NON-COOPERATION 1920-1922: REGIONAL ASPECTS OF THE ALL INDIA MOBILIZATION Ph.D Thesis Submitted by: SAKINA ABBAS ZAIDI Under the Supervision of Dr. ROOHI ABIDA AHAMAD, Associate Professor Centre of Advance Study Department of History Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh(India) 2016 Acknowledgements I am immensely thankful to ‘Almighty Allah,’ and Ahlulbait (A.S), for the completion of my work in spirit and letter. It is a pleasant duty for me to acknowledge the kindness of all my teachers, friends, well-wishers and family with whose help and advice I was able to complete this work, as it is undeniable true that thesis writing involves other aiding you directly or indirectly. First and foremost, beholden to my supervisor, Dr. Roohi Abida Ahmed, for her encouragement, moral support, inspiring suggestions and excellent guidance. The help she extended to me was more than what I deserve. She always provided me with constructive and critical suggestions. I felt extraordinary fortunate with the attentiveness I was shown by her. I indeed consider myself immensely blessed in having someone so kind and supportive as my supervisor from whom I learnt a lot. A statement of thanks here falls very short for the gratitude I have for her mentorship. I gratefully acknowledge my debt to Professor Tariq Ahmed who helped a lot in picking up slips and lapses in the text and who has been a constant source of inspiration for me during the course of my study. I am thankful to Professor Ali Athar, Chairman and Coordinator, Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, AMU, Aligarh for being always receptive and supportive. I am gratefully indebted to Dr. Hasan Imam, Dr. Parvej Naazeer and Dr. Jibraeel for their interest and guidance in my work. I would also like to extend my thanks to my pre submission presentation examiner Dr. Sajjad for providing me an encouraging and constructive feedback. I am also thankful to Professor Ishrat Alam and Dr. Farhat Hasan who guided me during my course work. I owe my indebtness to the Staff of the Seminar Library, Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, AMU, Aligarh for their ardent and constant care to respond to my requisitions. I would also like to put on my record of thanks to the Staff of the following archives, museum and libraries for providing me access to the sources and secondary works concerning my thesis: National Archives of India (New Delhi), Nehru Memorial Mesum and Library (New Delhi), Library of ICHR (New Delhi), Maulana Azad Libraray (AMU), Seminar Library, Department of History (Allahabad University), Regional State Archives (Allahabad), U.P State Archives (Lucknow), Bihar State Archive (Patna), Rajasthan State Archive (Bikaner) for searching and providing me the valuable documents indispensible for the writing of the thesis. My thanks are also due to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), New Delhi, for having sanctioned me Junior Research Fellowship which made it possible to complete this work. I would also love to thank all my research fellows in the Department, and my dear friends for their endearing encouragement and for keeping my spirit high and anxiety at bay. I regret my inability to mention each one of them, by name, here. The list would indeed be far too long, but let me make you know that there is part of all of you in all the pages of this thesis. My family has been a constant source of inspiration who had remained patient with me, especially in the last year of my course, despite my poor behavior, sometimes due to research pressure, and occasional disappearance into academic woods. I am indebted to my Father Syed Ali Jawad Zaidi and Mother Shaheen Zaidi for their teachings of honesty and hard work which instilled ethical and moral values in me. This work would not have taken shape without the support and care of my in- laws Syed Mohd. Akbar, who left for the heavenly abode during the course of my research now his blessings continued to quell all the obstacles, and Mrs. Kaneez Kubra, who has always been a pillar of strength for me to do the work sincerely. I extended my special thanks to my husband Mr. Zakir Hussain, it is indeed his inspiration, moral and emotional support and blessings that gave me the strength and determination to complete this work. I am also indebted to my daughters, Maria Hussain and Insia Hussain who adjusted themselves to my busy schedule. SAKINA ABBAS ZAIDI ROOHI ABIDA AHMAD Dated: 23rd August, 2016 Associate Professor Certificate This is to certify that the thesis entitle “Non- Cooperation 1920-1922: Regional Aspects of the All India Mobilization” is the original work of Ms. Sakina Abbas Zaidi completed under my supervision. The thesis is suitable for submission for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. (Dr. Roohi Abida Ahmed) Supervisor Telephone: (0571) 2703146; Fax No. (0571) 2703146, Internal: 1480 and1481 Abstract ABSTRACT It was in the 1920‟s that India witnessed the dawn of the Non-Cooperation Movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. In his ‘Young India,’ under the title „Swaraj In One Year,‟ Gandhiji, suggested to wage a struggle against the mighty British Empire based on discipline and self-sacrifice. Mr. Gandhi was of the opinion that the British were totally relied o India‟s man power to overcome their imperialist greed, and if the Indians refused to supply them with men and money, they will be able to achieve the goal of „Swaraj.’ Gandhiji with his policy of Non-Cooperation Movement tried to insist that, and believed that India can achieve her destiny by pure self-sacrifice, i.e self-purification. In 1915, the presence of Mahatma Gandhi on the political horizon had created a drastic impact in the political arena. The political parties active in those years were working mainly within the constitutional framework along with the elite classes, trying their level best to achieve freedom, but all their efforts were in vain. Soon Mahatma Gandhi appears on the political picture and laid emphasis to gain freedom through the non-violence means for which he approached the masses taking up their causes and grievances, explain their rights and to fight for justice through non-violent means. Therefore, he gathered masses by fully mixing with them, inhabiting with them with their social values, their social sufferings, etiquettes and manners. This was happened for the first time that the Movement was not limited to the certain area or group of persons but penetrated deep in the localities and the different sections of the people irrespective of their caste, creed or religion. It had taken up the issues of the comman people living in the interiors of the country and was strict to its rule of non-violent struggle. It was proved to be a great threat to the mighty British Empire. The First World War, totally wreck the backbone of the country. The breach of the promises by the British Government completely upset the Indians. The passage of the Rowlatt Bills, the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy, the unsatisfactory Government of India Act 1919, the Khilafat issues all paved the way for the struggle on a broader scale. This was the time when the masses were involved in the war against the injustice. The uniqueness of the movement took up by Mahatma Gandhi was that, it was started up on a broader issues to fight for the national cause but it involved the regional issues within its domain. The leaders were unaware of the situations and the distress of the people who were the real sufferers. It was made possible only because of the leaders who were working 1 Abstract on the grass root level that the issues of the common people came to the forefront. It was but only possible with the efforts of the Nationalist leaders that it was not limited to the regions only but also gained the national character. Taking into account the region of United Provinces, the movement had the drastic effect on the region. The peasants of this region were the real sufferers and they had already started the struggle against the zamindars and the taluqadars, who exploit them their level best. While touring throughout India, Gandhiji realized that they lacked the organizational skills. He laid much emphasis on non-violent struggle, Hindu-Muslim Unity to bring the entire nation on a comman platform. The Movement was popularized with great zeal and gusto by the nationalist leaders in the remotest area of the country. It had greatly affected the grass root struggles which amalgamated with the national struggle. The peasants uprising came into being because of their unorganized forms and because they were closely related with the Congress. It was for the first time that the organization had expanded its base and every strata of the society joined the struggle. The Kisan Sabhas and the Kisan Movement were gathering storms since 1918, and their morale was boost up by the Congress workers particularly by Jawaharlal Nehru and it really became difficult to distinguish between the Non-Cooperation meetings and the Kisan Sabha meetings. The other area which was affected the region of United Provinces was Aligarh, where the students were deeply concerned with the political developments of the times. The Khilafat issue had adversely affected the Muslim University. This was, the time when the relations between the Congress, the Muslim League and the Khilafat Committees were improving which became a great threat to the British Government. With the result, they had implemented the AMU Act, which finally came into existence on 1stDecember, 1920. Moving ahead in the region of Punjab, the issues were totally religious in nature.