Quit India Movement: Vallabhbhai Patel, 1942

India is currently in the middle of a major movement, quit India. This movement started soon after the end of World War II. When the British declared war on Germany, we agreed to help them fight but only if we immediately got sharing of power in India’s government. But a British gentleman made a new proposal. Sir Strafford Cripps offered only a self-governing nation within the British Commonwealth once the war was over. In reaction to this, Gandhi and the congress created a new civil disobedience campaign called quit India. We Indians have had enough! The British have controlled us and exploited us for too long. We were kind enough to agree to fight for them and this is what they do! The war really hurt India. The pressure it put on our economy created many hardships for our population like food shortages. All Indian leaders, like Gandhi, are encouraging Indian civilians to protest the British in nonviolent ways. But the British have not been taking this very well. Contrary to Gandhi’s philisophies, many protests have turned violent. There were police shootings and many villages were destroyed. There have been brutal punishments and gruesome attacks on suspected rebels. I have contributed in this movement by organizing many civil disobedience protests as well as being involved in the work of the INC. The Quit India resolution was passed by congress in Mumbai yesterday, August 8^th. Early this morning some INC congress leaders like Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Abdul Kalam Azad and I, were arrested and imprisoned. Every hour the number of people arrested or killed just continues to increase because of Britians desire to silence us. The members of congress and the Indian public do not want to watch this continue and we hope that this movement is our last attempt to reach our goal of freedom.

Salt March: Mohandas Gandhi, 1930

Recently our fight against the British rule is proving to be stronger. We are each day getting closer to our goal. On March 12, 78 male satyagrahis and I launched the Satyagraha March to protest against the salt taxes that the British started and the law against manufacturing our own salt. Salt is necessary for our culture, and comes from our soil. Why is the British claiming it is theirs to sell? Our salt can be cultivated on our beaches, on our land. But we must pay the British? This is just one of their many ways of exploiting us. We had walked a total of 240 miles from Sabarmati to Dandi, in a span three weeks. Not only were the 78 men involved but woman were too. Woman were involved by protesting and selling our own salt. We collected sea salt, as well. The salt march involved all classes but mostly peasants because the salt tax had a bigger impact on them. I am very proud of the people who fought for our independence. Although I feel like we have accomplished our goal, I know that there is yet to be an actual change in the minds of the colonists. Because our protest was peaceful, we have put the British in a difficult situation for if they were to interfere how would it look to the rest of the world. “I cannot withhold my compliments from the government for the policy of complete non interference adopted by them throughout the march ....I wish I could believe this non-interference was due to any real change of heart or policy. The wanton disregard shown by them to popular feeling in the Legislative Assembly and their high-handed action leave no room for doubt that the policy of heartless exploitation of India is to be persisted in at any cost, and so the only interpretation I can put upon this non-interference is that the British Government, powerful though it is, is sensitive to world opinion which will not tolerate repression of extreme political agitation which civil disobedience undoubtedly is, so long as disobedience remains civil and therefore necessarily non-violent .... It remains to be seen whether the Government will tolerate as they have tolerated the march, the actual breach of the salt laws by countless people from tomorrow(1)” Although it seems like we have won, we know that the British’s are afraid of the consequences and of critizm from the rest of the world if they violently fight back. This is proving our strategy of peace, is a strategy that is working to our benefit.

(1) Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi 43: 180, Wolpert, p. 148

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCvuo_NZcjo

^ This is a video with clips from the Salt March

Indira Gandhi in the Non cooperation Movement: Indira (age 12), 1928

Today the Monkey Brigade (Vanara Sena) delivered a total of 10 messages. I’m really proud of how this organization is going. I started the Monkey Brigade a couple of months ago after I was rejected from the INC (they said I was too young to join). I’ve been around this fight for Indian freedom my entire life. My parents have been active members in the INCs struggle for independence since I was born. I remember when I was 4, when the non cooperation movement was underway, my parents made a bonfire in our front lawn. They threw any British goods we owned into the fire. I felt like I had to do something to contribute too. So I threw my favorite British made doll into the fire. My father, Jawaharlal Nehru, always says that incident was my first of many sacrifices for India. They always tell me stories about my love for India as a child. They said that I would stand on tables and scream speeches about a free India. When the INC told me I had to wait until I was 18 to join, I knew I couldn’t wait that long. So I started the Monkey Brigade. It’s a chance for all the children that are “too young to help” to have a chance to make a difference. We cook meals and carry secret messages between protesters and more. Both my parents say they are so proud of me, but I’m just happy that I get to help my beloved India.

Non Cooperatoion Movement: Citizen, 1920

The non cooperation movement is going very well so far. This past August, under the guidance of our great leader Gandhi, we were instructed to give up anything that had to do with the British Empire. The British people are ruling our people with such cruelty. This movement started after several occasions of severe British violence. For example, the massacres in Punjab or Amritsar were violent. Hundreds of Indians were killed that day. Gandhi was distugisted by this, and he knew something had to be done. He became interested in the Pan-Islamic Khilafat movement that was taking place in the Ottoman Empire. So this past June, Gandhi and several other nationalist leaders had a meeting with the Khilafat leaders. Together they adopted a plan for non cooperation with the British government in India. They came up with the idea for all Indian civilians, like myself, to boycott civil services, police, the army, elections and to not pay our taxes. This month (September) there was an emergency meeting with the INC at Calcutta where a new non cooperation movement was created. Now we must boycott schools, courts, councils, foreign goods, anything British or British related we must get rid of. Anyone with a western job, like a lawyer, are being encouraged to quit. Anything western should be gone. The Indian students have been extremely supportive. Almost 100,000 students left their government controlled schools to join new nationalist schools. Gandhi says this is a nonviolent way to show our love for our Indian culture and to get the British to grant us swaraj (self-government).

Mohandas Gandhi: Peace and Congress, 1919

"I want to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind. I am more than ever convinced that it is not the sword that will win a place for Islam in these days in the scheme of life. It is the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and will surmount every obstacle".(1) The way we will get our freedom is not from violence, it is from non-violent civil disobedience. What the people need is a congress that is right for India and not for what the British need. This congress should consist of 350 people, and they should be elected from 21 different regions of India. If we create a government that voices to all places, we can be fair. Elections for this system would cast the people to be able to voice the opinion of the people. If we peacefully fight for what we want, India will again be a proud nation, rid of imperialism and foreign powers. In order for all to be well, India must ban together and fight for their freedom. If a battle is fought without guns, it is still a fight. "I regard myself as a soldier, though a soldier of peace”(2) Peace is the way we will win our freedom.

1) Young India 23 September 1924 Collected works of Mohandas Gandhi, vol.29, "My Jail experiences", p.133

2) Speech at Victoria Hall, Geneva (10 December 1931)