The Civil Disobedience Movement, 1930

The Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930 was a phase in India's struggle for independence from British colonial rule. It was led by Mahatma Gandhi and began with the famous Salt March (Dandi March) on March 12, 1930. This was a direct challenge to British authority and a call for mass non-violent resistance.

The confidence level of average Congress leaders and their followers increased manifold ever since the Poorna Swarajya Resolution was passed. The Lahore session of Congress in 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, authorized the Working Committee to launch a program of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Before starting any mass movement, Gandhi wanted to give the government a chance. On January 31, 1930, he presented an 11-point demand list to Lord Irwin, the Governor-General, which was ignored. The demands were as follows:

1. A 50% cut in army expenses and civil service salaries
2. Total prohibition
3. Release of political prisoners
4. Reform in the C.I.D.
5. Change in the Arms Act, allowing popular control over the issuance of firearm licenses
6. Lowering of the rupee-sterling exchange ratio to 1:4
7. Textile protection
8. Reservation of coastal shipping for Indians
9. Reduction in land revenue
10. Abolition of the Salt Tax and government salt monopoly
11. Acceptance of the Postal Reservation Bill

The demands were of general interest. The government could have easily, if it desired, accepted them; no demand was made for any change in the political structure or for dominion status. But the government, as usual, was not concerned with the general problems of India. In his letter to the Viceroy, Gandhi lambasted the government, saying, "It has impoverished the dumb millions by a system of progressive exploitation... It has reduced us politically to serfdom. It has sapped the foundations of our culture... it has degraded us spiritually." The time was ripe for another mass movement. In February 1930, the Working Committee authorized Gandhi to mark the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Gandhi started the famous Dandi March on March 12, 1930, from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad with no more than 78 people. Most Congress leaders were unsure about the outcome of the Dandi March, but Gandhi had complete faith in his beliefs. After covering a distance of 240 miles through hundreds of Gujarat villages, when he reached Dandi, thousands of people had already gathered to welcome him with open arms. Together, they broke the Salt Law.

Gandhi gave the following directions to the people:

1. Wherever possible, civil disobedience of the Salt Law should be started.
2. Liquor and foreign cloth shops should be picketed.
3. People can refuse to pay taxes if they have the requisite strength.
4. Lawyers should give up their practice.
5. The public should boycott the courts by refraining from litigation.
6. Government servants should resign from their posts.
7. Let our pledge to truth and non-violence be the only means for the attainment of Swarajya and be strictly adhered to.

Gandhi's appeal, as always, worked like magic. The movement spread not just to coastal areas but also to the mainland. C. Rajagopalachari led a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore Coast (Tamil Nadu). K. Kelappan marched from Calicut to Payannur (Kerala) to break the Salt Law. A group of Satyagrahis marched from Sylhet (Assam) to the Noakhali (Bengal) coast to make salt. The revolutionaries of Chittagong, led by Surya Sen, seized the local armoury, proclaimed the formation of the Indian Republican Army, and chanted the slogan, "Gandhiji's Raj has come."

Badshah Khan, also known as Frontier Gandhi, led this movement in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, and Dera Ismail Khan were its important centres. The volunteers, called Khuda-e-Khidmatgar (Servants of God), wore red shirts. When Badshah Khan, also the editor of Pakhtoon, was arrested, the Pathans went on a rampage. At Kissa Kahani Bazaar (Peshawar), 30 people were killed. A platoon of the Garhwal Rifles refused to open fire on the unarmed crowd. The Pathan tribals continued their movement and demanded the release of Badshah Khan, Malang Baba (the "naked fakir-Gandhi"), and Inquilab. The innocent Pathans assumed Inquilab to be another great leader in prison, chanting, "Badshah Khan Zindabad, Malang Baba Zindabad, and Inquilab Zindabad."

The Government, as Gandhi rightly predicted, was puzzled and perplexed, unsure of what to do. Finally, on May 4, 1930, the Viceroy Lord Irwin ordered Gandhi's arrest, which resulted in a massive wave of protests in Bombay, Calcutta, and Delhi. Sholapur reacted more violently. Industrial workers (mainly from textile mills) burned liquor shops and attacked government buildings, railway stations, courts, and police stations. Almost a parallel government was established. To control the city, the Government imposed martial law on May 16, 1930.

Gandhian Satyagraha reached its zenith at the Dharasana Salt Works (Maharashtra). On May 21, 1930, Satyagrahis, led by Sarojini Naidu, marched toward the police cordon that had sealed off the Dharasana Salt Works. The Satyagrahis waited in a long queue, only to be beaten by the police. They were trained to suffer without retaliating. Two Satyagrahis died, and 320 were injured. Such a great display of courage and sacrifice had rarely been seen in the history of mankind. Webb Miller, the American journalist, reported the Dharasana Satyagraha incident in these words: "In eighteen years of my reporting in twenty countries, during which I have witnessed innumerable civil disturbances, riots, street fights, and rebellions, I have never witnessed such harrowing scenes as at Dharasana."

Women and students were very active in the movement, especially in the boycott of foreign cloth and liquor. Traders' associations and commercial bodies also played a significant role in implementing the boycott. The liquor boycott caused a sharp decline in the collection of excise duties.

In Bihar, peasants refused to pay the Chowkidari tax in many places, including Munger, Saran, and Bhagalpur. Chowkidars were guards who supplemented the small police force in the area and often acted as spies for the government. In retaliation, the government confiscated peasants' properties and physically tortured them. Eminent Congress leaders like Rajendra Prasad and Abdul Bari led the movement in Bihpur (Bhagalpur).

The peasants of Bardoli Taluqa (Surat District) and Kheda District started the No Tax Movement. The tribals of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and the Central Provinces also joined the movement by defying forest laws. The colonial government's restrictions on the use of forests had severely impacted their lives. The students of Assam protested against the infamous Cunningham Circular, which forced students and their guardians to furnish assurances of good behaviour.

The students of Surat stitched khadi dresses in the three colours of the national flag, known as "living flags," which could not be snatched by the police. The peasants of U.P. started a no-rent campaign directed against the zamindars. Due to Jawaharlal Nehru's intervention, the U.P. Congress Committee sanctioned the no-rent campaign. It was most effective in Agra and Rae Bareilly.