Civil Disobedience Movement Second Phase 1931-1934

When Gandhi was in England to attend the round table conference, the political situation in India got even worse. There was a general disturbance in Bengal, United Provinces and Punjab.

• The Viceroy had issued an array of ordinances, which gave the authorities unlimited powers. This is called by many scholars as “Civil Martial Law“. There were no civil liberties. The authorities could detain people and seize their property at will.

  In a proposed launch of no-rent campaign by the Congress, Jawahar Lal Nehru had been arrested. In NWF province, Khan Abdul Gaffer Khan had also been arrested along with his comrades – The Red Shirts.
  

  Gandhi arrived from London on 28 December 1931 and on that day, Congress Working Committee decided to resume the Civil Disobedience Movement. Within a week, on 4 January 1932, Gandhi was arrested. In the first 4 months, around 80 thousand people were jailed. Lakhs of people jumped into the protests all over India. They just did two main things i.e. picket the shops that sold liquor and foreign cloth and carried out processions.

  The Congress and other political parties were declared an illegal organization. The offices and funds of these parties were seized. All the Ashrams of Gandhi were occupied by the Police.

  But the movement could not build the tempo and was crushed within a few months. Officially, the Civil Disobedience movement was suspended in May 1933 and it was finally withdrawn in May 1934.