CHAPTER ONE
Non-Cooperation Movement in Bihar, 1920-22: An Overview
In September 1920, the Indian National Congress launched a strong
political campaign against the British administration of India. Under the
direction of Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress denounced as inadequate the
British constitutional concessions granted
under the Montague-Chelmsford
Reforms, and demanded that India be given swaraj or self rule. The Congress
decided to force Britain to grant freedom to India by mobilizing Indians to
refuse to cooperate , with the alien rule. Gandhi believed that British rule
depended on the active collaboration of some Indians and the acquiescence of
the rest, and, if Indian cooperation ceased, the British Empire would collapse.
The programme of Non-Cooperation was designed to ensure this collapse
through the boycott of forthcoming elections to the provincial and central
legislatures, the gradual boycott of government schools, colleges and courts,
abandonment of titles, resignation of honorary offices, giving up of government
jobs, and the boycott of foreign goods. Later, the programme also called for the
boycott of liquor. The movement was to culminate in active civil disobedience:
the refusal to pay cesses, taxes and land revenue and complete NonCooperation with the authorities in order to paralyze the administration. 1
In this chapter, an attempt has been made to present an overview of the
Non-Cooperation Movement in Bihar in its different phases. The chapter will
B.N.Pande, (General Editor), A Centenary History of the Indian National Congress, 3 Vols.,
New Delhi, 1985; B.Pattabhi Sitaramayya, The History of the Indian National Congress
(1885-1935), Madras, 1935; Bisheshwar Prasad, Changing Modes of Indian National
Movement, New Delhi, 1966.
also have a look at the various issues - national and local - taken up by the
movement as it intensified. The impact of the movement in different areas and
the government's response to the movement is also critically assessed.
In Bihar,. the pressure for the launching of Non-Cooperation Movement
had been building up much before it was officially decided by the Indian
National Congress at the Nagpur session in December 1920. The BPCC
approved of the pr_inciple of Non-Cooperation for the redressal of national
wrongs and decided to support the Khilafat Movement at its meeting held on
the 31 July 1920 in the Searchlight (a local newspaper of Bihar) office in
Patna. 2 Many senior members of the BPCC such as Sachidanand Sinha and
Syed Hasan Imam, who were strong believers in the constitutional methods of
struggle, opposed the resolution expressing their strong doubt and apprehension
about the strategy oflaunching such a movement. The resolution could only be
passed with the support of students and other members and that too only when
these senior members withdrew from the meeting in "disgust". 3
This resolution was again taken up in the last week of August 1920 at a
Provincial Political Conference meeting held at Bhagalpur. 4 Rajendra Prasad,
who presided over this Conference, strongly pleaded for the approval of the
Non-Cooperation Movement. In this Conference too, some of the senior leaders
opposed the resolution. Despite their opposition, the resolution on NonCooperation Movement was passed. For the first time, delegates other th~m
those from professional classes attended this Conference. It is important to note
Searchlight, 4 August 1920.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half of August 1920, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political) File no. 111/1920, NAI; AICC Papers, File no. 1920, Part II.
Searchlight, 3 September 1920.
45
that a large number of peasants participated and it was their support that was
crucial for the passing of the Non-Cooperation resolution. 5 The peasants, who
had been agitating against zamindars in some areas under the leadership of
Swami Vidyanand, got associated with the Congress for some time. They
participated in large numbers in meetings of the Congress as they looked upon it
as a viable platform for the redressal of their own grievances. The peasant leader
Swami Vidyanand was a strong supporter of the Non-Cooperation Movement
and had already begun touring the province preaching Non-Cooperation. 6
A committee, comprising of Rajendra Prasad, Mazharul Haq and Shah
Muhammad Zubair, was also formed to formulate a practicable scheme, suited
to the conditions of this province, to give effect to the principle of NonCooperation7 •
At the special session of the Congress held in Calcutta, in September
1920, Non-Cooperation was carried by 1885 votes against 873. The delegates
from Bihar supported the resolution on Non-Cooperation. The peasants'
support was again significant for the resolution on Non-Cooperation. 8 Even
before the Congress met at Nagpur to ratify the resolution on Non-Cooperation,
local leaders in Bihar had already started touring different parts of the province,
holding meetings to advocate Non-Cooperation. 9 Thus, a strong pressure was
6
Ibid.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the second half of September 1920, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political) File no. 84/1920, NAI.
Searchlight, 15 October 1920.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 143/1920, "Copy of a special Branch Officer's
Report dated I 0 September 1920"; Judith Brown, Gandhi's Rise to Power: Indian Politics
1915-1922, London, 1972, p. 260.
9
K.K.Datta, History of the Freedom Movement in Bihar, pp. 306-309; Searchlight of October
and November 1920.
46
building up in Bihar for the approval of Non-Cooperation Movement much
before the passing of the official resolution at Nagpur. This pressure from
outside the professional classes came primarily from students and peasants. The
base of the Congress· began to expand beyond the educated sections. As the
movement spread, the base would further expand.
Election Boycott
The boycott of Council elections to be held in December 1920 was an
important aspect of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Even before the
resolution on Non-Cooperation was ratified by the Congress at Nagpur, the
nationalist leaders were faced with the forthcoming elections to be held under
the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms. The BPCC asked all the candidates
standing for the election to withdraw their names. It also gave a call to the
electorate to boycott the elections by refraining from voting. 10 Rajendra Prasad
and many other leaders toured different parts of the province holding meetings
to build up the election-boycott campaign.'' College and school students were
also mobilized and bands of volunteers were organized from amongst them to
help in the campaign. In Monghyr, two batches of volunteers, one consisting of
Hindus and the other of Muslims, with captains and lieutenants duly appointed,
were formed. 12 The non-cooperators distributed printed forms to collect
signatures from the electorate pledging themselves to abstain from voting. 13
10
II
12
13
Rajendra Prasad, Autobiography, Bombay, 1957, p. 120.
Ibid.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no.346/1920, "Copy of a Special Branch Officer's
report dated the 28 January, 1921".
Ibid
47
The non-cooperators succeeded to a great extent in dissuading the voters
from voting. 14 Only 27.3 percent of the Hindu and 12 percent of the Muslim
electorates in the urban areas cast their votes. In comparison to urban areas, the
percent of votes in rural areas was much higher. 41.8 percent of the Hindu and
28.3 percent of the Muslim electorate voted in rural areas. 15 The extent of the
Non-Cooperation campaign at that time is evident from the voting pattern. The
Non-Cooperation campaign was initially active in the urban areas and had not
yet picked up in the rural areas. 16 The campaign was very intensive in the Tirhut
Division where the tum out of electors was the lowest with only 13 percent of
them casting their votes. Tirhut Division also had a strong tradition of agrarian
protest. In Chotanagpur, where the Non-Cooperation campaign had not yet
started, the tum out of electors was highest. 17
The non-cooperators did not meet with the same kind of success in
dissuading candidates from withdrawing their nominations. A large number of
candidates filed their nominations from all the constituencies, despite the
Congress conveying to the people that it did not want representatives either in
the Provincial or Imperial Legislative Assembly or in the Council of State. The
Congress also strongly conveyed to the candidates that if they got elected, the
Congress would not consider them to be their representatives. 18 The limited
14
IS
16
17
18
Searchlight, 10; 12, 17 December 1920.
Fortnightly Reports of Bihar and Orissa for February 1921, Govt. of India, Home
Department (Political) File nos. 35/Feb/1921 and 77/Feb/1921.
Searchlight, 19 December 1920.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the second half December 1920, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political) File no. 77 /I 921, NAI.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half of October 1920, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 59/1920, NAI; Rajendra Prasad, Autobiography, p. 120.
48
success of the Congress on this front was recognized by Rajendra Prasad and
other leaders of the Congress. 19
The failure of the Congress to successfully dissuade candidates from
contesting can be partially explained by looking at the social base of the
candidates. Most of the candidates in the election came from bigger landlord
background, who maintained close links with the government and were
oppqsed to the movement. The returning officer classified most of the
candidates as moderates, some of them as zamindars and a large number as
having no politics at all. 20
However, in this election Swami Vidyanand and some other peasant
leaders stood for election from Bhagalpur and north Darbhanga districts,
despite their own claim to be strong supporters of Gandhi. They believed that
their entrance to the Provincial Council would help the peasants' cause. 21 The
election in these areas mainly revolved around the question of the landlordtenant relationship and brought into focus some of the issues over which the
peasants had been fighting. 22 All the four peasant candidates succeeded in
winning the election. The success of the peasant candidates in this election was
very significant because until then zamindars had wielded their monopoly in
the Council. These candidates succeeded in winning the election because they
had built up a strong base amongst the peasants. They had been taking up
19
20
21
22
Ibid, pp. 120-121.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half of November 1920, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political) File no. 74/1920, NAI.
Stephen Henningham, Peasat Movements in Colonial India, p. 40.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 375/1920, "Note on the effect of Non-Cooperation
propaganda in rural areas".
49
peasants' gnevances and fighting for their cause against the zamindars. 23
Besides, many people m rural areas were till then not familiar with the
Congress as the Congress campaign had not yet gained much visibility in rural
areas. 24 There was a strong rift between the Congress and these peasant
candidates because of the latter not following the Congress call for electionboycott, and Gandhi even disclaimed these peasant leaders. But what is
significant is that these peasant candidates, despite the Congress_ disassociation
from them, proclaimed themselves disciples of Gandhi and strong advocates of
the Non-Cooperation Movement. 25
The election-boycott campaign broke the political lull to some extent.
Many districts, where the non-cooperators were active in organizing political
meetings, could successfully stir the popular feelings against the British rule
and create a wider social base for political movements in the immediate future.
This election was held under the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms that had
widened the base of the rural electorate. Landholding peasantry were brought
into the fold of the rural electorate. The campaign against the election was
primarily taken up amongst them.
Gandhi's Visit: Stimulus to the Movement
Even though the election boycott had initiated the Non-Cooperation
campaign and local nationalist leaders had already started touring different parts
of the province preaching Non-Cooperation, the movement initially made very
23
24
25
Ibid.
Ibid.
Arvind N. Das, "Peasants and Peasant Organisations: The Kisan Sabha in Bihar", in Arvind
N. Das (ed.), Agrarian Movements in India: Studies on 2oth Century Bihar, p. 53.
50
limited progress in Bihar. 26 As far as the programme of boycott of courts by the
lawyers was concerned, very few lawyers resigned to join the movement. 27 Very
few people even surrendered their titles. The boycott of foreign goods, swadeshi
and raising of volunteers made modest gains. The leaders pinned their hopes on
Gandhi's visit to Bihar in December 1920 to generate enthusiasm amongst the
people for the movement. 28 Gandhi's visit did create considerable excitement
amongst the people. In the wake of his visit, a number of meetings, which were
largely attended, were· held in different places. The government got worried by
this large attendance and warned the nationalists that if such "objectionable
meetings" continued even after Gandhi left Bihar, it would be forced to extend
the Seditious Meeting Act to certain areas? 9
Gandhi was accompanied by Maulana Shaukat Ali and Maulana Abul
\
Kalam Azad. 30 Besides addressing many public meetings, Gandhi also met a
large number of students in special gatherings. 31 In his programme of triple
b.oycott - boycott of foreign goods, boycott of law courts and boycott of
government controlled colleges and schools - he was now laying maximum
emphasis on the last. 32 His visit gave stimulus to the establishment of many
national schools. Many government schools repudiated their affiliation to the
University, which was under government control, and became national. These
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
Fortnightly Reports of Bihar and Orissa of October and November 1920, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political), File nos. 59/1920, 6611920, 74/1920 and 33/l920, NAI.
The various boycotts in Bihar has been discussed in detail in the next chapter.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the second half of November 1920, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political) File no. 33/1920, NAI.
Searchlight, 8 December 1920.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa of the first half of December 1920, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 35/1921, NAI.
Searchlight, 10, 15, 17, 19 December 1920.
Ibid, 10, 15, 17, 19 December 1920.
51
schools refused to accept grants-in-aid from the government. 33 It was Gandhi's
visit to Bhagalpur that had launched the anti-liquor movement in that district
and in the Santhal Pargana sub-division. 34
Thus, Gandhi's visit to Bihar generated enthusiasm and expectations
amongst the people and proved valuable for the movement. It served to
stimulate the Congress workers and kindled new hopes among the urban
intelligentsia. Gandhi was emerging as an important phenomenon. The aura of .
divinity surrounding him also helped in the mobilization process. A large
number of rumours were also getting associated with him. The development of
the movement, as discussed in the later sections of this chapter and subsequent
chapters, would indicate how Gandhi had been emerging as an alternative
centre of power. The following report of the District Officer of Madhubani subdivision, which vividly highlights the impact of Gandhi's visit to Madhubani in
Darbhanga. a district which was to later emerge as one of the strong centres of
the Non-Cooperation Movement, in December 1920 throws light on some of
these aspects:
The people of this subdivision were not at the outset so zealous over
the movement and did not take a leading part in it. In spite of the
ceaseless preachings and exortations of two of the prominent leaders
of Darbhanga Bar viz: Babu Brajakishore Prasad and Babu
Dharnidhar, who were most active workers in the movement. These
two persons toured all round the Division to enlist men. They
established a branch at Madhubani and put it in charge of a man of
Patna, named Dhanraj Sharma. They could not find a single. man to
undertake charge of the office. Their attempts to persuade the
lawyers to give up practice proved to be a signal failure. There was a
perfect lull for some time and elections passed off successfully.
Soon after came in Mr.Gandhi at Darbhanga where he delivered a
33
34
Ibid, 8 December 1920; Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half December
1920, Govt. of India, Home Department (Political) File no. 35/1921, NAI.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half of December 1921, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 35/Feb/1921, NAI.
52
Non-Cooperation speech. At that time, rumours were set afloat that
Mr. Gandhi was not an ordinary human being. They all depicted
him as an avtar, a superhuman being deputed by the almighty to
relieve the sufferings of mankind. By a strange coincidence of
circumstances, it so happened that his visit was followed by a
reduction in the prices of cotton, sugar, salt and other articles of
daily consumption. The illiterate masses were made to believe that
the fall in prices was due to the influence of Mr. Gandhi. This
incident infused a new spirit among the Gandhi-ites. They organised
a band of volunteers, who began to roam all round with printed
leaflets singing songs in praise of Mr. Gandhi as a divine being,
, exhorting people in the name of Gandhi to wear khaddar and to
disassociate themselves from government institutions. 35
Movement picks up late in Rural Areas
Till December 1920, the movement had not made much impact in rural
areas. 36 Only certain villages, which lay in the northern belt of Champaran,
Bhagalpur and Monghyr districts, were affected by the Congress propaganda.
These were the areas with strong traditions of anti-planter and agrarian protest.
Non-cooperators were also active in these areas. Many local leaders emerged in
these areas who played an important role in the Non-Cooperation campaign.
Despite such campaign, the District Officer of Champaran reported that in the
villages of north Champaran a distinct sign of hostility against the government
had not built up till December 1920. But the officer simultaneously expressed
concern over the development of an independent attitude amongst the villagers.
He found that in these villages swaraj was openly talked about. People began
saying that as swaraj was coming, the lesser connection people had with the
government, the better it was for them. In one place at Champaran, the villagers
JS
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 43411922, "Small note to Chief Secretary of my
experience of the movement when posted as S.D.O Gopalganj, 15 August 1920".
36
Ibid, File no. 375/1920, "Note on the effects of Non-Cooperation propaganda in rural areasD.I.G., 20.12.20". This para and the following three paras are based on this source.
53
expressed their hostility against the British by wiping off census numbers of
many of the houses.
In some villages of north Champaran like Shikarpur,
Harinagar and Rarnnagar committees comprising of 16 men, who called
themselves "raiyat volunteers", were formed. These volunteers settled disputes
amongst the villagers and also played an important role in the spread of the
Non-Cooperation Movement. In north Bhagalpur, Swami Vidyanand was very
active. The villages of Patna district had been least affected by the movement.
But sometimes in these villages too, Non-Cooperation propaganda made some
impact. In Hilsa, after one Non-Cooperation meeting, Kurmis and Koeris of
Karai Parsurai and adjoining villages of Diawan decided to boycott foreign
cloth and start growing cotton. In Chotanagpur, the movement had not made
any inroad. The Non-Cooperation campaign had not yet been taken up in this
belt.
Thus, on the whole, the movement had not yet made much impact in
rural areas. Only those agitators, like Swami Vidyanand, who were the leaders
of peasant agitation, succeeded in building a base among the people. Swami
Vidyanand while campaigning for the Non-Cooperation Movement linked up
peasant issues with it. The Congress leaders had yet to build up their base as the
Congress was still a new force in rural areas.
The government asked its different district officers to find out how far
the Non-Cooperation Movement had succeeded in making a dent in rural areas.
The general impression that officers gave was that the Non-Cooperation
propaganda had not yet succeeded in "engendering any feeling of hostility or
bitterness against the government"; but officers simultaneously expressed
54
anxiety that continuation of anti-government propaganda in the rural areas was
leading to a certain amount of "uneasiness, doubt, insecurity and loss of
confidence amongst the people as it was difficult for ignorant villagers to
follow the change in the government policy which allowed people of no
consequence to rave against and abuse the highest officials of government."
The officers apprehended that "such propaganda, coupled with the prevailing
high prices for which the government would be blamed by the non-cooperators,
would stir up feelings of hostility against the government and prepare the way
for Gandhi's propaganda of Non-Cooperation as being the best means of
attaining swaraj, when, it was claimed, all difficulties would be removed".
The First Phase of the Movement: Its Spread in Different Districts
By January 1921, the movement began to register considerable success
m both urban and rural areas. In addition to gaining support among the
professionals, students and the urban poor in the towns, the movement rallied
support among a broad spectrum of society in many parts of the countryside.
The boycott of educational institutions made some progress but the call to
withdraw from government schools received greater response once alternative
national educational institutions were set up. The other programmes of the
Congress, that is, the call for the surrendering of titles and resignation from
honorary positions and posts of lawyers, teachers and government servants got
only a meagre response. The boycott of government courts met with greater
success. Panchayats were formed in a number of places. 37 One programme that
37
Fortnightly Reports of Bihar and Orissa for January 1921, Home Department (Political) File
Nos. 41/1921 and 42/1921; Bihar and Orissa Annual Administration Report, 1921, pp. 147148.
55
acquired great popularity, even though it was not a part of the original
programme of the Congress, was the anti-liquor movement. By January .1921, it
was in full swing in most districts throughout the province. 38 Unrest also began
to be manifested amongst the lower rungs of the police force. They threatened
to go on strike unless their pay was increased. 39
Nationalist leaders undertook extensive tours of the province. A large
number of meetings were held which were largely attended
40
Betw(;!en 25
January and 5 February 1921 no less than 56 meetings were held in
Muzaffarpur district alone. 41 Many a times these meetings were held at haats,
bazaars and fairs where large number of people gathered for business. 42 Most
often before the meetings prayers were offered in different temples and
mosques. Meetings were often held at river banks, temples and madrasas. These
places had sacred significance and provided sanctity to the meetings. 43 In
Chapra, even a festival like Chhath, where a large number of women gathered
at the pond to offer prayers to the Sun god, was used by local leaders like Rahul
Sankrityayan and Nagnarayan to spread the message of Non-Cooperation. 44 In
the nights, meetings of women were held. 45 Traditional elements associated
with nationalist meetings served to add to the enthusiasm. Biguls in earlier
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
4\
Ibid.
Searchlight, 20 February, 11 March 1921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no.
I 0211921, "Note by DIG showing the extent to which unrest among the police has been kept
up by non-cooperators".
Searchlight, January and February 1921.
Bhartiya Rashtriya Congress Ka ltihas, (District Muzaffarpur, Bihar), Congress Shatabdi
Samaroh Samiti, Muzaffarpur, 1985, pp. 22-23; K.K.Datta, History of the Freedom Movement
in Bihar. p. 329.
.
Searchlight, 23 November 1921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 153/1921.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File nos. 50/1921, 15311921; Searchlight of January 1921.
Kamala Sankrityayan, (ed.), Rahul Vanmay, Jeevan Yatra, Vol. I, N.De1hi, 1994, pp. 259-260.
Ibid.
56
times, signals of war, were sounded to indicate the place of a meeting. Drums
were used more widely for publicizing nationalist news of all kinds. Leaders
often addressed these meetings in local dialect. Meetings began mostly with the
singing of national songs. Alas and dolas, bhajans and ghazals, all traditional
forms of vocal music, became an integral part of public meetings. Through
these songs, they tried to explain the adverse impact of foreign rule on India. 46
The impact of the Bri!ish rule was most often illustrated on the lantern slides.
British rule was showh as impoverishing the country and leading to a huge
drain of wealth. 47 The following song, "Firangia", which became very popular
and sung in most meetings, highlighted this drain of wealth:
The land of Bharat was good and fair but now, o Firanghees, it has
become a cremation ground. Food-grain, wealth, men, strength,
and wisdom have all been destroyed and there is no trace left of
any of them, 0 Firangia. At that very place where lacs of maunds
of com and paddy used to be produced the farmers, resting their
hands against their head, are weeping bitter tears, 0 Fimagia. Due
to what sin of yours, 0 God, have we been reduced to such a
condition? Seven hundred lacs of men starve both morning and
evening and famine always occurs, 0 Firangia. And whatever
remains you put into the ship and take across the seas, 0 Firangia.
What is the way of the world that while people starve at home,
wheat is taken to foreign countries, 0 Firangia. In land where
people lived in satisfaction and were exceedingly rich, cast your
eyes anywhere you will find men exceedingly poor, 0 Firangia. No
trade and commerce has survived; all have been destroyed. Even
for trifles alas: 0 Firangia, we have to look up to the foreigners.
We keep on honour by wearing cloth, only when it comes from
foreign countries, and, 0 Firangia, if cloth supply from outside is
stopped we will go naked. 0 Firangia you take cotton from us at
cheap rates which you weave into cloth and sell to us. In this and
similar ways you rob the wealth of India and take it to foreign
countries. Forty crores of rupees of India goes to others every year,
0 Firangia. Wealth, strength, wisdom and learning are all gone and
we have become extremely poor. Though the country has become
poor in every way, you have increased the burden of taxes, 0
46
47
This comes out from the various meetings addressed by non-cooperators. To give one
example, Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 44/1921.
Ibid, File no. 286/1923.
57
Firangia. There is tax on salt, tax on cooly and there is tax imposed
upon every thing, 0 Firangia. 48
The nationalists in the meetings often referred to the country as mother
and said how under the British rule mother had to undergo different kinds of
torture. 49 British rule was said to be based on falsehood, treachery and evil
passions. "Devil, demon, oppressive, dishonest, shameless, destructive and
unjust" were some of the common epithets frequently used by the nationalists
for the British. 50 The nationalists in the propaganda not only highlighted the
adverse impact of British rule on Indian economy but also highlighted its
adverse impact on Indian society. They said that India, which had a glorious
civilisation, under the impact of British rule was becoming devoid of its
spirituality, individuality, manliness and strength. They said that under British
rule Hindu and Muslim religion had come under threat.
So the nationalist
struggle was projected by the nationalists as not only a political battle but also
an encounter for the saviour oflndia's glorious civilisation. It was a call to save
the religion, honour and the spirituality of the nation. 51 Joining the agitation
was sharing a religious mission. It was a "deshpuja". Country was elevated to
the status of a mother god, demanding highest sacrifice from all. Over and over
again speakers at the public meetings stressed that dharma was involved in the
struggles to redress the Punjab and Khilafat wrongs and to bring an end to
colonial rule. The nationalists said that on one side were gods and the other
48
49
50
5I
Bihar Special Branch, 132L/1921, Proscribed song "Firangia", CID Record Room, Patna.
Ibid, 132L/1921, Proscribed Song" Sri Gandhi Updesh Bhajanwali", CID Record Room,
Patna.
Ibid, 163L/1921, Proscribed songs, "Gandhi Suyash Gazal" and" Swaraj Ke Faede", CID
Record Room, Patna.
Ibid, 132L/1921, Proscribed Song, "Sri Gandhi Updesh Bhajanwali", CID Record Room,
Patna.
58
demons and devils. 52 The nationalists often drew metaphor from mythologies,
particularly from the great Hindu epics Ramayan and Mahabharata. British
government was defined as a modern Ravana while terming non-cooperators as
avtars of Ram. The nationalist struggle was also paralleled as a war between
Kauravas and Pandavas, the two arch opponents of the Mahabharata, implicitly
associating the British with the former and the nationalists with the iater. 53
Mythological me~aphor contributed to drawing the lines between right and
wrong in contemporary struggle in particularly stark terms. They provided
those ready to make sacrifices for the nation with a sense of involvement in a
privileged and sacred moment on a historical scale that reached back into
mythological time. These kinds of arguments also attempted to eliminate the
possibility of aloofness from the Congress cause. Such propaganda, thus, had a
strong impact.
By January 1921, the movement made deep inroads in Tirhut Division 54
and in the northern belt of Bhagalpur and Monghyr districts. 55 In Tirhut
Division, the movement drew strength from a whole network of organizations.
Sabhas and seva samitis were set up in many places in Champaran,
Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga districts. 56 The sabhas were also known as peasant
sabhas because most of the members of these sabhas in the villages were
peasants. These sabhas indicate the spread of the movement amongst the
peasants. The village was the unit of the sabha, and the panch was appointed
52
53
54
55
56
Ibid, 169L/1921 and 155L/1921, Proscribed song "Dharma KiTer" CID Record Room, Patna.
Ibid.
Govt. of India, Home Department (Political) File no. 49/1921.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 400/1921.
Searchlight, 4 February 1921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 1211921. The rest of
the para is based on Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 1211921.
59
from amongst the sabhas. In some parts of the Tirhut Division, circles
consisting of a number of villages were formed, with Head Panches and
Treasurers. These organizations played a significant role in the spread of the
movement in the villages. The sabhas organized weekly meetings to discuss
Non-Cooperation, to settle disputes amongst the villagers and to collect funds.
There were panchayats to assist these sabhas. Any dispute among villagers
over land, loans and grazing was settled by these panchayats. The panchayats .
frequently resorted to social boycott to enforce their order. The sabhas were
also assisted in their functioning
by seva samiti
volunteers, who were
generally referred to as peons by the peasants. The volunteers collected funds to
meet the recurring expenses of the Congress organization. The main form of
fund raising at that time was muthia, a system whereby a handful of grain was
set apart every day by a householder and this was collected once a week by the
volunteers. The expenses of the organization were met through this system till
it was augmented later by the Congress membership of four annas. This also
shows how the tradition of giving alms to the Brah..rnan assumed a modem form
of fund raising in the movement. The sabhas attained a considerable degree of
organization in the villages of Motihari, Madhuban, Lauriya and Segauli m
Champaran district.
The movement in Tirhut Division was now mainly carried out by the
peasant sabhas and not by open meetings. As a result, the government could not
use the Seditious Meeting Act to suppress the movement. 57 Even the zamindars
'
57
Freedom Movement Papers, SCRO 53, BSA; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no.
14411921, "From Chief Secretary, Bihar and Orissa, to The District Officer, 31 January
1921".
60
apprehended the development of sabhas and the holding of panchayats for
settling differences amongst the peasants. They perceived such development as
a threat to their power and authority and also an erosion of their hegemony
amongst the peasants. The zamindars had not yet recovered from the peasant
agitations that had preceded the Non-Cooperation Movement, the fear of which
still haunted them. 58
The Non-Cooperation Movement in Tirhut Division drew strength from
social tensions and racial feelings that had crystallized during the anti-indigo
agitation and peasant protest preceding the Non-Cooperation Movement. 59 The
movement saw the active participation of the peasants. In the Madhubani subdivision of Darbhanga district, peasants who were previously engaged in
protest against the Darbhanga Raj, actively participated in the Non-Cooperation
Movement. 60 The movement aroused the expectations of peasants, whose
desires and aspirations got linked up with the demand for swaraj. The antiplanter struggles sharpened once again during the movement and relations
between the planters and peasants became very strained. Many factory
managers faced problems from their labourers and servants. 61 Even the
Europeans, who had settled in large numbers in Muzaffarpur district, faced
resistance from their servants. 62 A certain amount of agrarian tension also built
up against the Indian zamindars. The tenants of Ramnagar Raj resisted the
58
59
60
61
62
Ibid, File no. 12/1921, "District Magistrate's letter to Commissioner, Tirhut Division, I 0
January 1921".
Ibid, File no. 529/1921.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File nos. 12/1921.
Searchlight, 28 January 192i; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File nos. 40/1921 and
12/1921.
Ibid, File nos. 40/1921 and 12/1921.
61
claim of the Raj over grazing and wood cutting in the forest. The tenants also
disputed the payment of rent and certain other claims of the zamindars. These
areas had earlier witnessed agrarian agitations against the Bettiah Raj,
Ramnagar Raj and other zamindars. 63 Although agrarian tensions also built up
against the Indian zamindars, but the Non-Cooperation campaign was more
vigorously pursued against the European planters. 64
There were many cases of haat looting in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga
districts.
Between 10 and 14 January 1921, ten cases of haat looting were
reported from Muzaffarpur district. In Darbhanga, there were three cases of
haat looting. The shops were looted to the accompaniment of the slogan
"Gandhiji ki jai". 65 An official comment on the question of haat looting stated:
The evidence in the possession of the Government leaves no doubt
that the haat-looting was directly connected with the state of
excitement and unrest produced by the Non-Cooperation agitation.
The persons, who started the loot first of all, asked the price of rice,
or cloth or vegetables or whatever the particular article might be,
and when the price was mentioned, alleged that Gandhi had given
the order that the price should be so much, usually a quarter of the
current market rate. When the shopkeepers refused to sell at lower
prices, they were abused and beaten and their shops were looted. 66
The Provincial Congress leaders were very critical of these incidents,
especially as they tended to alienate the small shop-keepers from the movement.
Many of them immediately rushed to those areas and distributed a large number
of leaflets and handbills condemning these activities and requesting the people
6J
64
6S
66
Ibid, File no. 1211921.
Ibid, File no. 40/1921.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the second half of February 1921, Govt of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 43/1921, NAI; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File
no.l2/1921, "Tirhut Division Commissioner's letter to Chief Secretary, dated 17 January
1921 ".
Ibid.
62
to remain non-violent, which was considered by them to be very crucial for the
success of the movement. 67 According to Tirhut Division Commissioner, the
incidents like haat looting intensified because of "the growing currency amongst
the masses of the belief that the forces of law and order were weakening and that
.
. t" .68
swaraJ. was tmmmen
Apart from Tirhut Division, other areas where the movement developed
strongholds by January 1921 were Monghyr and Bhagalpur districts. 69 In
Monghyr district, northern Monghyr, Begusarai and Sadr sub-divisions, which
lay along the north of the Ganga river, were strongly affected. 70 This was
another belt where there had been a strong peasant agitation against Banaili Raj
and Darbhanga Raj under the leadership of Swami Vidyanand. 71 The "agitators"
spread all over the Monghyr district and organized meetings in different parts
of the district. 72 Maulavi Muhammad Zubair was one of the prominent leaders
of this district. Many school boys from Patna and Monghyr, who withdrew
from their schools, also helped in the mobilization by holding meetings in
different places. A large number of Marwaris also participated in the
movement. There was a total hartal in the city when the Governor visited
Monghyr in January 1921. Most of the shops remained closed. The anti-liquor
movement was strong and excise sales dropped rapidly. There were cases of
haat looting in certain parts of this district, too. In Kharagpur, Singheshwar
67
68
69
70
71
72
Searchlight, 28 January 1921.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no.J2/1921, "Tirhut Division Commissioner's letter to
Chief Secretary, dated 17 January 1921 ".
Ibid, File no. 400/1921.
Ibid.
Stephen Henningham, Peasant Movements in Colonial India, pp. 70-89.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 400/1921, "Fortnightly Report for the first half of
January 1921, Mongyr". The rest of the para is based on this source.
63
Choudhari tried to build up the campaign against the Darbhanga Raj. The
Santhals in the hills were told by the non-cooperators to stop collecting sabai
grass for the Darbhanga Raj. The government looked with apprehension upon
the development of the movement in Monghyr because it considered this
district to be the only district in Bhagalpur Division with a "population of
sufficient virility to give trouble". This apprehension of the government was
based on a strong tradition of peasant protest in this area.
In Bhagalpur district also, the movement made strong impact, especially
in those areas which lay along the north of the Ganga. 73 This was another belt
where peasant agitation had been strong. 74 Nationalist meetings were frequently
held in a number of places. 75 Villages got organized. The Marwaris of this
district also participated in the movement. Deep Narayan Singh, a prominent
leader of this district, made a regular tour and addressed several meetings. The
movement affected excise sales. The Santhal Pargana in Bhagalpur district was
influenced by the movement from the time of its inception. In Santhal Pargana,
the movement primarily took the form of a no-rent campaign. There were cases
of haat looting in some parts of Bhagalpur district, too. Thus, by January 1921,
the movement had become very intense in Tirhut Division and the northern belt
of Monghyr and Bhagalpur districts. In all these areas, the movement derived
strength from the strong tradition of peasant agitations.
73
74
75
Ibid, "Fortnightly Report for the first half of January 1921, Bhagalpur".
Stephen Henningham, Peasant Movements in Colonial India, pp. 70-89.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 400/1921, "Fortnightly Report for the first half of
January 1921, Bhagalpur". The rest of the para is based on this source.
64
In Patna Division, it was only in Shahabad district that the movement
reached the phase of intensive organization. 76 The district charted a definite
programme for propaganda work. The whole district was divided into four parts
according to its sub-division for carrying out propaganda. These sub-divisions
were Arrah, Buxar, Bhabua and Sasaram. Those taking up propaganda work
were to confine themselves to (a) Arrah Town, Arrah mufassil and Piru in
Arrah sub-division, (b) Buxar and Dumraon in Buxar sub-division, (c) Bhabua
and Mohania in Bhabua sub-division and (d) Sasaram, Dehri, Kargarh and
Bikramganj in Sasaram sub-division. Each sub-division was to be under a chief
organizer called a supervisor, with volunteers attached to him for propaganda
work.
These supervisors were to organize sub-committees in their areas.
Numerous Non-Cooperation meetings were held in different places. 77 A large
number of teachers and students were associated with the movement. 78
It was in Shahabad district, in a public meeting held at Dumraon on 13
November, boycott of liquor was advocated for the first time. 79 After this, the
anti-liquor movement caught on in other parts of Bihar. This district faced
problems with the settlement of cattle pounds. 80 Pounds could be settled with
76
77
78
79
80
Searchlight, 27 April 1921; K.K.Datta, History of the Freedom Movement in Bihar, pp.330333; Sahajanand Saraswati Papers, Personal diary, 1921, NMML.
K.K.Datta, History of the Freedom Movement in Bihar, pp.330-333.
Ibid.
Ibid, p. 308; Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first of December 1920, Govt. of
India, Home Department (Political) File no. 44/1920, NAI.
In the villages when cattle grazed on others' field or reserved grass, they were brought and
kept in a pound. The villagers could get back their cattle only after they had paid certain fines.
These pounds were auctioned to the highest bidder who gave certain revenue to the
government.
65
great difficulty, and that too at considerably low fees, as people amicably
settled trespass cases in the villages and did not take cattle to the pounds. 81
In Purnea district and the Chotanagpur belt, the movement picked up at a
slower pace. The Congress campaign in Purnea was initiated only in late
February 1921. It was Rajendra Prasad's tour to Purnea in February which gave
momentum to the Non-Cooperation campaign. 82 Many non-cooperators from
Patna and Bhagalpur tried to organize meetings in different parts of the district
to mobilize people for the movement. 83 Once Rajendra Prasad and other leaders
left Purnea, many "local enthusiasts cropped up trying to spread the movement
assiduously at haats and other convenient centres". 84 In this district, a large
proportion of the population consisted of Muslims, most of whom actively
participated in the movement. 85
Sadar and Araria sub-division in Pumea district were most affected by
the movement. 86 In this district, the boycott of educational institutions and
resignation of lawyers did not have much impact but the liquor boycott was
very strong. Excise shops were picketed. There was a hostile atmosphere
against police and excise officers, who faced difficulty in obtaining
accommodation in the mufassil. 87 Sabhas played an active role in the
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
Fortnightly Reports of Bihar and Orissa for January 1921, Govt of India, Home Department
(Political) File nos. 4111921 and 4211921, NAI.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the second half of February 1921, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 43/1921, NAI.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half of February 1921, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 12/1921, NAI.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 173/1921, "Copy of Personal Diary of
Superintendent of Police, Pumia, for the week ending 26'h February 1921 ".
Ibid.
Ibid.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the second half of February 1921 , Govt of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 43/1921, NAI; Bihar and Orissa Annual
66
movement m this district too, particularly in the Araria sub-division. 88 The
boycott of cattle pounds was one of the distinctive features of the movement in
Purnea district. The ferry farmers and pound keepers in the Kishenganj subdivision boycotted the auction settlements. 89 People also opposed payment of
chaukidari taxes. There was also discontentment amongst the chaukidars and
daffadars over their l?ay. 90 The relations between the planters and peasants also
got strained. 91 Pumea district also had a strong tradition of anti-planter and
agrarian protest. 92 On 13 and 14 February 1921, a Kisan Mahasabha meeting
was held in Madhubani. This meeting was attended by around 6 to 8 thousand
cultivators. 93 Another Kisan Sabha meeting, though much smaller and of a local
character, was also held in one of the qasbas. 94 All this strengthened the forces
at work against zamindars and indigo factory owners. In some places, tenants
delayed rent payment. According to the district officer, "it seems as though
they were making time to see what would happen when the promised swaraj
comes. In some parts, the belief was that Gandhi Raj was timed to come in
chait, till which payment of rent was withheld, but when chait came and went
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
Administration Report, 1921, p. 149; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 184/1921,
"Bhagalpur Division Commissioner's report to Chief Secretary, dated 1 June 1921 ".
Ibid.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the second half of February 1921, Govt of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 4311921, NAI; Bihar and Orissa Annual
Administration Report, 1921, p. 149; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 184/1921,
"Bhagalpur Division Commissioner's report to Chief Secretary, dated 1 June 1921 ".
Ibid; Bihar and Orissa Annual Administration Report, 1921, p. 149.
Bihar and Orrisa Political Special File no. 184/1921, "Bhagalpur Division Commissioner's
report to Chief Secretary, dated I June 1921 ".
Stephen Henningham, Peasant Movements in Colonial India, pp. 55-56, 76.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 84/1921, "Note on the Kisan Conference held at
Bhagalpur on 30'h April and I" May 1921".
Ibid, File no. 173/1921, "Copy of Personal Diary of Superintendent of Police, Purnea, for the
week ending 26 February 1921".
67
without swaraj they began to pay". 95 Thus, in this district, it was the Congress
campaign, which gave stimulus to the movement, but once the movement
gathered momentum local issues got linked up with it, providing strength to it.
The movement built up slowly in Chotanagpur too, even though efforts
were made to spread the movement from November 1920 onwards. It was only
in late January 1921 that non-cooperators succeeded in establishing contact
with the Tana Bhagats in Ranchi. 96 The Tana Bhagats responded in large
numbers to the appeals made by the non-cooperators and their association with
the Non-Cooperation Movement gave fillip to their unrest. The movement
amongst the Tana Bhagats primarily brought forth their animosity against the
landlords and trading community. 97 The Tana Bhagats relationship with the
Non-Cooperation Movement will be discussed in detail in the third chapter.
Later, the movement also emerged in other districts of Chotanagpur.
Motilal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Mazharul Haq and Swami Biswanand toured
and addressed many meetings in different parts of the Chotanagpur. 98 In
Jamshedpur, meetings were attended by a large number of industrial workers. 99
The movement gained a strong foothold in Giridih. 100 Giridih was easily
'
accessible to the "agitators" from outside. There were a large number of
panchayats and the volunteers were well organized. 101 The liquor boycott was
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
Ibid, File no. 184/21, "Bhagalpur Division Commissioner's Report to Chief Secretary, I June
1921".
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the second half of January 1921, Govt of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 42/1921, NAI.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File Nos. 50/1921, 51/1921 and 219/1921.
Fortnightly Reports of Bihar and Orissa for March 1921, Govt of India, Home Department
(Political), File nos. 65/1921 and 4511921, NAI.
K.K. Datta, History of the Freedom Movement in Bihar, p. 339.
K.K.Datta Papers, "Statement ofBajrang Sahay-My Reminscences ofthe Freedom Movement
in Bihar", Manuscript section, NMML, pp.13-14.
Ibid; Searchlight, 28 January 1921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 238/1921.
68
one of the most effective actions in Chotanagpur. The non-cooperators made
strong efforts to prevent the settlement of excise liquor shops. 102 Yet another
activity related to liquor protest that was very popular in this region was "illicit
distillation ofliquor". 103 Under the new excise policy, the government had
banned private distillation of liquor. Such protest flouted the government
policy. The sociology of protest centering around liquor will be discussed in
the next chapter.
By February 1921, educational boycott started declining and students
gradually started returning to their educational institutions. Even the surrender
of titles was having little effect. There was no political mileage left in further
calls for renunciation of honours and
resignation from professional and
government posts. 104 Among the boycotts, it was the liquor boycott that
received the most momentum. 105 When the boycotts started losing enthusiasm,
the nationalists turned their attention towards the formation of organizations
like sabhas, panchayats and seva samitis It was the network of these
organizations, which had spread all across rural areas, that was giving strength
to the movement. The government also feared the development of these
organizations the most. 106
Panchayats became very popular in Bihar as people were familiar with
these institutions. Every community and caste had its own panchayat.
102
103
104
105
106
Ibid, File no. 153/1921.
Fortnightly Reports of Bihar and Orissa for February and March 1921, Govt. of India, Home
Department (Political), File nos. 4211921, 43/1921, 65/1921 and 4511921, NAI.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the second half of February 1921, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 43/1921, NAI.
Ibid.
Fortnightly Reports of Bihar and Orissa for February and March 1921, Govt. of India, Home
Department (Political), File nos. 12/1921, 43/1921, 65/1921 and 4511921 ,NAI.
69
Panchayats were established in a large number of villages in Saran,
Muzaffarpur, Champaran, Darbhanga, Patna, Gaya, Shahabad, Bhagalpur,
Hazaribagh, Ranchi and Palamau districts.
Saran district particularly had a
very large number of panchayats. 107 A large number of seva samitis were also
formed. tox The nationalists laid great emphasis on the recruitment of volunteers.
Volunteers emerged as the special task force for the organization of the
movement at the local level, spreading nationalist ideology, mobilizing the
masses, helping in the organization of processions, advertising political
meetings and assisting the Congress leaders in their propaganda activities. The
Congress penetrated into the villages through the organizational network of
these "pracharakas". In many villages, volunteers helped the peasant sabhas and
local arbitration courts. A large number of people in different districts offered
themselves as volunteers. Their number in March 1921 was around 6000. By
April 1921, their numbers rose to 7,860, and by June further rose to 10,319. A
large number of volunteers were from a lower class and lower caste
background. In Saran and Champaran, a large number of domes were enrolled
as Congress volunteers. All this brings out that the national movement had
started moving out of the confines of a few educated sections and acquired a
wider social base, which gave strength and a militant character to the
movement.
107
108
Searchlight, 28 January, 18 February, 16 March 1921.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 65/1921, "Note on Seva Samitis and volunteer
Movement in Bihar and Orissa, period October 1920 to October 1921 ". The rest of the para is
based on this source.
70
Next Phase of the Movement
From April 1921 onwards, the Non-Cooperation Movement entered
another phase. As the boycott programme of the Congress was not having
much effect, the Congress had to launch other programmes. The Congress met
at Bezwada in April to discuss the programmes around which to organize the
next phase of the movement. 109 In this meeting, the possibility of introducing
civil disobedience as part of the Congress programme also came up for
discussion. While the delegates from Bihar were strongly in favour of civil
disobedience, most of the delegates from other provinces opposed it. However,
Rajendra Prasad, the Congress leader from Bihar, was not in its favour. The
reason he gave for opposing this programme was that Bihar was not yet ready
for civil disobedience as the lawyers in Bihar had not fully accepted the
doctrine of Non-Cooperation and abandoned their practice. Unless the lawyers
did so, he said "the masses, if aroused would be without leaders" .110 Without
leaders, he feared, masses activity and temper would be directed against their
landlords, causing bloodshed and justifying government intervention, resulting
in the complete suppression of the movement. 111 Gandhi too endorsed this view
but also indicated that if in future civil disobedience was introduced, the first
experiment should be made in Bihar as the leaders of Bihar, according to him,
had shown their capability and could be trusted to engineer the movement
successfully. 112 The fear behind this objection to the introduction of civil
109
Searchlight, 6 April 1921.
110
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 178/1921, "Copy forwarded to all Superintendent
of Police from 2"d Assistant to the D.l.G. of Police, Crime and Railway, 6 April 1921 ".
Ibid.
Ill
112
Ibid; Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half of April 1921, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political), File No. 51/1921, NAI.
71
disobedience reflected the deep-rooted agranan tensions m Bihar. The
nationalist leaders were apprehensive that the peasants, who formed the main
base of the Non-Cooperation Movement, would translate the call for struggle
for nationalism into airing their grievances against the zamindars. Civil
disobedience movement would have sharpened their confrontations with the
zamindars.
The Congress at Bezwada sesswn, instead, decided to build up a
constructive programme. It passed a resolution asking the people to concentrate
on three items, (1) collecting one crore of rupees for the All India Tilak Swaraj
Fund, (2) enrolling one crore members for the Congress, and (3) introducing
twenty lakh charkhas in the villages and cities. All the three items were to be
completed by 30 June 1921. Each province was to contribute according to the
ratio of its population. 113 Besides this, it was decided to observe 6 April to 13
April as Satyagraha Week. 114 The resolution also stated that local boards, the
municipalities and district boards should be brought under nationalist control. 115
Hartal was to be observed on 6 April and 13 April. These two dates had
their significance. It was on 6 April that the Rowlatt Act was passed and it was
on 13 April that the Jallianwala Bagh incident took place in Punjab. During this
week, all business were to be suspended, all shops closed, roza and brata were
to be observed and prayers for attaining swaraj to be offered in temples and
mosques. It was also decided that people were to abstain from taking any sort
of "intoxicating" substances. The Congress also emphasized the collection of
113
114
115
Judith Brown, Gandhi's Rise to Power, p.313.
Searchlight, 1, 6 April 1921.
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half of April 1921, Govt. of India, Home
Department (Political), File No. 5111921, NAI.
72
money for the Tilak Swaraj Fund during this week. 116 The programme gave a
sacred aura to the Satyagraha Week. 117 In Bihar, notices for the observation of
the Satyagraha Week were printed and distributed in various places,
accompanied by the beating of drums. Processions were also taken out in
different places, with people singing national and religious songs. In many
places, meetings were held in the evemng.
On the whole, the hartal was
peaceful in most places in Bihar. 118
The District Officer of Patna, who had witnessed previous hartals in Patna,
found the hartal organized on 6 April to be the most successful and peaceful. 119 In
Patna, most of the shops remained closed. Small processions marched down the
middle of the road from time to time, singing patriotic and religious songs. These
processions occasionally drew up in front of shops and explained why the hartal
was being observed and having done so continued down the road. On the same
day, in the evening at about 4 p.m., a procession started from Mahendru in Patna
with a Mahabiri Jhanda. The procession consisted of 300 men, most of whom
were students of national schools. The procession culminated in the compound of
Mazharul Haq at Bankipore, where a public meeting was held. The gathering
increased to 600 with students present in large numbers. 120
116
117
118
119
120
Searchlight, I, 6 Aprill921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 173/1921,
"Satyagraha Week-Notice signed by Mazharul Haque, Chandrabansi Sahai, Jagat Narain Lal".
Searchlight, 6 Aprill921.
Searchlight, 8, I 0, 13, 17, 20, 22 April 1921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no.
173/1921, "Note on Hartal on the 6th April 1921 and 13th April 1921 ".
Searchlight, 8 April 1921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 173/1921, "Copy of a
Special Branch Officer's Report dated 6 April 1921, regarding a meeting held at Bankipur in
connection with the Hartal observed on 6 April 1921 ".
Searchlight, 8 April 1921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 173/1921, "The Crime
and Railways Branch D.I.G's letter to Chief Secretary, 8 Aprill921".
73
Hartals were observed in other places, too. 121 In Giridih, even the colliery
coolies absented themselves from work on 6 April but in Jamalpur the coolies did
not join the hartal. Even coolies at the railway station in Bhagalpur stopped their
work on 13 April to mark their protest. In Purulia, most of the pleaders and
mukhtars did not attend the court. However, the leaders of the Khilafat Committee
were not associated with the hartal. The lawyers, the elite section of the town and
big shop-keepers also kept themselves aloof from it. Speeches delivered at the
meeting dealt principally with the collection of funds and the formation of
Congress committees.
Apart from observing Satyagraha Week, another focus area of the
Congress was contesting the elections to local bodies. The Congress advocated
the boycott of election to the Council yet it was in favour of contesting elections
to local bodies. Local bodies could play a very significant role in furthering the
national movement. These bodies could widen the nationalist space because of
the power exerted at the local level. The significance of local bodies in
nationalist politics will be discussed in the sixth chapter.
The Congress
performed well in the Muzaffarpur municipality election held in April 1921. 122
Most of the votes in this district went in favour of non-cooperators. In a real
sense, if there was any contest in the election, it was in Ward 1 in Muzaffarpur.
But despite strong contest, both the candidates elected from this ward were noncooperators. In other Wards, the other candidates who stood in opposition to the
121
122
Searchlight, I 0, 13, 17, 20, 22, 27 April 1921; Bihar and Orissa political Special File no.
173/1921, "Note on Hartal on the 6 and 13 April 1921 ". The rest of the para is based on
Political Special File no. 173/1921, "Note on Hartal on the 6 and 13 April 1921 ".
Ibid, File no. 224/1921, "Extract from D.O. No 56/P dated the 28/29 April 1921 from
Commissioner, Tirhut Division".
74
non-cooperators could not manage any votes unless they signed the following
pledge agreeing to the terms of non-cooperators:
I declare if I am elected in the municipality then I will carry on the
work as ordered by the District Congress Committee by giving
votes and will consider it my religious duty to try to attain
swaraj. 123
Baijnath Prasad Singh, Sheo Bux Marwari and Shamnandan Sahai could get
elected only after they signed such a contract. Non-cooperators, who stood in
opposition to these candidates, retired in their favour after these candidates
signed the contract. Out of twelve elected members of the municipality, seven
members were "avowed non-cooperators" .124 The other three candidates also
signed the contract agreeing to the non-cooperators' terms. Of the remaining two
candidates, Gajadhar Prasad and Abdul Majid, who got elected from Ward 5,
were claimed by both the non-cooperators and the other parties to be their
sympathizers. 125 The Congress candidates also won the municipal elections in
Motihari, where four staunch non-cooperators, Gorakh Prasad, Debi Lal Sahu,
Kedar Nath Sahu and Ramdayal Prasad Sahu, were elected. 126 The noncooperators, who contested the election, pledged to refuse government grants for
any purpose, to convert government schools into national schools, to abolish the
water tax, and to make an-all round increase in the salaries and wages
of municipal employees. 127
123
124
125
126
127
Ibid, File no. 394/1921, "Extract of paragraph of the Hon'ble Mr. Mcpherson's note dated 5
July 1921 "; Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half of April 1921, Govt. of
India, Home Department (Political), File No. 51/1921, NAI.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 224/1921, "Extract from D.O. No 56/P dated the
28'h/29'h April 1921 from Commissioner, Tirhut Division".
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
75
While the Congress concentrated on these programmes, one visible trend
in May 1921 was demonstrations by large numbers of people outside the courts
when non-cooperators faced trial or when they were taken from the court to
jail. 128 In Giridih, for example, a serious "riot" like situation arose in this
context. There was tension when a cultivator was ordered prosecution by the
police for an alleged assault committed by him to give effect to an order of
social boycott passed by the panchayat. This order infuriated the people and
several thousands of them followed the "accused" to the Magistrate's court.
After his trial, when he was taken to jail, he was followed by thousands, who
pelted the police with stones and besieged them in the Jail Warden's quarters.
Later in the day, they brick-batted the thana and assaulted the sub-inspector of
police. When the sub-inspector attempted to disperse the people by threatening
them with a revolver, they damaged the thana. 129 There was a similar
demonstration in Gaya, though on a much smaller scale, when two noncooperators were tried in the Magistrate's court. A large crowd collected
outside the court to mark their protest. The officer made arrangements to take
the two non-cooperators to jail in a private vehicle but the crowd refused to
allow the prisoners to be taken in the car. The Deputy Superintendent of Police
had to escort the prisoners to the jail on foot and a crowd of around 400 persons
followed them. Amongst them, a large number belonged to lower caste. There
were also many boys and youths amongst the crowd. 130 In Bhagalpur, a large
128
129
130
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for May 1921, Govt. of India, Home Department
(Political), File nos. 63/1921 and 46/1921, NAI.
Searchlight, 3, 6, 8 May 1921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 238/1921. ,
Ibid, File no. 214/1921, "Extract from a D.O. letter dated the 6 May 1921 from the
Superintendent of Police, Gaya".
76
crowd followed a non-cooperator, who was convicted and taken to jail by
policemen. The police seemed powerless to prevent the demonstration. 131 In
Bettiah, when a case under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code was
heard in the court, around 4,000 people gathered outside the court of the SubDivisional Officer and behaved in a "very noisy manner". 132
Such demonstrations undermined British authority. The fear of British
institutions of authority diminished.
Demonstrations eroded the power and
prestige of the legal system. The police force, which arrested the noncooperators, came under frequent attack. People no more looked at arrests and
trials as attempts to maintain law and order but regarded such acts of the
government as attempts to uphold the power of the Raj in a coercive manner.
People, who appeared as criminals in the eyes of the British, were regarded as
heroes by the masses, who expressed solidarity with them. Thus, the movement
began to mark the erosion of respect for British authority.
In fact, it was
through its institutional and ideological authority that the British had tried to
consolidate their hegemony and it is this hegemony that was shaken under the
impact of the movement.
The Decline: Perceived as Temporary Phenomenon by the Government
The Non-Cooperation Movement started declining by May 1921. The
number of meetings declined and those held were not well attended. The
meetings were mostly organized for collecting money for the Swaraj Fund.
Panchayats and seva samitis also declined. Agitation against liquor also declined
131
Bihar and Orissa Annual Administration Report, 1921, pp. 150-151.
132
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half of May 1921, Govt. of India, Home
Department (Political), File No. 63/1921, NAI.
77
and the sale of liquor increased. National schools functioned with less success
and in places were nearly empty. 133 Response to the Tilak Swaraj Fund was not
good.
134
The movement also declined in the Tirhut Division. The European
planters lost the nervousness that had seized them some months ago. They now
faced little trouble as regards labour or rent collection. They also ceased to
worry about their personal safety or the adequacy of internal security schemes. 135
However, the government looked at this decline as only a temporary
phenomenon. The government feared that the nationalist leaders were preparing
for the revival of the movement with more vigorous and better organized
agitations. 136 The revival, according to government officials, would be easier as
the organizational network of the movement took a very strong hold. They felt
that these organizations would be ready to spring into action on receipt of fresh
mandate from Gandhi. 137 The movement, in fact, went through this decline in all
the provinces but the Government of India was not confident enough to relax its
policy vis-a-vis the movement. 138
This fear of the government that the movement might easily revive did
have some basis. 139 The Non-Cooperation Movement had become a mass
phenomenon, no more remaining confined to a few educated sections.' It was
133
ll
4
135
136
137
138
139
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 41111921, "Sd. H. McPherson, 5.7.21-Account of
his visit in Tirhut from 28 June to 3 July"; Bihar and Orissa Annual Administration Report
1921, pp. 150-151; Fortnightly Reports of Bihar and Orissa for June and July 1921, Govt. of
India, Home Department (Political), File Nos. 64/1921 and 1/1921, NAI; Kamala
Sankrityayan, Rahul Vanmay, Vol. I, p. 258.
Searchlight, 29 June 1921.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 41111921, "Sd. H. McPherson, 5.7.21-Account of
his visit in Tirhut from 28 June to 3 July 1921 ".
Freedom Movement Papers SCRO 56, BSA.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 53/1921. This para is based on this source.
78
clear that once the masses got organized and politicized, and their desires and
aspirations got linked up with the movement, the movement would acquire its
own dynamics. It would then follow its own rhythm and momentum, often
independent of the nationalist leaders, with the masses bringing up their own
agenda to the movement.
A large number of local level leaders emerged
carrying on the movement in a variety of ways, often using local idioms and
forms. Besides, the movement also removed the fear of the British authority
and built confidence amongst the people. There was a strong contempt for
authority and a general disrespect for law and order. Gandhi emerged as an
alternative centre of power. There was a strong belief that if people obeyed
Gandhi's orders, the British Raj would disappear and a golden age of prosperity
would begin. It is this widening of the movement amongst the masses and loss
of fear of British institutions of authority, which the government feared the
most.
Preparation to Revive the Movement
In July 1921, the Congress again made attempts to revive the movement.
The AICC, at its Bombay session in July 1921, discussed the issues around
which to organize the next phase of the movement. The Congress leaders now
decided to concentrate on boycott of foreign cloth. 140 However, this programme
did not have much impact in Bihar. It could only pick up by late September
1921.The districts where it made some impact were Darbhanga, Champaran
and Muzaffarpur in Tirhut Division. 141 Gandhi Kutir at Malkachak in the
140
141
P.C.Bamford, Histories of the Non-cooperation and Khilafat Movements, p. 32.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 538/1921.
79
Dighwara Thana of the Saran district emerged as an important khadi centre. 142
This programme will be discussed in detail in the next chapter.
Civil disobedience again came up for discussion at the Bombay meeting
but the Congress leaders decided to postpone it for some time. The reason
given was that the country was not yet ready for it. The Committee,
nevertheless, asked its members to make preparations for it so that it could be
taken up in the near future. 143 A resolution was also passed by the BPCC stating
that the time for civil disobedience had not come. 144 However, in Bihar, civil
disobedience kept figuring in most of the meetings. The leaders in 'these
meetings kept on stressing its possibility in the near future. Many of these
meetings were attended by a large number of people. 145 The meeting at
Mansurganj in Bhagalpur on 16 November, for instance, was attended by
around 1,500 people. 146
A strong pressure had been building up in Bihar for this programme. 147 A
strong campaign had already begun for non-payment of rent to zamindars and
chaukidari and municipal taxes in many places. In many places, processions
were also taken out and meetings held in contravention of the provisions of the
Police Act and Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Many persons
summoned under the criminal law declined to receive the summons and even
142
143
144
145
146
147
Young India, 12 February 1925.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no.575/1921, "Extract from D.I.G's Weekly Report for
W/E-15.12.21".
Searchlight, 5 August 1921.
Ibid, II, 30 November 30, 1921; Fortnightly Reports of Bihar and Orissa for November 1921,
Home Department (Political) File no. 18/Nov/1921, NAl.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 57511921, "Report of a meeting held by D.N .Sinha
on 16.1 1.21".
Ibid, File no. 643/1921. This para is based on this source.
80
tore up the sermons. Pressure was put on the police and the chaukidars not to
go on duty as Gandhi' Raj had come.
The Congress looked upon these trends in the movement with
apprehension. The Congress was very keen to keep the movement strictly
within the confines of non-violence. At the peak of the movement, Gandhi said
that the nation must be disciplined to handle mass movements in a sober and
methodical manner. 148 When the Congress was planning to launch the civil
disobedience movement, great need was felt for maintaining the movement
within the parameters of non-violence and discipline. Need was felt not only
to mobilize the masses for civil disobedience but also to integrate them into the
specific forms of Gandhian Non-Cooperation and to maintain peace. The
necessity for well-trained volunteers for this purpose was acutely felt. 149 In
Bihar, the Congress volunteers of the early phase ofNon-Cooperation were still
modelled largely on the patriotic karmi or sewak of the pre-war period, who
had featured invariably as a controller of crowds at swadeshi meetings and at
fairs and festivals. Initially, as the movement spread, a large number of people
came forward as volunteers to spread the movement at the local level. They
were not disciplined or trained but carried on the movement in their own ways.
They frequently resorted to social boycott and intimidation. Th,ey defied
authority in every form and often prevented persons from taking their
148
149
Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (hereafter, CWMG), Vol. 20, p. 107.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 575/1921; Bihar and Orissa Annual Administration
Report, 1921, p. 151.
81
complaints to the police or the courts. Such activities of volunteers were m
I
contradiction to Congress policy .150
Gandhi thought that the volunteers were not adequately professional. He
repeatedly complained about their failure to enforce order. He pointed out that
the problem with volunteers was that they tended to merge in a crowd instead
of standing apart and disciplining it. He said "volunteers often become
demonstrators instead of remaining people's policemen". 151 Gandhi wanted to
alter the character of the Congress volunteers and turn them into professional
"handlers" of the mass movement. No "raw volunteers" were to be allowed to
work at the bigger demonstrations. All volunteers were to be reviewed prior to
a demonstration and issued with specific instruction suitable for the occasion.
Each of them had to carry a book of general instructions about their work at
railway stations, public meetings and street marches, organizing "national
cries", escorting the "heroes" through a large gathering, protecting women,
signalling messages, and so on. Volunteer corps were to be formed for the
purpose of disciplining the people and maintaining order. 152 Great stress was
laid on maintaining discipline and obedience amongst the volunteers.
Volunteers were given drill training and other exercises, in order to instill in
them a sense of discipline. Rules were to be formulated for making "people's
policemen out of Congressmen" .153
150
151
152
151
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 6511921, "Note on Seva Samitis and the Volunteer
Movement in Bihar and Orissa, period October 1920 to October 1921 "; Govt of India, Home
Department (Political), File no. A, June 1921, Nos. 248-82 and File no. 327-IV/1922, NAI.
CWMG, Vol. 20, p. 107.
Ibid, Vol. 18, p.284.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 65/1921, "Note on Seva Samitis and the Volunteer
Movement in Bihar and Orissa, period October 1920 to October 1921 ".
82
At the AICC meeting held in Bombay in July 1921 under the
Presidentship of Mahatma Gandhi, it was decided to reorganize the volunteer
corps throughout the country. The Committee passed a resolution that all
volunteers should be brought under central control and named National
Volunteer Corps. The members had to take the pledge of non-violence, heartily
and industriously obey the command of superiors, and be prepared to take all
risks in the discharge of their duties. The duties of the volunteers were clearly
defined, laying special emphasis on good conduct, non-violence and social
service. 154 In Bihar, National Volunteer Corps called Qaumi Sevak Dals were
formed from amongst the seva samiti members, Khilafat workers and Congress
workers. A central board of control was also formed with its headquarters at
Muzaffarpur. 155
Revival and Intensification of the Movement
The Non-Cooperation Movement revived in September 1921 and took an
intensive form. Tirhut Division once again emerged as the strong centre of th~
movement. The movement took a very strong hold in Sitarnarhi in Muzaffarpur
district. A large number of meetings were held. There was a strong defiance of
authority. People openly defied the Magistrate's order prohibiting holding of
any meeting within 300 yards of the kachahari. 156 They broke open the office of
the munsif's court in the night of 16 October and burnt the title suit register,
154
ISS
156
Bihar Special Branch, Proscribed Pamphlet, Ll8711921, "Desh Ki Pukar- Kaumi Sevak Dal
Ka Sangathan", Patna CID Record Room.
Ibid.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 538/1921, "From Chief Secretary to the Secretary
to the Government oflndia, dated 10 December 1921, Subject-Extension ofthe Seditious
Meetings Act to the Tirhut Division"; Searchlight 13 January 1922.
83
rent suit register, execution register, miscellaneous register, statistical register
of rent suit, etc. 157 Whenever a non-cooperator was arrested, a large crowd with
drums, trumpets and flags followed the arrested. 158 The movement also took a
very strong hold in Champaran district. Congress "national thanas, with their
sub-division of circles", were formed in many places. 159
As the movement revived in Tirhut Division, struggles against the
planters once again became acute. 160 There were tensions between tenants and
planters over grazing rights. The planters complained that the peasants grazed
cattle over their reserved grass. 161 In October, in many places the tenants
boycotted the bazaars of the planters. In their places rival bazaars were set up.
District level Congress leaders in Motihari disclaimed any responsibility for
such boycott and even tried to dissuade the people from it. 162 Chauterwa factory
(planter factory) was burnt on 2 November 1921. Several thousand people were
present on that occasion. All through, they shouted "Gandhiji ki jai". 163 In some
areas, agrarian tensions also built up against the zamindars. In the villages of
Champaran, a large number of meetings relating to agrarian issues were held.
The local non-cooperators played a key role in these campaigns. 164 The
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 529/1921, "Extract from the confidential diary of
the Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarpur, for the week ending the 20 1h October, 1921 ".
Searchlight, 13 January 1922; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 529/1921, "Extract
from the confidential diary of the SP, Muzaffarpur, for the week ending 20 October, 1921 ".
Ibid, File no. 602/1921, "From Chief Secretary, Bihar and Orissa, to All District Officers,
dated 20.12.21".
Ibid, File no. 538/1921, "From Chief Secretary, Bihar and Orissa, to The Secretary to the
Government of India, dated 10 December 1921, Subject: Extension. of the Seditious Meetings
Act to the Tirhut Division".
Ibid.
Ibid; Searchlight, 9 November 1921.
Ibid, 9 November 1921; Motherland, 8, 15 November 1921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special
File no. 529/1921; Govt oflndia, Home Department Political File no. 357/1921, NAI;
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 538/1921, "From Chief Secretary, Bihar and
Orissa, to The Secretary to the Government of India, dated 10 December 1921, Subject:
Extension of the Seditious Meetings Act to the Tirhut Division".
84
assessment of union taxation faced problems. The Union Committee in Bagaha
in Champaran faced protest. 165
While the movement revived and took an intensive form in some
districts of Bihar, at the national level the arrest of the Ali brothers threw up
another agenda before the movement. The Ali brothers were arrested in
September 1921 for giving a particular speech at the All India Khilafat
Conference at Karachi on 8 July. In that speech, they had declared that it was
against religious laws for Muslims to continue in the British army and insisted
that this be conveyed to every Muslim in the army. 166 Their arrest was
condemned by Gandhi, who along with some leading Congressmen, issued a
manifesto repeating whatever Muhammad Ali said and added that every
civilian and member of the armed forces should severe connections with the
repressive government. 167 The Congress Working Committee also passed a
similar resolution on 5 October in Bombay .168 At its meeting in early October,
Bihar Provincial Conference, too endorsed the Karachi resolution. 169
In Bihar, meetings were held in Patna, Muzaffarpur, Champaran,
Darbhanga, Bhagalpur, Monghyr, Manbhum and Palamau in October to mark
protest against the arrest of the Ali brothers. 170 In October and November, a
large number of meetings were held where the Karachi resolution was read out
and fatwas distributed, asking the police and army to disassociate themselves
165
166
167
168
169
170
Ibid.
P.C.Bamford, Histories of the Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements, p. 37.
Govt of India, Home Department Political File no. 303/1921, NAI.
P.C. Bamford, Histories of the Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements, pp. 36-38;
Searchlight, 7 October, 1921.
BiharandOrissaAnnua!AdministrationReport, 1921, p. 152.
85
from British service. 171 Most of these meetings were held in areas where
Khilafat Committees were strong. In Tirhut Division, a large number of
meetings were held in Madhubani in Darbhanga district, in Bettiah, Madhuban
and Motihari in Champaran district and in a number of places in Muzaffarpur
district in October 1921. Around five thousand people attended the meeting,
which was held in Motihari in Muzaffarpur district on 23 October 1921. 172
Local Non-Cooperation Committees had played a crucial role in mobilizing
people for this meeting. 173 The distribution of a large number of fatwas had a
disturbing effect on Muslim police constables. Many constables resigned
saying that it was haram to work for the govemment. 174 Unrest amongst the
police will be discussed in the fourth chapter.
The visit of the Prince of Wales to India in November also sparked off
protests in many places. The conflict over the visit of a member of the British
royal family can be seen as a contest for hegemony, a fight for prestige,
between the contending parties, nationalists and the colonial rulers. Gandhi
highlighted the fact that the presence of a royal personage in the midst of his
subjects was deeply symbolic of imperial authority. 175 But the colonial rulers
insisted that the visit was a purely non-political gesture on the part of the Prince
ofWales to keep royalty in touch with its Asian subjects. 176 Gandhi opposed the
proposal as soon as he came to know of it and campaigned vigorously against
171
172
173
174
175
176
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 52111921.
Motherland, 23 October 1921.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 538/1921, "From Commissioner, Tirhut Division,
to the Chief Secretary, Bihar and Orissa, dated 9 November, 1921".
Ibid.
CWMG, Vol. 18, p.102.
L.F.Washbrook William, India in 1922-23, Calcutta, 1923, p.272.
86
it. He justified his opposition as a clear duty of educating the public to a truer
of the meaning
of the proposed Royal visit. Truer because it would
perception
.
.
refute the not so true claim made by the administration about the visit being
above politics. Contrary to what the British said in public, the ministers wanted
to make political capital out of the proposed visit to demonstrate to the world
that India was happy and contented. Gandhi, on the other hand, concluded that
the Prince was coming to uphold the prestige of the present government. 177
With the meaning of the visit established thus as politics calculated to
demonstrate the might and glory of the Empire, Gandhi called for counterdemonstrations. 'Indian protest was to take the form of a hartal throughout the
land to coincide with the Prince's arrival on 17 November 1921, followed,
during the rest of his tour, by local boycotts of all ceremonies, receptions and
other activities organized to celebrate it. 178
The resolution to boycott the visit of the Prince of Wales was passed at
various meetings down from the AICC to various provincial level
committees. 179 On 17 November, the day Prince of Wales landed in Bombay,
hartal was observed throughout Bihar. 180 The hartal was most successful in
Patna. Many meetings were held in Patna, which were attended by a large
number of people. Appeals were also made to government servants to withdraw
from service, to washermen to refuse to wash the clothes of Europeans and to
ekka drivers to refuse to carry persons wearing foreign clothes. 181 In Dumka,
177
178
179
180
181
CWMG, Vol. I8, p.I02.
Ibid.
Searchlight, 3I August, II November I92l.
Motherland, 22 November I92I
Searchlight, I8 November I92l.
87
there was a total hartal. Many Congress workers were arrested. 182 In Bhagalpur,
the hartal was very successful. There was a total suspension of all business. No
conveyances passed, no shops opened and no labour did work anywhere.
Marriage party had to go without carriage and baza. The party while going also
had to shout "Gandhi ki jai". 183 When hartal was observed in Dumraon,
Maharaj used his influence to try and get the shops opened but could not
succeed. 184 At the Da4.ari fair in Balia, there was a total hartal. Not a single shop
was opened. The Deputy collector visited this fair to see how hartal was
observed. When he asked a shop-keeper to give paan, the shopkeeper refused.
When he asked a bangle seller, an old lady, to sell bangle, she snubbed him so
badly that he immediately left the place. 185 The hartal in Sonepur fair on 17
November was very successful. Alarge number of volunteers, estimated by the
government report as 1,800, came to the fair. According to Nirsu Narayan
Sinha, a member of Bihar and Orissa Legislative Council, who had been in
Sonepur on the day of the hartal, the shopkeepers observed hartal voluntarily
and not under any pressure. He also said the shopkeepers told him that "if other
people were making sacrifices they would also make a sacrifice by closing their
shops for a day". 186
The non-cooperators also made preparations for observing hartal, when
the Prince would visit Bihar on 22 and 23 December 1921. In Patna, hartal
placards were posted in all public places and also on the compound walls of
182
183
184
185
186
Ibid, 20 November 1921.
Ibid, 23 November 1921.
Motherland, 22 November 1921.
Sahajanand Saraswati, Mera Jeevan Sangharsh, Delhi, 1985, p. 121.
Searchlight, 23 November 1921
88
many private houses, including those of Europeans. 187 When the Prince visited
Patna, the moderates and loyalists welcomed him but the city observed a
complete hartaL The hartal was most effective in the bazaar portion of Patna
City. Every shop in the city was closed. The main thorough fares of the bazaar
were almost empty. No vehicles plied for hire and no crowd lined the streets
along which the procession passed. The hartal was on the whole peaceful. 188
Hartals were also held in Purulia, in different places in Manbhum district,
Gaya, Santhal Pargana and Dhanbad districts. 189 There was complete hartal in
Barh on 22 December. No hackney carriage or tamtam plied. Labourers and
coolies also observed hartal. Havan was held in the evening on Ganga bank. 190
The government expressed surprise that:
The unlettered masses, whom not only their traditional loyalty to the
Crown, but even natural curiosity would in normal circumstances have
attracted in tens of thousands to see the King Emperor's heir, were
represented by a small crowd which filled not a twentieth of the space
allotted to them, and though later, that day, on the polo ground and
again on the day following at a garden party given by the landowners of
the province, small crowds of cultivators and the poorer classes were in
evidence, it is safe to say that a minority even of the population of
Patna and an infinitesimal fraction of the population of the neighbouring
districts took any part in the welcome which the Prince received. 191
Government Policy vis-a-vis the Non-Cooperation Movement
So far, one has been looking at the unfolding of the movement m
different phases and areas. It is equally significant to note how the government
responded to the movement. The way the movement developed was a source of
187
188
189
190
191
Bihar and Orissa Annual Administration Report, 1921, p. 156.
Searchlight, 25 December 1921.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 3/1922, "Report for the week ending 5 January
1922, D.I.G. of Police, Crime and Railways".
Searchlight, 25 December 1921
Bihar and Orissa Annual Administration Report, 1921, p 156.
89
anxiety to the government. The government had not faced such a concerted
campaign before. The Non-Cooperation Movement was quite unprecedented,
raising defiance in many directions. Till now, the government had followed a
policy of non interference vis-a vis the Non-Cooperation Movement. The
rationale that the government gave for this non-interference was the belief that
the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms should work, progressive opinion in Britain
had to be
placate~,
the moderates of Indian politics had to be kept in sympathy
with the regime and law and order had to be preserved. It feared that undue
repression, as the aftermath of the Amritsar massacre had shown, would create
a politically costly backlash. In addition, it wanted the administration to appear
as an impartial arbiter. The government was also hopeful that the Congress
would in the end withdraw from the Non-Cooperation Movement. 192 But when
the movement began to intensify in January 1921, the government reconsidered
its policy towards the movement. It was worried about the potential effects of
Gandhi's campaign on the "masses of urban elements and on large bodies of
tenants". 193 However, after careful consideration the government reached the
conclusion that the time had not yet come for them to abandon their former
policy of non-interference. 194 Through further reappraisals of their policy,
during the ensuing six months, the government continued to adhere to this
policy of non-interference. But the Bihar government was not happy with this
policy of the Government of India. It could not comprehend why a movement,
192
193
194
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File nos. 111/1921 and 14411921; D.A.Low, "The
Govemmment of India and the First Non-Cooperation Movement, 1920-22," in Ravinder
Kumar, Essays on Gandhian Politics, pp. 301-314.
Govt. of India, Home Department (Political) File no. 49/I 921, NAI;
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. I44/I 921, "From Secretary, Government of India,
to the Chief Secretary, dated 28-30 January 192 I".
90
which was subversive in nature, was allowed to continue unhindered by the
government. 195 Local government officials in Bihar were of the opinion that this
policy of restraint had negative consequences, "allowing the Congress
campaign to gather momentum, undermining the prestige and authority of the
colonial administration and causing doubt and hesitancy amongst its servants
and loyalists" .196 They felt that this inaction of the government was leading to
the "impression amongst the ignorant masses that the government was either
careless and indifferent or else afraid to put it down, leading to further
excitement and unrest". 197 They expressed their anxiety as to how they were
losing their faith amongst the people because of this silence of the government.
They further pointed out how government's inaction was also leading to doubts
amongst the officials whether the government was seriously intending to
enforce the law. 198 The local officials suggested that government should make a
clear statement of its policy that it regarded the movement as "dangerous,
tending to lawlessness, and ultimate anarchy and that it was prepared to support
all reasonable measures taken to prevent such lawlessness". 199 Continuation of
the movement was seen by the local officials as an erosion of their authority. It
seems clear that if the Government of India had at any time during 1921 gone
over to a policy of active repression, the local government would have quickly
pursued the necessary action. Even in the Viceroy's Council some members
195
196
197
198
199
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File nos. 12/1921 and 586/1921.
Ibid, File no. 58611921.
Ibid.
Ibid, File no. 144/21, "From Chief Secretary to the Secretary to the Government oflndia,
Home Department, Delhi, 15 March 1921 ".
Ibid, File no.12/1921, "Personal Appreciation of the situation, Champaran S.P., 17 January
1921".
91
were expressing the same feeling as that of the local government. The Finance
Member, Sir Malcolm, had remarked in January 1921:
There is very little doubt that the matter has gone very much further
than most of us anticipated when the movement first took a definite
shape .... The obvious fact is that in a hundred directions it has
stirred up feelings which sometimes take a racial tum and at others
take a direction not far different from what we generally describe as
Bolshevism. In an Eastern country success in administration
depends quite as much on the maintenance of a general atmosphere
of obedience to authority and acceptance of the existing order of
society as it does on the definite enforcement of statute law or the
working of the administrative machinery .... If these forces continue
unimpaired, it is difficult to suppose that the numerous classes
which form the backbone of our administration or who carry on our
public utility services will remain unaffected ....It was obviously
statesmanlike to give it (Non-Cooperation movement ) every
chance of working itself to destruction, and our attitude of
toleration counted for much for the improvement in the political
situation. But it seems clear that toleration, to say the least, has not
effected .nearly as much as we had hoped from it. 200
The Government of India was again forced to reconsider its policy in
November 1921, when the movement witnessed sharpening of conflicts in
certain parts of the country. The Congress also planned to start civil
disobedience and organized opposition to the Prince's visit. On 24 November
1921, in a long letter of instruction, the Government of India informed the local
governments that "a stage has now been reached at which action on a more
drastic and comprehensive scale than has hitherto been required be taken". 201
Most local governments needed little prompting. The provinces promptly
initiated action against the movement. 202 The Bihar Government issued a
200
201
202
D.A.Low, "The Government of India and the First Non-Cooperation Movement, 1920-22" in
Ravinder Kumar ( ed.), Essays on Gandhian Politics- The Rowlatt Satyagraha of 1919,
London, 1971, p.303.
Ibid.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 586/1921.
92
notification under the Criminal Law Amendment Act on 10 December 1921
declaring various volunteer associations unlawful. 203 The Bihar government
justified the action in the following words:
For nearly two years, the Government of India and Local
Governments had adopted a policy of mildness (some even called it
inaction), trusting to the good sense of the educated classes for a
rejection of the Non-Cooperation doctrine. So far as the tangible
results achieved by that movement were concerned, this course had
been justified. The resignation oftitles had been few, the effects on
schools and on the legal profession had been small, NonCooperation courts had not attained any success and very few
Government servants had resigned. But the non-cooperators had
now brought forward the really dangerous items in their programme,
that is, the refusal to pay taxes, rent or revenue and the reduction
from their allegiance of the army and the police. In order to start this
new campaign, the non-cooperators had turned from the educated
classes, whom they had failed to gain over, to the masses and the
chief agency they had used in their appeal consisted of the volunteer
associations. So long as those confined themselves to picketing of
liquor shops, cloth shops, collection of muthia, etc., no great harm
was done and any actionable excesses had been dealt with as
breaches of the ordinary law. But meanwhile the minds of the
masses had been steadily impregnated with contempt for authority
and prepared for the last stages of the campaign, that is, the civil
disobedience and here lay the greatest danger of all. Even though
for the moment the programme has been suspended till the Congress
had met again during the X'mas holidays but the minds of the
people were being steadily prepared for the movement, as could be
proved from the speeches made, especially in Tirhut, during the past
month, and the reorganization of volunteer associations was going
ahead steadily in every district, as they were to be the instrument of
the new campaign when inaugurated. In the face of the reports of
increasing activity in this direction throughout the Province,
Government could not afford to sit idle and see this organization
perfected, merely because refuge is taken under the plea of nonviolence, which must be flung aside ~hen civil disobedience really
enforced, when attempts made, as threatened to march on
Government buildings, call out Government officers and take their
place with bands of volunteers. This plan could not be carried out
without the use of force and without disorder...The aspect of the
case which concerned Patna City and the threatened hartal on the
occasion of the Prince's visit was subsidiary. It briefly amounted to
203
Searchlight, 11 December 1921; Govt. of India, Home Department (Political) File no.
49/1921, NAI.
93
this that Government had daily increasing evidence of attempts to
establish complete closure of activities in the city on the occasion of
the Prince's visit. There were to be no provisions, no ticca gharris,
no coolies, no visitors from outside, no municipal services, no
lights, possibly no private service. Patna City was to be reduced to a
city of the dead. It was idle to contend that all this represented the
spontaneous expression of the people. 204
After this notification there were numerous proscriptions, arrests and
prosecutions. 205
This had a disturbing effect upon the moderates who now
openly expressed dissatisfaction with the government policy which they saw as
unduly repressive. 206 A deputation of the members of the Legislative Council of
Bihar met the Governor on 13 December and requested him to withdraw the
Act. They pointed out that the government measure was "unwarranted by the
circumstances of this province and moreover highly inopportune and
inexpedient because Non-Cooperation in Bihar had so far been characterized by
non-violent methods of work". 207 The delegates also felt that "at a time when
the Province was awaiting the visit of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales,
on a mission of peace, good will and sympathy, it was essential that the people
should be free from any sense of panic or any feelings of bitterness due to
repression actual or apprehended". 208 The delegates advised the government to
withdraw the notification temporarily or till the civil disobedience campaign
began, when it would be necessary to take action under the Criminal Law Act.
They suggested that such a step would ease the situation and prevent the friends
204
205
206
207
208
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 586/1921, "Communique, Government of Bihar
and Orissa, Political Department, Special Section, dated 18 December 1921 ".
Searchlight, II, 14, 16, 18, 21, 25 December 1921.
AICC Papers, File no. 5-6/1922; D.A.Low, "The Government of India and the First NonCooperation Movement, 1920-22" in Ravinder Kumar (ed.), Essays on Gandhian Politics, p.
308.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 586/1921.
Ibid.
94
of the government from being further alienated. 209 The government did not want
to alienate the moderates, and feared that its action would make the moderates
swing to the Congress side. It decided to relax its measures with the hope that
the moderates' counsel would prevail. The government was also keen to give a
warm ovation to the Prince and did not want any disturbance at that time. 210 The
Chief Secretary, therefore, sent the following circular on 18 December 1921 to
the district officers relaxing its policy :
His Excellency in Council recognizes the very grave objections
which exist to any modification of the instructions issued only a
week ago in corui.ection with the notification under Act X1 V of
1908. He considers, however, that the notification has already
served its purpose as a warning and as justification for the house
searches, which have placed local officers in possession of
information regarding the volunteer organization. In particular, it is
believed to have checked the decision to enter immediately upon
civil disobedience. In this view, he does not think that any harm
will be done if further action in the way of arrest and prosecution
under the special Act be deferred till at least the X' mas week. It has
been represented to the Governor that even this amount of
suspension of action will have beneficial effect on the situation at
Patna and His Excellency considers that it is desirable to accept the
risk and even the misrepresentation involved in the modification of
recent orders, if this step will contribute to the success of His Royal
Highness's visit. An announcement is accordingly beirig made that
instructions are being issued to officers that no action is to be taken
under the Criminal Law Amendment Act without previous
reference to Government. 211
The government's relaxation of its policy was not received in good spirit
by the local officials. They said that the withdrawal of the Act gave the
impression that the government was not earnest in its attempt to suppress the
209
210
211
Ibid.
Searchlight, 21 December 1921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 586/1921,
"Communique, Oovernment of Bihar and Orissa, Political Department, Special Section, dated
18 December 1921".
Ibid.
95
Non-Cooperation Movement and the volunteer organizations. This, they felt,
emboldened the people, who came out in large numbers as volunteers and
offered themselves for arrest. The local police, in particular, found themselves
in a thoroughly false position as the people saw that the warnings were
apparently mere bluffs and that no real attempt was made to uphold authority. 212
Besides, contrary to the hopes of the government, preparations for hartal
continued, and in many places, hartals were very successful. Moreover after
this, the movement once again took a very intensive form giving a jolt to the
British apparatus.
Challenge to the British Apparatus: Erosion of Respect for British
Authority
The government's issuing of measure under the Criminal Law
Amendment Act threw up another agenda before the movement.
The
nationalists saw the new measures of the government as a curtailment of their
basic democratic right to freedom of speech and organization. As this issue
came to the forefront, some of the other issues of the Congress receded to the
background. To resist these laws became the foremost duty of the Congress. 213
Gandhi stated that it was no more the intention of the Congress to launch
satyagraha as announced earlier but to struggle for the right of freedom of
speech and organization. This right, he said, belonged not only to Congressmen
but to all parties. 214 In defiance of the Act, the BPCC gave a call to the people
to recruit themselves in large number as volunteers. 215 Thus, the Act instead of
212
213
214
215
Ibid.
AICC Papers, File no. 5-6/1922
Rajendra Prasad, Autobiography, p.l55.
Searchlight, 14 December 1921.
96
dampening the spirit of the nationalists further emboldened them to mobilize
people in large numbers. Even after action to be taken under the Act was
postponed, the general drive for the recruitment of volunteers continued. 216
This brings out how the nationalists turned every situation in their
favour. When the government was a passive spectator, the situation was seen as
an erosion of its hegemony, but when action was initiated there was a big hue
and cry about the government being repressive and depriving people of even
their basic civil rights. The situation was unfavourable for the government in
both situations, for not taking action and for resorting to it.
A large number of people in different districts, many from rural areas,
started offering themselves as volunteers. The spectacle of small processions
carrying national flags and shouting "Gandhi Maharaj ki jai" was very common
in most places. The imminence of swaraj charged the atmosphere. 217 This phase
of the movement was primarily directed against the British apparatus. There
was open defiance of British authority. The main symbols of British power, that
is, the courts, jails and police, came under severe attack. The fear of jail
diminished. Processions were taken out in defiance of government orders.
Pressure was being brought upon government employees to leave the service. 218
In north Bihar, the movement against the planters once again intensified. 219 The
British had to now openly resort to the use of armed forces to maintain their
216
217
218
219
Ibid, 14 December 1921; AICC Papers, File no. 5-6/1922.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File nos. 643/1921 and 3/1922.
Ibid, File nos. 643/1921 and 3/1922.
Ibid, File no. 3/1922, "Report for the week ending the 5 January, 1922"; Searchlight, 18 and
29 January 1922.
97
authority. 220 An attempt has been made to give a brief sketch of the nature of
movement in this phase in December 1921 and January 1922 in different
districts.
In Bhagalpur, even before action under the Criminal Law Amendment
Act was postponed, considerable activity had been going on in the mufassil in
connection with the organization of the Qaumi Sevak Dal and formation of new
Thana Congress Committees. Government action gave a tremendous impetus to
this activity and the effort of the non-cooperators in the mufassil, in fact,
doubled and many places which were untouched before the Act were overrun
with volunteers. But in the town, the activities of the volunteers ceased
immediately after the proclamation of the Act. 221
In Monghyr too, volunteers were highly organized and wielded great
influence amongst the masses. The government proclamation in Monghyr
drove "the majority of Indians who were previously sitting on the fence into the
arms of the non-cooperators". 222 Pleaders and mukhtars suspended practice.
There was a bonfire of foreign cloth. 223
In Gaya, recruitment of volunteers continued, even after the notification
under the Act was withdrawn. 224 Volunteers were frequently seen parading the
town and picketing the courts. When the courts opened after the vacation on 3
22
°
221
222
223
224
Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half of January, 1922. Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 41/1921, NAI.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 3/1922, "Report for the week ending the 5 January,
1922".
Ibid.
Searchlight, 11 January 1921.
Ibid, 14 December 1921.
98
January 1922, a large group of volunteers collected outside the court and tried
to disrupt the functioning of the court. 225
In Patna also, bands of boys began parading the streets, singing national
songs. In the Patna mufassil, the volunteers were secretly recruited. 226 A large
number of members of the bar in Patna also enrolled themselves as
volunteers. 227 There was a huge public meeting in Barh. The speakers, while
addressing this meeting, challenged the government to arrest as many as it
could. They said that for one worker imprisoned hundreds of thousands of men
would offer themselves as volunteers. After the meeting, there· was a huge
bonfire of foreign cloth. All present pledged themselves to wear khaddar. A
large number of people also enrolled themselves as volunteers. 228
In Chapra, there was immense response. A large number of people
offered themselves as volunteers. 229 In the Shahabad district, there was great
disturbance in the towns ofBuxar and Sasaram. 230 In Buxar, the volunteers who
were arrested on their way to the jail shouted slogans and sang national songs.
The Sub-Divisional Officer of Buxar reported that "the political prisoners in
Buxar had formed a happy family in the central jail and used to work each other
up to a high pitch of enthusiasm". In Sasaram, house searches and arrests of
some leaders under the Act gave rise to a serious situation on 17 December
1921. On that day, when the accused were taken to jail, a large and excited
225
226
227
228
229
230
Ibid; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 3/1922, "Report for the week ending 5
January 1922" ..
Ibid.
Searchlight, 16 December 1921.
Ibid, 28 December 1921.
Kamala Sankrityayan, Rahul Vanmay, Vol I, N.Delhi, 1994, pp. 260-261.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 3/1922, "Report for the week ending the 5 January,
1922". The rest of the para is based on this source.
99
crowd followed them. On 21 December 1921, a large procession, with the
Khilafat flag, was taken out in Sasaram in defiance of the government order.
The procession marched to the court and on the way appealed to all government
servants to resign from service. In Sasaram, it was the Khilafat Committee
which carried the movement. The movement had a strong hold on the Muslim
community. The Congress Committee was not active here.
The situation in Champaran too was very tense. A large number of
volunteers were recruited. The non-cooperators in Champaran hailed the
withdrawal of the notification as their victory. 231 There was a confrontation
between the police and people in Dhanaha. 232
In Purnea also, the situation took a serious turn. According to the Purnea
Superintendent of Police, "the government proclamation declaring volunteer
associations unlawful and carrying the warning that persons, who persisted in
disregarding the law would be prosecuted, having been followed by no action,
whatsoever, had produced a very bad effect. The local police particularly found
themselves in a thoroughly false position as the people saw that the warnings
apparently were mere bluffs and that no real attempt was made to uphold
authority". 233 A large number of volunteers were recruited, especially in Araria.
In Forbesganj, huge bands of volunteers went round the town shouting national
slogans and singing national songs. These volunteers told the police in the town
that they were not required to patrol the town any more. In many places in the
231
232
233
Ibid; Searchlight, 14 December 1921; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 586/1921.
Searchlight, 15 January 1922.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 146/1922, "Extract from the confidential diary of
the Superintendent of Police, Pumea, for week ending 16 January 1922". This para and the
following two paras are based on this source.
100
interior of this district, particularly in Araria, intense picketing of liquor shops
took place. The non-cooperators, in many places, pressurized the chaukidars to
give up service. The Tahsildar Panches were also pressurized in many places to
give up collecting chaukidari tax.
On 8 February 1922, around three hundred people in Dhanaha
demolished a pound and raised a swaraj flag over it shouting "swaraj ho
gay a". There were rumours throughout Purnea district that swaraj had been or
would very shortly be achieved. This resulted in "outbreaks of lawlessness".
The sub-inspector and police were openly defied by one of the parties in a land
dispute in Rupauli. The party, which assembled in large numbers, forced the
sub-inspector and the few police to leave the spot. They looted the disputed
crops shouting "Mahatma Gandhi ki jai." Large crowds collected outside the
thana and courts at the time of arrests and trials of the non-cooperators. In
Dhanaha, the police could take away the people accused for demolishing the
pound with great difficulty, amidst hostile demonstration.
In Baisee, the warrant and subsequent production of persons accused of
intimidating chaukidars was made the occasion for demonstration and slogan
shouting in the court compound. Cases against the accused were withdrawn
only when the accused gave a written assurance that in future they would not
create trouble. The non-cooperators hailed the withdrawal of cases as their
victory, and felt further encouraged. In Araria, when the policemen and
chaukidars arrested three picketeers, who had been accused of assaulting and
robbing a liquor shop customer, they were attacked by a crowd of about a
thousand people shouting the Non-Cooperation slogans. Even though the
101
nationalist leaders in Pumea asked the volunteers to refrain from "more
objectionable features of the agitation such as picketing, interfering with the
chaukidars, taking out of processions and demonstrations outside the court and
thana", their advice went unheeded.
Of all the districts in Bihar, the situation was most serious m
Muzaffarpur. In this district, the largest number of volunteers were emolled. A
large number of meetings were held, a majority of them for the purpose of
enlisting volunteers. 234 The Superintendent of Police ofMuzaffarpur reported:
Large numbers of volunteers are daily being sent in from dehat.
They are given a good feed at Shafees house and told that they will
not be arrested as the jail is full and even if they are arrested, they
will be released on the 31 of December 1921, when swaraj is
obtained. They roam the streets in companies from daylight till after
dark, shouting and yelling and making themselves a general
nuisance. Only the ring leaders are being selected for prosecution. 235
Muhammad Jalil , who resigned from the clerk's post in the Commissioner's
office, played an active role in the mobilization of volunteers
in the
Muzaffarpur sub-division. 236 In the Sitamarhi sub-division, 21,000 volunteers
were enlisted. In Paru, Bajrangi Singh and in Baruraj, Birjnandan and
Rajmangal Sahi played an active role in the enlistment of volunteers. 237 In
Shakera, where Maulavi Magful was active, 9,000 volunteers were enlisted. 238
Hirdey Narain and his younger brother enlisted volunteers in Deoria and
Motipur. 239 Ali Bux and Akhtar were active in Sadar and Minapur. 400 people
234
235
236
237
238
239
Ibid, File no. 37/1922, "Copy of Daily Confidential Diary of the Superintendent of Police,
Muzaffarpur, 30 December 1921".
Ibid.
Ibid, "Copy of a Daily Confidential diary ofthe Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarpur, 9
January 1922". The rest of the para is based on this source.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
102
enlisted themselves as volunteers in Sadar and 700 in Minapur. 240 In Katra,
Mahua and other thanas also, a large number of people enlisted themselves as
volunteers. 241 In Hajipur, a large number of volunteers came from the mufassil.
Batches of volunteers patrolling the streets, singing national songs and reciting
fatwas were a common feature in Hajipur. 242 The maximum agitation was in
Sitamarhi in the Muzaffarpur district. In Sitamarhi, a large number of people
came forward as volunteers to get arrested. They had lost all fear of the jail,
which was looked upon as a place of pilgrimage. 243 In many villages in
Muzaffarpur district also, the volunteers took out processions shouting
"Gandhiji ki jai" and other slogans. 244
During this phase, campaign against the planters also intensified. The
factories of the planters were picketted. People were prevented from working
for the planters. There were frequent demonstrations and slogan shouting
outside the planter's factories. 245 Brijnandan Sahi and Rajmangal Sahi led large
procession with "elephants, flags and swords" and passed Muraripur and
Thikaha factories telling the people that "swaraj had come and they were now
going to take over from the British". 246 Great tension also prevailed outside the
Deoria factory, which was located in Paru. 247 There was tension also around the
Bhagwanpur factory in Shewhar. 248 On 4 January 1922, the Belsand factory was
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid, File no. 3/1922, "Report for the week ending 5 January, 1922".
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid; Fortnightly Report of Bihar and Orissa for the first half of January 1922, Govt. of India,
Home Department (Political), File no. 18/Jan/1922, NAI; Govt of India, Home Department
(Political) File no. 751/1922, NAI; Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 643/1921.
Ibid; Ibid, File no. 3/1922, "Report for the week ending 5 January, 1922".
Ibid.
Ibid.
103
surrounded by a large crowd shouting "Gandhiji ki jai". 249 Bowarrah factory
also faced demonstrations and slogan shouting. Meetings were held on the
grounds of Sursand Raj, defying the order of the factory. When the manager
sent peons to turn them back, the people refused to go and jeered at the
peons. 250 The factory owners felt threatened by the form that the movement
took. Many of the factory owners also shifted their family members to the
town. Europeans and even many Indians, who had been loyal to the British,
expressed strong disappointment at the government for not taking strong
measures against the movement. 251
Thus, in this phase too, when the movement intensified there were a
large number of demonstrations, which were more frequent in front of the
thanas, sub-deputy magistrate's quarter, munsif s quarter and the court
compound. The accused on trial often abused the Magistrate. On 23 December
1922, when alms were distributed to eight hundred beggars in the court
compound in Hajipur, some non-cooperators, headed by ex-Head Constable,
Ramdutta Singh, ex Sub-inspector of schools, Deep Narain Singh, national
thana sub-inspector, Madanmohan Sahay and the head master of the national
school, Bulaki Sahu, arrived in court carrying
a swaraj flag and told the
beggars that it was haram to take alms from the government officials. Jails got
overcrowded with non-cooperators. The under-trials openly preached defiance
and insubordination to authority to their companions in jails. They ignored and
249
250
251
Ibid; Suresh Shanna, Benipuri Granthavali, Vol. IV, Delhi, 1998, p. 217.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no. 643/1921
Ibid, File no. 3711922, "From Commissioner, Tirhut Division, to the Chief Secretary, 24
January 1922".
104
openly flouted jail wardens attempt to enforce order and discipline in the jail.
When the magistrate visited the jail, volunteers, instead of getting up to show
respect to him, deliberately remained seated as a mark of protest.
The
Magistrate on his jail visit was often shouted at and insulted by the noncooperators. The sub-jail was described by local official as being in a ''state of
mutiny". Bajrang Sahay in his memoir described how the jail had become a site
of struggle for the nationalists. To quote him:
When the Superintendent of jail used to come in his weekly round,
the head warden would shout 'sarkar salam' and the persons who
sat in a row were expected to get up and salute the Superintendent.
We refused to respond to this shout of 'sarkar salam'. When the
Superintendent came close to the prisoners, each prisoner was
expected to keep his left hand lifted and with the help of his right
hand to show his teeth to the Superintendent (evidently to convince
him that the prisoner was not using smuggled tobacco). This
practice also we refused to observe. The Superintendent had some
arguments with me on this points. He asked me why were we not
responding to 'sarkar salam' I hande.d overmy history ticket to him
and pointed out that I was jailed for spreading disaffection and
hatred against the government, how could he then expect me to
show respect to him in the name of that very government? I pointed
out to him that if I were inclined to do that there was no need for
me to be in jail. 252
This erosion of respect for authority, especially among the lower classes,
seemed to be the major concern of the govemment. 253
Police was also another major target of attack. 254 On 26 December 1921,
around 200 volunteers escorted by a large and noisy mob, carrying swaraj flags,
forced their way into the Sonbarsa thana compound in Sitamarhi. The volunteers
252
253
254
K.K.Datta Papers, "Statement ofBajrang Sahay-My Reminscences of the Freedom Movement
in Bihar", Manuscript Section, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (hereafter, NMML), p.
23.
Bihar and Orissa Political Special File no.58611921.
Ibid, File no. 311922, "Report for the week ending 5 January, I 922". The rest of the para is
based on this source.
105
told the police to resign from government service. On 23 December 1921, 100
sevak dal volunteers paraded in front of the Hajipur police station hurling abuses
at the police and shouting "sarkar ki nokri kama haram hai". There was also a
confrontation between the police and these sevak dais. The sevak dais were
supported by 2,000 people. In another incident, around 300 volunteers came to
the Raghupur police station and told the sub-inspector that on 1 January 1922,
they would plant the swaraj flag in the compound and take possession of the
police station. In Mahua, the police faced insults and abuses from the volunteers.
The car of Muzaffarpur Superintendent of Police was attacked in Hajipur.
The strong hostility and frequent attacks on the police tended to
demoralize the police force and greatly undermined the prestige of the
government. The following letter of Muzaffarpur District Magistrate to
Inspector General of Police brings out his concern of constant erosion of British
hegemony:
In the past, the establishment has been able to meet the requirements
of the district because of its great prestige and prestige of the
government behind it. At the present moment, as the result of
organized agitation against the police and against the government,
the prestige has temporarily greatly diminished. The police have,
therefore, now to rely on a show of strength where formerly prestige
alone precluded opposition. The strengthening of the armed guard is
unavoidably necessary. 255
The local officials did not look favourably at the withdrawal of the
notification under the Criminal Amendment Act. They feared that their base
was getting eroded. Expressing their anxiety, they said that even "the gentry
class and the leading men of dehat, who were their supporters, were wondering
m
Ibid, File no. 58611921, "Copy of a note by the Commissioner of the Tirhut Division".
106
if they had backed a wrong horse by sticking to the government and were
seriously considering whether it was not advisable to become high priests of the
charkha cult as they had several times been asked to do. The influential gentry
·of Hajipur were sitting on the fence with one leg on each side". They felt that
arrests of non-cooperators under the Act had frightened them, and that if the
same policy had continued, it would have been very beneficial to the
government. 256
To uphold their prestige and strength, the government had to now rely
openly on military and police. This further exposed the alien and
unrepresentative character of British rule. In many places, military and
additional police force were posted. 257 In Sitamarhi police station, a force of 50
additional armed police was posted and mounted military police was put on
patro: in Bagaha, Dhanaha, Lauria and Jogapati in the Champaran district. The
sqnad ·on of the 11/12th Cavalry dispatched from Meerut in December 1921
was
~1
ill in the Muzaffarpur district, and a company of the 5th Northumberland
Fusilit!rs came to Muzaffarpur town for winter training. Half a. squadron of the
cavalry was then "engaged in a route march through the Sitamarhi subdivision". 258
The nationalist leaders did not approve of direct confrontation with
authority in the form of picketing of thanas and demonstrations outside' the
courts or police stations. They felt that direct confrontation with the British
----·--------256
257
258
Ibid, File no. 538/1921, "From the Chief Secretary, Bihar and Orissa, to the Secretary to the
Government oflndia, 10 December 1921 ".
Freedom Movement Papers SCRO 56, BSA.
Govt. of India, Home Department (Political) File no. 441/1921, NAI; Motherland, 23 June
1922.
107
authority would bring about official repressiOn.
They wanted to restraint
volunteers from such activities. 259 They sent telegraphic orders to Gaya, Hajipur
and Sitamarhi to stop picketing outside thanas. They warned that such a
confrontational attitude with the authority would alienate the moderate
elements. 260 The nationalist leaders made determined efforts to secure the
suppott of the moderates, and to rally popular opinion to their side in defence of
freedom of speech and the right of association for political purposes.
261
The
BPCC passed a resolution on 12 January, 1922 stating:
Volunteers are strictly prohibited from saying in a court or a thana
that government service is forbidden (by religion), from reading the
fatwa and making any sort of noise there. Volunteers are prohibited
from carrying on any sort of picketing work or making noise outside
these places. They are prohibited from assembling or crying loudly
near any jail. 262
These instructions were sent to all volunteer associations. In addition,
nationalist leaders also made attempts to enlist as volunteers men of a "better
type", who would give the government no grounds for arresting them otherwise
than as members of proclaimed associations. A set of rules was also drawn up
for the organization of volunteers where greatest emphasis was now laid on
non-violence. 263
It was at this juncture, when the movement was gomg through an
intensive phase that an incident took place at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur
259
260
261
262
263
Searchlight, 11 January 1922; Motherland, 9, 12 January, 1922.
Ibid.
Searchlight, 11 January 1922.
Fortnightly Reports of Bihar and Orissa for January 1922, Govt. of India, Home Department
(Political) File no.18/Jan/1922, NAI.
Searchlight 25 January, 1922; Fortnightly Reports of Bihar and Orissa for January 1922,
Govt. of India, Home Department (Political) File no. 18/Jan/1922; Annual Administration
Report of Bihar and Orissa, 1922, p.5.
108
district of U.P. on 5 February 1922, where members of a Non-Cooperation
procession massacred a group of policemen. Gandhi and the AICC reacted to
the massacre by calling off Non-Cooperation on the grounds that if it continued
extensive violence would result. 264 The suspension of Non-Cooperation and
heavy police repression, which followed it, brought the movement to an end.
Thus, this chapter gives an overview of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
The movement stirred up feelings in many directions.
In many areas, the
movement received stimulus from the Congress campaign, but it extended its
parameter beyond those of the Congress programme and took on a very local
colour from its surrounding, as it was shaped in each locality. The nature of the
movement was fluid, taking different shapes and forms in different regions,
picking up different issues in different areas. It received impetus from social
tensions, agrarian tensions, anti-indigo protest, and it also provided a vehicle
for the expression of a variety of discontents. In many areas, it brought forth
agrarian agitations. In north Bihar, the movement built up a strong campaign
against the planters. Thus, the movement unleashed a variety of protests. In
fact, once the desires and aspirations of the masses got· linked up with the
movement, it followed its own rhythm and dynamism, from time to time
throwing up different agendas, some national and some local. Though the
movement did not achieve its declared object of forcing the British to allow
Indians to govern themselves, it gave the apparatus of British rule a severe
shaking. It built up defiance in all directions. Institutions of British authority
264
Bipan Chandra, et. a!. India's Strugglefor Independence 1857-1947, New Delhi, 1988,
p.191.
109
were challenged. The fear of the British institutions began to vanish. British
symbols of power came under attacks. Police came under frequent attacks. Jail,
an institution of authority, became a site of struggle. All this led to the erosion
of British hegemony. Officials constantly echoed regret as to how in the past
the establishment was able to meet the requirements of the districts because of
its and government's great prestige. The police had now to rely on a show of
strength where formerly prestige alone precluded opposition. This chapter may
be closed with the following quote of Rambriksha Benipuri, taken from his
Granthavali, which brings out the basic impact and character of the movement:
When I recall Non-Cooperation era of 1921, the image of a storm
confronts my eyes. From the time I became aware, I have
witnessed numerous movements, however, I can assert that no
other movement upturned the foundations of Indian society to the
extent that the Non-Cooperation Movement did. From the most
humble huts to the high places, from villages to cities, everywhere
there was a ferment, a loud echo. 265
265
Suresh Sharma, Benipuri Granthavali, Vol. IV, N.Delhi, 1998, p. 38.
110