Many voices had strengthened and enriched the nationalist movement during the Gandhian phase. Elaborate

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Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

In the Gandhian phase peasants, workers, women and tribals strengthened the national movement's mass base, while depressed-class, socialist and revolutionary voices enriched its idea of freedom. Ambedkar's Mahad satyagraha and the Poona Pact, and the Karachi Resolution of 1931, put social justice and economic equality on the nationalist agenda.

**Introduction**

After 1919 the national movement ceased to be the voice of English-educated professionals alone. Gandhi's satyagraha drew in peasants, workers, women, tribals and minorities, who both strengthened its base and reshaped what freedom meant.

**Voices that Widened the Social Base**

SKETCH: matrix | Many Voices, Two Roles
cols: Inside Congress | Outside Congress
rows: Widened base | Enriched ideas
tl: Kisan Sabhas, women
tr: Trade unions, tribals
bl: Socialists, Maulana Azad
br: Ambedkar, HSRA

1. **Peasants and workers**: The Awadh Kisan Sabha (1920), the Bardoli satyagraha (1928) and the AITUC (1920) tied agrarian and labour grievances to the anti-colonial cause.
2. **Women**: Sarojini Naidu led the Dharasana salt raid (1930), and in 1942 Aruna Asaf Ali and Matangini Hazra showed women leading the struggle.
3. **Tribals and the frontier**: The Tana Bhagats adopted khadi, and Ghaffar Khan's Khudai Khidmatgars (1929) made the frontier a bastion of non-violence.

**Voices that Enriched the Idea of Freedom**

1. **Depressed classes**: Vaikom (1924-25), Ambedkar's Mahad satyagraha (1927) and the Poona Pact (1932) forced social justice on to the nationalist agenda.
2. **Socialists**: The Karachi Resolution (1931) and the Congress Socialist Party (1934) gave the movement an economic programme for the poor.
3. **Revolutionaries**: Bhagat Singh's HSRA (1928) gave youth a voice of sacrifice and sharpened the demand for complete independence.

**Way Forward**

1. **Plural nationalism**: The lesson is that a diverse democracy stays strong only by hearing caste, regional and minority voices, as Article 17 and reservations later did.

**Conclusion**

The Gandhian phase was many-voiced: peasants, workers, women and tribals strengthened it, while Ambedkarites, socialists and revolutionaries enriched its vision. Its gaps, the Muslim drift towards the League and the distance of caste, show that freedom earned by many must be sustained by all.

Many voices had strengthened and enriched the nationalist movement during the Gandhian phase. Elaborate

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