Civil Disobedience Movement
M.K. Gandhi formally launched the Civil Disobedience Movement on April 6 , 1930 by picking a handful of salt after the completion of historic ' Dandi March ' from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi , thus breaking the salt law imposed by the Government .
He was the major force behind the movement and inspired grass - root participation in the freedom struggle .
C. Rajagopalachari led a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore coast in Tamil Nadu , in support of the Civil Disobedience Movement . He was arrested on April 30 , 1930.
K. Kelappan , a Nair Congress leader , launched the Vaikom Satyagraha and marched from Calicut to Payanneer in defiance of salt laws .
Jawaharlal Nehru was actively involved in the movement and was arrested on April 17 , 1930 for defiance of the salt law . He formulated a radical agrarian programme and suggested formation of the Constituent Assembly as the prime political slogan .
P. Krishna Pillai defended the national flag and resisted lathicharge on the Calicut beach on November 11 , 1930. He later founded the Kerala Communist Movement .
Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan formed a clan of non - violent revolutionaries , the Khudai Khidmatgars ( known as Red Shirts ) , who played an active role in the movement .
Sarojini Naidu , the first Indian woman to become the president of the Congress , was involved in a march towards the Dharsana Salt Works , a government salt depot . Other leaders who participated in this total non - violent affair were Imam Saheb , Gandhi's comrade of the South African struggle , and Manilal , Gandhi's son .
Surya Sen's Chittagong Revolt Group carried out a raid on two armouries and declared the establishment of a provisional government . He issued a manifesto in the name of Indian Republican Army and called on the Indians to revolt against the British rule .
Abbas Tayabji , a leader of the nationalist Muslims in Bombay , took the place of Gandhi in the movement after the latter's arrest . However , he too was arrested by the Government .
Ambalal Sarabhai and Kasturbhai Lakhai gave their cooperation to Motilal Nehru in removing the barriers between the Congress and the Bombay mill - owners and industrialists .
Industrialists such as G.D. Birla ( who donated from one to five lakh rupees ) , Jamnalal Bajaj ( who served as the AICC treasurer for several years and represented Gandhian leadership in Bombay ) , Homi Modi , Walchand Hirachand , Lalji Naranji , Purushottamdas Thakurdas , Lala Sri Ram etc. , supported the movement in its first phase . Homi Modi , in his presidential speech to Bombay Mill - owners ' Association in March 1931 said that though the Swadeshi Movement had helped the Indian industry , frequent strikes had dislocated trade and industry .
Naranji and Thakurdas , who had remained indifferent to the nationalist struggle in 1921 , demanded Indian control over finance , currency , fiscal policy and railways . However , from September 1930 , there was a sharp decline in support from the industrialists and traders ; with the prominent businessmen having differences of opinion with the Congress .
Chandraprabha Saikiani instigated the aboriginal Kachari villagers in Assam to break forest laws .
Subhash Bose and J.M. Sengupta led the faction group in Bengal Congress and set up rival organisations to conduct civil disobedience . Bose criticised Gandhi , when the latter suspended the movement in May 1933. He was supported by Vithalbhai Patel .
Bonga Majhi and Somra Majhi led the movement in Hazaribagh along the sanskritising lines with the Congress . Kalka Prasad , a local leader in Rai Bareilly , promoted the no - rent campaign .
Santi and Suniti Chaudhari assassinated the district magistrate of Tippera , Stevens . Their action marked the entry of women in the revolutionary movement .
Seth Achal Singh , a nationalist landlord , financed the Gram Seva Sangh in Agra and remained indifferent to riots in the area , while strictly following the policy of non - violence .
Sheikh Abdullah , a Muslim graduate , started an agitation and attacked the Srinagar jail on July 31 , 1931 where 21 persons were killed in police firing . He also developed close contacts with a group of anti - autocratic Jammu Hindus led by P.N. Bazaz .
Mohammed Yasin Khan , a Muslim leader in Punjab , organised the Meos ( semi - tribal peasant community with leanings towards Islam ) to protest against Maharaja Jaisingh Sawai's hike in revenue , begar , and reservation of forests for the purpose of hunting .
K.M. Ashraf , who became India's first Marxist historian , was associated with the movement .
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya , who was an upholder of Gandhian policies since 1920's , began to drift away with the launch of Harijan campaign by Gandhi . He started a breakaway Congress Nationalist Party .
Satyamurthy , Bhulabhai Desai , M.A. Ansari and B.C. Roy demanded a return to electoral politics by way of a revived Swarajya Party .
Jayaprakash Narayan , Achhut Patwardhan , Yusuf Mehrali , Ashok Mehta and Minoo Masani wanted the Congress to have affinity with left - wing .
Sampurnanand formulated A Tentative Socialist Programme ' for India and a Congress Socialist Party was started in 1934 , which was supported by Narendra Dev .
Hor K.F. Nariman and Yusuf Meher Ali led the Congress youth wing and later emerged as socialist leaders .
Swami Govindanand led the movement in Karachi and Sindh . N.V. Gadgil with his socialist leanings lent support to a temple entry movement in 1929 and established friendly ties with the non brahmin Satyashodhak Samaj ( represented by Keshavrao Jedhe of Poona ) .
B.R. Ambedkar , who was the leader of the untouchable Mahars , attended the Round Table Conference in 1930. However , the Congress failed to win over the political agitation of the Mahars .
Gopabandhu Chaudhuri popularised the movement in Orissa and led the salt satyagraha in the coastal areas of Balasore , Cuttack and Puri districts .
Tarunaram Phookan and N.C. Bardoloi , two prominent Congress leaders , were against the movement in Assam . They refused to take up forest satyagraha officially .
Jadunandan Sharma activated the Kisan Sabha Movement in Gaya district of Bihar .
Duggirala Balaramakrishnaya of the Krishna district initiated a no - revenue campaign in 1931 in coastal Andhra . He also wrote a Telugu ballad Gandhi Gita which aroused patriotic sentiments .
N.V. Rama Naidu and N.C. Ranga organised a forest satyagraha in Venkatagiri estate in Nellore in 1931 .
A.K. Gopalan , a school teacher , was a popular activist at Guruvayoor in Kerala and later became Kerala's most popular communist peasant leader .
Mannu Gond and Chaitu Koiku offered forest satyagraha in Betul in Central Provinces .
Maulana Bhasani , organised a large praja sammelan at Sirajgunj and demanded abolition of zamindari and reduction in debts .
B.T. Ranadeve and S.V. Deshpande in Bombay and Abdul Halim , Somnath Lahiri and Ranen Sen in Calcutta were the young communist militants who organised several labour strikes . V.B. Karnik , Maniben Kara , Rajani Mukherji and Niharendu Dutta were other leaders who started trade union activities .
M.N. Roy and his followers popularised socialist ideas in the villages and a no - tax campaign was started in Awadh .
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