Page 111 - SST Class 05

18 March to Freedom

Freedom and I

These are the historic words of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, in 1947 when India
gained freedom : “At the stroke of midnight hour when the world sleeps, India will wake to life and
freedom.”

The struggle for India’s freedom entered the phase when people became vocal against
the British. The important events of this phase can be described below.

Extremists and Moderates Unite
You have learnt that the moderate and the extremist factions of the Congress differed
in their views. The former believed in appeals and petitions; while the latter favoured
processions, protests and hartals. They realized that they could pressure the

government only when they were united. In 1916, they sorted out their differences and
united themselves at the Lucknow Session of Congress.

The Year 1919
The year of 1919 witnessed the events which made the Indians bitter against the British
for all times to come.

Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms : In the name of giving concessions to Indians, in 1919,
the British government passed the Government of India Act, 1919 , also known as the
Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms. The real intention of the law was to divide the Hindus
and Muslims further. It ignored the people’s demands for self-rule. This made the

Indians very dissatisfied now.
Rowlatt Act : The Indians were demanding more rights, while the British government

did just the opposite. It passed the Rowlatt Act, 1919. Under this law, the police could
arrest any person without a trial and keep him in jail. People were barred from
speaking anything against the government. The Indians rose in a nationwide protest
on 6 April, 1919. The government was merciless as ever. It lathi-charged (cane-
charged) them and sent a large number of leaders to jail all over India. Still the protests
went on everywhere.

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