Main Events during the Gandhian Era

Rowlatt Act(1919)  During the viceroyalty of Lord Chelmsford, a sedition committee was appointed by the government in 1918 with Justice Rowlatt which made certain recommendations of curb seditious activities in India. The Rowlatt Act 1919 gave unbridled powers to the government to arrest and imprisons suspects, without trial. The act caused a wave of anger among the people. Even before the3 act was passed, popular agitation began against it Gandhi ji decided to fight against this act and he gave a call for Satyagraha on April 6, 1919. He3 was arrested on April 8, 1919; this led to further intensification of the agitation in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Punjab.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (April 13, 1919)

The arrest of Dr. Saifuddin  Kitchlu  and Dr. Satypal on April 10,1919 , under the Rowlatt Act in connection with Satyagraha caused serious unrest in Punjab. A public meeting was held on April 13, 1919 in a park called Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar where thousands of people including women and children assembled. Before the meeting could start General O Dyer ordered indiscriminate heavy firing on the crowd and the people had no way out to escape. As a result hundreds of men, women and children were killed and more than 1200 people wounded. The massacre was a turning point in Indo-British relations and inspired the people to provide a more unrelenting fight for freedom.

Note: Sardar Uddham Singh, and Indian patriot from Punjab, shot down Gen O Dyer in London in 1940.

Khilafat movement (1920-22)

The Caliph(or, Khalifa) Sultan or Turkey, was looked upon by the Muslims as their religious head. During the first World War, when the safety and welfare of Turkey were threatened by the British Thereby weakening the Caliph’s position, Indian Muslims adopted and aggressive anti-British attitude, The ali brothers Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali launched and anti-British movement in 1920-the Khilafat Movement for the restoration of the Khilafat. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad also led the movement. It was supported by Ghandhi ji and INC which paved the way for Hindi Muslim unity.

Non Cooperation Movement (1920-22)

At the Calcutta session in Sept. 1920, the Congress resolved in favour of the Non cooperation Movement and defined Swaraj as its ultimate aim (according to Gandhi) . The movement envisaged:

i)                    Surrender of titles and honorary offices and resignation from nominated offices;

ii)                   Refusal to attend government darbars and official function and boycott of British courts by the lawyers

iii)                 Refusal of  general public to offer themselves for military and other government jobs and boycott of  foreign goods etc. Gandhiji, along with the Ali Brothers (of Khilafat Movement fame) undertook a nationwide tour during addressing of meetings, The educational boycott was specially successful in Bengal with Punjab too. Responding under the leadership of Lala Lajpat Rai. Apart from educational boycott, there was boycott of law courts which saw major lawyers like Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, C.Rajagopalachari, Saifuddin Kitchlu, Vallabh bhai Patel, Aruna Asaf ali, etc. giving up their lucrative practices in their fields. The non-cooperation movement also saw picketing of shops selling foreign cloth and boycott of the foreign cloth by the followers of Gandhiji, Another dramatic event during this period was the visit of the Prince of Wales. The day he landed in Indian he was greeted with empty streets and downed shutters wherever he went. The attack on a local police station by angry peasants at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur districts  of UP, on Feb 1922.