Question

Describe the circumstances that led to the initiation of Non-Cooperation Movement by Gandhiji. Explain the significance of this movement?

Answer 1

There were several reasons that led to the beginning of the Non-Cooperation Movement in India:

1. During the Great War of 1914-18, the British had instituted censorship of the press and permitted detention without trial. on the recommendation of a committee chaired by Sir Sidney Rowlatt, these tough measures were continued. In response, Gandhiji called for a countrywide campaign against the “Rowlatt Act”.
2. General Dyer issued orders in April 1919 to slaughter hundreds of innocent people gathered at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar.
3. In response to the British repressive acts and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Gandhiji launched the Non-cooperation Movement in 1920, urging people to renounce their association with British-related items such as cloth, liquor, schools, and colleges.
4. To further broaden the struggle he had joined hands with the Khilafat Movement that sought to restore the Caliphate, a symbol of Pan-Islamism which had recently been abolished by the Turkish ruler Kemal Attaturk.
5. Students stopped going to schools and colleges run by the government. Lawyers refused to attend court. Hill tribes in northern Andhra violated the forest laws.
6. Then, in February 1922, a group of peasants attacked and torched a police station in the hamlet of Chauri Chaura, in the United Provinces (now, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal). Several constables perished in the conflagration. This act of violence prompted Gandhiji to call off the movement altogether.