Question

Read the excerpt given below and answer the questions that follow:

“General Dyer’s action at Jallianwala Bagh appears to have been entirely indefensible. He acted after open disorder had ceased in the city for two days; he gave no warning on the spot, but began firing within 30 seconds (of arriving); and he was responsible for grave and unnecessary slaughter. His plea is that he wanted to produce sufficient moral effect throughout the Punjab. Such was not his duty and the effect he has really produced is to create, not only in the Punjab, but throughout India, a bitterness that will take years to eradicate.” -Lovat Fraser (1871-1926) British journalist

1. The action of General Dyer mentioned in this article led to the launch of which movement? State briefly the other causes of the movement.
2. What was the impact of this movement on the Indian National Movement?
3. What led to the withdrawal of this movement? What was Gandhiji’s view about the withdrawal?

Answer 1

1. It helped trigger the Non‑Cooperation Movement (launched by Gandhi in 1920–22). The immediate background included the repressive Rowlatt Acts of 1919 and the nationwide Rowlatt Satyagraha, and the outrage caused by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre; Gandhi also linked the nationalist struggle to the Khilafat cause and broader disappointment with the limited 1919 reforms and economic/repressive policies, all of which pushed the Congress toward a mass non‑cooperation campaign.
2. Impact on the national movement:
   • It gave the national struggle a true mass base (peasants, workers, students, women joined) and converted the Congress from a debating body into a mass organisation for action.
   • It fostered Hindu‑Muslim unity by linking the Khilafat issue with Congress programmes.
   • It produced widespread programmes of boycott (foreign goods, schools, courts) and non‑cooperation that demonstrated the political power of popular mobilisation.
3. Withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement and Gandhiji’s View:
   
   • The movement was abruptly withdrawn after the violent Chauri Chaura incident (5 February 1922), when a mob burned a police station and killed policemen. Gandhi immediately called off the Non‑Cooperation Movement because he could not tolerate violence.
   • Gandhi’s reasoning: satyagraha must be strictly nonviolent; the outbreak of violence showed that mass volunteers needed further training in discipline and ahimsa, so he suspended the movement to avoid legitimising violent methods.