Subhas in Mandalay Jail

( Arthur Griffith, 1871-1922) 
The connection of Subhas Bose and later Sarat Bose with the revolutionaries is not a simple matter.Subhas Bose knew and sympathized with them and wanted them to continue to work with him in the Congress and support the Swarajya Party. Even though he may have believed that eventually the British would have to be driven from India by force of arms, He did not think the time was ripe . Some of the revolutionaries were now Congressmen and did not think of returning to a life of hiding, secrecy, and violence. Others  were beginning to turn to Socialism, though the major conversations took place in the latter 1920s and the 1930s. But some others began again to prepare for revolutionary actions.They were also spurred on by the violent path and results of Irish nationalism. The Sinn Fein movement, the Easter Rebellion and the struggle of Irishmen against the Blacks -and - Tans from 1919 to 1921 were well known to the educated young men of Bengal. There were frequent development reports of Irish developments in the nationalist press ans books were beginning to appear in Bengali on the Irish struggle for freedom.  

On October 25, 1924, everything suddenly changed . As Subhas Bose,remembered the moment a few years later;
" In the early hours of the morning of October 25, 1924. I was roused from my sleep as I was wanted by some police officers. The deputy Commissioner of Police , Calcutta, on meeting me said; Mr. Bose, I have a very unpleasant duty to perform. I have a warrant for your arrest under regulation III 0f 1818.  Then he produced another warrant authorising him to search my house for arms, explosives, am munitions, etc. Since no arms, etc were forthcoming , he had to content himself with taking a pile of papers and correspondence."

No  specific charges were ever made public and Bose - along with seventeen others in this particular round up - was jailed for an indefinite term. No charges, no hearing, no right of habeas corpus,  no judge , no jury. This was the Raj's special method of dealing with those suspected of revolutionary involvement.
The Swarajists of course, were in an uproar since several of their leading members were held.
Subhas and his batch of seven detenus joined some other political prisoners as well as ordinary convicts in the jail of wooden palisades at Mandalay.
In the 1880s the British moved on Upper Burma, conquering it in 1882. Mandalay is located in a dry zone set back from the moist coastal region . Subhas Bose described the dry season in the spring in a letter to Sarat;
" Babu Jitendra Bose once described his favourite Cossipore as 'a kingdom of dust'. I am sure he has not seen the real kingdom of dust-for that is Mandalay... In Mandalay the dust is in the air - therefore you must inhale it, It is in your food, therefore you must eat it, It is on your table - your chair, your bed, therefore you must feel its soft touch. It raises storms, obscuring distant trees and hills - therefore you must see it in all its beauty."
 In time Subhas came to learn that rain-storms as well as dust-storms could houl through the palisades as he experienced the round of the year in  Mandalay.
"But dust or rain , hot season or cool seasonm , he never felt well or comfortable during almost two years there. Part of this had to do with the construction of the prison, as Subhas sketched it. the interior of a Burmese prison is somewhat different from that of an Indian prison .... the jail buildings were built not of stone nor of brick, but of wooden palisading . From thd outside and especially at  night , the inmates of these buildings appeared almost like animals prowling about behind the bars. Withinthese structures we were at the mercy of the elements . There was nothing to protect us from the biting cold of winter or the intense heat of summer or the tropical rains in Mandalay ...we had to make the best of a bad situation."

Subhas as a Swarajists

Subhas Bose was released from his first prison life in August 1922 and involved in work on both fronts. 1. as a youth leader; 2. as a social activist;
He stressed on the important topics - spread of mass education, unity amongst different commnities, removal of untouchability , prevention of early marriages, abolition of dowry, social service, discipline, upholding truth and justice everywhere.
News of serious flooding in Bogra, Rajshahi, Pabna, Dinajpur, and Rangpurreached calcutta on September 28, 1922. Subhas was sent by the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee to tour the area. He made Santapur his center and shortly afterwards Sir P.C.Ray formd the Bengal Relief Committee with Subhas in charge of distributing the aid.
Next Subhas took the charges of some news paper of C.R.Das, such as , Forward, Banglar Katha, Atma sakti Bijali etc.
For more than a year after end of non-cooperation , the plains of political actions were divided in three factions. 1. Swarajists, who believe in the path of fighting with  british rulers within the legislatures, 2. Gandhites who do not want to participate in the legislature, 3. those who believed previously, the path of revolution again tried to unfold their swords.   an editorial in Banglar Katha on 26 th january 1923 stated ;
"Non-Cooperation has lost its terror , Inertness has taken the place of courage in people's hearts.The clarion call of the Mahatma is heard no more, and the workers have become worn out with the struggle .....swaraj will neither fall from heaven nor will it come from beyond the seas as a reward from pleasing Parliament. It will have to be forced from the  British Government, the requisites being self - reliance and - confidence."
The month after his release ,  Subhas served as the Chairman of the Reception Committee of the All Bengal Youngmen's Conference, with Dr. Meghnad Saha , the famous Scientist, as the President.    
Swarajya Party under the leadership of Deshabandhu occupied Calcutta Corporation in 1924. Swarajya Party won 32 seats nominated by Dshabandhu as Councillor.
The serious struggle within the Congress began at the end of the Congress' Gaya session held  in Dec 1922, of which Das served ,  for the second -successive year, as president. He delivered a lengthy and powerful address to the Congress putting forward  his case for non-cooperation from within the councils as well as the continuation of other Swadeshi activities more in line with Gandhi's Program. On the last session of the Congress a vote was held on the council entry proposal which won by Gandhians by 1,748 to  890. Both C.R.Das and Motilal resigned from Congress, as president and general secretary.
Over the next years C.R.Das and his Party were able to mount an effective challenge .  
Deshabandhu Chittaranjan became the first Mayor of Calcutta Corporation. and Subhas Chandra Bose at the age 27 was appointed as chief Executive on 14th April 1924 with Rs.3000/- as his basic salary. But he accepted only 50% of his salary.
Being appointed as a chief executive he established Free Primary Schools and arranged free distribution of medicine in Calcutta.
Subhas Chandra was arrested under DI rule on 25th October,1924. This was the 2nd  and the toughest prison in his life. Hemendra Nath Dasgupta wrote;
" Thus the people of Calcutta would  have been transferred  from a proud rich class of people to one of sacrificing and benevolent person and would live with milk and fish instead of adulterated oil and ghee to suffer from Dyspepsia.But Subhas Chandra fell under the hands of the British authority".
Man proposes and God disposes.
The whole country became upset at the arrest of Subhas Chandra. Deshabandhu Cittaranjan in a meeting of the Calcutta Corporation held on 29th Oct 1924 strongly protested at the action  of British Govt.and said;
" If love of Country is crime, I am a Criminal . If Mr. Subhas Chandra Bose is a criminal, - I am a Criminal , not only the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, but the Mayor of this Corporation is equally guilty All that I say is that Subhas Chandra Bose is no more a Revolutionary than I am.   Why have not they arrested me. . ." - The Calcutta Municipal Gazette , Vol XLII. No.16, P-442.
Subhas Chandra arranged for publication of Municipal gazette of Calcutta Corporation but . The fitrst edition was published on 15th Nov 1924 when he was in Jail.
For the first six weeks after arresting him Subhas Chandra was kept in Alipore Central Jail for a few days and then transferred to Berhampore  Jail. From Berhampore Jail he was shifted to Mandalay in Burmah.
When he was in Alipore jail papers of Calcutta Corporation was sent to him for signature. Corporation granted him leave  with full pay but Govt. stopped it after some time.
ose and seven others were transferred to Mandalay , Upper Burma, in the night of 25 th Jan 1925 since the group was considered highly dangerous. They were accompanied by Mr.lowman, assistant Inspector general of Police for Bengal.It took four days to reach Mandalay jail. Bal Gangadhar Tilak had spent long six years there.

Jawaharlal Nehru in Jail-1921

(Nehru with Indira, Rajiv and Sanjiv)

The first big national involvement of Nehru came at the onset of the non-co-operation movement in 1920. He led the movement in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh). Nehru was arrested on charges of anti-governmental activities in 1921, he was kept in Naini jail of Uttar pradesh and was released a few months later. In the rift that formed within the Congress following the sudden closure of the non-co-operation movement after the Chauri Chaura incident, Nehru remained loyal to Gandhi and did not join the Swaraj Party formed by his father Motilal Nehru and CR Das.

Internationalising the struggle During the mid-1930s, Nehru was much concerned with developments in Europe, which seemed to be drifting toward another world war. He was in Europe in early 1936, visiting his ailing wife, shortly before she died in a sanitarium in Switzerland. Even at this time, he emphasised that, in the event of war, India's place was alongside the democracies, though he insisted that India could only fight in support of Great Britain and France as a free country

Nehru played a leading role in the development of the internationalist outlook of the Indian independence struggle. He sought foreign allies for India and forged links with movements for independence and democracy all over the world. In 1927, his efforts paid off and the Congress was invited to attend the congress of oppressed nationalities in Brussels in Belgium. The meeting was called to co-ordinate and plan a common struggle against imperialism. Nehru represented India and was elected to the Executive Council of the League against Imperialism that was born at this meeting.

In 1930 Nehru was arrested second time, under the salt law. He was released at the end of 1931 , but arrested again. 
From the end of 1931 to September 1935 Nehru was freed and arrested many times. In fact from Dec. 1931 to Sept. 1935, he was free hardly for 6 months. 
British Administration hardly wanted to put him free, because of his fiery contribution in the Struggle of Independence. 
Pandit Nehru was put in Naini Central Jail. 
During his confinement behind the Jail Walls he wrote a series of Letters to his daughter Indira. 
These Letters are masterpieces, and possess very high rank in the Literary and politic World. 
These were later published in a world famous book named - 'Glimpses of World History' 
This Book shows the deep knowledge of Pandit JawaharLal Nehru about the World History, and the contemporary World.

Swarajya Party ( 1923 - 1935)

The Swaraj Party, Swarajaya Party or Swarajya Party, established as the Congress-Khilafat Swarajaya Party, was a political party formed in India in December 1922 that sought greater self-government and political freedoms for the Indian people from the British Raj. It was inspired by the concept of Swaraj. In Hindi and many other languages of India, swaraj means "independence" or "self-rule" The main leaders were Motilal Nehru etc.

Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das thought of contesting elections to enter the legislative council with a view to obstructing the government. Many candidates of the swaraj party got elected to the central legislative assembly and provincial legislative council in the 1923 elections. In the legislature they strongly opposed the unjust government policies.

The establishment of fully responsible government for India. Convening of a round table conference to resolve the problems of Indians. Releasing of certain political prisoners, were the resolutions in the central legislative council in the 1923 elections. In the legislature they strongly opposed the unjust government policies 

Chauri Chaura

The Swaraj Party was formed on 9 January 1923 by Indian politicians and members of the Indian National Congress who had opposed Mahatma Gandhi's suspension of all civil resistance on 5 February 1922 in response to the Chauri Chaura tragedy, where policemen were killed by a mob of protestors. Gandhi felt responsible for the killings, reproached himself for not emphasizing non-violence more firmly, and feared that the entire Non-Cooperation Movement would degenerate into an orgy of violence between the British-controlled army and police and mobs of freedom-fighters, alienating and hurting millions of common Indians. He went on a fast-unto-death to convince all Indians to stop civil resistance. The Congress and other nationalist groups disavowed all activities of disobedience.

But many Indians felt that the Non-Cooperation Movement should not have been suspended over an isolated incident of violence, and that its astonishing success was actually close to breaking the back of British rule in India. These people became disillusioned with Gandhi's political judgments and instincts.

Council entry

Gandhi and most of the Congress party rejected the provincial and central legislative councils created by the British to offer some participation for Indians. They argued that the councils were rigged with un-elected allies of the British, and too un-democratic and simply "rubber stamps" of the Viceroy.

In December 1922, Chittaranjan Das, Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar and Motilal Nehru formed the Congress-Khilafat Swarajaya Party with Das as the president and Nehru as one of the secretaries. Other prominent leaders included Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Subhas Chandra Bose of Bengal, Vithalbhai Patel and other Congress leaders who were becoming dissatisfied with the Congress. The other group was the 'No-Changers', who had accepted Gandhi's decision to withdraw the movement.

Now both the Swarajists and the No-Changers were engaged in a fierce political struggle, but both were determined to avoid the disastrous experience of the 1907 split at Surat. On the advice of Gandhi, the two groups decided to remain in the Congress but to work in their separate ways. There was no basic difference between the two.

Swarajist members were elected to the councils. Vithalbhai Patel became the president of the Central Legislative Assembly. However, the legislatures had very limited powers, and apart from some heated parliamentary debates, and procedural stand-offs with the British authorities, the core mission of obstructing British rule failed.

With the death of Chittaranjan Das in 1925, and with Motilal Nehru's return to the Congress the following year, the Swaraj party was greatly weakened.

Changers and No-Changers, and the Simon Commission

After his release from prison in 1924, Gandhi sought to bring back the Swarajists to the Congress and re-unite the party. Gandhi's supporters were in a vast majority in the Congress, and the Congress still remained India's largest political party, but Gandhi felt it necessary to heal the divide with the Swarajists, so as to heal the nation's wounds over the 1922 suspension.

The Swarajists sought more representation in the Congress offices, and an end to the mandatory requirement for Congressmen to spin khadi cloth and do social service as a prerequisite for office. This was opposed by Gandhi's supporters, men like Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajendra Prasad, who became known as the No Changers as opposed to the Swarajist Changers. Gandhi relaxed the rules on spinning and named some Swarajists to important positions in the Congress Party. He also encouraged the Congress to support those Swarajists elected to the councils, so as not to embarrass them and leave them rudderless before the British authorities.

When the Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928, millions of Indians were infuriated with the idea of an all-British committee writing proposals for Indian constitutional reforms without any Indian member or consultations with the Indian people. The Congress created a committee to write Indian proposals for constitutional reforms, headed by now Congress President Motilal Nehru. The death of Lala Lajpat Rai, beaten by police in Punjab further infuriated India. People rallied around the Nehru Report and old political divisions and wounds were forgotten, and Vithalbhai Patel and all Swarajist councillors resigned in protest.

Between 1929 and 1937, the Indian National Congress would declare the independence of India and launch the Salt Satyagraha. In this tumultuous period, the Swaraj Party was defunct as its members quietly dissolved into the Congress fold.

Madras Province Swarajya Party

The Madras Province Swarajya Party was established in 1923. S. Satyamurti and S. Srinivasa Iyengar led the party. Though the character of the organisation was heterogeneous it was largely dominated by Brahmins. The party contested in all provincial elections between 1923 and 1934 with the exception of the 1930 election which it did not participate officially due to the Civil Disobedience Movement though some of the members of the party contested as independents. The party emerged as the single largest party in the 1926 and 1934 Assembly elections but refused to form the provincial government under the existing dyarchy system. In 1934, the Madras Province Swarajya Party merged with the All India Swarajya Party which subsequently merged with the Indian National Congress when it contested the 1935 elections to the Imperial Legislative Council held as per the Government of India Act 1935.the

From 1935 onwards, the Swarajya Party ceased to exist and was succeeded by the Indian National Congress in the elections to the Imperial Legislative Council as well as the Madras Legislative Council.

Presidents of the Madras Province Swarajya Party	Term start	Term End
S. Srinivasa Iyengar	1923	1930
Sathyamurthy	1930	1935

Performance of the Madras Provincial Swarajya Party

Elections	Seats in Madras Assembly	Assembly Seats won	Total number of Council seats	Members nominated to the council	Result	Party President
1923	98	20	29
1926	98	41	34			S. Srinivasa Iyengar
1930	Did not participate in the elections due to Civil Disobedience Movement
1934	98		29

Gandhi in Yerwada Jail

Yerwada Central Jail is a noted high-security jail in Yerwada, Pune, in Maharashtra. This is the largest jail in the state of Maharashtra, and also one of the largest prisons in South Asia, housing over 3,600 prisoners (2005) spread over various barracks and security zones, besides an open jail just outside its premises. Many famous personalities like Mahatma Gandhi have been jailed here during the Indian independence movement in 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

The campus is spread over 512 acres, holds over 3,600 prisoners and is one of the largest prisons in South Asia. Within the campus, the main high security jail is protected by four high walls  and is divided into various security zones and barracks  it even has egg-shaped cells meant for high-security prisoners. It has been known for overcrowding and poor living conditions after news reports in 2003 lead to Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MHRC) issuing a notice.

History

Yerwada Central Jail was built in the year 1871 by the British, when the place was outside the city limits of Pune.

During British Raj the jail housed many freedom fighters especially during the years 1930 to 1942, which included Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Netaji Subhas Bose andBal Gangadhar Tilak. In 1924 Veer Savarkar was also kept in this jail. Mahatma Gandhi spent several years in Yerwada Jail during India's freedom struggle, notably in 1932 and later in 1942 during the Quit India movement, along with many other freedom fighters. During his 1932 imprisonment, which started after his arrest in January 1932, he went on an indefinite fast to protest against the Communal Award on September 20, 1932, as a result he the famous Poona Pact was passed which he signed in this jail on 24 September 1932, he was later released in May 1933.

During the Emergency era of 1976-77, many political opponents were detained in this jail like several other jails all over India. Among those detained here were Balasaheb Deoras, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Pramila Dandavate, Vasant Nargolkar, Bhikuji Anna and many others.

In 1998, noted social worker Anna Hazare was briefly imprisoned here after he lost a defamation suit, and Bollywood film actor Sanjay Dutt in 2007  and among other noted criminals, scamster Telgi  and former underworld don Arun Gawli started his political career while being lodged in this jail, and is currently serving a life sentence here, in a murder case The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacker, Ajmal Kasab who was jailed in 2008, was hanged and buried here on November 21, 2012.

Yerwada Open Jail

Yerwada Open Jail (YOJ) is situated just outside the Yerwada Central jail within the campus and houses life prisoners, who have amicably completed five years in the central jail. Here they live under basic security, and are not put in prison cells. Over 150 inmates of the open jail grow organic vegetables, over five guntha of land, which are sent to the Yerwada Central Prison and the women’s prison. Besides this, the cow shed has 30 cows, whose dung is used the farming activities.

Programs

A program designed to spread Gandhian principles in Yerwada prison was introduced in Yerwada prison in 2002 by Asim Sarode, founder of Sahyog Trust. As part of the programme, the prison inmates are taught Gandhian principles for one year, at the end of the year, they have to appear for an examination. Admission to the course is optional. Inmates of the jail produce nearly 5,000 clothes daily, supplied to jails across the state, it has its own textile mill and later around 150 inmates, including women, are involved in stitching these clothes. Some of these costumes, like uniforms of superintendents, prisoners, wardens, and guards, were made for Madhur Bhandarkar’s 2009 filmJail.

In 2007, in an effort to promote in Indian medicinal plants, 8,500 saplings of sandalwood were planted within the central jail premises, while 9,000 saplings of Ashoka (saraca indica) in its open jail. An Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) related facility was started at the jail on October 2, 2008, by the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS), and within the following year 55 inmates including six women tested HIV positive.

Years of Arrest & Imprisonment of Gandhi

Years of Arrests & Imprisonment of Mahatma Gandhi

SOUTH AFRICA | INDIA

SOUTH AFRICA
10 January, 1908	Arrested for failing to register or to leave Transvaal and sentenced to two months simple imprisonment. On 30th January, following a compromise, he was released.
07 October, 1908	While returning from Natal, as he was unable to show his registration, which he had burnt, his sentence was imprisonment with hard labour.
25 February, 1909	Arrested, sentenced for 3 months imprisonment at Transvaal for not producing registration certificate.
06 November, 1913	After the ‘great march’ he was arrested at Palm Ford, released on 7th on bail furnished by Kallenbach.
08 November, 1913	Again arrested and released on bail.
09 November, 1913	Arrested and sentenced to nine months imprisonment. At Volkhurst sentenced for further three months. But unexpectedly released on 18 December, 1913.
INDIA
16 April, 1917	While touring Champaran served with a notice to leave the district but was not arrested.
10 April, 1919	Arrested at Palwal on his way to Amritsar and was taken back to Bombay where he was released on 11 April.
10 March, 1922	Arrested near Sabarmati Ashram for writing three articles in Young India. Sentenced to six years imprisonment. Released from Yervada prison on 5 February, 1924 unconditionally after an operation on 12 January, 1924
05 May, 1930	At 12.45 a.m. arrested at Karadi near Dandi for violating Salt Law, without trail was imprisoned and released on 26 January, 1931 unconditionally.
04 January, 1932	Arrested in Bombay at 3 a.m. and taken Yervada Jail. On 8 May, 1933 as he started fast was released at 6 p.m.
01 August, 1933	Arrested early morning at Bombay following his March toward Rass and released on 4 August at 9 a.m. and was asked to leave Yervada limits by 9.30 a.m. Did not comply, so arrested on 4th at 9.50 a.m. and sentenced to one year imprisonment. Started fast on 16th August and was released unconditionally on 23 August due to serious health condition.
09 August, 1942	Arrested under Defense of India Rules in the early hours of the morning following ‘Quit India’ resolution and was lodge in Agakhan Palace Jail. Released unconditionally at 8 a.m. on 6 May, 1944.

Political Events - 1921 to 1928

The new constitution was brought into operation in Jan-Feb 1921. The Duke of Connaught , (left)a son of Queen Victoria , was sent from Britain to Inaugurate the reforms.In accordance with the Congress resolution at Nagpur , his visit was boycotted by the people and placards were posted on the roadside carrying words as , "Boycott Connaught", "Remember Jallianwala", etc. The new Reforms could not be wrecked by the Non-Cooperators for the moderates who were elected did not resign their seatson account of the smallness of the number of voters, as Gandhi hoped. But it did not last long. Even after less than a year's experience the new organisation of the moderates , the liberal party, in their annual conference described the reforms as unsatisfactory and asked for full autonomy in the provinces and popular control over the centrol of the Government in all subjects excepts defense, foreign affairs etc.
Mr. Lloyd George , the prime Minister of Britain (right) revealed the real British policy in his famous speech in the Parliament on 2 Aug 1922. He made it quite clear that " Britain will in no circumstances relinquish her responsibility to India," and that " the British Civil Service must remain as the teel frame on which the whole structure of British administration in India must rest for ever."
The victory of the Swarajists at Delhi in Sept 1923, came not a moment too soon. The elections due to be held in Nov, a manifesto issued fro Allahabad on Oct 14, 1923 explaining the policy and programme of the Party.
The success of the Swarajya Party varried in different /provinces. It had captured the majority seats in C.P., but not in Madras and Punjab. In Bengal Swarajists formed the single largest party. but not absolute majority, In Bombay, U.P., and Assam, the swarajists were fairly strong, no member of the Swarajya Party was set up for election to the Legislative Council in Bihar and Orissa, but the Nationalists were returned in large number. Of the  105  members elected by the people, the Swarajistsnumbered48 and an Independent group led by jinnah won 24 members.without the support of them   neither the Swarajists nor the Nationalists could form the Ministry.
The Swarajists with the support of the independents, on the basis of the common programme, formed the ministry. In the assembly the Swarajists Party won many motions.  
In a speech to Parliament on August 2, 1922 Prime Minister Lloyd George praised the reforms in India and said they would not deprive the Civil Service in India of their privileges, asserting, “Britain will in no circumstances relinquish her responsibility in India.”⁸ The Indians found that the dyarchy reforms gave the governors more power than they had before. The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) met at Lakhnau in June 1922 and formed the Civil Disobedience Enquiry Committee. They reported that the country was not prepared for massive civil disobedience. During the Congress meeting at Gaya in December 1922 President C. R. Das made a plea for entering the Councils, but Rajagopalachari persuaded a large majority to continue the boycott. C. R. Das resigned and with Motilal Nehru and others formed the Swarajya party within the Congress. In the November 1923 elections the Swarajya party did much better than the Liberal party of the Moderates. They had 48 members in the Legislative Assembly and formed a majority coalition called the Nationalist party with the 24 Independents led by M. A. Jinnah. The Civil Marriage Act legalized marriage between different Hindu castes. However, the Government refused to modify the repressive laws. The Legislative Assembly rejected a doubling of the Salt Tax, but the Viceroy certified the measure. Viceroy Reading appointed the Lee Public Services Commission to encourage British civil servants while ostensibly planning to get more Indians into the Civil Service in 15 or 25 years.
In January 1924 the Labor party took office with Ramsay MacDonald as prime minister.  Motilal Nehru proposed an amendment calling for a revision of the Government in India Act in order to establish fully responsible government in India with a Round Table Conference to protect the rights of minorities in a constitution for India. The Central Legislature would be dissolved and replaced by a newly elected Indian Legislature. The issue was discussed for three days in February, and the Assembly passed the amendment 76-48. On February 26 Secretary of State Olivier rejected the resolution to revise the constitution, but the Labor Government appointed a committee to look into the reforms. Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald said that dominion status for India was the ideal of his Labor Government; but they were replaced by the Conservative party before the committee submitted its report.
Despite this setback, many believed that the Swarajya party had exposed the sham legislatures and the autocracy of the British and Indian bureaucracy. The Assembly reduced the duty on salt and abolished the excise duty on cotton and the import duty on sulfur. Resolutions were passed to improve labor conditions, protect Indian industries, remove racial distinctions in railways, impose a countervailing duty on South African coal, establish a military college for Indians (which did not open at Dehra Dun until 1934), protect trade unions, and relieve the poor by reducing railway fares and the price of postage stamps. Recruiting was taken away from the Secretary of State and given to the ministers for the Indian Educational Service, the Indian Agricultural Service, the Veterinary Service, and other Services.
The Women’s Indian Association was founded in 1923 and formed many branches, and they opened a Children’s Home in Madras. The next year a Birth Control League began in Bombay and was supported by the journal Navayuga (New Age). More than a thousand women attended the Indian National Congress in December 1924 at Belgaum, where Gandhi was president. The All-India Women’s Conference began meeting in 1926.
After recovering his health in 1924, Gandhi met with Motilal Nehru and C. R. Das in June, but they opposed his proposal to disqualify members of the Congress Executive Board for not fully subscribing to the non-cooperation program. Motilal doubted that spinning would bring them closer to swaraj. After C. R. Das died in June 1925, the General Council of the Swarajya party decided to cooperate with the Government. When the AICC met at Patna in September, Gandhi suggested that the Congress emphasize the political work of the Swarajya party even more than the constructive program. In December 1925 the Swarajist members walked out of the Councils in Uttar Pradesh, the Punjab, Assam, Bihar and Orissa, Madras, and Bombay. Swarajist members left the Bengal Council and the Central Provinces Council in March 1926. However, those following the “responsive cooperation” formulated by the late Tilak joined the Independent Congress party in September.
In Bengal revolutionaries committed robberies in 1923 to gain money. The Bengal Government revived the repressive laws and arrested more than eighty suspects to deter the “terrorists.” In the Punjab the Akali Sikhs used violence to make sure that the Sikhs controlled the Sikh temples (gurdwaras). They had been enraged when ruffians massacred about 130 Akalis in the gurdwara precincts in 1921. They formed the Central Gurdwara Management Committee and used passive resistance when the Punjab Government appointed non-Sikhs to a board of commissioners. More than five thousand Akalis were arrested, and some were beaten and had to be treated in a hospital. The Babbar (Lion) Akalis recruited radicals from the Ghadar party. When they used terrorism, the Punjab police infiltrated them. By the end of 1923 most were arrested, and some were hanged or imprisoned. When the British indicted the Sikh Maharaja of Nabha and forced him to abdicate, Akalis entered the state to protest. Police fired on one crowd, and thousands were arrested, including Jawaharlal Nehru who went as an observer and refused to leave. The disturbances ceased when a new gurdwara bill that the Akalis accepted became law in 1925. The Akalis claimed that a total of 400 were killed with 2,000 wounded and 30,000 arrested in the struggle. Master Tara Singh became the Akali leader.
Revolutionaries met at Kanpur in October 1924 and formed the Hindusthan Republican Association. They hoped to “establish a federated Republic of the United States of India by an organized and armed revolution.” Revolutionaries in the United Province led by Ramprasad Bismil robbed a train going from Kakori toward Alamnagar on August 9, 1925. The Kakori conspirators were caught. Ramprasad and three others were hanged; four were transported for life; and fifteen were sentenced to between five and fourteen years in prison.
Many Muslims did not agree with the Hindus on non-cooperation. The Hindu Mahasabha grew to counter the rivalry of the Muslims, and they were concerned that Muslim cooperation with the Government would disadvantage non-cooperating Hindus. Noting that proselytizing had increased the Muslims and Christians in India, in 1923 the Hindu Mahasabha reconverted 450,000 Malakana Rajputs from Islam to Hinduism. After the Khilafat movement fell apart, M. A. Jinnah revived the All-India Muslim League in 1924. They called for a federal constitution for India with minority representation.
Communal riots between Hindus and Muslims broke out in Calcutta in May 1923 and lasted for several days. The riots sporadically erupted in various towns and villages. The scurrilous attack on Muhammad in the book Rangila Rasul (The Gay Prophet) provoked riots in 1924, and the author was murdered in 1929. Muslims attacked fifteen Hindu temples in Gulburga in Nizam’s territory in 1924. The worst riot was at Kohat in the North-West Frontier Province in September 1924 that killed 36 Hindus and burned 473 houses and shops. Investigators could not agree on who started the violence, and the British government had allowed the looting. Gandhi was so upset that he went on a fast for 21 days. Three hundred people met a Delhi but could not resolve the conflicts. In April 1926 a riot in Calcutta killed 44 and injured 584 people. The Hindu proselytizer Swami Shraddhananda was assassinated by a Muslim fanatic at Delhi in December 1926. Between 1922 and 1927 an estimated 450 lives were lost as 5,000 people were injured in 112 communal riots.
During the late 1920s Gandhi wrote An Autobiography, which he subtitled “The Story of My Experiments with Truth.” This book is quite candid and humble in the way he examined his faults and his efforts to overcome them. In the preface he indicated that his goal was spiritual liberation (moksha). In his speeches he pointed out his five-point program on the fingers of his hand: equality for untouchables, spinning, no alcohol or opium, Hindu-Muslim friendship, and equality for women. They were all connected to the wrist, which stood for nonviolence. After he approved of killing stray dogs, Gandhi was accused of abandoning ahimsa. He was blamed for killing a maimed calf that was suffering from an incurable disease at his ashram; but he considered that action nonviolent because the unselfish purpose was to relieve the pain of the calf.
On November 8, 1927 Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin announced the forming of a commission led by John Simon composed of seven members of the British Parliament. In his announcement Viceroy Irwin explained that for the commission to be “unbiased and unprejudiced” no Indian members could be included. This ironic statement shows the deep-seated and unconscious prejudice that pervaded the British Government of India. Indian political leaders unanimously decided to boycott the commission. In December 1927 the Indian princes persuaded Secretary of State Birkenhead to appoint a committee led by Harcourt Butler, but their report upheld British paramountcy.
In 1928 Gandhi announced a satyagraha campaign led by Vallabhbhai Patel in Bardoli against a 22% increase in British-imposed taxes. Refusing to pay taxes, the people had their possessions confiscated, and some were driven off their land; but they remained nonviolent. The campaign lasted six months, and hundreds were arrested. Finally Vallabhbhai’s brother Vithalbhai Patel, President of the Central Legislative Assembly, brokered a compromise. The Government agreed to cancel the tax increase, release all prisoners, and return confiscated land and property, and the peasants promised to pay their taxes at the previous rate.
Amir Amanullah of Afghanistan toured Europe in the summer of 1928. When he tried to introduce social, legal, and educational reforms, conservatives led a rebellion that caused a civil war. Amanullah abdicated in May 1929. The Government of India did not intervene except to help British, Indian, and other foreigners to flee. After Bachai-i-Saqqao usurped power, eventually Muhammad Nadir Shah of the old ruling house restored order. He gradually implemented the reforms but was assassinated by a fanatic on November 8, 1933. His son Muhammad Zahir succeeded him and continued his father’s policy.
On February 3, 1928 the Simon Commission arrived in India to find huge demonstrations and a complete hartal in the major towns. Representatives of 29 major organizations met at Delhi on February 12. Differences between the Muslim League, the Hindu Mahasabha, and the Sikhs led to a small committee being formed in May with Motilal Nehru as chairman. They submitted a report on a new constitution that was considered by the All Parties Conference at Lakhnau in late August 1928. The Nehru Constitution was accepted. Because it called for reforming some provinces to help Muslims but proposed phasing out reserving seats for Muslim minorities after ten years,  in Calcutta in December at a convention Jinnah proposed an amendment that Muslims should have one-third of the Central Legislature. When his amendments were defeated, Jinnah and the Sikhs withdrew. An All-India Muslim Conference met and unanimously demanded separate electorates under a federal system. At the Indian National Congress, also held in Calcutta, younger members led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Bose objected to abandoning the goal of independence. So Gandhi suggested the compromise that dominion status be accepted if the British Parliament approved the entire Nehru Constitution by the end of 1929. Otherwise the Congress planned to organize a nonviolent non-cooperation campaign for complete independence calling for tax refusal.
Jawaharlal Nehru had visited Europe and attended the Brussels Congress of Oppressed Nationalities in February 1927. He was elected to the executive committee of the League Against Imperialism. He and Subhas-chandra Bose organized the Independence for India League in August 1928, and in 1929 many youth and student organizations sprang up all over India. His father Motilal Nehru led the Congress Party in the Legislative Assembly; the Bengal Congress party won elections in May, as did Nationalist Muslims. In July the Congress Working Committee called upon Congressmen to resign their seats, but the AICC rescinded the decision. Jawaharlal Nehru was elected president of the next Congress and was also a devoted follower of Gandhi. The young Nehru then differed with Subhas Bose, who continued to lead the youths and the left wing.