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Indian Freedom Struggle (1707–1947 A.D.)

Notes K.M. Munshi and Lalji Naranji, the representatives of the Indian Merchants Chamber, who were
not hot-headed extremists, resigned their seats. By July 1928, the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, himself
began to doubt the correctness of the Bombay Government’s stand and put pressure on Governor
Wilson to find a way out. Uncomfortable questions had started appearing in the British Parliament
as well.
Public opinion in the country was getting more and more restive and anti-Government. Peasants in
many parts of Bombay Presidency were threatening to agitate for revision of the revenue assessments
in their areas. Workers in Bombay textile mills were on strike and there was a threat that Patel and
the Bombay Communists would combine in bringing about a railway strike that would make
movement of troops and supplies to Bardoli impossible. The Bombay Youth League and other
organizations had mobilized the people of Bombay for huge public meetings and demonstrations.
Punjab was offering to send jathas on foot to Bardoli. Gandhiji had shifted to Bardoli on 2 August,
1928, in order to take over the reins of the movement if Patel was arrested. All told, a retreat, if it
could be covered up by a face saving device, seemed the best way out for the Government.
The face-saving device was provided by the Legislative Council members from Surat who wrote
a letter to the Governor assuring him that his pre-condition for an enquiry would be satisfied. The
letter contained no reference to what the pre-condition was (though everyone knew that it was full
payment of the enhanced rent) because an understanding had already been reached that the full
enhanced rent would not be paid. Nobody took the Governor seriously when he declared that he
had secured an ‘unconditional surrender.’ It was the Bardoli peasants who had won.
The enquiry, conducted by a judicial officer, Broomfield, and a revenue officer, Maxwell, came to
the conclusion that the increase had been unjustified, and reduced the enhancement to 6.03 per
cent. The New Statesman of London summed up the whole affair on 5 May 1929: ‘The report of the
Committee constitutes the worst rebuff which any local government in India has received for
many years and may have far-reaching results ... It would be difficult to find an incident quite
comparable with this in the long and controversial annals of Indian Land Revenue.
The relationship of Bardoli and other peasant struggles with the struggle for freedom can best be
described in Gandhiji’s pithy words: ‘Whatever the Bardoli struggle may be, it clearly is not a
struggle for the direct attainment of swaraj. That every such awakening, every such effort as that
of Bardoli will bring swaraj nearer and may bring it nearer even than any direct effort is undoubtedly
true.
Self-Assessment
Choose the correct option:
1. The first cotton mill was set up in Bombay in
(i) 1854 (ii) 1853 (iii) 1844 (iv) 1860
2. The first big show of strength of the sabha was the rally held at ............... on 20 and 21 December.
(i) Faizabad (ii) Ayodhya (iii) Kanpur (iv) Murshidabad
3. In August, ............... peasant discontent erupted in the Malabar district of Kerala.
(i) 1920 (ii) 1921 (iii) 1919 (iv) 1923.
4. Bardoli talaq has been selected in ............... as the place from where Ghandhiji would launch
the civil disobedience campaign.
(i) 1922 (ii) 1923 (iii) 1920 (iv) 1924.
5. Gandhiji had shifted to Bardoli on ............... 1928 in order to take over the reins of the movement
if Patel was arrested.
(i) 3 August (ii) 5 August (iii) 2 August (iv) 9 August

8.2 Peasant Movements in the 1930’s and 1940’s

The 1930s bore witness to a new and nation-wide awakening of Indian peasants to their own
strength and capacity to organize for the betterment of their living conditions. This awakening

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