Describe main event leading to civil …

The Congress declared that if the government did not accept a constitution based on the dominion status within a year, it would adopt ‘Purana Swaraj’ as its goal.

In 1929, having a meeting with Ramsay Macdonald, the Prime Minister of England, Lord Irwin returned to India and declared that the object of the British Government was to grant India dominion status. But the Prime Minister under pressure of the conservative leaders, failed to keep his promise. When Gandhiji met Lord Irwin in December 1929, the latter refused to make any commitment regarding dominion status.

In utter despair Gandhiji said, ‘I have burnt my boat’. The country became prepared to fight for ‘Purana Swaraj’.

According to Amales Tripathi, the main cause of the Civil Disobedience movement was worldwide economic depression during the period 1929-1930. Young leaders of the Congress became impatient for a movement. The revolutionaries were not sitting idle. The organizations of the works and the peasants gathered strength under organizations of the workers and the peasants gathered strength under the leadership of the communists. All these events led Gandhiji to feel the necessity of launching Civil Disobedience movement.

Salt-Satyagraha:

The Civil disobedience movement started with Gandhiji’s historic ‘Dandi March’. Gandhiji walked 240 miles through villages of Gujarat. He reached Dandi on 6 April 1930. He inaugurated the Civil Disobedience movement by picking up a handful of salt. Gandhiji and other prominent leaders were arrested. Their arrest led to a mass demonstration. In Peshawar, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan took an active role.