For a long time hostility had been growing, and it broke out in open revolt at the Government's brutally oppressive measures. There were riots at Malegaon, in the district of Nasik, and at Giridih, in Behar. In the beginning of May, 1921, there were serious clashes in Assam. Twelve thousand coolies stopped work in the tea-gardens, and were attacked by Gurkhas drafted by the Government, and in eastern Bengal the railroad and steamship workers organized a two months' strike in protest. Gandhi did all in his power to calm the effervescence. In May he had a long conversation with the viceroy, Lord Reading, and he also used his influence with the Ali brothers, who were said to be stirring up violence by their inflammatory speeches. Gandhi was able to persuade his Moslem friends to "refrain from directly or indirectly advocating violence."

The non-coöperation movement, however, grew more and more powerful as time went on. The Moslem element in particular became audacious. At Karachi, July 8, for instance, the All-India Khilafat Conference, after reiterating the Moslem claims, declared that no Mussulman should serve in the English Army or assist in recruiting. In fact, the conference even went so far as to threaten to proclaim a republic in India and advocate civil disobedience at the December session of the National Congress if the Government did not change its hostile attitude to the Angora leaders. A little later, on July 28, the committee of the National Congress (the first congress committee elected according to the new constitution) sitting at Bombay decided to boycott the Prince of Wales, whose visit was announced, and declared a boycott on all foreign materials, to become effective before September 30. It also took steps to intensify and regulate national spinning and weaving, and urged the organization of a more vigorous campaign against the drink evil, despite the Government's support of the dealers. Less audacious than the Mussulmans of the Khilafat Conference, however, the congress committee disavowed revolutionary tendencies and disapproved civil disobedience, approving a more; strenuous propaganda in favor of non-violence.

In August a brutal revolt of the Moplahs took place, and lasted several months. With Maulana Mohamed Ali, Gandhi decided to go from Calcutta to Malabar to try to quiet it. But the Government arrested Maulana Mohamed and his brother Maulana Shaukat Ali as well as several other Moslem notables, accusing them of having voted for civil disobedience at the Khilafat Conference. At the news of the Ali brothers' arrest, the Central Khilafat Committee, sitting at Delhi, ratified unanimously the resolutions of the Khilafat Conference. Hundreds of demonstrations, held all over India, confirmed the people's approval of them. On October 4, Gandhi announced that he considered his cause hound up with that of the Mussulmans. In a manifesto approved by fifty prominent members of the All-India Congress Gandhi declared that every citizen was entitled to express his views on non-coöperation, adding that no Indian, whether civil functionary or soldier, should serve a Government which has brought about the moral, political, and economical degradation of India. He set up non-coöperation with such a Government as an imperative duty. The Ali brothers' trial took place at Karachi. With their fellow-accused, they were sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

To this sentence India replied with redoubled vigor. Gandhi's manifesto was ratified by the Committee of the All-India Congress on November 4 at Delhi. And casting the die, the committee authorized every province, on its own responsibility, to proclaim civil disobedience, beginning with a refusal to pay taxes. "Resisters," however, were first to swear complete obedience to the Swadeshi program, including hand spinning, and take the vow of non-violence. In other words, under Gandhi's direction the committee tried to combine resistance against the Government with discipline and self-sacrifice. To make the disinterested character of the movement clear. Resisters were informed that neither they nor their families would receive any pecuniary aid from the committee.

The great disobedience was about to become effective when, on November 17, the Prince of Wales landed at Bombay. The boycott was carried out by the lower and the middle classes; but the rich, the Parsees and official personages, ignored the order completely. Their attitude created such fury among the populace that the masses stormed the houses of the rich, looting and sacking homes and property, sparing no one, not even the women. Many were killed and wounded. This was the only case of violence, however. Everywhere else, all over India, the prescribed hartal took place in the midst of almost religious quiet and order. There were no disturbances of any kind. But the news of the Bombay riots wounded Gandhi "like an arrow shot in his heart." As soon as he heard of them he rushed to the spot, and when the rioters cheered him his mortification knew no bounds. He called the crowd angrily to order and commanded it to disperse. He declared that the Parsees were justified in celebrating the prince's arrival if they wished, and, in any event, nothing justified violence. The crowd listened to Gandhi in silence, but farther off the tumult broke out again. The worst elements seemed to have suddenly emerged from the earth, and twenty thousand men, towering in rage and hatred, cannot be brought back to reason all at once. Still, the rioters remained localized in certain districts, and the destruction was not half so great as that caused by the most insignificant revolutionary outbreak in Europe. Gandhi, however, issued anguished appeals to the citizens of Bombay and to the non-coöperators, and declared that such incidents proved that the masses were not yet ripe for civil disobedience. Therefore he suspended the order proclaiming it. To punish himself for the violence of his followers, he imposed upon himself a religious fast of twenty-four hours every week.

The European residents in India were less alarmed by the Bombay riots than by the striking unanimousness of the silent hartal throughout the country. They urged the viceroy and the Government to act, and a series of oppressive measures were imposed in the various provinces. An old law, aimed at anarchists and secret societies, dating from the uprisings of 1908, was unearthed, and made to serve against the volunteer associations of the Congress and of the Khilafat. Arrests were made by the thousand, which only resulted in bringing thousands of new recruits to register as volunteers, who were then trained by the provincial committees. In the meantime a hartal was set for December 24, the date of the Prince of Wales's visit to Calcutta. That day the prince passed through a silent, absolutely deserted city.

The revolution seemed to be smoldering everywhere, ready to burst into flame when the Indian National Congress met at Ahmedabad. There was about it the impressive solemnity of the États-Généraux on the eve of the French Revolution in 1789. The president of the congress had just been imprisoned. The discussions were brief. The congress again proclaimed its faith in non-coöperation and invited all citizens to register as volunteers and to be prepared to face arrest. It also urged the people to organize mass-meetings everywhere; and after expressing the opinion that civil disobedience is a weapon equally effective and more humane than armed rebellion, it moved that civil disobedience be adopted as soon as the masses had grasped the real spirit of non-violence. Realizing that many of the members would be arrested at the close of the session, the congress delegated its powers to Gandhi, investing him with a dictature de facto and authorizing him to appoint his successor. This made Gandhi sole master of India's policy. The congress limited his authority on one point only, and this was that he should agree to no change in the national creed nor make peace with the Government without the consent of the congress committee. A fraction of the assembly tried to pass a resolution approving violence, if necessary to bring about India's independence, but this resolution was rejected by the majority, which believed in Gandhi's principles.

The ensuing weeks revealed the religious enthusiasm which swept over India. Twenty-five thousand men and women joyfully surrendered themselves to prison guards. And back of them, thousands of others stood ready to give themselves up to prove their faith in the cause of India.

§ 2

Again Gandhi believed the country was ripe for civil disobedience en masse. The signal was to be given in a model district, at Bardoli, in the province of Bombay.[113] Here Gandhi's ideas had always been understood and followed. In an open letter to the viceroy, dated February 9, 1922, Gandhi set forth his program. The letter is a courteous, but clear, declaration of war. Gandhi says he is the leader of the non-coöperation movement, and he claims responsibility for it. Bardoli will be the first unit of non-violent mass revolt against a government which has brutally infringed upon freedom of the press, of association, and of speech. Gandhi gives Lord Reading seven days in which to announce a change of policy. If the "viceroy will not or cannot see such an incredibly simple issue," civil disobedience will be proclaimed.[114]