Mahatma Gandhi :- contribution in india freedom struggle explain #mahatmagandhi
INTRODUCTION
Mahatma Gandhi's famous contributions to Indian freedom movement:-
1. Champaran Satyagraha, 1917
The Champaran agitation in Bihar was Gandhi's first active involvement into Indian freedom politics. The Champaran farmers were being forced to grow Indigo and were being tortured if they protested. The farmers sought Gandhi's help and through a calculated non-violent protest, Gandhi managed to win concessions from the authority. After his success in Champaran Gandhi organized the mill worker in Ahmedabad in 1918 and secured better wages for them .2. Kheda Satyagraha,1918
When Kheda, a village in Gujarat, was badly hit by floods, the local farmers appealed to the rulers to waive off the taxes. Here, Gandhi started a signature campaign where peasants pledged non-payment of taxes.He also arranged a social boycott of the mamlatdars and talatdars (revenue officials). In 1918, the Government relaxed the conditions of payment of revenue tax until the famine ended.
3. Khilafat Movement
Gandhi's influence on the Muslim population was remarkable. This was evident in his involvement in the Khilafat Movement. After the first World War, the Muslims feared for the safety of their Caliph or religious leader and a worldwide protest was being organised to fight against the collapsing status of the Caliph.Gandhi became a prominent spokesperson of the All India Muslim Conference and returned the medals he had received from the Empire during his Indian Ambulance Corps days in South Africa. His role in the Khilafat made him a national leader in no time.
4. Non-cooperation Movement
Gandhi had realised that the British had been able to came in India only because of the co-operation they received from the Indians. Keeping this in mind, he called for a non-cooperation movement. With the Congress' support and his indomitable spirit, he convinced people that peaceful non-cooperation was the key to Independence. The Rowlett act was passed on 21 march 1919 condemned as ‘the black act ‘ and an agitation was started in its protest. Gandhiji took this Act as an open challenge to the Indians. On 24th March 1919,Gandhi ji founded the satyagraha Sabha in Bombay and its branches were opened in Gujrat ,Sindh and many other places . It’s member took pledge to disobey the Rowlett act ,to know truth and restrain from violence. Gandhiji gave a call for an all -India hartal on 30th March which was later postponed to 6 April 1919 ,in protest of the Rowlett act. Gandhiji was arrested and his trusted volunteers could not control this mass violence. The ominous day of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre which was occurred on 13 th April 1919 triggered the non-cooperation movement. Gandhi set the goal of Swaraj or self-governance, which since then became the motto of Indian freedom movement. But due to the Chauri Chaura incident, Mahatma Gandhi ended the movement because in this incident 23 police officials were killed. Mahatma Gandhi in March 1930 addressed the nation in a newspaper, Young India, and expressed his willingness to suspend the movement if his eleven demands get accepted by the government.
5. Civil disobedience movement ,1930 -1934
At the Lahore session of the Congress, 1929, decision to start a Civil Disobedience Movement was taken. Gandhi was given full authority to draw up the programme and lead the movement. Gandhi decided to begin the campaign of civil disobedience in March 1930. The programme of Civil Disobedience Movement included:
(1) The violation (break) of salt law.
(2) Boycott of government educational institutions and government service.
(3) Boycott of foreign cloth and bonfire of foreign goods.
(4) Picketing of shops selling foreign goods, including liquor and opium.
(5) Non-payment of taxes to the government.
Gandhi began the Civil Disobedience Movement with the historic Dandi March from his Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi beach on 12th March 1930 to break the salt law. Salt March also known as the Dandi Movement or Salt Satyagraha, On 6th April 1930, Gandhi and his satyagrahis started the Civil Disobedience Movement by picking salt lying on the sea shore and thus, symbolically violating the salt law.
The Civil Disobedience Movement spread all over the country. Everywhere people broke the salt law or other laws. Peasants refused to pay land revenue and rents. Gandhi's Salt March is considered to be a pivotal incident in the history of freedom struggle. At the Calcutta Congress of 1928, Gandhi declared that the British must grant India dominion status or the country will erupt into a revolution for complete independence. The British did not pay heed to this. As a result, on December 31, 1929, the Indian flag was unfurled in Lahore and the next January 26 was celebrated as the Indian Independence Day. Since the sale of salt was government monopoly, it was illegal for anyone to make salt. Thousands of people joined him and
made it one of the biggest marches in Indian history.
6. Gandhi Irwin pact ,1931
Early in 1931, Lord Irwin, the Viceroy of India made an appeal to Gandhi to help in promoting friendly relations between the Indian and British people. He also persuaded the leaders of the Congress to attend the Second Round Table Conference, As goodwill gesture the Viceroy ordered the release of Gandhi and other important leaders. Following his release in February 1931, Gandhi held talks with Irwin. The outcome of the negotiations between Gandhi and Irwin was the Gandhi-Irwin pact signed on 5th March 1931. According to this pact: The Government agreed to withdraw all ordinances and pending prosecutions against the political workers, to release all political prisoners who were not guilty of violence, to restore the confiscated property of the satyagrahis, to permit peaceful picketing of shops selling liquor, foreign goods etc. In return Gandhi agreed to suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement and participate in the second round table conference.7.Poona Pact, 1932
Gandhi, who was electorate in the Yerwada for the jail, Poona was nit prepared to accept separate electorate for depressed classes. Realizing that the Communal Award would destroy the growing unity of the country, Gandhi undertook a fast unto death. Anxious to save the life of Gandhi, leaders of various parties brought Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the leader of the depressed classes and Gandhi to the negotiating table. These discussions led to the famous Poona Pact of 1932. According to a compromise reached between the two, Ambedkar dropped the demand for separate electorate for the depressed classes. On the other hand the Congress promised increased reserved seats for them on the basis of joint electorate.8. Quit India Movement,1942
The the failure Cripps Mission the rapid military advance of Japanese of the towards ,India's the made eastern British the borders, the shortage of commodities and rising prices made leaders the of Congress to take effective and steps to force British to accept India's demand for complete Independence. During the Second World War, Gandhi was determined to strike the British Empire with a definitive blow that would secure their exit from India. This happened when the British started recruiting Indians for the war. Gandhi protested strongly and said that the Indians cannot be involved in a war that is in favour of democratic purposes when India itself is not a free country. This argument exposed the two-faced image of the colonisers and within half a decade, they were out of this country.CONCLUSION
Gandhi returned to India in 1915. He brought an international reputation as a leading Indian nationalist, theorist and community organiser. Gandhi joined the Indian National Congress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people primarily by Gokhale. Gokhale was a key leader of the Congress Party best known for his restraint and moderation, and his insistence on working inside the system. Gandhi took Gokhale's liberal approach based on British Whiggish traditions and transformed it to make it look Indian Gandhi took leadership of the Congress in 1920 and began escalating demands until on 26 January 1930 the Indian National Congress declared the independence of India. Tensions escalated until Gandhi demanded immediate independence in 1942 and the British responded by imprisoning him and tens of thousands of Congress leaders. Meanwhile, the Muslim League did co-operate with Britain and moved, against Gandhi's strong opposition, to demands for a totally separate Muslim state of Pakistan. In August 1947 the British partitioned the land with India and Pakistan each achieving independence on terms that Gandhi disapproved. Gandhi's first major achievement came in 1917 with the Champaran agitation in Bihar.The Champaran agitation pitted the local peasantry against their largely British landlords who were backed by the local administration. The peasantry was forced to grow Indigo era, a cash crop for Indigo dye whose demand had been declining over two decades, and were forced to sell their crops to the planters at a fixed price. A no-tax campaign was started in 1917 who demanded the remission of taxes due to poor harvest or crop failure in Kheda village, Gujarat. Mahatma Gandhi was invited and he joined the movement on 22 March, 1918. There, he started Satyagraha. Finally, the demands were fulfilled by the British government and it was successful. Khilafat movement was started by the Ali brothers to show the protest against unjust done with Turkey after the First World War. Under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi, the movement was launched against the British government to restore the collapsing status of the Caliph in Turkey. All India Conference was held in Delhi where Mahatma Gandhi was elected as a president. He also returned the medals received from the British Empire in South Africa. The success of the Khilafat movement made him the national leader. Non-Cooperation movement was launched in 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi due to the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Mahatma Gandhi thought that this will continue and Britishers will enjoy their control over Indians. With the help of Congress, Gandhi ji convinced people for starting the non-cooperation movement in a peaceful way which is the key factor to attain independence. He framed the concept of Swaraj and it became a crucial element in the Indian freedom struggle. The movement gained momentum and people started boycotting the products and establishments of the British government like schools, colleges, government offices. But due to the Chauri Chaura incident, Mahatma Gandhi ended the movement because in this incident 23 police officials were killed.
Mahatma Gandhi in March 1930 addressed the nation in a newspaper, Young India, and expressed his willingness to suspend the movement if his eleven demands get accepted by the government. But the government at that time was of Lord Irwin and he did not respond back to him. As a result, Mahatma Gandhi initiated the movement with full vigour. He started the movement with Dandi March from 12 March to 6 April, 1930. Mahatma Gandhi along with his followers marched from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi , Ahmedabad on the sea coast and broke the salt law by making salt on 6 April, 1930. Under this movement student, left college and government servants resigned from the office. Boycott foreign clothes, communal burning of foreign clothes, non-payment of government taxes, women stage Dharna at the government liquor shop, etc.In 1930, Lord Irwin's Government called for a Round Table Conference in London and Indian National Conference refused to take part in it. So, to make sure that Congress participates in conferences he signed a pact with Mahatma Gandhi in 1931. It was known as Gandhi-Irwin Pact. It focuses on the release of all the political prisoners and the cancellation of the oppressive laws. Mahatma Gandhi launches the Quit India movement on 8 August, 1942 during Second World War to drive British rule out of India. In the movement, Mahatma Gandhi delivered a 'Do or Die' speech. As a result, the entire members of the Indian National Congress were arrested by the British officials and imprisoned without trial. But the protest continued across the nation. By the end of World War II, the British government cleared that they will hand over the powers to India. Mahatma Gandhi called off the movement which results in the release of thousands of prisoners. Therefore, these are the major movements led by Mahatma Gandhi and helped India in attaining freedom from British rule or colonial rule.
