Introduction

This chapter begins with a discussion of how the book combines a longstanding interest of the author, namely the Indian nationalist movement and Gandhi’s role in it, with a more recent engagement with the theory and practice of nonviolent resistance. The ways in which Indian nationalism has been understood by historians over the past fifty years is considered critically, and the ways that this can be related to theories of strategic nonviolent resistance – particularly those of Gene Sharp –is reviewed. While the importance of this theory is acknowledged, its shortcomings are also examined, for example its neglect of Gandhi’s constructive program. The main themes of the following chapters are summarized.

‘Passive Resistance’ in South Africa, 1906–14

The method of ‘passive resistance’ was taken up and expanded by Gandhi during his years in South Africa. As this provides a critical element of the history, the second chapter focuses on this movement against racial discrimination against Indians, bringing out how it gave rise to Gandhi’s novel notion of ‘satyagraha’ and the production of his well-known manifesto, Hind Swaraj. Initially involving mainly Indian traders, the campaign of ‘passive resistance’ escalated in 2013 into strikes by Indian mineworkers and plantation workers, leading to a significant step-down by the South African government in early 1914. This success saw Gandhi becoming a well-known figure in India. He then left South Africa and settled back in India.

Exposing State Terror

The subject of the fifth chapter is the first major all-India campaign led by Gandhi, the Rowlatt Satyagraha of 1919. This was in reaction to oppressive legislation being introduced by the British to counter a supposed threat from violent extremist nationalists. The nonviolent protest met with a draconian reaction in Punjab, which included the notorious Amritsar massacre at Jallianwala Bagh, creating what is described in the literature on nonviolent resistance as ‘backfire’ – where terror by the state serves to alienate moderates and thus create the conditions for even more powerful resistance. This led into the major anti-British campaign of 1920-22, the Noncooperation Movement, which is the subject of the next volume.

Nonviolence

The fourth chapter examines the way that Gandhi began to emphasize the centrality of ‘nonviolence’ to satyagraha after his return to India from South Africa in 1915. He adapted the religious principle of ahimsa (nonviolence), giving it a new political content. In this, he came into conflict with Hindu nationalists, such as Lala Lajpat Rai, who held that a supposed Indian civilizational emphasis on ‘ahimsa’ (nonviolence) had weakened the country, leaving it open to conquest by outsiders. Gandhi argued, by contrast, that the nonviolent way required great courage and that it also conferred a moral advantage when resisting injustice. Also, people of all religions could practice such nonviolence – making it a secular and non-sectarian principle that could be asserted by the oppressed anywhere in the world.

Conclusion

The themes of the book are summarized and there is a discussion of the two main forms of nonviolent protest developed by Indian nationalists during this period: the pragmatic use of it as a political tacticin particular circumstances, as theorized by Aurobindo Ghose, and the Gandhian emphasis on nonviolence as an absolute moral principle, as seen in his concepts of satyagraha and ahimsa. The way that Gandhi promoted a secular, rather than Hindu form of nationalism, is discussed. Notions of national honor and levels of leadership of the movement are also examined.

Building a Nationalist Base in Rural India

The third chapter shows how the methods that Gandhi developed in South Africa were applied in practice in three movements in rural India that occurred in the second decade of the twentieth century. The chapter starts with a struggle in Bijoliya in princely India that had nothing to do with Gandhi initially. This brings out how such resistance was already being developed in popular local campaigns, showing how in time they linked up with Gandhi and began to apply a more strict and principled form of nonviolence. The other two struggles – in Champaran and Kheda – were led directly by Gandhi. Although the author has written already on the Kheda Satyagraha of 1918 in his1981 book Peasant Nationalists of Gujarat, he treats the topic in a new way here, focusing on its importance in the history of nonviolent struggle.

‘Passive Resistance’ in India, 1905–09

The first chapter examines the development of civil forms of protest in India under the rubric of ‘passive resistance’. This method was devised initially by nationalist activists who were impressed by the success of campaigns of what was then known as ‘passive resistance’ in Europe. These European campaigns are appraised in their historical context, showing how they inspired Indian nationalists involved in the Swadeshi Movement of 1905-09, with its rallying cry of Bande Mataram (Victory to the Motherland). The important contribution of the Bengali nationalist, Aurobindo Ghose, in the development of this strategy is analyzed. The focus in these campaigns was on efficacy rather than ethics. This tradition continued in India into the Gandhian period, and it is one of the tasks of this book to show how this created enduring tensions within the movement.