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The Non-Cooperation Movement (NCM) (1920-1922)

1. Inception and Launch

• Concept & Resolution:
  • First suggested by Mahatma Gandhi in September 1920 at a Congress meeting in Calcutta.
  • Initially opposed by C.R. Das.
  • Discussed again and unanimously accepted at the annual Indian National Congress session in Nagpur (December 1920).
  • The resolution in Nagpur was moved (proposed) by C.R. Das.
• Official Launch:
  • Officially launched by Gandhi on August 1, 1920.
  • It was the first mass movement and the first country-wide satyagraha led by Gandhi.
  • Duration: 1920 to 1922.

2. Objectives and Causes

• Stated Aim: To attain Swaraj (self-rule) within one year.
• Method: A program of boycott of British institutions, titles, and goods.
• Key Causes for Launch:
  • The Khilafat (Caliphate) issue (to restore the Ottoman Caliph).
  • Atrocities in Punjab (Jallianwala Bagh Massacre).
  • The repressive Rowlatt Act.
  • (Note: The Salt Law was not a cause; it was the focus of the later Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930).

3. Participation, Leadership, and Opposition

• Key Leaders Involved:
  • Many prominent leaders gave up their legal practices to join, including:
    • C.R. Das (Chittaranjan Das)
    • Motilal Nehru
    • Vallabhbhai Patel
    • Rajendra Prasad (a pleader from Bihar)
  • Bal Gangadhar Tilak supported the movement but passed away on its first day (August 1, 1920).
• Lack of Support:
  • M.A. Jinnah did not support the movement.
• Peasant Involvement:
  • In Bihar, Swami Vidyanand led the cultivators (peasants).
  • Scholar Rahul Sankrityayan was active in promoting the movement in the Chhapra district of Bihar.
• Organized Opposition:
  • An Anti-Non-Cooperation Association was established in Bombay in 1920 by wealthy businessmen like Jamnadas Dwarkadas and Purshottamdas Thakurdas, who feared labor strikes and business disruption.

4. Impact, Significance, and Key Features

• Geographical Success: Highly successful in Western India, Bengal, and Northern India.
• Major Outcomes:
  • The Congress became a mass movement for the first time.
  • It fostered significant Hindu-Muslim unity.
  • It helped remove the fear of British might from the minds of Indians.
• Symbolic Acts:
  • Mahatma Gandhi surrendered the Kaiser-i-Hind medal awarded to him by the British.
  • Burning of foreign clothes as protest (a practice controversially opposed by Rabindranath Tagore, who called it an “insensate waste”).
• Establishment of National Institutions:
  • Led to the founding of several national educational institutions:
    • Gujarat Vidyapeeth in Ahmedabad (1920)
    • Jamia Millia Islamia in Aligarh (later moved to Delhi) (1920)
    • Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi (1921)

5. Suspension and End of the Movement

• Immediate Cause: The Chauri-Chaura incident.
  • Occurred on February 4, 1922.
  • Location: Chauri-Chaura, in the Gorakhpur district of the United Provinces (modern-day Uttar Pradesh).
  • Events: A peaceful demonstration turned violent; a mob attacked and set fire to a police station, killing 23 policemen and 3 civilians.
• Suspension:
  • Gandhi, alarmed by the violence, suspended the NCM.
  • The decision was formalized through the Bardoli Resolution on February 12, 1922.
  • Gandhi termed this decision his “Himalayan Blunder”.
  • At the time, he was in Bardoli, Gujarat, planning a Civil Disobedience Movement.

6. Aftermath and Consequences

• Arrest: Gandhi was arrested on March 10, 1922, and sentenced to six years in prison.
• Internal Criticism:
  • The decision to call off the movement was opposed by leaders within the Congress, including C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru.
  • Dr. Moonje tabled a formal vote of censure against Gandhi at an AICC meeting in Delhi (February 24, 1922).
• Political Vacuum:
  • The abrupt end created disillusionment, leading to a resurgence of revolutionary activities between 1923-1928.

7. Chronology

• • Commencement: August 1, 1920
  • Suspension: February 12, 1922
  • The Salt March / Civil Disobedience Movement began in 1930 and is a distinct event.

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