द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

INTRODUCTION 35 On the basis of the Montagu-Chelmsford report, a new constitution was drawn up and passed by the British Govern- ment, called the Government of India Act, 1919. This constitution was regarded as inadequate and unsatisfactory by nationalist opinion in India. While attempts were made on the one hand to put India on the road to self-government, the Government of India forged fresh fetters for the people. A new Act was passed by the Government in the teeth of popu- lar opposition, whereby people could be imprisoned without trial on political grounds for an indefinite period. A country- wide agitation was raised against this Act and it was led by Mahatma Gandhi. In the attempt to suppress the agitation in the Punjab, terrible massacres were committed by the troops in Amritsar under General Dyer. The Amritsar massacre caused an unparalleled indignation not only in India but. also among all fair-minded people in England. After the Amritsar incident, two enquiry committees were appointed, one by the Congress and the other by the Govern- ment. Both the committees strongly condemned the action of the military, though the Congress Enquiry Committee went much further in its condemnation. But the steps taken by the Government to compensate the sufferers and to punish the wrong-doers were extremely inadequate. The Amritsar Congress in December 1919, had decided to work the new constitution in spite of its unsatisfactory character, but when the attitude of the Government towards the Amritsar massacre was made known, there was a revulsion of popular feeling. Meanwhile the attempt of the Allied Powers to dismember Turkey, produced discontent and resentment among the Indian Moslems who turned against the Government. In defence of the Sultan of Turkey who was also the 'Khalifa' or head of the Islamic Church, a movement was started by the Indian Moslems under the name of the Khilafat move- ment. At this stage an alliance was struck between the Khilafat leaders and Mr. Gandhi, the Congress leader. In September 1920, a special session of the Congress was held in Calcutta to determine the attitude of the Congress towards the reforms and particularly towards the elections to be held that year under the new Constitution. At the instance of