Why did the Congress decide to …

Gandhiji launched the Civil Disobedience Movement for the following reasons -

1. The demand for purna swaraj i.e. full independence was formalised during the Lahore Congress Session. 26 January 1930 was also declared as the Independence Day. However, such celebrations for freedom came with very little participation. Gandhiji was therefore forced to find an abstract idea of freedom in order to mobilise the masses and increase their levels of participation.

 2. The idea of Civil Disobedience was mainly focused on problems and issues that people faced in their everyday life. He therefore identified these problems alike in order to bring different classes of people and communities - the rich as well as the poor under a united campaign against the British.

3. The idea of not cooperating in the non-cooperation movement was indeed felt to be incomplete because the British, through its laws, acted as an oppressive force. For example - the laws relating to restricted forests or the salt tax etc. Gandhiji thus not only proclaimed 'non-cooperation but also violation of British laws in order to break the foundations of the British government in India.

Reasons for launching Civil Disobedience Movement by the Congress:

• The British Government in India had deprived the Indian people of their freedom. It had based itself on the exploitation of masses,
• The British Government had ruined India economically, politically culturally and spiritually.
• The people of India believed it to be a crime against man and god to submit any longer to a rule that has caused irreparable harm to Indian economy and its social fabric.
• The Congress, therefore, declared the attainment of complete independence as its aim in the Congress Session held at Lahore and decided to launch Civil Disobedience Movement under the leadership of Gandhiji.