Montague-Chelmsford reforms, Non-cooperation movements and its aftermath, Temple entry movements and local revolts Mains Test
Mains Test Series
Montague-Chelmsford reforms, Non-cooperation movements and its aftermath, Temple entry movements and local revolts
Q. How were the Swarajists justified in their stance to enter the council? What were the arguments of the no-changers against that stance?
Solution
Introduction
Swarajists were led by CR Das and Motilal Nehru and believed that Councils could be used to register their Protest against the Colonial Government and its Policies. They were those nationalists who opposed Gandhi’s withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement following the Chauri-Chaura incident of Feb 1922.
Swarajists’ justification for their stance to enter the council:
- Fill Political Void: Council entry would fill the temporary political void, as Civil disobedience was not possible in the near term.
- Spreading Political Propaganda: Works in the Councils, such as the speeches, electioneering, voting out the Government, etc., would keep the public politically engaged and provide them with fresh avenues for political propaganda and agitation.
- Expose the ‘Reforms’: Council entry would help the Congress maintain its stronghold in the Councils by frustrating the efforts of undesirable elements to weaken the Congress and the Government’s actions to gain legitimacy for their laws. The aim would be to expose the legislatures as ‘Sham Parliaments’.
- Complementary to the NonCooperation movement: Council entry is complementary to the NonCooperation Movement (NCM). It is a continuation of the NCM but in the Councils.
- Politics of obstruction: They would obstruct the Councils consistently and continuously and make the Government through them impossible.
- The Councils would not be used the way Liberals have used them for seeking a gradual transformation of the colonial state. Instead, they would be used to carry a struggle to overthrow the colonial Government.
Arguments of the no-changers against Swarajists’ stance:
- Constructive work is essential for preparing for the next round of struggle. Parliamentary participation would lead to the neglect of constructive work and work among the masses.
- Revolutionary zeal would fade away after holding political offices.
- Council entry would also lead to Political Corruption.
- Becoming part of the system: The Congress legislators eventually would give up the politics of obstruction, get sucked into the imperial constitutional framework and start cooperating with the foreign Government on petty reforms and piecemeal legislation.
Conclusion:
Even though Swarajists were temporary, by asserting their right to make their own Constitution, the Swarajists added a new dimension to nationalist politics. Their idea was carried forward, and Congress itself participated in elections, formed governments and protested against the British from legislatures.
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