Tag: non-cooperation movement

In the early days of Gandhi’s profession he wore western style suits. In Durban, in 1913, Gandhi first appeared in a lungi & kurta with his head shaved as a sign of mourning to protest against the shooting of Indian coal miners. But later during independence movement he adopted khadi loin cloth and dhoti to boycott foreign goods and prove the uniqueness between rich and poor Indians. 

The use of charkha and khadi were advocated by Gandhiji. He stressed the importance of small scale and cottage industries. In fact, due to his efforts, the face of the Indian National Movement turned from palaces to huts, from cities to villages where the real India resided.

The most familiar image of Mahatma Gandhi is of him seated, bare chested & in a short dhoti, near a spinning wheel. He made spinning on the Charkha & the daily use of Khadi as very powerful symbols. These were symbols of not only self-reliance but also of resistance to the use of British mill-made cloth.

In 1916, Mahatma Gandhi travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system.

According to Gandhi Khadi, a white & coarse cloth was a sign of purity, simplicity & poverty. Wearing it also became a symbol of nationalism, a rejection of western mill-made cloth.

The Cripps Mission did not bring with it the promise of independence in the near future. The plan involved partitioning the country. The Congress was opposed to the principle of non-accession of the provinces. Gandhiji opposed the declaration and urged the Working Committee to reject it. It was not just one but multiple reasons for which Gandhiji said that the Cripps Proposal is a post dated cheque of a drawing bank.

• In 1917, Gandhi organised a satyagraha to support the peasants of the Kheda district of Gujarat.
  
• Affected by crop failure and a plague epidemic, the peasants of Kheda could not pay the revenue, and were demanding that revenue collection is relaxed.
  

Mahatma Gandhi had successfully fought against the racist regime in South Africa with a novel method of mass agitation, which he called satyagraha.