Tag: civics

Rowlatt Act was passed in 1919 by the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. This Act had been hurriedly passed through the Imperial Legislative Council despite the united opposition of the Indian members. It gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years. In response to this, Mahatma Gandhi decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act (1919).  

• (i) Khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass produced mill cloth and poor people could not afford to buy it.
  
• (ii) The boycott of British institutions posed a problem.
  
• (iii) For the movement to be successful, alternative Indian institutions had to be set up so that they could be used in place of the British ones.
  
• (iv) These institutions were slow to come up. So students and teachers began trickling back to government schools and lawyers joined back work in government courts.
  

Khilafat movement was originally in support of the Caliph who was deprived of all the authority. Gandhi supported this movement so as to bring unity between Hindus and Muslims. In India October 17, 1919 was observed as Khilafat Day. It came to be known as Khilafat Non-Cooperation Movement.

Khilafat movement was originally in support of Caliph who was the religious head of the Muslims. Gandhiji saw an opportunity for a Hindu-Muslim mass movement and hence joined his non-cooperation with the khilafat issue. It was started in the year 1919. The non-cooperation movement started to spread in different parts of the country.

In September 1921, the Ali brothers (Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali) were arrested who had started the movement. Moreover, Gandhiji suspended the Non-Cooperation Movement after the Chauri Chaura incident. He was arrested in 1922. A few months after his arrest, the Caliph or the Sultan of Turkey was deposed of his power due to a revolution led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha.

Congress supported Gandhiji in Non-cooperation movement. Initially, they were not enthusiastic to boycott the council elections. This election was scheduled to be held in November 1920. Congress feared that the movement might lead to popular violence. In the months between September & December there was an intense tussle within the Congress. For a while there seemed no meeting point between the  supporters & opponents of the movement.

Khilafat movement was originally in support of the Caliph who was also the religious leader of the Muslims. It was led by Mohammad Ali & Shaukat Ali to support the Caliph.

In Awadh, peasants were led by Baba Ram Chandra - a sanyasi who had earlier been to Fiji as an indentured labourer. The movement here was against talukdars and landlords who demanded from peasants exorbitantly high rents and a variety of other cesses.

Rowlatt Act had been hurriedly passed through the Imperial Legislative Council despite the united opposition of the Indian members. The bills passed by the Rowlatt committee were the violation of freedom and justice. The law was unfair and Indians called it the 'Black Act'.

The Rowlatt Act legislation was passed by the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India in February 1919. It was passed despite opposition from the Indian members. It provided for stricter control of the press, arrests without warrant, indefinite detention without trial, etc.