INDIAN INDEPENDENCE MOMENT

A living being is always in a search of freedom. Free this world attracts

everyone because we humans and those animals and also the beautiful birds
appreciate freedom. When your boundaries are set by others instead of
yourself, the struggle begins. The struggle to seek freedom. Freedom to know
your worth, your worth can only be showcased when you possess your
ideology.
The same problem was faced by our Golden bird i.e BHARAT
To tell the story we need to go back more than 4000 years most scholars
believe Hinduism started in the Indus valley.

Indian Nationalism
India has been unified under many empires in its history like the Mauryan
Empire and Mughal Empire. A sense of oneness has been there for ages –
even though most of the centralized administration in India didn’t last long.
With the end of Mughal rule, India broke into hundreds of princely states.
The British – which was instrumental in the fall of the Mughal Empire – held
control over the princely states and created the British Indian Empire.
However, most Indians were extremely dissatisfied with the exploitative
foreign rule. The educated Indians realized that the British always gave
priority to their colonial interests and treated India only as a market.

Foundation of Indian National Congress (INC) in

1885
The late nineteenth century witnessed the emergence of many political
organizations in British India Indian National Congress (also known as the
Congress Party) founded in 1885 was the most prominent one. Initially, its
aim was to create a platform for civic and political dialogue between Indians
and the British Raj and thus obtain a greater share in government for
educated Indians. Later, under the leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawarhal
Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the Congress
party played a central role in organizing the mass movements against the
British.

Partition of Bengal (1905)

Indian nationalism was gaining in strength and Bengal was the nerve
center of Indian nationalism in the early 1900s Lord Curzon, the Viceroy
(1899-1905), attempted to ‘dethrone Calcutta’ from its position as the
center from which the Congress Party manipulated throughout Bengal, and
indeed, the whole of India. The decision to partition Bengal into two was in
the air from December 1903. Congress party – from 1903 to mid-1905 –
tried moderate techniques of petitions, memoranda, speeches, public
meetings, and press campaigns. The objective was to turn public opinion in
India and England against the partition. However, Viceroy Curzon 1905
formally announced the British Government’s decision for the partition of
Bengal on 19 July 1905. The partition took effect on 16 October 1905.

The Split in the Congress (1907)

The main public leaders of the two wings, Tilak (of the Extremists) and
Gokhale (of the Moderates) were aware of the dangers of disunity in the
nationalist ranks. A split was avoided in 1906 by choosing Dadabhai
Naoroji as president of INC in the Calcutta session. Also, four compromise
resolutions on the Swadeshi, Boycott, National Education, and Self-
Government demands were passed. However, the hope of a united
Congress was short-lived. The Extremists wanted to extend the Swadeshi
and the Boycott Movement from Bengal to the rest of the country but
Moderators opposed it.

Champaran movement in Bihar (1917)

Mahatma Gandhi, after his struggle against apartheid in South Africa (racial
discrimination against the blacks) for almost twenty years, returned to India
in 1915. On Gokhale’s advice, he spent a year traveling around British
India to understand the problems of Indians. He initially maintained a
distance from political affairs, including the Home Rule Movement which
was gathering momentum at this time. Mahatma Gandhi began his
experiments with Satyagraha against the oppressive European indigo
planters at Champaran in Bihar in 1917. Champaran issue had actually
begun in the early 19th century when European planters made agreements
with Indian farmers that forced them to cultivate indigo on 3/20th of their
holdings (known as the Tinkathia system). Resistance kept surfacing within
planters and cultivators, because of the exploitation measures adopted by
the British behind the indigo cultivation.

Rowlatt Satyagraha (1919)

During the First World War of 1914-18, the British had instituted censorship
of the press and permitted detention without trial. The Anarchical and
Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was
passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919,
indefinitely extending the emergency measures of preventive indefinite
detention, incarceration without trial, and judicial review enacted in the
Defence of India Act 1915 during the First World War.

Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919)

The passage of the Rowlatt Act in 1919 resulted in large-scale political
unrest throughout India. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at
the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab to protest against the arrest of
pro-Indian independence leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satya Pal.
In response to the public gathering, the British Brigadier-General R. E. H.
Dyer surrounded the Bagh with his soldiers. General Dyer ordered his
troops to open fire on the nationalist meeting killing hundreds. The brutality
at Jallianwala Bagh stunned the entire nation. This event caused many
moderate Indians to abandon their previous loyalty to the British and
become nationalists distrustful of British rule.

The boycott of the Simon Commission (1927)

On 8 November 1927, an all-white, Simon Commission was appointed to
recommend whether India was ready for further constitutional reforms.
Indian National Congress boycott Simon Commission because no Indian
was present in the commission. There were protests in many places. In
Lahore, Lala Lajpat Rai, the hero of the extremist days and the most
revered leader of Punjab was hit. He succumbed to the injuries in
November 1928. Bhagat Singh and his comrades sought to avenge the
death of Lala Lajpat Rai. They killed the white police official, Saunders, in
December 1928. Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Bose emerged as the
leaders during the Simon Commission boycott movement.

Purna Swaraj or Complete Independence Campaign

(1929)
In the Lahore session of 1929, Jawaharlal Nehru was made the President
of INC. He declared ‘Purna Swaraj’ or Complete Independence as the only
honorable goal Indians could strive for. On the banks of the river Ravi, at
midnight on 31 December 1929, the tricolor flag of Indian independence
was hosted. The first task that the Congress set itself in the new year was
that of organizing all over the country was public meetings at which the
Independence Pledge would be read out and collectively affirmed on 26
January.
Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March
(1930)
Nehru’s arrest on 14th April was followed by public protests in Madras,
Calcutta and Karachi.

The Salt March was notable for at least three reasons:

1. It was this event that first brought Mahatma Gandhi to world attention.
2. It was the first nationalist activity in which women participated in large
numbers. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay had persuaded Gandhi for this
issue.
3. It was the Salt March that forced upon the British the realisation that
their Raj would not last forever, and that they would have to devolve
some power to the Indians.

The Communal Award (1932)

After the Third Round Table Conference, in November 1932, the then
Prime Minister of Britain Ramsay McDonald gave an order which is known
as the Communal Award.

It was part of Britisher’s policy of ‘Divide and Rule.

The award granted separate electorates in British India for the Forward
Caste, Lower Caste, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-
Indians, Europeans and Untouchables (Dalits) etc.

The Congress Party was unhappy at the extension of communal

representation but became particularly outraged at the British offer of
separate-electorate seats for “depressed classes”.

Gandhi viewed the McDonald Award as a nefarious British plot to wean

more than 50 million Hindus away from their higher-caste brothers and
sisters.

The idea of a separate electorate for Muslims had been accepted by

Congress as far back as 1916 as a part of the compromise with the Muslim
League. Hence, Congress took the position it was opposed to separate
electorates but not in favour of changing the Award without the consent of
the minorities.
Government of India Act (1935)
The growing demand for constitutional reforms in India led the British
Parliament to enact the Government of India Act 1935. The Act promised
some form of representative government. The Act provided the
establishment of an All-India Federation based on the union of British
Indian provinces and the Princely States.

Quit India Movement (1942)

The Quit India Movement was launched at the Bombay session of the All
India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942,
during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in India. In this
struggle, the common people of the country demonstrated unparalleled
heroism and militancy. However, the repression that they faced was the
most brutal that had ever been used against the national movement.

Simla Conference (1945) and the Wavell Plan

On 14 June 1945 Lord Wavell announced a plan for a new Executive
Council in which all members except the Viceroy and the Commander in
Chief would be Indians. This executive council was to be a temporary
measure until a new permanent constitution could be agreed upon and
come into force.

Mountbatten Plan (1947)

The plan announced by the Viceroy Mountbatten on 3 June 1947

1. The principle of the partition of British India was accepted by the

British Government.
2. Successor governments would be given dominion status.
3. Autonomy and sovereignty to both countries.
4. The successor governments could make their own constitution
5. The Princely States were given the right to join either Pakistan or
India, based on two major factors: Geographical contiguity and the
people’s wishes.

The Mountbatten plan led to the enactment of the India Independence Act
of 1947.

India Independence Act (1947)

The Indian Independence Act 1947 passed by the Parliament of the United
Kingdom divided British India into two new independent dominions;
the Dominion of India (later to become the Republic of India) and
the Dominion of Pakistan (later to become the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan).

This Act received Royal Assent on 18 July 1947.

India and Pakistan became independent on August 15th, 1947.

India continues to celebrate August 15th as her Independence day, while

Pakistan chose to celebrate August 14th as her Independence day as per
their cabinet decisions.

Conclusion

I would sum up my ob