In May 1945, Lord Wavell, the Viceroy of India, went to London and discussed his ideas about the future of India with the British administration. The talks resulted in the formulation of a plan of action that was made public in June 1945. The plan is known as Wavell Plan.

The Plan suggested reconstitution of the Viceroy’s Executive Council in which the Viceroy was to select persons nominated by the political parties. Different communities were also to get their due share in the Council and parity was reserved for Cast-Hindus and Muslims. While declaring the plan, the Secretary of State for Indian Affairs made it clear that the British Government wanted to listen to the ideas of all major Indian communities. Yet he said that it was only possible if the leadership of the leading Indian political parties agreed with the suggestions of the British Government.

To discuss these proposals with the leadership of major Indian parties, Wavell called for a conference at Simla on June 25, 1945. Leaders of both the Congress and the Muslim League attended the conference, which is known as the Simla Conference. However, differences arose between the leadership of the two parties on the issue of representation of the Muslim community. The Muslim League claimed that it was the only representative party of the Muslims in India and thus all the Muslim representatives in the Viceroy’s Executive Council should be the nominees of the party. Congress, which had sent Maulana Azad as the leader of their delegation, tried to prove that their party represented all the communities living in India and thus should be allowed to nominate Muslim representative as well. Congress also opposed the idea of parity between the Cast-Hindus and the Muslims. All this resulted in a deadlock. Finally, Wavell announced the failure of his efforts on July 14. Thus the Simla Conference couldn’t provide any hope of proceeding further.

C. Rajagopalachari’s formula (or C. R. formula or Rajaji formula) was a proposal formulated by Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari to solve the political deadlock between the All India Muslim League and Indian National Congress on independence of India from the British. C. Rajagopalachari, a Congress leader from Madras, devised a proposal for the Congress to offer the League the Muslim Pakistan based onplebiscite of all the peoples in the regions where Muslims made a majority. Although the formula was opposed even within the Congress party,Gandhi used it as his proposal in his talks with Jinnah in 1944. However, Jinnah rejected the proposal and the talks failed.
The CR formula entailed
i. The League was to endorse the Indian demand for independence and to co-operate with the Congress in formation of Provisional Interim Government for a transitional period.
ii. At the end of the War, a commission would be appointed to demarcate the districts having a Muslim population in absolute majority and in those areas plebiscite to be conducted on all inhabitants (including the non-Muslims) on basis of adult suffrage.
iii. All parties would be allowed to express their stance on the partition and their views before the plebiscite.
iv. In the event of separation, a mutual agreement would be entered into for safeguarding essential matters such as defence, communication and commerce and for other essential services.
v. The transfer of population, if any would be absolutely on a voluntary basis.
vi. The terms of the binding will be applicable only in case of full transfer of power by Britain to Government of India.

After the WWII began, British sought cooperation from India. August Offer offered three proposals. Firstly, it called for an immediate expansion of Viceroy’s Executive Council with the inclusion of India representatives; secondly, an advisory body with the members from British India and Indian princely states which were supposed to meet at consequent intervals was established and thirdly, two practical steps were decided to be taken in which it was to come at an agreement with the Indians on the form of the post representatives body should take and the methods by which it should come to a conclusion. It further  planned to draw out the principles and outlines of the Constitution itself.

Congress did not accept the offer.

• Started by Gandhi on 12^th March 1930 with the Dandi March. Reached Dandi on April 6.
• Defiance of forest laws in Maharashtra, Central Province and Karnataka. Refusal to pay chaukidari tax in Eastern India.
• Wide participation of women
• Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan organized Khudai Khidmatgars (aka Red Shirts)
• Nagaland: Rani Gaidilieu
• First RTC, 1930
  • Congress boycotted
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact, 1931
  • Government agreed to release the political prisoners who had remained non-violent
  • Right to make salt for consumption
  • Right to peaceful picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops
  • Congress suspended the Civil Disobedience Movement
  • Agreed to take part in the second RTC

• Indian Statutory Commission chaired by Simon to go into the question of further constitutional reform
• All its seven members were Englishmen. Clement Attlee was one of the members.
• Lord Birkinhead was the secretary of state at that time
• At its Madras session in 1927 INC decided to boycott the commission “at every stage and in every form”
  • ML and Hindu Mahasabha supported Congress
• Nehru Report, 1928
  • Dominion status
  • Contained Bill of Rights
  • No state religion
  • Federal form
  • Linguistically determined provinces
  • No separate electorates
  • All Party Convention, held at Calcutta in 1928, failed to pass the report
  • Muslim league rejected the proposals of the report
  • Jinnah drafted his fourteen points
  • Hindu Mahasabha and Sikh League also objected
• Poorna Swaraj
  • Resolution passed at the Lahore session in 1929
  • On 31 December 1929, the tri-color was hoisted
  • On 26 January 1930, Independence Day was celebrated

• Emergence of socialism in the 1920s in the nationalist ranks
  • JL Nehru and SC Bose
  • Raised the question of internal class oppression by capitalists and landlords
  • MN  Roy became the first Indian to be elected to the leadership of the Communist International
  • Muzaffer Ahmed and SA Dange were tried in the Kanpur Conspiracy Case
  • 1925: Communist Party of India was formed
  • All India Trade Union Congress
  • Various Strikes: Bombay textile mills, Jamshedpur, Kharagpur
• Bardoli Satyagraha (1928)
  • Peasants under the leadership of Sardar Patel organized no tax campaign
• Indian Youth were becoming active
  • First All Bengal Conference of Students  held in 1928 presided by JL Nehru
• Hindustan Republican Association: 1924
  • Kakori Conspiracy Case (1925)
  • Four, including Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan were hanged.
• Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (1928)
  • On 17^th December 1928, Bhagat Singh, Azad and Rajguru assassinated Saunders
  • Bhagat Singh and BK Dutt threw bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929 to let the people know of their changed political objectives
• Chittagong Armoury Raid: 1030, Surya Sen
  • Participation of young women

• Three important peasant movements of the early twentieth century:
  • Kisan Sabha and Eka movements in Avadh in UP
  • Mappila rebellion in Malabar
  • Bardoli Satyagrah in Gujarat
• The UP Kisan Sabha was set up in February 1918 through the efforts of Gauri Shankar Mishra and Indra Narain Dwivedi with the support of Madan Mohan Malviya.
• By June 1919, it had established about 450 branches in 173 tehsils of the province.
• In August 1921, Mappila (Muslim) tenants rebelled. Their grievances related to lack of any security of tenure, renewal fees, high rents and other oppressive labndlord exactions.
• The no-tax movement was launched in Bardoli taluq of Surat district in Gujarat in 1928.

• There were some working class movements in second half of 19^th century. However, they were impulsive and not very well organized.
• The early nationalists had a lukewarm attitude towards the question of workers. This war because initially Congress wanted to focus on issues which were of common concern to all the people of India.
• There was a difference in attitude of the nationalists towards workers in indigenous and European enterprises.
• The most important feature of the labour movement during the Swadeshi days was the shift from agitation and struggles on purely economic questions to the involvement of the worker with the wider political issues of the day.
• The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was founded in 1920.
• IN 1918 Gandhi founded the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association.
• The AITUC in November 1927 took a decision to boycott the Simon Commission and many workers participated in the massive Simon boycott demonstrations.
• Alarmed by worker’s movement, the government enacted repressive laws like the Public Safety Act and Trade Disputes Acts and arrested the entire radical leadership of the labour movement and launched the Meerut Conspiracy Case against them.
• The labour movement suffered a major setback partially due to this government offensive and partially due to a shift in stance of the communist led wing of the movement.
• From the end of 1928, the communists stopped aligning them with the national movement.
• Communists got isolated within the AITUC and were thrown out in the split of 1931.
• BY 1934, the communists re-entered the mainstream nationalist politics.
• The working class of Bombay held an anti-war strike on 2 October, 1939.
• With the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, the communists changed their policy and asked the people to support the allied forces instead of holding anti-war strikes.
• The communists dissociated themselves from the Quit India movement launched in 1942.
• The last years of colonial rule also saw a remarkably sharp increase in strikes on economic issues all over the country – the all India strike of the post and telegraph department employees being the most well known among them.

• Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms 1919: Dyarchy
• In a system called “dyarchy,” the nation-building departments of government — agriculture, education, public works, and the like — were placed under ministers who were individually responsible to the legislature. The departments that made up the “steel frame” of British rule — finance, revenue, and home affairs — were retained by executive councillors who were nominated by the Governor.
• The Hunter Committee report praised the actions of general Dyer.
• Khilafat Movement
  • For support of Turkey
  • Khilafat Committee formed under the leadership of Ali Brothers, Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Hasrat Mohani
  • The promises made to the Khilafat Committee were not kept after the World War.
  • The All-India Khilafat Conference held at Delhi in November 1919 decided to withdraw all cooperation from the government if their demands were not met.
  • On June 9 1920, the Khilafat Committee at Allahabad unanimously accepted the suggestion of non-cooperation and asked Gandhiji to lead the movement.
• Khilafat movement cemented Hindu-Muslim unity
  • Gandhiji looked upon the Khilafat agitation as “an opportunity of uniting Hindus and Mohammedans as would not arise in a hundred years”
• The non-cooperation movement was launched on August 1, 1920. Lokmanya Tilak passed away on the same day.
• People countrywide observed hartal and took out processions.
• The congress met in September at Calcutta and accepted non-co-operation as its own.
• The programme of non-cooperation included:
  • Surrender of titles and honors
  • Boycott of government affiliated schools and colleges, law courts, foreign cloth and could be extended to resignation from government services.
  • Mass civil disobedience including the non-payment of taxes.
  • National schools and colleges were to be set up
  • Panchayats were to be established to settle disputes
  • Hand-spinning and weaving was encouraged
  • People were asked to maintain Hindu-Muslim unity, give up untouchability and observe strict non-violence.

• Changes in Congress to attain the new objective:
  • At the Nagpur session in 1920 changes in the Constitution of Congress were made.
  • The goal of congress was changed from the attainment of self-government by constitutional and legal means to the attainment of Swaraj by peaceful and legitimate means.
  • The Congress now had a Working Committee of fifteen members to look after its day to day affairs.
  • Provincial congress committees were now organized on a linguistic basis.
  • Mahalla and ward committees were formed.
  • The membership fee was reduced to 4 annas a years to enable poor to become members.
  • This was not without opposition however. Some members still believed in the traditional methods. Leaders like Jinnah, GS Khaparde, Bipin Chandra Pal and Annie Besant left congress during this time.

• Gandhiji, along with the Ali brother, undertook a nationwide tour to address people.
• Thousands of students left government schools and joined national schools.
• The most successful item of the programme was the boycott of foreign cloth.
• Picketing of toddy shops was also very popular.
• Students let government schools and colleges. IT was during this time that Jamia Milia Islamia of Aligarh, the Bihar Vidyapith, the Kashi Vidyapith and the Gujarat Vidyapith came into existence.
• Lawyers such as  Deshbandhu CR Das, Motilal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Saifudiin Kitchlew, C Rajagopalachari, Sardar Patel, T Prakasam and Asaf Ali gave up their legal practice.
• Tilak Swarajya Fund was started to finance the NCM.
• In 1921, Khilafat Committee issued a resolution that no muslim should serve in the British Indian army.
• The visit of the Prince of Wales on 17^th November 1921 was observed as a day of hartal all over the country.
• The Congress Volunteer Corps emerged as a powerful parallel police.
• By December 1921, the government felt that things were going too far and announced a change of policy by declaring the volunteer corps illegal and arresting all those who claimed to be its members.
• Thousands of peasants and tenants participated in the movement.
• In Punjab, the Akali movement to remove corrupt mahants from the Gurudwaras was started.
• Assam: Tea plantation workers went on strike. Midnapore: peasants refused to pay Union Board taxes.                 Guntur (Chirala): Agitation led by Duggirala Gopalakrishayya                       Malabar: Mohlahs (muslim peasants) created a powerful anti-zamindari movement.
• As the government refused to yield, Gandhiji announced that mass civil disobedience would begin in Bardoli taluqa of Surat.
• However, in Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur on 5 February 1922 crowd set fire on a police station and killed some policemen. On hearing this, Gandhiji decided to withdraw the movement.
• The congress working committee ratified his decision. Thus, on February 12, 1922, the non-cooperation movement came to an end.
• Assessing the Withdrawal:
  • Some scholars say that Gandhiji withdrew the movement because he wanted to protect the interests of the propertied class.
  • Some argue that there was no logic why a small incident should lead to withdrawal of the movement itself.
  • However, government could use Chauri Chaura to justify its repression of the movement.
  • If movement was started at that time, it would have been defeated due to the repression of the government.
  • Gandhiji was protecting the movement from likely repression, and the people from demoralization.
  • Mass movements tend to ebb in some time. Hence, withdrawal is a part of the strategy of mass movements.
• Gandhiji was tried in 1922 and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.
  • He invited the court to award him “the highest penalty that can be inflicted upon me for what in law is a deliberate crime, and what appears to be the highest duty of a citizen”.

• Positives out of the non-cooperation movement:
  • Congress started commanding the support and sympathy of vast sections of the Indian people.
  • Millions of Indians became politically involved. Women were drawn into the movement.
  • Muslims participated heavily and communal unity was maintained.
  • Strengthened the national movement. Nationalist sentiments and the national movement had reached the remotest corners of the land.
  • People gained tremendous self-confidence and self-esteem.

• Gandhi was the first Indian barrister to have come to South Africa.
• He was faced with various racial discriminations within days of his arrival in SA.
• He led the Indian struggle in SA.
• The first phase of Gandhi’s political activities from 1894-1906 may be classified as the ‘moderate’ phase.
• He set up the Natal Indian Congress and started a paper called Indian Opinion.
• By 1906, Gandhiji, having fully tried the ‘Moderate’ methods of struggle, was becoming convinced that these would not lead anywhere.
• The second phase, begun in 1906, was characterized by the use of passive resistance, Satyagraha. There was no fear of jails.
• South Africa prepared Gandhiji for leadership of the Indian national struggle:
  • He had the invaluable experience of leading poor Indian labourers.
  • SA built up his faith in the capacity of the Indian masses to participate in and sacrifice for a cause that moved them.
  • Gandhiji also had the opportunity of leading Indians belonging to different religions.
• South Africa provided Gandhiji with an opportunity for evolving his own style of politics and leadership.
• Gandhi returned to India on January 9, 1915
• He founded the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad in 1916
• Initially he was politically idle. He spent his time studying the situation of the country.
• He was deeply convinced that the only viable method of political struggle was satyagraha.
• During the course of 1917 and early 1918, he was involved in three significant struggles – in Champaran in Bihar, in Ahmedabad and in Kheda in Gujarat. The common feature of these struggles was that they related to specific local issues and that they were fought for the economic demands of the masses.
• Champaran Satyagraha (1917)
  • Peasantry on the indigo plantations in Champaran, Bihar was excessively oppressed by the Eurpoean planters.
  • On the invitation of the peasants he went to Champaran and began to conduct a detailed inquiry into the condition of the peasantry
  • The government was forced to set up a committee with Gandhi as one of the members. The sufferings of the peasants was reduced.
  • Others in this movement: Rajendra Prasad, Mazhar-ul-Haq, J B Kriplani, Narhari Parekh and Mahadev Desai.
• Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918)
  • Dispute between workers and mill owners
  • Gandhi advised workers to go on a non-violent strike. He himself took to fast
  • Owners yielded and gave a 35 percent increase in wages to the workers
• Kheda Satyagraha (1918)
  • Despite crop failure in Kheda the government insisted on full land revenue
  • Gandhi advised the peasants to withhold payment.
  • Govt issued instructions that revenue should be collected from only those farmers who could afford to pay
  • Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel played a major role in this satyagraha.
• Impact of these early experiences
  • Brought Gandhiji in close contact with the masses
  • He identified his life and manner of living with the life of the common people
• He had three main aims
  • Hindu-Muslim Unity
  • Fight against untouchability
  • Raising the social status of the women
• Gandhiji’s first major nation-wide protest was against the Rowlatt Bills in 1919. He formed the Satyagraha Sabha whose members took a pledge to disobey the Act and thus to court arrest and imprisonment.
• Satyagraha was launched. The form of protest finally decided was the observance of a nation-wide hartal accompanied by fasting and prayer.
• However, protests were generally accompanied by violence and disorder.
• In Punjab, the situation was particularly violent. Genral Dyer was called to control the situation. On 13 April, Baisakhi Day, General Dyer ordered to open fire on unarmed crowd in Jallianwala Bagh. The government estimate was 379 dead, other estimates were considerably higher.
• Gandhiji, overwhelmed by the total atmosphere of violence, withdrew the movement on 18 April.
• Difference between earlier methods of struggle and satyagraha
  • Earlier, the movement had confined its struggle to agitation. They used to hold meetings, demonstrate, boycott etc
  • Through Satyagraha they could act now.
  • The new movement relied increasingly on the political support of the peasants, artisans and urban poor.
  • Gandhiji increasingly turned the face of nationalism towards the common man
• Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
  • On April 13, 1919 a large crowd had gathered in Amritsar to protest against the arrest of their leaders, Dr. Saifudding Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal
  • General Dyer opened fire
  • Widespread criticism. Tagore returned his knighthood.