CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

What is Civil Disobedience ?

         Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is a symbolic or ritualistic violation of the law, rather than a rejection of the system as a whole.

          A variety of criticisms has been directed against the philosophy and practice of civil disobedience. The radical critique of the philosophy of civil disobedience condemns its acceptance of the existing political structure; conservative schools of thought, on the other hand, see the logical extension of civil disobedience as anarchy and the right of the individual to break any law he chooses, at any time.

         The philosophical roots of civil disobedience lie deep in Western thought: Cicero, Saint Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry David Thoreau all sought to justify conduct by virtue of its harmony with some antecedent superhuman moral law.

         The principle of civil disobedience has achieved some standing in international law through the war crime trials at Nürnberg after World War II, which affirmed the principle that an individual may, under certain circumstances, be held accountable for failure to break the laws of his country.

       The man who most clearly formulated the concept of civil disobedience for the modern world was Mohandas Gandhi. Drawing from Eastern and Western thought, Gandhi developed the philosophy of satyāgraha . First in the Transvaal of South Africa in 1906 and later in India, Gandhi led his people in satyagrahas to obtain equal rights and freedom.

Faces of a Civil Disobedience Movement at various points of time ·  Mohandas Gandhi (Satyagraha) ·  Dr Martin Luther King, Jr ·  John Lennon ·  Rosa Parks, "mother of the civil rights movement" ·  James Bevel, the Strategist of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement ·  Dalai Lama ·  Henry David Thoreau ·  Lech Wałęsa ·  Dorothy Day co-founder of Catholic Worker Movement ·  Philip Berrigan former Josephite priest and nonviolent activist ·  Daniel Berrigan Jesuit priest and nonviolent activist ·  Sousveillance, passive campaign against surveillance ·  Václav Havel ·  Anna Hazare, 2011 Civil Disobedience in India for Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill) The Magic of the very concept of  Civil Disobedience around the world ! One of its earliest massive implementations was brought about by Egyptians against the British occupation in the 1919 Revolution. Civil disobedience is one of the many ways people have rebelled against what they deem to be unfair laws. It has been used in many nonviolent resistance movements in India (Gandhi's campaigns for independence from the British Empire), in Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution and in East Germany to oust their communist governments, in South Africa in the fight against apartheid, in the American Civil Rights Movement, in the Singing Revolution to bring independence to the Baltic countries from the Soviet Union, recently with the 2003 Rose Revolution in Georgia and the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, among other various movements worldwide. Various theories behind this Idea of Civil Disobedience movement!   ·        Violent vs. nonviolent ·        Revolutionary vs. nonrevolutionary ·        Collective vs. solitary

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT in INDIA

Factors Leading to the Civil Disobedience Movement

         The prevalent political and social circumstances played a vital role in the launching of the Civil Disobedience Movement. The Simon Commission was formed by the British Government that included solely the members of the British Parliament, in November 1927, to draft and formalize a constitution for India. The chairmanship of the commission rested with Sir John Simon, who was a well known lawyer and an English statesman.

• Accused of being an 'All-White Commission', the Simon Commission was rejected by all political and social segments of the country. In Bengal, the opposition to the Simon Commission assumed a massive scale, with a hartal being observed in all corners of the province on February 3rd, 1928. On the occasion of Simon's arrival in the city, demonstrations were conducted in Calcutta.
• In the wake of the boycott of the recommendations proposed by Simon Commission, an All-Party Conference was organized in Bombay in May of 1928. Dr MA Ansari was the president of the conference. Motilal Nehru was given the responsibility to preside over the drafting committee, appointed at the conference to prepare a constitution for India. 
• Barring the Indian Muslims, The Nehru Report was endorsed by all segments of the Indian society. The Indian National Congress pressurized the British government to accept all the parts the Nehru Report, in December 1928. At the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress held in December, 1928, the British government was warned that if India was not granted the status of a dominion, a Civil Disobedience Movement would be initiated in the entire country. Lord Irwin, the Governor General, after a few months, declared that the final objective of the constitutional reforms was to grant the status of a dominion to India. Following this declaration, Gandhi along with other national leaders requested the Governor General to adopt a more liberal attitude in solving the constitutional crisis. A demand was made for the   release of the political prisoners and for holding the suggested Round Table Conference for reflecting on the problems regarding the constitution of the country. 
• None of the efforts made by the Congress received any favorable response from the British government. The patience of the Indian masses were wearing out. The political intelligentsia of the country was sure that the technique of persuasion would not be effective with the British government. The Congress had no other recourse but to launch the Civil Disobedience Movement. In Bardoli, the peasants had already taken to satyagraha under the guidance of Sardar Patel in the year 1928. Their non tax agitations were partially successful. The Congress took the decision to use the non violent weapon of satyagraha on a nation wide scale against the government. 

The Launch of the Civil Disobedience Movement

'Like the historic march of Ram Chandra to Lanka, the march of Dandi would be memorable' exclaimed Motilal Nehru in a message.

P.C. Ray called it the 'exodus of Israelites under Moses.'

Jawaharlal Nehru called Gandhi, '.... the pilgrim on his quest of truth, quiet, peaceful, determined and fearless who would continue that quiet pilgrimage regardless of consequences.'

The satyagrahis were to face a fatiguing journey through heat and dust of the Kheda villages. Thousands of men, women and children accompanied the marching column for a few miles and thousands lined the route and showered flowers, coins, currency notes and kum kum at the satyagrahis.

        MK Gandhi was urged by the Congress to render his much needed leadership to the Civil Disobedience Movement. On the historic day of 12th March 1930, Gandhi inaugurated The Civil Disobedience Movement by conducting the historic Dandi Salt March, where he broke the Salt Laws imposed by the British Government.

        On 12 March 1930 at 6-10 A.M. Gandhi came out of his room, calm and composed, accompanied by Prabhashankar Patani, Mahadev Desai and Pyarelal, his secretary. He offered prayers, looked at his watch and exactly at 6.30 A.M. commenced his march with seventy-eight volunteers.With his usual gentle smile, betokening his unifying faith in the justice of the cause he was pursuing and in the success of the great campaign he had embarked upon, he headed the procession   with quick and unfaltering steps..
Dandi Salt March had an immense impact on the entire nation.

        13 March, Gandhi and his satyagrahis reached a small village, Aslali, where they were received well by the villagers. Gandhi emphasised the importance of salt and criticised the salt tax levied by the government. He stated, 'The poor destitute villagers do not have the strength to get this tax repealed. We want to develop this strength... We should make a resolve that we shall prepare salt, eat it, sell it to the people and, while doing so, court imprisonment, if necessary. If, out of Gujarat's Population of 90 lakhs, we leave out women and children, and the remaining 30 lakhs get ready to violate the salt tax, the Government does not have enough accommodation in jails to house so many people.

       The second halt of the Dandi marchers was at Bareja, a village with a Population of 2,500. He emphasised the importance of khadi, its production and use by the villagers. 'Khadi is the foundation of our freedom struggle.... I request you to renounce luxuries and buy khadi from this heap before you'.

        As the march proceeded, so the pressure   of publicity and social boycott was built up and resignations began to occur in large numbers. By 22 March, approximate number of resignations were four from Ahmedabad district: twenty-seven from Kaira (of whom sixteen were from Borsad taluka) seventeen from Broach, and two from Surat. But Surat soon became the most affected district by 5 April. One hundred and forty headmen had resigned and ten clays later, the figure had risen to two hundred and twenty seven.Gandhi warned them, 'It will be regarded as cowardice to hand in one's resignation and then to withdraw it. There is no compulsion to resign. It is advisable to give up the post of Headman, looking upon it as something base, dirty and filthy.'

         Each and every corner of the country was gripped in a unique fervor of nationalism. Soon this act of violation of the Salt Laws assumed an all India character. The entire nation amalgamated under the call of a single man, Mahatma Gandhi. There were reports of satyagrahas and instances of law violation from Bombay, Central and United Provinces, Bengal and Gujarat. The program of the Civil Disobedience Movement incorporated besides the breaking of the Salt Laws, picketing of shops selling foreign goods and liquor, bonfire of cloth, refusal to pay taxes and avoidance of offices by the public officers and schools by the students. Even the women joined forces against the British. Those from orthodox families did not hesitate to respond to the call of the Mahatma. They took active part in the picketing exercises. Perturbed by the growing popularity of the movement, the British government imprisoned Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, in a bid to thwart it. Thus, the second struggle for attaining Swaraj launched by the Congress, under the able guidance of Mahatma, served the critical function of mobilizing the masses on a large scale against the British. 

         The Salt Satyagraha campaign was based upon Gandhi's principles of nonviolent protest called satyagraha, which he loosely translated as "truth-force.”In early 1930 the Indian National Congress chose satyagraha as their main tactic for winning Indian independence from British rule and appointed Gandhi to organize the campaign. Gandhi chose the 1882 British Salt Act as the first target of satyagraha. The Salt March to Dandi, and the beating by British police of hundreds of nonviolent protesters in Dharasana, which received worldwide news coverage, demonstrated the effective use of civil disobedience as a technique for fighting social and political injustice

       May 4-5 midnight…Gandhiji was arrested !

Dharasana Satyagraha

         The Dharasana Satyagraha went ahead as planned, with Abbas Tyabji, a seventy-six year old retired judge, leading the march with Gandhi's wife Kasturba at his side. Both were arrested before reaching Dharasana and sentenced to three months in prison. After their arrests, the march continued under the leadership of Sarojini Naidu, a woman poet and freedom fighter, who warned the satyagrahis, "You must not use any violence under any circumstances. You will be beaten, but you must not resist: you must not even raise a hand to ward off blows." Soldiers began clubbing the satyagrahis with steel tipped lathis in an incident that attracted international attention.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact 1.   What were the salient features of Gandhi-Irwin Pact? (1997/15) This pact was signed between Mahatma Gandhi and the then Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin on 5 March 1931. Salient features of this act were as following: 1. The Congress would participate in the Round Table Conference. 2. The Congress would discontinue the Civil Disobedience Movement. 3. The Government would withdraw all ordinances issued to curb the Congress. 4. The Government would withdraw all prosecutions relating to offenses other than violent one.The Government would release all persons undergoing sentences of imprisonment for their activities in the civil disobedience movement.

Salt Satyagraha succeeded in drawing the attention of the world. Millions saw the newsreels showing the march. Time magazine declared Gandhi its 1930 Man of the Year, comparing Gandhi's march to the sea "to defy Britain's salt tax as some New Englanders once defied a British tea tax." Civil disobedience continued until early 1931, when Gandhi was finally released from prison to hold talks with Irwin. It was the first time the two held talks on equal terms, and resulted in the Gandhi–Irwin Pact. The talks would lead to the Second Round Table Conference at the end of 1931.In the March of 1930, Gandhi met with the Viceroy, Lord Irwin and signed an agreement known as the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. The two main clauses of the pact entailed; Congress participation in the Round Table Conference and cessation of The Civil Disobedience Movement. The Government of India released all satyagrahis from prison.

Second Round Table Conference   The second session (September–December 1931) was attended by Mahatma Gandhi as   the Congress representative; it failed to reach agreement, either constitutionally or on communal representation.   ·        Reasons for Renewal of the Civil Disobedience Movement	Gandhi attended The Second Round Table Conference in London   accompanied by Smt. Sarojini Naidu.         At this Conference, it was claimed by Mahatma Gandhi that the Congress represented more than eighty five percent of the Indian population. Gandhi's claim was not endorsed by the British and also the Muslim representative.          The Second Round Table Conference proved to be futile for the Indians and Gandhi returned to the country without any positive result. The political scene in India thereafter assumed an acute dimension. The Viceroy, Lord Willingdon, in the absence of Gandhi, adopted the policy of repression. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was violated and the Viceroy took to the suppression of the Congress. The Conservative party, which was in power in England, complied with the decision to assume a repressive stance against the Congress and the Indians. The Congress was held responsible by the government to have instigated the 'Red Shirts' to participate in   The Civil Disobedience Movement, led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar and provoking the cultivators of U.P to refuse to pay land revenue. Adding to this was the serious economic crisis that took hold of the country
What was communal award 1932? Communal Award in Bengal ·        What was the Macdonald Award? How was it modified? (1996/15) Poona Pact	When the Indian leadership failed to come up with a constitutional solution of the communal issue, the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announced his own formula for solving the problem. He said that he was not only a Prime Minister of Britain but was also a   friend of the Indians and thus wanted to solve the problems of his friends.         After the failure of the Second Round Table conference, Mr. MacDonald announced the 'Communal Award' on August 16, 1932.         According to the Award, the right of separate electorate was not only given to the Muslims of India but also to all the minority communities in the country. The Award also declared untouchables as a minority and thus the Hindu depressed classes were given a number of special seats, to be filled from special depressed class electorates in the area where their voters were concentrated.         Under the Communal Award, the principle of weightage was also maintained with some modifications in the Muslim minority provinces. Principle of weightage was also applied for Europeans in Bengal and Assam, Sikhs in the Punjab and North West Frontier Province, and Hindus in Sindh and North West Frontier Province.            Though the Muslims constituted almost 56 percent of the total population of Punjab, they were given only 86 out of 175 seats in the Punjab Assembly. The Muslim majority of 54.8 percent in Punjab was thus reduced to a minority.           The formula favored the Sikhs of Punjab, and the Europeans of Bengal the most.            The Award was not popular with any Indian party. Muslims were not happy with the Communal Award, as it has reduced their majority in Punjab and Bengal to a minority. Yet they were prepared to accept it. In its annual session held in November 1933, the All India Muslim League passed a resolution that reads; "Though the decision falls far short of the Muslim demands, the Muslims have accepted it in the best interest of the country, reserving to themselves the right to press for the acceptance of all their demands.           (Sept. 24, 1932), agreement between Hindu leaders in India granting new rights to untouchables. The pact resulted from the communal award of Aug. 4, 1932, made by the British government on the failure of the India parties to agree, which allotted seats in the various legislatures of India to the different communities.            Mahatma Gandhi objected to the provision of separate electorates for the “scheduled castes” (untouchables), which in his view separated them from the whole Hindu community. Though in prison, Gandhi announced a fast unto death, which he began on September 18.             B.R. Ambedkar, the untouchable leader, who felt that his group's special interests might be advanced by the government's system, resisted concessions until Gandhi was near death. He and the Hindu leaders then agreed to the pact, which withdrew separate electorates but gave increased representation to the scheduled castes for a 10-year period. Ambedkar complained of blackmail, but the pact marked the start of movement against untouchability within the Indian nationalist movement.
Renewal of the Civil Disobedience Movement	Under such circumstances, the resumption of The Civil Disobedience Movement was inevitable.  The Congress Working Committee took the decision to restart The Civil Disobedience Movement, as the British government was not prepared to relent. Gandhi resumed the movement in January 1932 and appealed to the entire nation to join in. The Viceroy was also informed of the stance assumed by the Congress. Four ordinances were promulgated by the government to deal with the situation. The police was given the power to arrest any person, even on the basis of mere suspicion. Sardar Patel, the President of Congress and Gandhi were arrested, along with other Congressmen. The second phase of The Civil Disobedience Movement lacked the organization that marked its first phase. Nonetheless the entire nation put up a tough fight and the movement continued for six months. Gandhi commenced his twenty one days of fast on May 8th, 1933, to make amends for the sins committed against the untouchables by the caste Hindus.
Spread of the movement ! In what way did the Civil Disobedience Movement affect the different provinces of India?	The movement spread and salt laws were challenged in other parts of the country. Salt became the symbol of people’s defiance of the government. In Tamil Nadu, C Rajagopalchari led a similar march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam. In Gujarat, Sarojini Naidu protested in front of the salt depots. Lakhs of people including a large number of women participated actively in these protests. The Civil Disobedience Movement carried forward the unfinished work of the Non-Cooperation Movement. Practically the whole   country became involved in it. Hartals put life at a standstill. There were large-scale boycotts of schools, colleges and offices. Foreign goods were burnt in bonfires. People stopped paying taxes. In the North-West Frontier Province, the movement was led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as ‘Frontier Gandhi’. For a few days, British control over Peshawar and Sholapur ended. Allahabad, the nerve centre of U. P. politics, witnessed scenes of enthusiasm in connection with the celebration of the commencement of the satyagraha campaign. Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the national flag over the building occupied by the offices of the A.I.C.C., the City Congress Committee and the All-India Spinners' Association, U.P. branch.  People faced the batons and bullets of the police with supreme courage. No one retaliated or said anything to the police. As reports and photographs of this extraordinary protest began to appear in newspapers across the world, there was a growing tide of support   for India’s freedom struggle.
·      How did it foster peasant movement in India? (1995/30)	In 1930s nation wide awakening of peasants was largely the result of the combination of particular economic and political developments. The great depression that began to hit India from 1920-30 and The new phase of mass struggle launched by the Indian National Congress in 1930. The depression brought agricultural prices crashing down to half of less of their normal levels dealt a severe blow to the already impoverished peasants burdened with high taxes and rents. Therefore the peasants were placed in a situation where they had to continue to pay taxes, rents and debts at pre-depression rates while their incomes continued to spiral steadily downward. The civil disobedience movement was launched in this atmosphere of discontent in 1930s and in many parts of the country it soon took on the form of no-tax and no-rent campaign. Peasants emboldened by the recent success of the Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) joined the protest in large numbers. In Bihar and Bengal powerful movements were launched against the hated chowkidar tax by which villages were made to pay for the upkeep of their own oppressors. In Punjab a no-revenue campaign was accompanied by the emergence of Kisan Sabhas that demanded a reduction in land revenue and water rates and the scaling down of debts. The consolidation of left after the formation of the Congress Socialist Party in 1934 acted as a spur to the formation of an all India body to coordinate the Kisan Movement a process that was already underway through the efforts of N.G Ranga and other Kisan leaders. The culmination was the establishment of the all India Kisan Congress in the Lucknow in April 1936 which later changed its name to All India Kisan Sabha.Swami Sahajanand was elected secretary. The first session was greeted in person by Jawaharlal Nehru. A Kisan Manifesto was finalized at the All India Kisan Committee session in Bombay and formally presented to the Congress Working Committee to be incorporated into its forthcoming manifesto for the 1937 elections. The Kisan Manifesto considerably influenced the agrarian programme adopted by the congress at its Faizpur session. The formation of Congress ministries in a majority of the provinces in early 1937 marked the beginning of a new phase in the growth of the peasant movement. The political atmosphere in the country underwent a marked change: increased civil liberties, a new sense of freedom born of the feeling that our own people are in power a heightened sense of expectation that the ministries would bring a pro-people measures- all combine to make the years 1937-39 the high water mar k of the peasant movement. The chief form of mobilization was through the holding of Kisan Conferences or meetings at the Thana, taluqa, district and provincials levels at which peasant demands would be aired and resolutions passed. These conferences would be addressed by local, provincial and All India leaders. During Second World War years the Kisan Sabha continued to play an important role in arranging relief works during Bengal famine of 1943.It also continued its organizational work despite being severally handicapped by its taking the unpopular pro-war stance which alienated it from various sections of the peasantry.
End of the Civil Disobedience Movement	The Civil Disobedience Movement was suspended, when Mahatma Gandi withdrew mass satyagraha on July 14th 1933.  The movement ceased completely on April 7th   1934.  Although The Civil Disobedience Movement failed   to achieve any positive outcome, it was an important juncture in the history of Indian independence. The leadership of Mahatma Gandhi had a beneficial impact. The warring factions within the Congress united under the aegis of The Civil Disobedience Movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi. Satyagraha was put on a firm footing through its large scale usage in the movement. Last but not the least India rediscovered its inherent strength and confidence to crusade against the British for its freedom.

Detailed Timeline

November 1927	The Simon Commission was formed by the British Government that included solely the members of the British Parliament to draft and formalize a constitution for India.
February 3rd, 1928	In Bengal, the opposition to the Simon Commission assumed a massive scale, with a hartal being observed in all corners of the province
1st of March, 1928	meetings were held simultaneously in all 32 wards of the city Calcutta, spurring people to restore the movement for boycott of British goods.
May,1928	All-Party Conference was organized in Bombay in May of 1928.
December 1928	The Indian National Congress pressurized the British government to accept all the parts the Nehru Report
1928	In Bardoli, the peasants had already taken to satyagraha under the guidance of Sardar Patel in the year 1928.
8th of April,1929	members of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association exploded two bombs and fired revolvers in the assembly chamber of the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi. In response, Lord Irwin published a Public Safety Bill which addressed the menace of the Communist Party by deporting the Englishmen involved and taking legal action against the Indian membership.
31st of October,1929	Lord Irwin announced on behalf of the British Government that the natural constitutional progress of India was the attainment of Dominion Status.
23rd of December 1929	Indian nationalists failed in an attempt to blow up Irwin`s train. Lord Irwin met with Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Tel Bahadur Sapru in New Delhi. Erwin however, could not arrive at an agreement for framing a constitution under `Dominion Status`. Indian National Congress also refused to attend the London Round Table Conference due to communal division and the lack of British support for Indian freedom.
December 31, 1929	The Indian National Congress raised the tricolour flag of India on the banks of the Ravi at Lahore.
January 26, 1930	The Indian National Congress, led by Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, publicly issued the Declaration of Independence, or Purna Swaraj .First Independence Day observed.
Feb 14 ,1930	The Working Committee of the INC meets at Sabarmati and passes the Civil Disobedience resolution
12th March 1930	Gandhi inaugurated The Civil Disobedience Movement by conducting the historic Dandi Salt March. First Phase of Civil Disobedience Movement: March 12, 1930 to March 5, 1931
13 March 1930	The Viceroy informed the Secretary of State 'Most of my thought at the moment is concentrated upon Gandhi. I wish I felt sure what the right way to deal with him is.'
13 March 1930	Gandhi and his satyagrahis reached a small village, Aslali, where they were received well by the villagers.
6th April 1930	Gandhi with the accompaniment of seventy nine satyagrahis, violated the Salt Law by picking up a fistful of salt lying on the sea shore. They manually made salt on the shores of Dandi.
May 4–5, 1930	Gandhi was arrested on the midnight
Nov 30, 1930	First Round Table Conference begins in London to consider the report of the Simon Commission
March 5,1931	Gandhi -Irwin Talks
March 23,1931	Bhagat Singh, Sukh Dev and Rajguru executed
Sept 7,1931	Chronology: Indian National Movement ~ UPSC EXAMS
Dec 28,1931	Mahatma Gandhi returns from London after the deadlock in Second Round Table Conference. Launches Civil Disobedience Movement. Indian National Congress (INC) declared illegal
January 1932	Gandhi resumed the movement  and appealed to the entire nation to join in it
Jan 4, 1932	Mahatma Gandhi arrested and imprisoned without trial
16 August 1932	Macdonald Ramsay announced Communal Award
Sept 20,1932	Mahatma Gandhi begins his epic "Fast unto Death" in jail against the Communal Award and ends the fast on Sept 26 after the Poona Pact
Sept. 24, 1932	agreement between Hindu leaders in India granting new rights to untouchables.
Nov 17,1932	The Third Round Table Conference begins in London (Nov 17 to Dec 24)
July 14th 1933.	Mahatma Gandhi released from prison as he begins fast for self-purification. Mahatma Gandi withdrew mass satyagraha . INC suspends Civil Disobedience Movement but authorises Satyagraha by individuals
April 7th 1934	The movement ceased completely.
1934	Mahatma Gandhi withdraws from active politics and devotes himself to "Constructive Programmes" (1934-39)
Aug 4,1935	The Government of India Act, 1935 passed