Idea of Satyagraha, Rowlatt Act and Khilafat Issue

World war I led to a massive surge in defence spending. To raise additional revenue, Britishers further increased customs taxes and enacted an income tax. The cost of the goods skyrocketed during those war years (1913 – 1918). It hit the common people the most and the forced recruitment of people from rural India in the army to fight the war of Britishers led to widespread anger.

The following events like the acute food shortage and the influenza epidemic, which caused deaths of as many as 13 million Indians, ignited the spirit of nationalism. Britishers made India lose over one lakh soldiers and as much as 45 trillion USD for their war.

The Idea of Satyagraha

Nationalism evolved in India post World War I in 1919. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, now widely known as Mahatma Gandhi, came to India in 1915 with the idea of Satyagraha. The focus was on the power of truth and urged people to find the truth. 

Gandhi believed that physical force was not needed to fight and win against the colonialists since their cause was true, and there was a struggle against injustice. 

He also travelled all across the country and organised many satyagraha movements. Some of the early activities include: 

• Peasants’ Movement, Champaran (1917)

• Peasants’ Movement, Kheda (1918)

• Mill Workers’ Movement, Ahmedabad (1918)

All of these movements met with massive success, ultimately improving the socio-economic condition of India. In 1918, the government passed an Act for the welfare of Champaran’s tenants. During the Kheda Satyagraha, Gandhi asked people not to pay taxes, and the government had to bow. The payments of taxes were deferred to the next year because of the failure of crops. The movement also helped mill workers of Ahmedabad get their pay raised. 

The purpose behind Satyagraha was to focus on mass Satyagraha, where a large group of people fights injustice peacefully to resolve conflicts. The most effective weapons Mahatma Gandhi used included fasting, non-corporation, and civil disobedience. The idea was to raise awareness in the Indian society against the discrimination and oppression Indians were facing at the hand of Britishers. 

There have been many arguments that Satyagraha is unrealistic and incapable of any universal effect. Nonetheless, it played a considerable role in the independence of India. It became a major tool for Indians struggling against British imperialism. 

Rowlatt Act (1919)

• In March 1919, the Rowlatt Act, also known as the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, was approved. With this bill, the Imperial Legislative Council gave the British government the authority to arrest anyone accused of terrorism. It also authorised Britishers to detain people for up to two years without any trial. In addition, the police have been given permission to search any location without a warrant
• In April 1919, Gandhi launched a nationwide Satyagraha movement against the act. It received a huge response with people already suffering from poor socio-economic conditions, coming out in support all across the country
• It led the British administration to clamp down on nationalists and arrest many local leaders
• On the 13th of April 1919, a huge but peaceful crowd gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar to protest the arrest of Dr Satya Pal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlu. The location had only one exit, with buildings enclosing the other three sides. General Dyer surrounded Bagh with soldiers and fired without warning. Britishers killed around 1500 unsuspecting Indians in cold blood that day
• The incident is now infamously known as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre 
• The level of brutality and lack of accountability stunned India. Consequently, the general Indian public lost their faith in the intentions of the United Kingdom. This brutal murder of peaceful protestants by Britishers provoked widespread attacks on banks and other establishments of the colonialists
• Historians also consider the episode a decisive step that ended British rule in India
• Even today, the United Kingdom never apologised for their massacres or gave any compensation to India

Khilafat Issue (1919 – 1925)

• While incidents like the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre ignited the spirit of nationalism among Indians, Satyagraha movements were still limited to big cities and towns. Gandhi realised the need for a more broad-based movement pan India. He was convinced that if Hindus and Muslims unite on a common platform, it could be possible
• The Khilafat issue or Khilafat movement allowed him to do it
• The first world war, which left the socio-economic condition of India devastated, had also annihilated nations worldwide. Among those empires included Ottoman Turkey that witnessed a terrible defeat
• There were rumours about Britishers imposing a harsh treaty – Treaty of Sèvres on the Ottoman emperor, who was the Islamic world’s spiritual head, the Khalifa. A Khilafat Committee was formed in then called Bombay in March 1919 by Indian Muslims to defend their Khalifa
• Mohammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali joined hands with prominent Muslim leaders like Sheikh Shaukat Ali Siddiqui, Pir Ghulam Mujaddid Sarhandi, and Dr Hakim Ajmal Khan and built the All India Khilafat Committee. The aim was to build political unity among Muslims and use their influence to protect the Khalifa
• In 1920, they published the Khilafat Manifesto, called upon the British, and held them accountable for their Khalifa. The Khilafat leaders also allied with the Indian National Congress and the nationalist movement
• Gandhi and the leaders of Khilafat promised to fight together for Swaraj and the causes of Khilafat. It became a major part of the non-cooperation movement, a nationwide peaceful but massive civil disobedience campaign 
• The program started with boycotts of government schools, foreign goods, and legislative councils. Massive strikes, protests, and acts of civil disobedience spread across India
• However, the Khilafat issue, which was initially successful, started to collapse as Muslims started dividing between working for the Khilafat cause, the Congress, and the Muslim league
• Many controversies surrounded the Khilafat movement. Critics widely believe that the alliance with the Congress was only a marriage of convenience and used it to establish the separate Muslim state – Pakistan
• Historians also believe that the movement led to the large-scale killings of Hindus in India, like the Moplah massacre

Conclusion:

India’s deflated socio-economic condition and numerous rash decisions of the Britishers led Indians to fight for their independence. It led to the emergence of Satyagraha and the Non-cooperation movement. The success of movements by Gandhi and the alliance of Congress with the Khilafat leaders further ignored the feelings of nationalism and unity among the masses.