Title Chapter 2 Nationalism in India.pdf ✅

(2) NATIONALISM IN INDIA 02 Gandhi and his Idea of Satyagraha While people were facing these hardships, Gandhi emerged on the Indian political scene with his unique tool of ‘Satyagraha’. Satyagraha according to Gandhi was a unique weapon to fight injustice. It was a novel method of mass agitation. It stressed on the principle of truth, non- violence, tolerance and peaceful protests. Gandhi had already organised a successful satyagraha movement in South Africa. He also organised it successfully at Champaran in Bihar (1916), Kheda in Gujarat (1917) and Ahmedabad in Gujarat (1918). The Rowlatt Act The Rowlatt Act was passed in 1919 in the Imperial Legislative Council. This Act empowered the British Government to arrest nationalists and imprisoned them for two years without any trial. Gandhi launched a movement against this unjust Act. Shops were closed and workers of the railway workshop went on strike. Rallies protesting against this Act were organised in various cities. Gandhi Alarmed by the large participation of people in the movement, the Government arrested prominent leaders from Amritsar. Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi. On 10 April 1919, the A pictorial representation of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre police fired on a peaceful procession. People retaliated by attacking banks and railway stations. On 13 April, a large crowd assembled at Jallianwala Bagh protesting against the arrest of some of their leaders who criticised the Government for passing the Rowlatt Act. General Dyer blocked the exit of the Bagh and fired on the unarmed crowd. This resulted in the deaths of hundreds ofpeople. People in many north Indian towns protested against the killings at Jallianwala. The Government brutally suppressed these protests. It humiliated and terrorised the people. People who protested were forced to rub their noses on the ground, crawl on the streets and salute all British officers. As villages around Gujranwala in Punjab began to be bombed and the violence began to spread, Gandhi decided to call off the movement.