Civil Disobedience Movement & Salt Satyagraha

§1 — Timeline

Timeline of Key Events

§2 — Simon Commission (1928)

Simon Commission and Boycott (1928)

The Indian Statutory Commission, popularly known as the Simon Commission after its chair Sir John Simon, was appointed in November 1927 to review the working of the Government of India Act 1919 and recommend further reforms. It had seven members — all British; not a single Indian.

Indian Boycott

The all-British composition was a calculated insult — implying Indians were not fit to determine their own constitution. The INC at the Madras session (December 1927, presided by M.A. Ansari) decided to boycott the Commission. The slogan: "Simon Go Back" — black flags greeted the Commission everywhere.

When the Commission landed at Bombay on 3 February 1928, hartals and protests covered the country. At Lahore on 30 October 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai led a black-flag protest. Police Superintendent James A. Scott ordered a lathi charge in which Rai was severely beaten. Rai died of injuries on 17 November 1928. His last words: "Every blow they hit me will be a nail in the coffin of British Empire." Bhagat Singh and HSRA later avenged him by killing Saunders (17 December 1928).

Simon Commission Report (1930)

The Commission published its 17-volume report in May–June 1930. It recommended:

• Diarchy abolished at the provinces; full provincial autonomy.
• Federal structure with princely states.
• Limited franchise expansion.
• No Dominion Status.

The recommendations broadly informed the Government of India Act 1935.

§3 — Nehru Report (1928)

The Nehru Report (1928)

The British challenge — "Indians cannot agree among themselves on a constitution" — was answered by the All Parties Conference of February 1928. A committee under Motilal Nehru, with Tej Bahadur Sapru, Subhash Bose, Ali Imam, M.S. Aney, M.R. Jayakar, Shoaib Qureshi, Sardar Mangal Singh, Pradhan, and G.R. Pradhan, drafted India's first constitution document — the Nehru Report, completed August 1928.

Key Provisions

• Dominion Status for India (not full independence).
• Linguistic provinces.
• Universal adult franchise.
• 19 fundamental rights.
• Federal structure with residuary powers to the Centre.
• Bicameral legislature.
• No separate electorates — joint electorates with reservation for minorities in some provinces (problem area for Muslim League).
• Religious freedom and equality.

Muslim League's Counter

The Muslim League rejected the Nehru Report's elimination of separate electorates. Jinnah responded with his famous "Fourteen Points" of 1929, demanding:

• Federal structure with provincial autonomy.
• 1/3 Muslim representation at the Centre.
• Separate electorates retained.
• Provincial reorganisation maintaining Muslim majorities in Punjab, Bengal, NWFP.
• Religious freedom; Muslim representation in cabinets.

Jinnah's "parting of the ways" speech — Congress and Muslim League could not reconcile their constitutional visions. This was the start of irrevocable Congress-League divergence.

Calcutta Congress (December 1928)

The Calcutta Annual Session, presided by Motilal Nehru, gave the British government a deadline of one year (until December 1929) to accept the Nehru Report — failing which the Congress would launch civil disobedience for full independence. The young leaders — Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose — wanted "complete independence" rather than Dominion Status; the resolution as a compromise.

§4 — Bardoli Satyagraha (1928)

Bardoli Satyagraha (1928)

In Bardoli taluka of Surat district, Gujarat — a Patidar peasant area where Gandhi's Kheda Satyagraha had succeeded — the British raised land revenue by 22% in 1927.

Patel's Leadership

Vallabhbhai Patel took charge in February 1928 at the request of the Bardoli peasants. He toured 80 villages, organised village committees, instructed peasants not to pay revenue, accepting confiscation of land and cattle. He was assisted by Mahadev Desai, Narhari Parikh, Indulal Yagnik, and others. Press coverage was extensive — Mahadev Desai wrote daily despatches.

Settlement (August 1928)

The British faced a stalemate. After a Bombay Government inquiry by Maxwell-Broomfield, the increase was reduced to 6.03%; confiscated lands and cattle were restored. The satyagraha succeeded. The women of Bardoli conferred the title "Sardar" on Patel — alternative tradition says Gandhi did. Either way, "Sardar" stuck.

Bardoli boosted Patel's national stature and validated the satyagraha method for the impending civil disobedience movement.

§5 — Lahore Congress & Purna Swaraj (December 1929)

Lahore Congress & the Declaration of Purna Swaraj

The Calcutta Congress's deadline expired in October 1929. Viceroy Lord Irwin, in his "Irwin Declaration" of 31 October 1929, vaguely promised Dominion Status as the eventual goal and a Round Table Conference. The Indian leaders' "Delhi Manifesto" (2 November 1929) demanded clarification but Irwin equivocated.

The Lahore Session (December 1929)

The annual session was held on the banks of the Ravi river, Lahore, in the last week of December 1929. Jawaharlal Nehru was elected President — the youngest President of the Congress till then (40), succeeding his father Motilal. At Gandhi's insistence, Jawaharlal was elected over Vallabhbhai Patel and Gandhi himself.

The Purna Swaraj Resolution (31 December 1929)

On the night of 31 December 1929 / 1 January 1930, Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the tricolour flag on the bank of the Ravi. The Congress passed three historic resolutions:

• "Purna Swaraj" — Complete Independence — declared as the goal of the Congress.
• 26 January to be celebrated annually as Independence Day.
• Authority granted to Congress Working Committee to launch a programme of civil disobedience.

26 January 1930 — First Independence Day

Sunday, 26 January 1930 — the first Independence Day — was observed across India with processions, the unfurling of the tricolour, and reading of the pledge in 80,000 villages. Gandhi drafted the Pledge of Independence:

"We believe that it is the inalienable right of the Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil... We hold it to be a crime against man and God to submit any longer to a rule that has caused this fourfold disaster."

Notably, when India became a Republic in 1950, 26 January was chosen as the date of the Constitution's coming into force — to commemorate the 1930 Purna Swaraj declaration.

§6 — Dandi March & Salt Satyagraha

The Dandi March (12 March – 6 April 1930)

Why Salt?

The choice of salt as the symbol was strategically brilliant:

• Universal commodity — used by every Indian, Hindu and Muslim, rich and poor.
• British monopoly — Salt Tax was 8.2% of total revenue; doubled in 1923.
• Tax on the poorest — salt was a regressive tax, hurting peasants and labourers most.
• Mocking absurdity — Indians were forbidden from gathering salt freely available on their own coastline.

Gandhi's Eleven-Point Ultimatum to Lord Irwin (2 March 1930) demanded: prohibition; salt tax abolition; reduction of land revenue; reduction of military expenditure; release of political prisoners; reform of CID; controls on rupee-sterling exchange rate; protective tariffs; reservation of coastal traffic for Indian shipping; Arms Act reform; and abolition of the salt monopoly. Irwin refused engagement.

The March

On 12 March 1930, Gandhi (aged 61) with 78 ashramites set off from Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad. The march route covered 240 miles (about 385 km) through 4 districts and 48 villages of Gujarat — Ahmedabad, Kheda, Anand, Bharuch, Surat — to Dandi on the Arabian Sea coast in Navsari district.

The march was extensively reported worldwide. Time magazine's "Man of the Year" 1930 was Gandhi (cover featured the Dandi March). The slow daily progress of about 12 miles per day, with public meetings every evening, built unprecedented anticipation.

Notable Marchers

• Mahatma Gandhi (leader).
• Mahadev Desai (Gandhi's secretary).
• Vallabhbhai Patel — arrested before the march at Ras (March 7, 1930) for an inflammatory speech.
• Abbas Tyabji (succeeded Gandhi as march leader after his arrest).
• Sarojini Naidu (later led Dharasana Salt Raid).
• Pyarelal, Kaka Kalelkar, Jamnalal Bajaj.

The Salt-Breaking (6 April 1930)

Gandhi reached Dandi on the morning of 5 April 1930. Just before 8.30 am on Sunday, 6 April 1930, after a sea bath, he picked up a fistful of salt-encrusted mud from the beach and declared: "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." Sarojini Naidu reportedly hailed him: "Hail, deliverer!"

The Salt Law was technically broken. Across India, Indians began illegally manufacturing or buying salt. The Civil Disobedience Movement was launched.

§7 — Spread of the Movement

Spread of the Civil Disobedience Movement

Salt Satyagrahas

• Dharasana Salt Works (21 May 1930) — Gujarat. After Gandhi's arrest (4-5 May), Sarojini Naidu, Manilal Gandhi (Gandhi's son), and Imam Saheb led 2,500 satyagrahis. Webb Miller's UPI report of police lathi-charges (320 wounded, 2 killed) shocked the world. Webb's despatch: "Not one of the marchers even raised an arm to fend off the blows. They went down like ten-pins."
• Vedaranyam (Madras coast) — C. Rajagopalachari led salt march from Tiruchirapalli (April 1930).
• Dharasana and Wadala (Bombay area) repeated raids.

Beyond Salt

The movement extended to:

• Boycott of foreign goods — particularly British cloth; bonfires of foreign cloth.
• No-tax campaigns — chowkidari tax in Bihar; chaukidari and revenue in UP.
• Forest Satyagraha in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Central Provinces against Forest Acts.
• Liquor shop picketing.
• Strikes in textile mills, railways.
• Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan's Khudai Khidmatgars ("Servants of God" / "Red Shirts") — non-violent Pathan force; Peshawar agitation 23 April 1930. Two platoons of Garhwal Rifles refused to fire on protesters — court-martialled.
• Sholapur uprising (May 1930) — workers attacked police; town under martial law.
• Chittagong Armoury Raid (18 April 1930) — Surya Sen — parallel revolutionary action.

Women's Participation

The movement saw unprecedented women's participation: Kamala Nehru, Kasturba Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Aruna Asaf Ali, Sucheta Kripalani, Hansa Mehta, and tens of thousands of ordinary women joined picketing of foreign cloth and liquor shops, salt-making, and processions. Women were arrested in large numbers for the first time in Indian history.

Government Response

By the end of 1930:

• About 90,000 arrested.
• The Working Committee of the INC was declared illegal; Congress assets seized.
• Mass lathi-charges, firing, and martial law in some areas.

First Round Table Conference (12 November 1930)

The First RTC opened in London with princely state representatives, Muslim League (Aga Khan III, Jinnah), Hindu Mahasabha, Liberals (Sapru, Jayakar), Sikhs, untouchables (Ambedkar). The Congress was absent (boycotted). The conference yielded little progress because the dominant Indian political force was missing.

§8 — Gandhi-Irwin Pact (5 March 1931)

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (5 March 1931)

By early 1931, both sides were ready to negotiate. The British wanted Congress at the Second RTC; Gandhi wanted to test whether dialogue could yield concessions. Tej Bahadur Sapru and M.R. Jayakar mediated. After several meetings starting 17 February 1931, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (Delhi Pact) was signed on 5 March 1931.

Terms of the Pact

Bhagat Singh's Hangings (23 March 1931)

The pact's most painful failure was the absence of any commutation for Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru — sentenced to death in the Saunders murder case. Gandhi raised the issue with Irwin but no firm commitment was given. Indian public opinion expected Gandhi to insist on commutation as a precondition. He did not.

On 23 March 1931 — just 18 days after the pact — Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru were hanged at Lahore Central Jail. Public anger against Gandhi was intense at the Karachi Congress.

Karachi Congress (March 1931)

The annual session at Karachi (March 1931) was presided by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Despite black-flag protests over Bhagat Singh's hanging, the Congress endorsed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact and authorised Gandhi to attend the 2nd RTC. The session also passed two important resolutions drafted by Nehru:

• Resolution on Fundamental Rights — first formal Congress statement on civil rights.
• Resolution on National Economic Programme — nationalisation of key industries, agrarian reform, social welfare, women's equality.

These resolutions later influenced the Indian Constitution's Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles.

§9 — Second Round Table Conference

Second Round Table Conference (September–December 1931)

Gandhi sailed for London in August 1931 as the sole Congress representative at the Second RTC (7 September – 1 December 1931). Ramsay MacDonald presided. Other Indians: princes, Muslim League (Jinnah, Aga Khan), Sikh and Christian representatives, Ambedkar (untouchables), and Sarojini Naidu.

Gandhi argued the Congress represented all Indians. Other delegates rejected this — Jinnah for Muslims, Ambedkar for the Depressed Classes (a critical and historic claim that the untouchables were a separate political constituency from caste Hindus). MacDonald announced he would issue a "Communal Award" resolving political deadlock.

The Conference ended without agreement. Gandhi returned to India on 28 December 1931.

Round Tables Table

§10 — Second Phase & Decline

Second Phase of Civil Disobedience (1932–34)

While Gandhi was in London, repression had resumed in India. Lord Willingdon, the new Viceroy (succeeded Irwin April 1931), launched a crackdown — Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and his Khudai Khidmatgars were arrested; the United Provinces Congress was banned; Bengal's repression intensified.

Returning on 28 December 1931, Gandhi found the situation had deteriorated. He requested a meeting with Willingdon, which was refused. On 4 January 1932, Gandhi was arrested under Bengal Regulation III of 1818 (without trial). The Civil Disobedience Movement resumed.

Communal Award (16 August 1932)

British PM Ramsay MacDonald announced the Communal Award on 16 August 1932 — granting separate electorates to Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans, AND the Depressed Classes. This last provision — separate electorates for Dalits — was the most controversial.

Gandhi opposed it bitterly. He felt separate electorates for Dalits would split Hinduism permanently. From Yerwada Jail, on 20 September 1932, Gandhi began a "fast unto death" against the Award.

Poona Pact (24 September 1932)

After 5 days of fasting, on 24 September 1932, the Poona Pact was signed between Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar (representing the Depressed Classes). Terms:

• Joint electorates retained (Dalits voted with caste Hindus).
• BUT 148 reserved seats for Depressed Classes in the provincial legislatures (vs. 71 originally proposed).
• Reservation in Central Legislature.
• Adequate representation in services and education.

The Poona Pact was endorsed by the British and incorporated into the Government of India Act 1935. Reservation for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes in legislatures continues to this day in the Indian Constitution.

Decline of CDM (1933–34)

After the Poona Pact, Gandhi shifted focus to Harijan welfare (founding the All India Anti-Untouchability League / Harijan Sevak Sangh) and the Harijan Yatra (1933 — toured India 12,500 km). The movement formally was suspended. Gandhi was released on health grounds in May 1933, briefly re-arrested, then released again.

In April 1934, the Congress Working Committee at Patna formally suspended the Civil Disobedience Movement. The Congress decided to contest the Central Assembly elections of 1934 (and won 44 of 102 elected seats).

§11 — Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions