Civil Disobedience Movement: Cause, Limitations, And Impact

Civil Disobedience Movements

Civil Disobedience Movement, one of the most pivotal episodes in India’s struggle for independence from British rule, was launched under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in 1930. This non-violent movement aimed at defying British laws through Civil disobedience, marked a significant escalation from the earlier Non-Cooperation Movement, emphasizing not just refusal to cooperate with the British authorities but actively breaking colonial laws.

The movement was sparked by the Salt March, a 240- mile march to the Arabian Sea, where Gandhi and his followers made their own salt, directly challenging the British monopoly. This act of defiance galvanized Indians across the country, leading to widespread participation in acts of Civil disobedience including the refusal to pay taxes and the boycott of British goods.

The Civil Disobedience Movement not only intensified the Indian nationalistic fervor but also drew international attention to India’s independence struggle, laying a crucial foundation for future campaigns against British rule and ultimately, India’s independence in 1947. To explore the origins and strategic developments that led to this landmark movement, continue reading on “Towards the Civil Disobedience Movement“. In this page we will continue from Calcutta session of the congress:

Calcutta session of the Congress (December 1928)

In the Calcutta session of the Congress (December 1928), the Nehru report was approved. However, discontent surfaced among the younger leaders, including Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Bose, who were dissatisfied with the demand for dominion status and pushed for the adoption of “Poorna Swaraj”, or complete independence as the Congress’s goal.

In contrast, senior leaders such as Gandhi and Motilal Nehru wanted to tread cautiously, emphasizing the difficulty of achieving consensus on dominion status. Ultimately, Gandhi compromised by moving a resolution (Calcutta Congress resolution) that the offer to accept the dominion status stood only if the British government accepted the all-parties report (Nehru report) by the year-end (1929); if it failed to do so, the Congress would shift its focus to complete independence and launch a civil disobedience movement to achieve this objective.

This compromise by Gandhi meant that, for all practical purposes, Gandhi himself was now committed to the goal of complete independence; this was an enormous concession to the radicals.

The world depression of 1929-33 also significantly impacted national movements during this period. Due to political and economic tensions, the British colonial set-up failed to accommodate emerging Indian interests during this period. The British tariff policies during this period led to large-scale discontent among the different business groups. The large-scale layoffs of workers led to intense and well-organized protests.

Government’s Response to the Calcutta Congress Resolution

While the Calcutta resolution gave an ultimatum to the British, It also gave them a respite for one year. The British sought to use this period to deprive the Congress of its allies, both through repression and allurement.

• The government tried to crush the communist and other revolutionary activities through its draconian Public safety ordinance. We will read about this phase of revolutionary activities in a separate chapter, Militant Nationalism 2.0.
• Along with repression, the government also attempted to attract moderate elements. Realizing that the offers through the Simon Commission were a gone case due to its vehement boycott by parties and groups across the political spectrum, Lord Irwin agreed to a Round Table conference, which would include representatives of the British government and the British government and parties. Besides this, the government also committed itself to granting “Dominion status” sometime in future.

Congress’ Response to the government’s offer

• The government’s offer was initially supported by Congress leaders and liberals like Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Madan Mohan Malaviya, and Tej Bahadur Sapru. They issued a joint statement, welcoming Irwin’s offer.
• However, due to resistance from Congress (Subhash Bose and Nehru) and the Secretary of State for India, Wedgwood Benn’s acceptance that nothing new was offered and Simon Commission’s final authority remained unaffected led to the issuance of the “Delhi Manifesto” in November 1929, which put forward the following conditions for attending the Round Table conference:

1. 1. General amnesty for political prisoners;
   2. The Congress should have majority representation at the conference.
   3. The purpose of the conference should be the formulation of a constitution facilitating the implementation of the dominion status, and the basic principle of the dominion status should be immediately accepted.