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For this unit I like to mix some of the drier and critical readings about the politics and process of gaining independence with some works from Gandhi. In this unit you will find a combination of secondary sources, primary texts from and about Gandhi and a documentary viewing. Before reading works from Gandhi I weave in some activities about his life and beliefs in general. You can find those activities here.
Activity 1:
Indian Politics and Protest
See attached for the reading and formatted assignment. The questions and primary source analsysis can be found below as well.
Central Questions:
How did Indians try to gain more political power under the British Raj?
How did the British react and attempt to retain control of India?
Vocabulary:
Swadeshi, Separate electorates, Self-governance, Self determination, Ballot, Vindication, Creed
Questions:
1. What is Lal Mohan Ghose, the president of the Indian National Congress, critique of the royal durbars when he says:
“It cannot be denied that if even half of the vast sum spent in connection with eth Dehli [Durbar] had been made over for the purpose of famine relief, it might hae been the means of saving millions of men, women, and children from death and starvation.”
2. How and why did Viceroy Curzan decide to partition the province of Bengal?
3. Herbert Risely, the British home secretary o the government of in India said in 1904 that:
“Bengal united is a power; Bengal divided will pull in different ways. That is perfectly true and is one of the merits of the scheme… One of our main objects is to split up and thereby weaken a solid body of opponents to our rule.”
What does Risely explain is the purpose of partitioning the region of Bengal? What
is his tone in this excerpt?
4. Were all Indians upset with the decision to partition Bengal? If not who supported the decision and why?
5. Dr. Rajendralal Mitra said the following in his welcome speech to the delegate of the Indian National Congree in 1886:
“We live, not udner a National Government, but under a foreign bureaucracy; our foreign rulers are foreign by birth, religion, language, habits, by everything that divides humanity into different sections. They cannot possibly dive into our hearts; they cannot understand our wants, our feelings, our aspirations.”
What does Dr. Mitra expresses are his frustrations with the British? What is his tone in this excerpt?
6. What are four ways Indians participated in the swadeshi movement?
7. Who did not support the movement? Why?
8. Why did the Muslim League ask Viceroy Minto for reserved seats in the legislature?
9. What benefits did it bring the British to set aside seats for Muslim League representatives?
10. The Montagu-Chelmsford Report of 1918 concluded the following:
“Division by creeds and classes means the creation of political camps organized against each other, and teaches men to think as partisans and not as citizens…”
What does the report say about dividing people based on their religion? What does this suggest about how the British controlled India?
Activity 2:
Reading Gandhi
Students will read Gandhi's writings on "The Doctrine of the Sword" and "My Faith in Non-Violence" and answer the accompanying questions. I often format hadouts that requier students not only to answer questions but to also select portions of the text that help support their ideas. These sheets become useflu for students later whe they sit to write their papers. After completing their homeowkr they also have a set of quotes and analysis without even breaking a sweat!
by Mohandas Gandhi
Questions:
1. Why do people attempt to convince Gandhi to use violence?
2. When does Gandhi condone violence?
3. What makes non-violence better than violence?
4. What is the source of strength according to Gandhi?
5. How does Gandhi define non-violence?
6. Why is taking up violence problematic?
by Mohandas Gandhi
Vocabulary: Ocular – visual ; Phenomenal – amazing ; Strenuous – difficult, tiring ; Discipline – self-control ; Ceaselessly – endlessly ; Hypocrisy – contradicting oneself, saying one thing, but doing another; Expenditure – spending ; Armaments – weapons ; Replete – full of ; Infer – assume, conclude
Questions:
1. Why is the law of love “a higher law” than the law of destruction?2. How is non-violence a weapon of the strong?
3. How is the law of love greater than electricity?
4. How does the study/practice of non-violence contribute to a person’s morality?
5. Why is non-violence more effective than warfare?
Activity 3:
Gandhi and Satyagraha : Documents and Questions
Document 1: "A Bonfire of Certificates" by M.K. Gandhi (1928)
In 1908, as a young lawyer in South Africa, Gandhi opposed South Africa's Asiatic Law Amendment Act. This law required the Indian community to register with the government and carry a certificate at all times on penalty of imprisonment or deportation. Gandhi began a satyagraha campaign to protest this law known as the Black Act. On August 16, as an act of defiance, Gandhi held a bonfire to burn the certificated. According to Gandhi, thirty thousand Indians attended. as he reported:
Text Box
The Committee had already received upwards of 2,000 certificates to be burnt. These were all thrown into the cauldron, saturated with paraffin and set ablaze by Mr. Yusuf Mian. The whole assembly rose to their feet and made the place resound with the echoes of their continuous cheers during the burning process. Some of those who had still withheld their certificates brought them in numbers to the platform, and these too were consigned to the flames.
The satyagraha campaign continues until January 12, 1914, when Gandhi and the South African government reached a compromise agreement ending some of the harshest provisions of the Black Act.
Document 2: The Great Trial by K.P.K Menon (1922)
In India, Gandhi was arrested for writing seditious articles (sedition means likely to start a rebellion), a charge to which he pled guilty. During the satyagraha campaign he had recently led, some Indian protesters had engaged in violent acts, including the burning and hackling to death of 23 policemen in the village of Chaurui Chaura. When the British government blamed Gandhi for this he replied:
Text Box
"Thinking over these [acts of violence] deeply and sleeping over then night after night it is impossible for me to disassociate myself from the diabolical crimes of Chauri Chaura...He [the British Advocate General] is quite right when he says that as a man of responsibility, a man having had a fair share of experience of this world, I should have known the consequence of every one of my acts. I knew that I was playing with fire. I ran a risk, and if I was set free, I would still do the same..."
"I wanted to avoid violence...But I had to make my choice. I had either to submit to a system which I considered had done an irreparable harm to my country, or incur risk of the mad fury of my people bursting forth, when they understood the truth from my lips. I know that my people have something gone mad. I am deeply sorry for it and I am therefore here to submit not to a light penalty, but to the highest penalty. I do not ask for mercy."
Document 3: "Dharasana Salt Raid" by Webb Miller (1936)
Gandhi was once again arrested on May 5, 1930. In May 20, as part of the campaign against the salt tax, 2,500 satyagrahi followers planned to raid the salt worked at Dharasana, 150 miles north of BOmbay (Gandhi had intended to lead the march himself). Their leader, Madame Naidu, warned, "You must not use violence under any circumstance." Webb Miller a US reporter, wrote an eye-witness account. As the "Gandhi men" walked towards the salt works...
"[A]t a word of command, scores of native police rushed upon the advancing marchers and rained blows on their heads with their steel-shod lathis [long bamboo sticks]. Not one of the marchers even raised an arm to fend off the blows. They went down like tenpins. From where I stood I heard sickening whacks of the clubs on unprotected skulls. The waiting crowd of watchers groaned and sucked in their breaths in sympathetic pain at every blow..."
"At times the spectacle of unresisting men being methodically bashed into a bloody pulp sickened me so much that I had to turn away. Th western mind finds it difficult to grasp the idea of non-resistance."
Document 4: A Frankenstein of the East.
Gandhi: "Remember—no voilence; just disobedience." Genie: "And what if I disobey you?"
Questions:
1. Why does it take great courage to be a satyagrahi?
2. What are some benefits of the satyagraha campaign?
3. What were some drawbacks of the satyagraha campaign?
4. Why did so many people support Gandhi’s satyagraha campaign?
5. Is satyagraha an effective way to oppose oppression?
6. Is satyagraha an effective way of achieving political goals?
Activity 4:
A Force More Powerful: India - Defying the Crown
I was able to get the documentary A Force More Powerful on loan from my library. Its a shame that this chapter is not currently on youtube. It is a great segment with great footage. My students found the narrator a bit hard to understand because of his accent, but overall they were very moved by the piece. I open the lesson with this quote from MLK from his Letter from A Birmingham Jail (April 1963), "You may well ask, "Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marched, etc.? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored." Discussing this quote often sets the stage for the drama that unfolds in the film. It is also useful to come back to at the end and ask students how they think Gandhi's dramatizing helped to bring the British to the negotiating table. Then I review the vocabulary and pause the movie throughout so that students can ask questions and answer the ones I have for them below. I have eventually use the critical thinking questions as part of an in class essay that students write at the end of this unit.
Key Terms : Ashram; Non-violent; Resistance; Obedience; khadi (homespun cloth); Rupee – Indian currency; Mobilize – prepare and activate
During the film
What is the nickname for the colony of India when it is under British Rule?
How many British troops were controlling India?
What does Gandhi decide he is going to use to challenge the British rule of India?
What steps did Gandhi take before the march? (List at least 3)
Why did he choose salt? What is the symbolism?
About how long will Gandhi’s march take?
How old is Gandhi when he marches?
Why didn’t the British government interfere with Gandhi’s plan?
How is Gandhi described in this clip?
What is the dilemma that Gandhi hopes to create for the British?
What did Gandhi ask the people of India to do?
How does Gandhi want to escalate the situation when he is not arrested?
What “Ordinances” does Lord Erwin pass? (There were 3)
Why do non-violent resisters want to be arrested?
What happened at the Darasana Salt Works?
What effect did Web Miller’s report have on the world?
(What did the satyagrahi quoted say about the success of the movement?)
What do those who cannot go to jai to do fight the British?
When does Gandhi call off the civil disobedience?
To what/whom does Gandhi compare his work?
After the film:
1. The satyagrahis, non-violent resisters, are often described in military terms, i.e. “an army” or “footsoliers.” Can an “army” be non-violent? Explain.
2. Do you agree that the Indian resisters of May 15, 1930 succeed? Why? Or why not?
3. Why was it so important that the British pride themselves on “enlightened rule” and Indian cooperation?
4. Do you agree with Gandhi’s compromise? Why or why not?
Critical thinking question: (I expanded this assignment into an in class essay as well)
Early in his career Gandhi once labeled a campaign of nonviolent action as "passive resistance." Is this a good description of what the Indians shown in the program were doing? Is it a good label for nonviolent action in general? In 2 perfect paragraphs with 3-6 pieces of evidence explain your response. You should use evidence from your readings of “The Doctrine of the Sword” and “My Faith in Non-Violence”.
Activity 5:
Negotiating Independence
Central Question: What issues emerged when India demanded that the British leave India?
Students will read the section in Choices on Negotiating Independence and respond to the questions below.
Questions:
1. What impact did the 1935 Government of India Act have on the provinces? On the all-India level?
2. Viceroy Linlithgow reflected on the 1935 Government of India act,
"After all we framed the constitution as it stands in the Act of 1935 because we thought that way the best way - given the political position in both countries - of maintaining British Influence in India."
a. What is the reason he gives for why he thinks its best that the British stay in India?
b. How would you characterize his tone in this excerpt?
3. How did the Muslim League do in the 1937 elections? Why?
4. Take a look at the WWII British poster of Indian participation is government since 1861. What is the message of this poster? Why would the British publicize this poster during WWII?
5. Under what two conditions did the Indian National Congress agree to support British efforts in WWII? Did the British meet those demands?
6. Why did people join the Pakistan movement?
7. Why was the 1940 Lahore resolution unclear?
8. In March 23 1940, the premier of Bengal, Fazul Huq, explained the following,
"No constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to the Muslims unless... the areas in which Muslims are numerically in he majority should be grouped to constitute 'Independent states'..."
a. What is Huq saying about drafting a new Indian Constitution?
b. Knowing what you have studied about the demographics of Bengal, what do you think of
Huq's statement?
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