By: Amelia BB
Strategies used in the Indian Freedom Struggle
The Indian Freedom Struggle may not be well known by many people, but people got together and made changes in life. During the Indian Freedom Struggle, there were lots of strategies used to get Indians what they wanted and to show people that everybody should be treated equally. Civil disobedience, boycotting, striking, and protesting were the most effective strategies during the Indian Freedom Struggle because it helped the Indians through hard times. But, there’s one strategy that was the most effective, and how that strategy has been useful in our daily lives.
Protesting was a strategy that helped the Indians because it gave them individual strength and power. Gandhi used satyagraha as a strategy to help the Indians. Satyagraha is a non-violent resistance action. The satyagraha allowed Indian men and women to protest individually and refuse getting India dragged into the war. Also because of the government’s attack on right of speech, working individually was good for the Indians because it showed that they had power and confidence in themselves and they didn’t need help. It showed they could stand up to the British government and that they weren’t hopeless. The Indians goal was to make the British realize they weren’t going to work with the war or in the war, or use any violence. Unfortunately the satyagraha movement ended and the individual satyagraha movement was suspended. It was suspended because India was in danger because Japan came into the war and Congress was worried about India’s safety, so they chose to suspend the individual satyagraha. Although the movement got suspended, the Indians had a chance to show what they could do and thats exactly what they did. Protesting was a great action taken by the Indian’s but protesting isn’t always a great action to take. When protesting, things aren’t achieved as easily and can result in violence. But protesting was a great way to show power and courage. In conclusion, the satyagraha and protesting was a fantastic way of helping the Indians gain the attention needed, and the attention they wanted.
Civil disobedience was one of the most effective strategies used during the Indian Freedom Struggle because hugely important actions were taken and it was a turning point in India. This strategy was used in the Salt March, which Gandhi led. People in India were beaten down because there were a lot of salt taxes and Indians had a hard time finding jobs. To fix the problem, which was that the salt taxes were too high, the Indians decided to have a Salt March, where they walked to the Ahmadabad Sea. There the Indians made salt from the ocean with the seawater. The march led to a lot of attention towards the Indian Independence Movement because people noticed the Indians. International allies noticed the Indians because they saw the reports of the march from the reporters that were present at the march. The reports from the reporters helped the Indians gain more attention as well. Although the Indians were noticed more than usual, there were risks into choosing this strategy. Indians could get injured from the British soldiers and police beating them, they could go to jail, they could get their salt taken away from them, and worst of all, they could die. The Indians would do anything to get their salt and have the British know that it was their salt. If it meant they had to die, then they would die doing what they thought was right. No matter what the Indians did, the British government would still have control over them and have control over their salt mines. The Indians wanted the British government to know that it was their salt, that they owned it, and they couldn’t just claim it as their own anytime they want to, or at all for that matter. The British can’t take away the Indians things because the British didn’t own their things. Although civil disobedience was good, it could be a bad thing. When using civil disobedience, people were breaking the law. When breaking the law, people were considered criminals, so therefore, the Indians would be considered as criminals. But, civil disobedience cannot result in violence, and it was a great way to get a lot of people to support others ideas and actions. Overall, civil disobedience was one of the most effective strategies used, to help the Indians achieve strength and power.
Boycotting was another one of the most effective strategies used during the Indian Freedom Struggle because it was a turning point for the Indians. The Indians boycotted the British goods. The British made a lot of money from their goods. The Indians were angry because they didn’t want to pay their taxes and if they had to spend money, it wouldn’t be on British goods. With boycotting the British goods, the Indians made their own clothes with their own materials. When people boycott, whatever organization or thing they are boycotting loses money and supporters. It was also a great way for the boycotters to get more noticed. But when messing with the British, there were going to be consequences. The British didn’t like the Indians boycotting their goods. The Indians wanted the British to go broke so that they would not have so much power. They also wanted to change the laws. Doing this would make the British upset, but getting them upset helped the Indians make them broke. Even though boycotting helped the Indians, it could be a bad strategy because it took a while for the boycotting to start to work. But, boycotting changed the lives of Indians by giving them the rights they deserved. Therefore, boycotting was a very effective way of helping the Indians, and a great way of getting the British mad.
Going on strike was a strategy that was effective for the Indians because it showed qualities that the Indians had like courage, power, belief and lots of other quality traits. The Indians workers in Ahmedabad wanted to get an increase in their wages and going on strike was a great way to do it. They were not getting enough money and they wanted to get a 20% increase in their wages. Going on strike got the workers a lot of supporters, like Ghandi. The workers planned the strike out by having meetings so they would be successful and not have a chance at failing. After going on strike an agreement was made and the workers got a 27.5% increase. Although the workers ended up getting what they wanted, there were a lot of risks going into the strike. Even though they planned the strike out, they still could have failed. The employes could get mad and not give them the increase that they wanted and they could also fire them. Well, thats what the employees did. They got mad that workers went on strike and the employees fired the workers. Gandhi saw that the workers were losing faith and he started to fast. He fasted because he wanted to help the workers get the raise that they deserved. The employees told Gandhi that they would give the workers their raise if he stopped helping them. Gandhi agreed to stop helping the workers and the workers wish finally came true. They got their raise and the strike is what brought out their inner strength and power. Despite the fact that going on strike was a valuable way of helping the Indians, civil disobedience was a very effective way of helping the Indians because no violence was involved. But going on strike helped the Indians gain power and show that they can put up a fight and won’t back down till they win it. Overall, going on strike was a very useful and effective way of helping the Indians show they could be in power.
The most effective strategy that can be used to do something and get something done is civil disobedience. It’s the most effective strategy because lots of people in the world have used it. The United States, India, South Africa, and so many more countries and states have used it. In the United States, one of the most well known acts of civil disobedience was when Rosa Parks sat on the white section of the bus and refused to get up and go sit where she was supposed to be sitting. She showed that being a different color doesn’t matter, and that everyone should be treated equally. Plus, to do this, she didn’t need to use any act of violence. In India, Gandhi used civil disobedience many times. He used it mostly to get the rights his people deserved. He wanted what Rosa Parks wanted, to just all be treated equally. With that said, civil disobedience was the best, and most effective strategy used to help people stand up for what they thought was right.
Using civil disobedience was a great way to do something and show everybody that there are people in the world who still care about things that most other people don’t pay attention to at all. Civil disobedience has been a strategy that people have used all over the world, but there are other great strategies that could be used as well. Boycotting is a great strategy to use because a lot of people have used it, and it shows that people don’t give up. But civil disobedience has been used more in the world. Lots of people have used civil disobedience because there is no violence involved and it’s a great way to get peoples attention. Overall, civil disobedience should be used more to help out situations in the world because it’s a healthy, and positive way to deal with a problem, and nobody gets hurt in the process.
Strategies were used by the Indians to help them through major obstacles in their lives. The best strategies used by the Indians were civil disobedience, boycotting, striking, and protesting. Studying something like the Indian Freedom Struggle can help people better understand how to use these types of strategies in the future like the boycott of Arizona, or the protest of blocking the tech buses so the bus drivers couldn’t move and used in San Francisco. All these strategies helped the Indians show what they were made of, and that nobody has the right to tell them what to do.