist each other to become better despite the division that came with their freedom.

This move brought Gandhi and Nehru together with Congress support to pass a minority rights resolution. The party had not accepted the two-way nation theory. The forced partition was not acceptable. India had been known to be a country of numerous religions and that was something that had to remain that way. Even though the situation in Pakistan was different, India was determined to remain a democratic state that accepted everyone with their differences hence all citizens had to enjoy their full rights and access state protection at all costs. It did not matter what religion they belonged to as long as they were Indian. The Congress was focused on assuring the minority citizens that it would protect their rights as best as it could and guard them against citizen right violation. Researchers believe that the few months after independence were Gandhi’s finest. He worked systematically to bring back peace starting with Bengal. He then moved to Delhi from where he hoped to move to the war-torn zone of Punjab. However, his attempts were not without oppositions. He was frequently confronted by protesting refugees who did not agree to the Koran’s reading in in the capital. Such groups constantly shouted slogans that questioned why he had not taken initiatives to address the issue of suffering Sikhs and Hindus who were still in Pakistan. Gandhi was concerned with the minorities suffering in Pakistan as well as in other areas. He would have loved to go to Pakistan to plead for those suffering in that community but this would have been a challenge because he had not secured a full re-dress for the Muslims in his own area of Delhi. 

In 1948, January 20, an attempt of Gandhi’s life was made. However, this did not deter him from his goal of attaining peace in a divided nation. On 26, January he brought up the memories of how the day had been one full of celebration and jubilation when it was marked as Independence Day. He talked of how the coming of freedom only brought disillusionment after the first few months. He expressed his hope that peace would be attained. That some day Indians would work together regardless of the influence of the minority groups or their numbers. He saw a day where all Indians would work to assist each other and build a better nation for everyone. He hoped that even though politics and geography were a major division at the time, all Indians would remain friends that respected each other at all time and maintain unity for the outside world. Gandhi had spent most of his life fighting for a united and free India. This explains why even in the division he encouraged respect and unity among the Indians with an emphasis on friendship. However, not all Indians were readily forgiving. In 30th January during one of his evening prayer meetings Gandhi was shot dead. His assassin later surrender. He was an editor of an extremist Hindu based paper that viewed Gandhi as an appeaser of the Muslim. The young man’s name was Brahim and he came from Pune.

Jawaharlal Nehru

Nehru was greatly influenced by socialism in the 1920swhich prompted him to go back to Europe in 1928 where he was take n by the operations of the Soviet Union. This led to his close working with the socialist thus creating a rift between the socialist and conservationist in Congress. When he became Congress president in 1936, his talk was against dictatorship. He emphasized on the rights of workers and peasants who had no one to defend them. Conservatives in Congress became threatened by Nehru’s rhetoric’s and started issuing threats to quit the working committee. It followed that some famous industrialist in Bombay also began attacking Nehru’s remarks. The differences between Nehru and Prasad who was a representative of the conservatives was to be mediated by Gandhi. They met at Wardha. He was able to restrain Nehru’s radicalization and convince Prasad and his team to appreciate the significance of Nehru’s leadership. 

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