Explain the circumstances under which the Civil Disobedience Movement was started

Explain the circumstances under which Gandhiji decided to call off the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1931.

Circumstances :

• The colonial government began arresting Congress leaders one by one.
• This led to violent clashes in many places.
• When Abdul Gaffar Khan, a devout disciple of Mahatma Gandhi was arrested in April 1930, angry crowds demonstrated in the streets of Peshawar, facing armoured cars and police firing.
• Many people were killed.
• A month later, when Mahatma Gandhi himself was arrested, industrial workers in Sholapur attacked police posts, municipal buildings, law courts and railway stations.
• Peaceful satyagrahis were attacked.
• Women and children were beaten and about 1,00,000 people were arrested. In such situation, Mahatma Gandhi decided to call off the movement in 1931.

List all the different social groups which joined the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1921. Then choose any three and write about their hopes and struggles to show why they joined the movement.

The list of social groups are:

(i) The workers and members of Congress Party.

(ii) The members of Khilafat Committee and supporters of Khilafat cause (or the Ottoman Turkey empire).

(iii) Middle class of the cities.

(iv) Students and teachers from schools and colleges.

(v) Merchants and traders.

(vi) The weavers.

(vii) The lawyers.

(viii) The peasants and the tribals.

(ix) Plantation workers.

Three social groups, their hopes and struggles :

(i) Middle Classes in the Cities : These mainly comprised students, teachers and lawyers. They responded enthusiastically to the call for non-cooperation and boycott. They saw the movement as a way to freedom from foreign domination. For example, khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass-produced mill cloth and poor people could not afford to buy it.

For the movement to be sucessful, alternative Indian institutions had to be set up  so that they could be used in place of the British ones. Likewise, students and teachers had no choice but to go back to government schools. Likewise, lawyers had no choice but to go back to courts.

(ii) Peasants and Tribals : At many places, peasants joined the Non-Cooperation Movement. The movement was primarily against talukdars and landlords. By swaraj they understood that they would not be required to pay any taxes and that lands would be redistributed.The peasant movement often turned violent and the peasants had to face bullets and police brutality.

(iii) Plantation Workers : Plantation workers too joined the movement led by Gandhiji. They had their own understanding of the notion of swaraj. For them, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed, and it meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come.

Answer

Hint: Mahatma Gandhi began his historic march on 12th March, 1930 hence, launching the Civil disobedience movement. The Dandi March which continued from 12 March to 6 April 1930 acted as a breakthrough for this mass revolution.

Complete answer:

Since the movement turned violent, and many people were killed, Gandhiji called it off.

Note: Many nationalist leaders were unhappy with this agreement of terminating the movement in 1931. However, at its Karachi session which was held in March 1931 which was presided over by Vallabhbhai Patel, the congress decided to approve the agreement and participate in the second round table conference. Gandhi was chosen to represent the congress at the conference which met in September 1931.