Nationalism in India Test - 3

Sanatanis were the conservative high-caste Hindus.
For long the Congress had ignored the dalits, for fear of offending the sanatanis.

Dr B.R. Ambedkar, organised the dalits into the Depressed Classes Association in 1930 . He clashed with Mahatma Gandhi at the second Round Table Conference by demanding separate electorates for dalits .

During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata.
In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure. she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.

In the 1870s, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland.
Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal.

Sir Muhammad Iqbal was the president of the Muslim League,
In 1930, he reiterated the importance of separate electorates for the Muslims as an important safeguard for their minority political interests.

Villages were called upon to supply soldiers, and the forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger. Forced recruitment – A process by which the colonial state forced people to join the army.

In India, as in Vietnam and many other colonies, the growth of modern nationalism is intimately connected to the anti-colonial movement. People began discovering their unity in the process of their struggle with colonialism

On 13 April the infamous Jallianwalla Bagh incident took place. On that day a large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwalla Bagh. Dyer entered the area, blocked the exit points, and opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds. As the news of Jallianwalla Bagh spread, crowds took to the streets in many north Indian towns. There were strikes, clashes with the police and attacks on government buildings

The idea of satyagraha emphasised the power of truth and the need to search for truth. It suggested that if the cause was true, if the struggle was against injustice, then physical force was not necessary to fight the oppressor. Without seeking vengeance or being aggressive, a satyagrahi could win the battle through nonviolence. By this struggle, truth was bound to ultimately triumph. Mahatma Gandhi believed that this dharma of non-violence could unite all Indians.

After arriving in India, Mahatma Gandhi successfully organised satyagraha movements in various places.

• In 1916 he travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system.
• Then in 1917, he organised a satyagraha to support the peasants of the Kheda district of Gujarat.
• In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi went to Ahmedabad to organise a satyagraha movement amongst cotton mill workers.