Masses Opt For Non Violence

Ahimsa

The Genesis

In december 1920 non-violence was declared the creed of the Congress at its Nagpur Session. It was unanimously passed by the 14000 people attending it. It was the mandate of the people for whom non-violence is a traditional way of life. The president of the congress Shri Vijayaraghavachari observed that it was a Congress in which, instead of the President and the leaders driving the people, the people drove him and the leaders.

Non-violent non-cooperation till then was the call of an individual. Now it became an institutional creed.

Year 1919 was the most crucial year, Unprecedented boycotts, bonfires, Hartals and public demonstrations took place without any violence. The mood of satyagraha had set in.

The matter of supreme concern was non-violence in the movement. It was not the freedom, but the way it was to be attained. Every action had to be tested on the touchstone of non-violence. The story of the satyagraha in India therefore, was a story of advance and retreat and further advance . It was the story of a freedom movement which was a great experiment in truth and non-violence.