Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922)

The non-land movement was a reaction towards the oppressive policies of the British Indian government such as the Rowlatt Act of 18 March 1919, as well as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 13 April 1919. Although the Rowlatt Act of 1919, which suspended the rights of political prisoners in sedition trials, while others had come to attend the annual Baisakhi festival. The civilians were fired upon by soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, resulting in killing and injuring thousands of protesters. The outcry generated by the massacre led to thousands of unrests and more deaths by the hands of the police. The bagh became the most infamous event of British rule in India. Gandhi, who was a preacher of nonviolence, was horrified. He lost all faith in the goodness of the British government and declared that it would be a "sin" to cooperate with the "satanic" government. Likewise, the idea of satyagraha was subsequently authorised by Jawaharlal Nehru, for who the massacre also endorsed "the conviction that nothing short of independence was acceptable." In response to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and other violence in Punjab, the movement sought to secure Swaraj, independence for India. Gandhi promised Swaraj within one year if his non-cooperation programme was fully implemented. The other reason to start the non-cooperation movement was that Gandhi lost faith in constitutional methods and turned from cooperator of British rule to non-cooperator campaigning for Indian independence from colonialism. Other causes include economic hardships to the common Indian citizen, which the nationalists attributed to the economic exploitation of India under colonial rule, the hardships faced Indian artisans due to British factory-made goods replacing handmade goods, and conscription being employed by the British Indian Army to gather enough recruits during the First World War. == Movement ==

The non-cooperation movement aimed to challenge the colonial economic and power structure, and British authorities would be forced to take notice of the demands of the independence movement. Gandhi's call was for a nationwide protest against the Rowlatt Act. In promoting "self-reliance," his planning of the non-cooperation movement included persuading all Indians to withdraw their labour from any activity that "sustained the British government and also economy in India," • all offices and factories would be closed; • Indians would be encouraged to withdraw from Raj-sponsored schools, police services, the military, and the civil service, and lawyers were asked to leave the Raj's courts; • public transportation and English-manufactured goods, especially clothing, was boycotted; and • Indians returned honours and titles given by the government and resigned from various posts like teachers, lawyers, civil and military services. Gandhi's non-cooperation movement also called for the end to untouchability. For Gandhi, the use of charkha to spin khadi and abandoning foreign clothes was important for the movement. According to Shashi Tharoor in the Inglorious Empire, the British Empire enriched itself by exploiting India’s cotton: raw cotton was bought cheaply, shipped to Manchester for processing, and sold back in India through the railways, while heavy duties of 70–80% crippled Indian textiles—so much so that historian H. H. Wilson admitted Manchester could not have competed otherwise. India’s share in global textile trade collapsed by 25%, master weavers were reduced to beggars, and British exports of cotton goods skyrocketed from 60 million yards in 1830 to nearly a billion by 1870. Gandhi’s call for the charkha and khadi became both an economic and symbolic weapon against colonialism, embodying simplicity and self-reliance. In India’s Struggle for Independence, historian Bipan Chandra recounted an episode from 1921, when students in Madurai complained khadi was costly, Gandhi shed his kurta and dhoti, donning only a langot(loincloth) as he felt that the problem could be solved by wearing less clothes. Publicly-held meetings and strikes (hartals) during the movement ultimately led to the first arrests of both Jawaharlal Nehru and his father, Motilal Nehru, on 6 December 1921. Abbas Tyabji, Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar and Maulana Shaukat Ali. The eminent Hindi writer, poet, playwright, journalist, and nationalist Rambriksh Benipuri, who spent more than eight years in prison campaigning for India's independence, wrote: == Impact and suspension ==

The impact of the revolt was a total shock to British authorities and a massive support to millions of Indian nationalists. Unity in the country was strengthened and many Indian schools and colleges were created. Indian goods were encouraged. == Aftermath ==

Gandhi's commitment to nonviolence was redeemed when, between 1930 and 1934, tens of millions again revolted in the Salt Satyagraha which made India's cause famous worldwide for its unerring adherence to non-violence. The Satyagraha ended in success. The demands of Indians were met and the Congress was recognized as a representative of the Indian people. The Government of India Act 1935 also gave India its first taste in democratic self-governance. The success of the Salt Satyagraha demonstrated Gandhi’s deliberate use of strategic retreat during the non-cooperation movement, reflecting his broader non-violent strategy of ‘Struggle–Truce–Struggle’ (S-T-S). Gandhi had promoted Swadeshi campaign during this movement, which made good results. 62% of cloth sold in India was being made locally by 1936, rising to 76% by 1945. His promotion of the charkha enabled people to produce their own yarn, striking at the heart of British economic dominance while rallying anti-colonial sentiment, and this Gandhian influence on self-reliance has manifested in different forms in post-independence India as well. == See also ==

• Jawaharlal Nehru An Autobiography. Oxford University Press (1936) • Tharoor, Shashi. Nehru: The Invention of India. Arcade Publishing (2003). New York. First edition. • Jawaharlal Nehru and Nayantara Sahgal. Before freedom, 1909–1947 : Nehru's letters to his sister. Roli Books (2004). • Wagner, Kim, Amritsar 1919: An Empire of Fear and the Making of a Massacre. Yale University Press (2019). • Anand, Anita, ''The Patient Assassin: a true tale of massacre, revenge, and India's quest for independence'', Simon & Schuster (2019), == Further reading ==