As you have seen, modern nationalism in Europe came to be associated with the formation of nation-states. It also meant a change in people’s understanding of who they were, and what defined their identity and sense of belonging. New symbols and icons, new songs and ideas forged new links and redefined the boundaries of communities. In most countries the making of this new national identity was a long process. How did this consciousness emerge in India?
In India and as in many other
colonies, the growth of modern nationalism is intimately connected to the
anti-colonial movement. People began discovering their unity in the process of
their struggle with colonialism. The sense of being oppressed under colonialism
provided a shared bond that tied many different groups together. But each class
and group felt the effects of colonialism differently, their experiences were
varied, and their notions of freedom were not always the same. The Congress
under Mahatma Gandhi tried to forge these groups together within one movement.
But the unity did not emerge without conflict.
In an earlier textbook you have
read about the growth of nationalism in India up to the first decade of the twentieth
century. In this chapter we will pick up the story from the 1920s and study the
Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience Movements. We will explore how the
Congress sought to develop the national movement, how different social groups
participated in the movement, and how nationalism captured the imagination of people.
In the years after 1919, we see the national movement spreading to new areas,
incorporating new social groups, and developing new modes of struggle. How do
we understand these developments? What implications did they have?
First of all, the war created a
new economic and political situation. It led to a huge increase in defense expenditure which was financed by war loans and increasing taxes: customs
duties were raised and income tax introduced. Through the war years’ prices
increased –doubling between 1913 and 1918 – leading to extreme hardship for the
common people. Villages were called upon to supply soldiers, and the forced
recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger. Then in 1918-19 and
1920-21, crops failed in many parts of India, resulting in acute shortages of food.
This was accompanied by an influenza epidemic. According to the census of 1921,
12 to 13 million people perished as a result of famines and the epidemic.
People hoped that their hardships would end after the war was over. But that
did not happen. At this stage a new leader appeared and suggested a new mode of
struggle.
