Question

Which are the different social groups that participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement? Why did they join the movement? What were their ideals? What did swaraj mean to them?

Answer 1

Rich peasants:
Rich peasants were affected by the trade depression and falling prices to pay the government’s revenue demand. The refusal of the government to reduce the revenue demand led to widespread resentment. These rich peasants participated in the boycott programmes. For them the fight for swaraj was a struggle against high revenues.
Poor Peasants:
The poorer peasantry were interested in the lowering of the revenue demand as well as the remission of unpaid rent. They joined ‘no rent’ campaigns in most places which were not supported by the Congress. For them the fight for swaraj was reduction in rent.
Business Classes:
Business Classes wanted protection against imports of foreign goods, and foreign exchange ratio. They formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920 and the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927.
Most businessmen came to see swaraj as a time when colonial restrictions on business would no longer exist and trade and industry would flourish without constraints.
Industrial Working Classes:
The industrial working classes participated only in the Nagpur region. They took part of their own movements against low wages and poor working conditions.
Women:
During Gandhiji’s salt march, thousands of women participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. They wanted equal freedom for them like men.