Colonialism and South Asia - Coursework Example

Introduction: Indian sub continent which remained a colony of Great Britain between 17th and 20th century saw major upheavals and resistances from the locals. One of those resistances and moves came about in the form of non-co operation movement. The Non Cooperation movement was one of the most important events in the early days of 20th century in the Indian Subcontinent. The non-cooperation movement had its political, economic, social, cultural, regional, international, domestic and international repercussions and angles to it. The Ottoman Empire’s decline and the Jallianwala Bagh incident were the important factors in the overall topic of non-cooperation movement. The intensity of the overall activity can be judged from the fact that Mahatma Gandhi termed the non cooperation movement as the Indian Freedom movement The background: While it was formally initiated by Congress and Mahatma Gandhi, the Muslims rose to the occasion and joined it owing to their grievances with reference to the shabby treatment meted with the Ottoman Empire and the Porte of Turkey. Under the rules set forth the locals decided to protest against the occupation of the Britain in a manner that would force them changing their attitude. It was meant to be non violent, yet there were number of activities and actions that led to the violent outlook of the non-cooperation movement. From the Muslims perspective the non-cooperation movement came about in the background of situation and circumstances related to the World War One. In the First World War, the Great Britain went against Ottoman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire herself had parted with The Germans, Since Germans were defeated, the Ottoman Empire tasted a subsequent defeat, the impact of defeat fell upon the Ottoman Empire, its abolishing and its disintegration resulting in the formation of Modern day Turkey. The Muslims of Sub continent had their religious, cultural and historic affiliations with the Ottoman Empire and as a result resisted the move of the disintegration of the Last Muslim Empire. The Muslims of Sub continent rose in rebellion against it. the formal proceedings of the entire move came about on August 1st. Co-relation with the Khiliafat movement: The Khiliafat movement, which was a primarily Muslims initiated activity co related and coincided with that of the Non cooperation movement. The two movements complemented one another and resulted in a major crisis for the British government. The Khiliafat movement lasted for a little longer yet it had an influence and impact on the non cooperation movement owing to the overall atmosphere of hostility and rebel against the British government in the early 1920s. Agents of Non-Cooperation movement: The Non cooperation movement was a result of number of events. Some of them were the direct outfall of the events and atrocities, others were the indirect impacts. The following two are the two main events which led to the direct occurrence of the non cooperation movement. Rowlatt Act of 1919: The Rowlatt Act of 1919 came in a scenario where the First World War had recently ended. The locals in general and Muslims in particular were deeply moved by the shabby treated of the Ottoman Empire and in return they got reactionary in their attitude. In order to counter this kind of attitude and curtail the activities, British Government came up with the Rowlatt Act of 1919. Under this act, the British government gained more access into the private lives of the locals, the arrest warrants domain was expanded, the literature check was expanded owing to the growing reactionary literature and content being spread and published every day in the local newspapers, apart from the clauses which pertained to the judges expansion in their jurisdiction and capacity of undertaking the cases that may even be of political nature irked the locals, all these were the small and contributing agents leading to the major non- cooperation movement (V.V.K.Subburaj, 2004, p. 110). The reaction of the notable leaders of Sub Continent towards Rowlatt Act of 1919. The local people were deeply frustrated by the move of Rowlatt Act and the reaction came about in the form of bitter stance taken by the both Muslim leadership and the Hindus representative party of Congress. Mahatma Gandhi was furious to the extent that he even returned the award of “Kaiser- e- Hind” that was awarded to him earlier by the British Government (Massey, 2014, p 158). Mohammad Ali Jinnah who was the representative and the prominent leader of Muslims and Muslim League totally rejected the Rowlatt Act and termed it an action where justice had been deep routed and the decision so made was totally contrary to the wishes of the people of the Sub continent. Jallianwala Bagh incident: The Hallianwala Bagh incident was another tipping event that led to the overall outcry over the hostile behavior of the British government. The mishap occurred in 1919 when the annual festival day was marred by the British governments unleashing of brutal acts and launching physical assaults on the locals. The result of such an action was serious casualties in amount of hundreds and minor casualties of over a thousand. The overall sentiment of negativity was found among the locals towards the Great Britain. Owing to the importance of this site the present Day Indian government and nation has created a monument at the same place remembering the sacrifices made by the locals in those days. This memorial and monument is marked as the Jallianwala Bagh monument of Amritsar and was formally established in 1951 (Sherman, 2010,p 35). Steps taken in the Non-Cooperation movement: Indian National congress was deeply perturbed by the activities of Great Britain in those days and decided to boycott the activities, and participation with the British government. It was to be undertaken in number of steps. The first step was the boycott of the use of the foreign cloth. In the second step the locals were to boycott the educational institutions. In the third step the British government awarded awards were returned. The returning of the Kaiser-e-Hind award was one of them. In the next stage the Military and police participation and duty fulfillment was to be relinquished. Swadeshi Movement was one of the similar event and account which was aimed at boycotting use of all kinds of material of Great Britain and strictly adhering to the use of local made commodities. One of the significant and surprising elements of the entire non cooperation movement was the stance taken by Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He stayed away from it and termed it a non constitutional method which would not help the people of Sub continent in attaining their original motives of achieving independence. Demand for restoration of the status of the Porte: The Muslims were largely inclined into it based on their demands for restoring the Ottoman Empire. further, they demanded the protection of the holy places that were there in Turkey and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. Ensuring that the land of Turkey remains undivided was another demand put forth by the people of Sub continent. One of the major events and reaction that was seen in the form of the non cooperation movement was the Muslims migration to Afghanistan. This was enacted through the calls made by the religious leadership of the Sub continent at that time. The decision so made and the call so given had very negative impacts and it only added to the troubles that the locals were faced with in those days. The people had to return empty handed on the refusal of the Afghan government that denied permission to entry into Afghanistan. Swaraj was another demand set forth in the entire movement where the British government was directly asked for quitting the Indian Sub continent and allowing the local representatives to work according to the wishes of the locals. Impact of the Non-Cooperation movement: The non-cooperation movement lasted only for a couple of years; however it had a great impact on the overall politics and the mindset of the locals of the sub continent. It for the first time saw the two nations that were deeply divided previously and otherwise standing together and demanding for a unified cause of salvation and ending of the high handedness of the British government. The people had seen the British government being unnerved by their activities and saw their force. This encouraged them into demanding their rights and raising their voice more vociferously in the days ahead. The leadership came about strong as well and they were followed strongly by the locals having seen them raising their voices on the social and religiously affiliated issues. Movements such as Khadi where the local worn cloth was commonly in practice. Similarly Charka was also brought into use against the Western wear (Mohanty, 2007, p 358). Other impacts: The government was forced to agree to number of demands of the locals. These included reducing taxes on certain goods and imports that were imposed against the will of the people and had resulted in the strangulation of their economic standing. Other actions included the release of the locals who were imprisoned. Most of them were immediately released in order to bring peace in the ranks and social structure. Other major element of the domestic politics was the parting of ways of Mohammad Ali Jinnah from Congress. He had previously remained an active member on both the fronts, the Muslim League and the Congress, but the Non-cooperation movement proved to be the vital step towards defining his actions for future political ideological guidelines to be followed practically. Other impacts of the movement included the expansion policy of Congress where it was further expanded in its membership enrollment. This was a welcoming sign as previously the people with little resources had found it difficult enrolling themselves into the decision making and orders calling of Congress. The creation of Muslim theologian based political parties such as the Jumat E Islami and Dar al Harb were few of the events and activities of significance that are directly termed as the gifts of the non –cooperation movement. All together the move resulted in massive awareness and presentation of the rights of the people in a more active and successful way. It brought the Muslims and Hindus on to one table and perhaps the Hindu Muslim Unity which was seen in the early 1920s political sphere of Indian Sub continent can also be associated to the Non- Cooperation movement. The British government was equally warned and they had to give the locals more representation in the political sphere. The 1935 Constitutional Act was one similar leeway made by the British owing to the pressure exerted. References: Massey, R. (2014). Shaheed Bhagat Singh and the Forgotten Indian Martyrs. Abhinav Publications Mohanty, P. K. (2007). Colonialism and South Asia: Cuttack, 1803-1947. R.N. Bhattacharya Sherman, T. C. (2010). State Violence and Punishment in India. Routledge V.V.K.Subburaj. (2004). Basic Facts of General Knowledge. Sura Books Read More