Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–34) Upsc Ncert Notes

Background and Preceding Events Leading to the Movement

• Constructive Work and Groundwork (Mid-1920s): Following the withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922, followers of Mahatma Gandhi undertook sincere social and constructive work across rural India (promoting khadi, spinning, and working against untouchability). This village-level work significantly broadened the support base that later proved vital for launching the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930.
• Economic Turmoil (Late 1920s): The impact of the worldwide economic depression caused agricultural prices to decline from 1926 and collapse entirely after 1930. Peasants across the countryside faced extreme distress as demand and exports dwindled, leaving them unable to sell their produce or pay government revenue demands.
• The Simon Commission (1927–28): In 1927, the British government appointed a Statutory Commission headed by Sir John Simon to examine the constitutional system in India and recommend reforms. Because it contained entirely British members and not a single Indian, it triggered universal outrage and widespread boycotts with black flags and the slogan “Simon Go Back!”. During a peaceful march against the commission in Lahore in October 1928, police brutally lathi-charged demonstrators, severely injuring Lala Lajpat Rai, who died two weeks later.
• The Dominion Status Controversy and Rise of Radicals: The 1928 report drafted under Motilal Nehru proposed “Dominion status” (internal self-government under the British Crown). In October 1929, Viceroy Lord Irwin made a vague offer of future dominion status and proposed a Round Table Conference. Younger radical leaders within the Congress, led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose, rejected these half-measures and advocated for full independence, while moderate and liberal influence waned.
• The Lahore Resolution for Purna Swaraj (December 1929): Presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Lahore Congress session formally adopted the goal of Purna Swaraj (complete independence).
  • The declaration asserted the inalienable right of the Indian people to freedom, to enjoy the fruits of their toil, and to alter or abolish an oppressive government that deprives them of these rights.
  • It declared that the British government had ruined India economically, politically, culturally, and spiritually, requiring India to sever all connection with Britain.
• Observance of Independence Day (26 January 1930): The Congress resolved that 26 January 1930 would be celebrated as Independence Day nationwide.
  • Gandhi issued precise instructions for the day: meetings across cities and villages were to be held at the exact same minute announced by the beating of drums, beginning with the hoisting of the national flag.
  • The rest of the day was to be devoted to constructive work (spinning, serving untouchables, promoting Hindu-Muslim unity, or prohibition work) and taking the solemn pledge for freedom.
  • However, the celebrations drew limited public enthusiasm, making Gandhi realize that the abstract ideal of freedom had to be linked to concrete grievances of everyday life.

The Salt Issue and Gandhi’s 11 Demands

• Selection of Salt as a Universal Symbol:
  • Under colonial law, the British state maintained a strict monopoly over the manufacture and sale of salt and imposed a heavy salt tax.
  • Salt was an indispensable daily food item consumed equally by the rich and the poor.
  • Gandhi called the tax “sinful” and characterized the salt monopoly as a “fourfold curse”: it deprived people of a simple village industry, led to wanton destruction of natural salt by government officers to prevent untaxed use, imposed an exorbitant tax (often over 1,000 percent of value), and squandered state funds on destroying what nature freely produced.
  • Targeting salt united every section of Indian society without creating friction between the rich and the poor.
• Ultimatum to Viceroy Lord Irwin (31 January 1930):
  • Gandhi sent an eleven-point demand letter to Viceroy Lord Irwin addressing issues affecting diverse segments, from peasants to industrialists.
  • Abolition of the salt tax formed the centerpiece of these demands.
  • The letter served as an ultimatum: if these demands were not met by 11 March 1930, the Congress would inaugurate a civil disobedience campaign. Irwin was unwilling to negotiate and failed to grasp the political weight of the impending action.

The Salt March to Dandi (March–April 1930)

• The Journey: On 12 March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi departed his Sabarmati Ashram on foot with 78 chosen volunteers. They covered over 240 miles (approx. 380 km) in 24 days (averaging about 10 miles a day) to reach the coastal village of Dandi in southern Gujarat.
• Speeches Along the Way: Massive gatherings welcomed Gandhi at every halt. Gandhi urged the public to defy colonial laws peacefully and called upon village officials to quit government employment (prompting widespread resignations). At the village of Wasna, he urged upper castes to realize that Swaraj was unattainable without serving and making amends to the untouchables, and maintaining unity among Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, and Sikhs.
• Breaking the Law (6 April 1930): Gandhi arrived at Dandi, addressed the gathering on 5 April stating that civil disobedience was based on the faith that a roused nation needed no single leader, and on the morning of 6 April 1930, he ceremonially picked up a fistful of natural salt from the seashore and boiled seawater, formally violating the salt law.

Course and Forms of Civil Disobedience (1930–31)

• Difference from Non-Cooperation: Unlike the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22), which emphasized refusing voluntary association and cooperation with the British, Civil Disobedience called upon people to actively break colonial laws alongside withholding cooperation.
• Nationwide Salt Defiance: Thousands across India manufactured illicit salt, boiled seawater, and staged peaceful demonstrations outside government salt depots and factories.
• Spread of Parallel Protest Methods:
  • Boycott of foreign goods and foreign textiles, with merchants refusing to import or finance foreign goods.
  • Picketing of liquor shops and foreign cloth establishments.
  • Refusal by peasants to pay land revenues and chaukidari taxes (notably in Bihar and Gujarat).
  • Resignation of local and village officials.
  • Defiance of forest regulations: forest and tribal communities entered “Reserved Forests” without permits to graze cattle and gather wood and fruit.
• Notable Local Incidents & Revolts:
  • Peshawar (23 April 1930): Following the arrest of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (the leader of the Khudai Khidmatgars), huge unarmed crowds demonstrated in Qissa Khwani Bazaar facing armored cars and police gunfire, leaving many dead. In a famous act of defiance, two platoons of the Royal Garhwal Rifles led by Chandra Singh Garhwali refused orders to fire on their unarmed countrymen, courting arrest and imprisonment instead.
  • Sholapur (May 1930): Following Gandhi’s arrest, industrial workers attacked railway stations, courts, police outposts, and municipal offices—all symbols of colonial rule.
  • Other Centers: Defiance occurred widely in places such as Agra, Cawnpore, Benaras, Allahabad, Lucknow, Meerut, Rae Bareli, Midnapore, 24-Parganas, and Vizagapatam. In Jubbalpore, Seth Govinddas attempted the manufacture of chemical salt. Jawaharlal Nehru was arrested at Cheoki railway station on 14 April 1930 on his way to a Youth League meeting and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment in Naini Central Jail.

Social Groups and Their Participation

• Rich Peasants:
  • Communities such as the Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh were major commercial crop growers.
  • Severely impacted by the collapse in agricultural prices and loss of cash income, they found it impossible to pay colonial revenue demands.
  • They organized their communities and forced members into boycott programs, viewing Swaraj essentially as the fight against high land revenue.
  • When Gandhi called off the movement in 1931 without obtaining revenue revisions, they felt deeply disillusioned, leading many to refuse participation during the second phase in 1932.
• Poor Peasants and Small Tenants:
  • Cultivating rented lands, small tenants suffered as depression reduced their cash flow, making it impossible to pay rents to landlords.
  • They joined radical campaigns spearheaded by Socialists and Communists, demanding the remission of rent payments.
  • The Congress leadership, reluctant to antagonize rich peasants and landlords, refused to sponsor “no-rent” campaigns, creating enduring tension and ambiguity between poor peasants and the Congress.
• Business and Industrialist Classes:
  • Enriched during World War I, Indian businessmen sought protection against foreign imports and opposed restrictive colonial policies, demanding a favorable rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio.
  • Having organized into bodies like the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress (1920) and the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI, 1927), prominent industrialists like G.D. Birla and Purshottamdas Thakurdas backed the 1930 movement with funds and by boycotting imported commodities.
  • They envisioned Swaraj as an unhindered economic space free from colonial trade constraints.
  • However, after the inconclusive Round Table Conference, they grew fearful of prolonged strikes, militant violence, and the growing socialist leanings among younger Congress leaders (like Nehru), leading to waning enthusiasm.
• Industrial Working Class:
  • Overall, factory laborers stayed largely aloof, particularly because of the visible closeness between Congress and wealthy industrialists.
  • A notable exception was the Nagpur region, where workers participated in strikes and rallies.
  • Pockets of resistance occurred: railway strikes in 1930, dockworkers’ strikes in 1932, and Chotanagpur tin miners wearing Gandhi caps in boycott rallies.
  • The Congress declined to integrate labor demands into its official agenda to avoid fracturing the anti-imperialist front.
• Women’s Mass Mobilization:
  • The Salt Satyagraha represented the first time women took part in nationalist politics in massive numbers.
  • Women from diverse backgrounds—urban high-caste families, rich rural households, liberal homes, and conservative households emerging directly from purdah (seclusion)—joined marches, manufactured salt, and picketed shops.
  • Notable leaders included Sarojini Naidu (who led marches and had to actively persuade Gandhi initially to allow women to participate) and socialist activist Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (who urged Gandhi not to limit protests to men and courted arrest herself).
  • Exemplars like Ambabai of Karnataka (widowed at sixteen) threw herself into picketing liquor and cloth shops in Udipi, serving repeated jail sentences, teaching spinning, and organizing prabhat pheris.
  • Despite their active role, Gandhi and the Congress saw the domestic realm (as mothers and wives) as woman’s primary sphere and long hesitated to confer actual administrative positions on women within the party.

Limits and Internal Debates of the Movement

• Dalit (Depressed Classes) Participation:
  • Long neglected by the Congress to avoid antagonizing conservative high-caste Hindus (sanatanis), Dalits maintained limited participation, especially in strongholds like Maharashtra and Nagpur.
  • Under Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (who founded the Depressed Classes Association in 1930), Dalits demanded separate electorates and reserved legislative seats, arguing that social dignity and relief from caste oppression required political empowerment.
  • Gandhi opposed separate electorates, believing they would permanently segregate lower castes from mainstream Hindu society and perpetuate the stigma of untouchability.
• Muslim Participation and Communal Alienation:
  • Large sections of Muslims largely kept aloof from the Civil Disobedience Movement.
  • Following the collapse of the Khilafat-Non-Cooperation alliance, mutual suspicion deepened as Congress appeared increasingly allied with Hindu religious groups like the Hindu Mahasabha.
  • Communal clashes and competing militant religious processions widened divisions during the late 1920s.
  • Compromise negotiations failed; in 1928, M.R. Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha opposed Jinnah’s compromise proposal (which offered to drop separate electorates in exchange for reserved seats in the Central Assembly and population-proportionate representation in Punjab and Bengal).
  • In his presidential address to the Muslim League at Allahabad in 1930, Sir Muhammad Iqbal defended separate electorates and proposed a separate autonomous territory for Muslims in northwestern India to protect Islamic identity, providing the intellectual rationale for future demands for Pakistan.

British Reaction and Repression (1930)

• Crackdown and Mass Incarceration: The colonial administration used widespread force: peaceful demonstrators were beaten with batons, women and children were assaulted, and around 60,000 to 100,000 satyagrahis were imprisoned, including Gandhi and other top leaders.
• Official Perception: Confidential fortnightly Home Department police reports dismissed the early Salt March as theatrical posturing and claimed the public was indifferent, yet records showed officials were gripped by deep anxiety over the political fallout of arresting Gandhi.
• International Impact: The movement garnered immense international press coverage, especially in American publications like Time magazine (which initially mocked Gandhi’s physical frame but soon praised him as an astute statesman and saint).

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact and the Round Table Conferences (1931)

• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (5 March 1931):
  • Seeking to defuse the agitation, Viceroy Irwin initiated direct talks with Gandhi (who had been released from prison in January 1931).
  • This was the first time the British administration sat with the Congress leadership on an equal footing.
  • Under the terms of the pact:
    • The Congress agreed to suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement.
    • The Congress agreed to participate in the Second Round Table Conference in London (having boycotted the first conference in November 1930).
    • The government agreed to release political prisoners not implicated in violence.
    • Private manufacture of salt for personal use was permitted along the coasts.
  • Radical and younger nationalists criticized the pact because Gandhi was unable to secure any concrete commitment to Purna Swaraj from the Viceroy.
• The Second Round Table Conference (Autumn 1931):
  • Gandhi travelled to London representing the Congress.
  • The conference ended in deadlock because Gandhi’s claim that the Congress spoke for the entirety of India was challenged by:
    1. The Muslim League (claiming sole representation of the Muslim minority).
    2. The Princely States (claiming Congress held no standing in their territories).
    3. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (asserting that the Congress failed to represent the lowest castes).
  • The British conceded Ambedkar’s demand for separate electorates for the Depressed Classes, prompting Gandhi’s fierce opposition.

Resumption, Relaunch, and Suspension (1932–1934)

• Resumption and Relaunch (1932):
  • Gandhi returned from London empty-handed to find the new Viceroy, Lord Willingdon (who held a deeply hostile view of Gandhi), enforcing an intense cycle of repression.
  • Jawaharlal Nehru and Abdul Ghaffar Khan had been jailed, the Congress had been outlawed, and prohibitions were clamped on public meetings, demonstrations, and boycotts.
  • Gandhi relaunched the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1932.
• The Poona Pact (September 1932):
  • In protest against the British grant of separate electorates to the Depressed Classes, Gandhi began a “fast unto death” in jail.
  • Ambedkar conceded to a compromise, known as the Poona Pact of September 1932.
  • Instead of separate electorates, the Depressed Classes received an increased share of reserved seats in provincial and central legislatures, elected by the general electorate.
• Loss of Momentum and Formal Withdrawal (1934):
  • The relaunched struggle was met with massive arrests and could not sustain the initial public fervor and enthusiasm.
  • Rich peasants and business groups largely stayed away.
  • Over 40,000 satyagrahis were jailed during this second phase (1931–34).
  • The movement gradually ran out of momentum and was formally withdrawn by Gandhi in 1934.

Aftermath and Significance

• Turn Toward Constitutional Politics: With the withdrawal of Civil Disobedience, the Congress pivoted toward constitutional agitation and legislative politics.
• Government of India Act of 1935: The prolonged nationalist pressure compelled the British to pass the Government of India Act of 1935, which introduced provincial autonomy and representative institutions.
• 1937 Elections: In the provincial elections of 1937, the Congress achieved a major electoral victory, forming ministries in 7 out of 11 provinces (with a Congress “Prime Minister” in eight provinces supervised by a British Governor).
• Realization of British Decline: The Civil Disobedience Movement demonstrated that the British could no longer rule India without challenge, compelling the colonial government to realize that its authority was fragile and that devolution of real power was inevitable.

Reference Ncert Documents

https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/jess302.pdf

https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/lehs303.pdf

https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/hess208.pdf

https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/hees202.pdf

https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/lefl105.pdf