could win the battle through non- violence. This could be done by appealing to the conscience of the oppressor. People – including the oppressors – had to be persuaded to see the truth, instead of being forced to accept truth through the use of violence. By this struggle, truth was bound to ultimately triumph.
Mahatma Gandhi believed that this dharma of non-violence could unite all Indians. After arriving in India, Mahatma Gandhi successfully organised satyagraha movements in various places. In he travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system. Then in , he organised a satyagraha to support the peasants of the Kheda district of Gujarat.
Affected by crop failure and a plague epidemic, the peasants of Kheda could not pay the revenue, and were demanding that revenue collection be relaxed. In , Mahatma Gandhi went to Ahmedabad to organise a satyagraha movement amongst cotton mill workers. . The Rowlatt Act Emboldened with this success, Gandhiji in decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act ( ).
This Act had been hurriedly passed through the Imperial Legislative Council despite the united opposition of the Indian members. It gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities, and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years. Mahatma Gandhi wanted non-violent civil disobedience against such unjust laws, which would start with a hartal on April. Rallies were organised in various cities, workers went on strike in railway workshops, and shops closed down.
Alarmed by the popular upsurge, and scared that lines of communication such as the railways and telegraph would be disrupted, the British administration decided to clamp down on nationalists. Local leaders were picked up from Amritsar, and Mahatma Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi. On April, the police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession, provoking widespread attacks on banks, post offices and railway stations. Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.
Mahatma Gandhi on Satyagraha ‘It is said of “passive resistance” that it is the weapon of the weak, but the