The Indian Independence Movement was a mass based movement that encompassed various sections of the society. It also underwent the process of constant evolution? Critically examine.
The Indian National Movement was indeed one of the biggest mass movement, modern society had ever seen. It took into its fold millions of people of different classes and ideologies, and galvanized them to a political action. The mighty British empire could not sustain the relentless pressure put by Indian mass movement and eventually yielded.
However, the Independence movement evolved over the years to gain strength and tenacity to challenge such a strong empire. It subsumed divergent ideologies and adopted different strategy during the course of its journey.
The movement started with short-lived but effective offensive of the revolt of 1857. The movement was comparatively disorganised, and the dominant motivating factor was anti-foreign sentiments. The grievances at local level, coupled with attack on the religious sentiments formed the background of this uprising.
The movement did wonders, but the ideology of nationalism had not yet taken shape properly. The uprising of 'Mundas' and 'Santhals' too was due to their economic exploitation, and not due to the nationalistic factors.
The rise of middle class intelligentsia, comprising the leaders like Dadabhai Nabroji, Feroz Shah Mehta, Gokhle, witnessed the period of political education. It spread awareness among the masses about discriminatory policies of the British.
The period also saw the emergence of nationalist leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chander Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, who represented the masses, and motivated them for `Swaray or self independence.
The formation of Indian National Congress (1885) was important event in this regard. It led to the trend of organised movements. The advent of Gandhi gave much needed boost to the relatively slow pace of the independence struggle. Mass movements at Champaran and Kheda brought the struggle at the ground level.
There was a massive'involvement of peasants and un-educated classes. Gandhiji introduced the ideals of non-violent `Satyagrah% The masses were advised to agitate peacefully without resorting to violence and destruction of government properties.
A mob set ablaze a police station. Gandhi did not approve of such actions, but the extremist groups which wanted independence quickly favoured such activities. Gandhi knew British were strong enough to crush such uprisings.Gandhiji resumed his movement taking into confidence all the sections of the society.
The caste barriers were broken, the women were allowed to participate in protests and demonstrations. The untouchables were brought into mass movement by Jyotiba Phule, Sri Narayan Guru and Ramaswamy Naicker. They received immense support from Gandhiji, who termed them `Harijans'.
He also utilised the independence movement to bring the much needed social reforms. The Muslims, who had been isolated ideologically so far, were taken into confidence by Mahatma Gandhi. There were some exceptional effort by few individuals like Subhash Chandra Bose, and sought Japanese help to liberate India.
In the end, the national movement, despite all the possible efforts by Gandhiji, could not insulate itself from the evils of 'Communalism', and from the goal of attainment of a 'Single unified State', the movement drifted to 'Two nation theory'. A position which ultimately led to the partition of India. However, India's struggles for independence will always be remembered for its achievements, which definitely superseded its drawbacks.