Question

What was Non-cooperation? Find out about the variety of ways in which different social groups participated in the movement.

Answer 1

1. The Non-Cooperation Movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920 against British rule.
2. Gandhi asked Indians to withdraw their cooperation from the British government peacefully and non-violently.
3. Students left government schools and colleges and joined national institutions.
4. Lawyers gave up their legal practice in British courts.
5. Many people boycotted foreign cloth and other British goods and started using khadi and Indian-made products.
6. Peasants joined the movement in many areas because they were unhappy with high rents, taxes and the power of landlords.
7. Tribal groups participated because they wanted greater rights over forests and relief from restrictions imposed by the government.
8. Workers in some towns and cities went on strikes and supported the nationalist movement.
9. Merchants and traders supported the boycott of foreign goods and encouraged the sale of Indian products.
10. Women also took part in meetings, processions, spinning khadi and spreading the message of the movement.

Thus, the Non-Cooperation Movement became a mass movement because people from many different social groups participated in it for their own reasons, while all of them were united by opposition to British rule.