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To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi became the president of Indian National Congress (INC) In 1924, the party announced a special session of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and a rally on 26–27 December in Belagavi, Karnataka, where Gandhi assumed the presidency.
Top party leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Opposition leader Rahul GandhiWayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will reportedly attend the two-day event along with CWC members, senior leaders, chief ministers and state unit heads.
Why is this word so important in the history of Congress and India’s freedom struggle?
Leading up to 1924
Mahatma Gandhi, after spending 22 years in South Africa, returned to India in early 1915. By the time he reached Bombay (now Mumbai), he had become one. satyagrahi and a public figure, given a low-key welcome by his relatives and those who followed his work in South Africa.
Following the advice of his guru, Gopal Krishna GokhaleHe traveled extensively across the country for a year without engaging in any political activity.
Instead he became involved with the issues of farmers and textile workers and led their movements in Champaran (1917), Ahmedabad (1918) and Kheda (1918).
However, these movements were outside the jurisdiction of the Congress, which, since its foundation in 1885, had largely confined its activities to its annual sessions held in various large cities of British India.
Although Gandhiji attended the 1916 Lucknow session of the Congress, he did not participate in the discussions which were dominated by Tilak, Jinnah and Annie Besant. In the same session, the famous Lucknow Pact was signed, which gave hope for Hindu-Muslim unity in the future.
It was in Lucknow that Gandhi first met Motilal Nehru and his 27-year-old son Jawaharlal Nehru, who later became his closest associate and chosen successor. freedom,
The Lucknow session marked the beginning of the more than three decade long Gandhi-Nehru relationship that would shape the future of India.
The passage of the Rowlatt Act in 1919, which allowed the Indian government to bypass due process in dealing with acts of political violence and even peaceful activities, was condemned by nationalists of all factions – liberals, moderates and extremists – in a Seen as an open challenge. ,
Gandhiji described this law as ‘satanic’ and decided to launch Satyagraha, which led to this brutality Jallianwala Bagh massacre In Amritsar on 13 April.
Gandhi’s active participation in the Congress began at a session in Amritsar, presided over by Motilal Nehru, although he did not attend it fully.
It was at a special session of the Congress in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in August 1920 that Gandhi emerged as the supreme leader of the party.
This formality was completed at the Nagpur session later that year, where the Congress ratified the resolution passed on Gandhi’s orders: the launch of the non-cooperation movement, which was the first of three major battles for India’s independence.
However, Gandhiji suspended the non-cooperation movement after the violent Chauri Chaura incident on 4 February 1922, while most of the Congress leaders were in jail. He was upset with Gandhiji’s sudden decision.
Jawaharlal Nehru, sharing Naini Jail with his father, wrote: “Chauri Chaura must have been and was a condemnable incident…but will a remote village…end our national struggle…for freedom?”
After two sessions of the Congress – in Ahmedabad in 1921 and Gaya in 1922 – and a special session in Delhi, the powerful combination of Motilal Nehru and CR Das persuaded Gandhi to preside over the 39th session of the Congress in Belgaum (now . Belagavi).
With great reluctance, he accepted their offer, realizing that his presidency would be divided between the No-Changers led by the trio of Rajaji, Patel and Rajendra Prasad and the Pro-Changers led by CR Das and Motilal Nehru. Can prevent partition. ,
The former were against entry into the Council, while the latter convinced Gandhi to allow him to enter the Council and fight against the colonial government in the chambers.
An agreement was reached between the No-Changers and Pro-Changers at the AICC session in Calcutta in November, a month before the Belgaum session. This became known as the Calcutta Agreement and was to be ratified at the Plenary Session in Belgaum.
This would not have been possible without Gandhiji’s ‘blessings’. Thus, Motilal Nehru and CR Das were proved right when they persuaded Gandhi to assume the presidency of the unruly Congress.
Gandhi’s attitude towards Hindu-Muslim tension
Hindu-Muslim unity was always one of Gandhiji’s top concerns. Nothing was more important to him.
He wrote in Young India on 29 May 1924: “I see no way of achieving this in this suffering country without unity between the Hindus and Muslims of India.”
When a wave of communal riots broke out in India, especially in Kohat, Gandhi condemned “the barbaric stupidity of killing Muslims for the sake of the life of a cow” – and led a 21-day fast at the Delhi residence of Muhammad Ali. Former President of Congress and leader of Khilafat Movement.
He appealed to Hindus and Muslims to stay away from violence “The basic fiber of Indian politics was broken.”
On 26 September, a unity conference was organized in Delhi under the chairmanship of Motilal Nehru. This was the most representative conference of various community leaders. Resolutions passed at the conference called for freedom of conscience and religion, and condemned acts such as desecration of places of worship, persecution of converts, and the use of coercion to convert.
The leaders pledged to implement these principles. Two months later another conference was organized by Mohammad Ali in Bombay, at which Jinnah was present. However, the conference failed to formulate a joint plan for Hindu-Muslim unity.
In this background, the 39th session of the Congress was held in Belgaum.
Khadi, charkha and unity
Dr. Hardikar’s volunteers (Seva Dal) impressed the 55-year-old President, who appreciated his efforts and told him that the sanitation system could have been more scientific (a lesson for leaders at all levels: pay attention to details).
Gandhi also expressed his displeasure at being allotted “”.card castle” instead of a “khadi hut“As he wanted. The music festival and the exhibition of indigenous arts and industries received high praise from the delegates.
The Calcutta Accord or Gandhi-Das-Nehru (Motilal) Pact was ratified, condemning the exodus of Hindus from Kohat, and urging Muslim residents to assure complete protection to the Hindu minority (similar to the situation in today’s Bangladesh. ).
Instead of 4 annas per annum as annual membership, the Congress franchise was changed to make the spinning of khadi a qualification for membership.
Gandhiji reiterated his belief in charkhaHindu-Muslim unity, and removal of untouchability.
As was the practice at the time, before the President’s address, the President would deliver a brief inaugural address immediately following the welcome address. Gandhiji began his inaugural speech by saying: “Hindus and Muslims consider each other as enemies and indulge in physical violence. It is difficult to say that this is not the way to secure Swaraj. We, Hindus, look down on the untouchables and consider it a sin to touch them We think that they are impure, but in this we sin before God, the greatest sin.,
He continued,
“Lokmanya gave us the first line of a stanza, ‘Swaraj is our birthright,’ and it is the mission of my life to fulfill this stanza. This is my belief. I repeat that statement here. If we want Swaraj , then its path goes through Charkha, Sut and Khaddar.
he saw charkha As a breadwinner for the poor: “I believe that Swaraj cannot come unless lakhs of our brothers and sisters spin the charkha, spin it, make Khadi and wear it. Unless this happens, crores of poor people of the country will not get bread. Till then India’s poverty will not go away.
Gandhi also explained why he compromised with the Pro-Changers against the wishes of his loyal No-Changers: “I have made an agreement with Deshbhandu Das and Pandit Motilal Nehru… I accept their right to what they want. I believe that we can achieve nothing through councils; but There are big leaders who believe that something or the other can be achieved through councils, and if we do nothing else, we can at least go to councils… They are also leaders of the country, Who am I to refuse them?”
“The Congress is equally concerned with pro-changers and no-changers. There is a misconception that it is exclusively concerned with any one. So they will go (to the councils) on behalf of the Congress.”
In his presidential address, Gandhi elaborated further: “The Swaraj Party represents, if not the majority, at least a strong and growing minority in the Congress. If I were not to divide the Congress on the issue of its position, I was bound to agree to its terms as long as As long as they were there, in my opinion, they were not in conflict with my conscience.
Then and Now: 1924 vs 2024
Emphasizing on Hindu-Muslim unity, Gandhiji said that it is no less important than the charkha: “It is the breath of our life.” He also wanted the majority to set an example of self-sacrifice.
Unfortunately, today the Sangh Parivar promotes exactly the opposite viewpoint at the cost of the social fabric and emotional unity of the country.
They don’t realize that they are playing with fire. But more than anything else, in his presidential and valedictory address, Gandhi placed greatest emphasis on the charkha: “I take the oath of civil disobedience. But civil disobedience for the attainment of Swaraj is impossible unless we acquire the power to boycott foreign clothes.”
He encouraged the congressmen:
After concluding his speech, Gandhi had just stepped off the stage when he was reminded that he had forgotten to thank the reception committee. Immediately, he returned to the stage and said: “I would not have been able to forgive myself if I had not thanked the great volunteers trained by Dr. Hardikar and the members of the welcome committee… I would have been guilty of a breach of duty to you if I had not returned. Thank you all God bless all the volunteers and welcome committee members.Thus ended Mahatma Gandhi’s first and last address as Congress President.
He stayed in Belgaum for the next three days and addressed conferences on untouchability, cow protection and all-India states, before leaving for Bombay on 30 December 1924.
(Captain Praveen Dawar is a retired army officer and author Freedom struggle and beyondA collection of articles on the freedom movement and the making of modern India. This is an opinionated article and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint Neither endorses nor is responsible for it.)
