16. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT (1930–1934)

16. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT (1930–1934)

16.1 Dandi March / Salt Satyagraha (1930)

• To implement the Lahore resolution, the Congress Working Committee authorised Gandhi to launch civil disobedience; Gandhi chose the Salt Law (state monopoly on salt production/sale, taxed) as the target — a grievance affecting every Indian, rich and poor.
• Gandhi, with 78 followers, began the Dandi March (Salt March) from his Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad, on 12 March 1930.
• Covered about 240 miles (~385 km) in 24 days, reaching Dandi (coastal Gujarat) on 6 April 1930, where he broke the salt law by making salt from seawater.
• Sparked nationwide Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) — mass law-breaking: illegal salt-making, boycott of foreign cloth/liquor shops, non-payment of taxes, resignation from government jobs.
• C. Rajagopalachari led a parallel salt march in Tamil Nadu (Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam); Sarojini Naidu led the raid on the Dharasana Salt Works after Gandhi's arrest (May 1930) — widely reported internationally (American journalist Webb Miller's account of the peaceful satyagrahis being beaten drew global attention).
• Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan ("Frontier Gandhi") led the movement in the North-West Frontier Province with his non-violent Khudai Khidmatgar ("Red Shirts") volunteers.
• Gandhi was arrested (May 1930), along with tens of thousands of others.

16.2 First Round Table Conference (November 1930 – January 1931)

• Held in London; Congress did not participate (its leaders were in jail); attended by representatives of princely states, Muslim League, other minority groups.
• Achieved little without Congress participation.

16.3 Gandhi-Irwin Pact (5 March 1931)

• Signed between Gandhi and Viceroy Lord Irwin.
• Terms: Government agreed to release political prisoners (not those convicted of violence), permit free collection/production of salt for personal use near coastal areas, and Congress agreed to suspend Civil Disobedience Movement and participate in the Second Round Table Conference.
• Criticised by some (e.g., Bhagat Singh's supporters) since it did not secure commutation of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev's death sentences (they were hanged 23 March 1931, just weeks after the pact).

16.4 Second Round Table Conference (September–December 1931)

• Held in London; Gandhi attended as sole representative of INC (after Karachi Session, 1931, which also passed resolutions on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme).
• Failed to reach agreement, mainly over the question of minority representation/separate electorates; Gandhi opposed separate electorates for the "Depressed Classes" (Dalits), which was championed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

16.5 Resumption of CDM and Third Round Table Conference (1932)

• On return, Gandhi found the government (under new Viceroy Lord Willingdon) had resumed repression; CDM was relaunched (January 1932) but with less momentum; Gandhi arrested again.
• Third Round Table Conference (November–December 1932) — held without Gandhi/Congress participation, poorly attended, achieved little; laid groundwork eventually for the Government of India Act, 1935.

16.6 Communal Award (1932) and Poona Pact (1932)

• British PM Ramsay MacDonald announced the Communal Award (August 1932), granting separate electorates to the Depressed Classes (Dalits/Scheduled Castes), Muslims, Sikhs, and other minorities.
• Gandhi, then imprisoned in Yerwada Jail, Pune, went on a fast-unto-death against separate electorates for Depressed Classes, fearing it would permanently divide Hindu society.
• Poona Pact (24 September 1932), signed between Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: Separate electorates for Depressed Classes were dropped; instead, reserved seats within the general (joint) electorate were granted to Depressed Classes (increased from Communal Award's number: 148 to 147 for provincial legislatures under the pact, and reservation at the Centre too) — this became the basis of later reservation in legislatures.

16.7 Movement Withdrawal

• Civil Disobedience Movement was formally withdrawn in 1934 as its effectiveness waned, government repression continued, and Congress began preparing to participate in provincial elections under the coming Government of India Act, 1935.

16.8 Revolutionary Activity in the 1930s (Continued)

• Chittagong Armoury Raid (1930), assassination attempts continued (Bina Das on Governor Jackson, 1932); revolutionary activity gradually declined as most leaders were captured/executed and mainstream nationalism (CDM, later mass Congress politics) dominated.

Key Facts / Quick Revision Points — Civil Disobedience Movement

• Dandi March: 12 March – 6 April 1930; Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, ~240 miles/385 km, 78 followers.
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact: 5 March 1931.
• Round Table Conferences: I (1930-31, no Congress), II (1931, Gandhi attended), III (1932, no Congress).
• Poona Pact: 24 Sept 1932, Gandhi–Ambedkar; ended separate electorates for Depressed Classes, gave reserved seats.
• Communal Award: August 1932, Ramsay MacDonald.
• CDM formally withdrawn: 1934.