Reading Questions: Trace the origins of Gandhi’s methods.
Compare his approach with that of other nationalists (e.g. Iqbal).
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)
• A puzzle: Jinnah’s later shift from secular leader to Muslim nationalist, Quaid-i-Azam
• Educated in London, serves as Dadabhai’s political secretary, Congress stalwart
• 1913: joins Muslim League (remains member of Congress)
• Indian support for British war effort, with expectation of post-war independence
• Reunification of Congress extremists and moderates
• Cooperation of Congress and Muslim League: 1916 Lucknow Pact
◦ more Indians in legislative councils
◦ administrative expenses to be borne by Britons, not Indian taxpayers
◦ Indians to be treated as equal to other imperial subjects
• Montagu (Secretary of State) sympathetic to Indian demands, impressed by Jinnah
• Congress revitalized by new leadership (e.g. Annie Besant, popular Home Rule League)
The Khilafat Movement
• Allied takeover of Ottoman Empire, sacred Muslim sites
• Danger to Ottoman sultan, or caliph, leader of Muslims worldwide
• Pro-caliph activism of Ali brothers, Mohamed and Shaukat
• Congress support for khilafat movement in support of restoring caliphate
• 1917: Montagu Declaration: “progressive realization of responsible government”
• Dyarchy: local legislative bodies composed of Indian members given responsibility for financial matters (e.g. health and education)
• Popular unrest: unemployment, riots, flu epidemic
• Rowlatt Acts: press censorship, detention without trial, arrest without warrant
• Widespread protest against “Black Acts”
• April 13, 1919: political meeting of unarmed demonstrators (men, women, children)
• Gen. R.E.H. Dyer: ten minutes of firing, 1650 rounds fired, 379 dead, ~1200 wounded
• Martial law declared in Punjab
• Dyer relieved of command, but praised in Britain
• Indian uproar
• Churchill: “Our reign in India or anywhere else has never stood on the basis of physical force alone, and it would be fatal to the British Empire if we were to try to base ourselves only upon it. The British way of doing things, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for India, who feels intensely upon this subject, has pointed out, has always meant and implied close and effectual co-operation with the people of the country.”
Final exam due Monday, May 3: to be distributed during last week of class