Question

Through various national movements, Gandhiji mobilised public support to win freedom for India. In this context, state the following:

The impact of the Non-Cooperation Movement in India’s freedom struggle.

In the Nagpur session, 1920, the Congress ratified the resolution to launch the Non-Cooperation movement under the leadership of Gandhiji. In this context:

Explain the impact of the Non-Cooperation movement in India's struggle for freedom.

Answer 1

Following were the different ways in which the Non-Cooperation Movement affected the nature and course of the broader Indian National Movement:

Indian National Movement became a Mass Movement: For the first time since its inception, the national movement developed a true mass character with the participation of different classes—workers, peasants, women, children, students and professionals—in the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Installation of Confidence among Indians: The Non-Cooperation Movement
instilled a new confidence among the Indian nationalists and made them believe that
they could fight the mighty British Empire and gain independence from it.

The Congress became a Party of Action: The Non-Cooperation Movement turned the Indian National Congress from a deliberative body to an action-oriented one. The mass character of the movement boosted the radical elements within the Congress.

Fostered Communal Harmony: With the assimilation of the Khilafat demands within the programme of the Non-Cooperation Movement, there developed a semblance of Hindu–Muslim unity within the larger confines of the Indian National Movement. Promotion of Social Reforms: As a result of the benign programmatic ideals of the movement, major progress was made in the avenue of social reforms. Untouchability was made undesirable within the Hindu social fold and efforts were taken to assimilate the downtrodden within the national mainstream.

Answer 2

The following are the different facets of the impact of the non-cooperation movement on India’s freedom struggle:
i. Non-cooperation turned the Indian national movement into a mass movement since it drew participants from such sections of society as peasants, workers, students, teachers, women, etc.

ii. The non-cooperation movement turned the Indian National Congress from a deliberative body into an organisation for action. It actually became an organiser and leader of a mass movement.

iii. The non-cooperation movement brought an element of Hindu-Muslim unity in national politics by merging the Khilafat issue with that of non-cooperation.

iv. The movement promoted prohibition and removal of untouchability. Many national schools and colleges were also set up in different parts of the country.

v. Though the movement had the goal of attaining ‘swaraj’ or self-rule within the British empire and outside it if necessary, it actually radicalised many of its later actions. Though it failed to achieve Swaraj in the immediate period, it definitely speeded up activities in that regard.

vi. While earlier, the activities of the INC had been limited to the urban areas and involved only the upper classes and castes, the non-cooperation movement actually extended nationalist politics to every nook and cranny of the Indian rural landscape. The Congress was organised into provincial committees at the Nagpur session of December 1920 and hence began the process of reaching out to the rural poor through regional endeavours.

vii. It also instilled a certain confidence among the people and generated a desire amongst them to challenge colonial rule and attain freedom.