Gandhi and Indian Independence

Bob Kirk, presenter

72 met at the first Indian National Congress, 1885 in Bombay

1906: Founding of the Muslim League

1909: Morley-Minto Reforms

• Some elected Indians were to sit on provincial councils

• An increased number of Indians would be appointed to the central council

• An Indian would be appointed to the viceroy’s council – his “cabinet”

These reforms were not intended to lead to independence. But they did!

Earl of Minto, Governor General of India & Sir John Morley, Secretary of State for India

A million Indians fought in World War I

Secretary of State for India Edwin Montagu told Commons in 1917 that government policy was to bring more Indians into responsible official positions

Woodrow Wilson published his 14 Points in 1917

Wilson called for self-determination of peoples.Indians and other colonial peoples seized on his words as justification for becoming independent.

Lenin called for world revolution, 1918

If the Russians could sweep away unwanted rulers, maybe Indians could too.

12 to 13,000,000 died in India

Gen. R.E.H. Dyer ordered troops to fire into a gathering in Amritsar

A Muslim mob in Amritsar had killed three Englishmen.

Troops fired into a crowd of at least 15,000.

1919: British troops killed 379, wounded 1,500 in Amritsar, Punjab. Gandhi initiated non-cooperation.

Mohandas K. Gandhi 1870-1948

After studying law in England and passing the bar, Gandhi went to South Africa to defend the Indian minority.

In South Africa – after paying for a 1st-class ticket, he was ejected from the car for being colored

Mohandas K. Gandhi

Gandhi wanted to free India from Britain after the Amritsar Massacre.In 1920 he decided to confront the British with a civil disobedience campaign.(He never held an office)

Gandhi’s Satyagraha Campaign

• He asked Indian officials to resign• Indians asked not to pay taxes• Indians to burn British clothes and weave their

own• Disobey British order but do not fight back• Go to jail willingly if arrested• Remove children from government schools• The British didn’t know how best to respond

Salt March 1931 – 240 miles to the sea

Gandhi was jailed

For periods between 1920 and 1922, 1930 and 1934, 1942.He asked politely for the maximum sentence but was usually released early

Gandhi wanted to return to traditional handicrafts & village government

Gandhi in London:

Gandhi helped negotiate the India Act of 1935, which gave 11 provinces parliamentary government.

“The King had enough clothes for both of us,” Gandhi reported.

1935: Indians shared governance

Viceroy’s House, Delhi, 1936

Now it’s the home of India’s president

Churchill spoke of:

“This nauseating and humiliating spectacle of this one-time Inner Temple lawyer, now turned seditious fakir, striding half-naked up the steps of the Viceroy’s Palace . . . to parley on equal terms with the representative of the King Emperor.”

Jawaharlal Nehru, 1889-1964

A barrister trained in London. He became the principal leader of Congress. Nehru and Gandhi drew mass support for Indian independence.

Mohammed Ali Jinnah, 1876-1948

Trained in London as a lawyer. He championed the rights of ¼ of India’s population.He led the Muslim League

Japan took Burma in 1942 & menaced India. British lost prestige

Congress and the Muslim League backed Britain in the war against Germany and JapanAs many as two million Indians volunteered

Gandhi wanted Indians to stop cooperating with the British during the war . . . but

Hindus rampagedThrough 1500 government buildings, Wrecked 332 railway stations, andCut telegraph and phone wires.

Gandhi was arrested --again

Bose flew to Tokyo & Berlin to getsupport for Indian independence

Churchill

“I have not become his Majesty’s First Minister to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.”

Problems of Indian Independence

• Winston Churchill wanted to keep India• Muslim minority wanted a guarantee of power

or else their own nation• 565 princes of independent states wanted to

preserve their power• Nehru and Congress wanted one united India

under the rule of democracy (Hindu majority)

Clement Atlee

The Socialists defeated Churchill in July 1945. Atlee was committed to independence for India and hoped India would remain in the Commonwealth.

1946 Calcutta Massacre – Muslims and Hindus engaged in an orgy of slaughter

1946: Fasting to end Bengal violence

Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1900-1979

The last viceroy was given complete powers for the end of British rule.

Louis & Edwina Mountbatten tried to charm Gandhi

Nehru, Mountbatten, Ali Jinnah

August 15, 1947: Free at last!

Pakistan was created in 1947

Pakistan in the west speaks Urdu and Punjabi; in the east, Bengali.

The east was more populous.

All the two sections had in common was the Muslim religion.

Gandhi tried to calm people to minimize bloodshed

Sources of friction

Punjab, Bengal, and Kashmir were the hottest of the hot spots

Bengalis are Hindus and Muslims

A neutral British commissioner divided the Punjab as well as Bengal

Hindus, Muslims & Sikhs fled their homes

1947 EXODUS: 5.5m Hindus to India;5.8m Muslims to Pakistan

Over a quarter million were killed when the Punjab was divided

A Hindu maharajah with 80% Muslim majority joined India. Any problems there?

The Nizam of Hyderabad held out

India had to conquer this large and valuable state

India took Hyderabad and later Portuguese and French enclaves

January 30, 1948: Gandhi’s Assassination

This is a riveting tale of the violent last days of the Raj

A few of many events

French colonies taken 1954; Goa in 19611961 – The Green Revolution begins1962 Brief Himalayan war with ChinaTension and fighting with Pakistan over KashmirIndia and Pakistan develop nuclear weapons1984 – Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal 2k deadIndira and Rajiv Gandhi assassinated2000 – a new millennium and one billion Indians

Norman Borlaug – father of the Green Revolution

India’s 7th largest industry

Indira Gandhi and her son RajivShe was assassinated 1984, Rajiv in 1991

High tech park in Bangalore

Tech, math & science Ph.D.’s are a major export to the U.S.

India is still a democracy!

Thank you, thank you, Bob