smash-pacifism-zine

It is no wonder that many critics of the Gandhian
myth point to his constant role as a counter-weight to the
revolutionary forces in India, used by the British as a tool
of counter-insurgency (that is, as a counter-revolutionary).
This strategy was successful to an extent because of the
'radical' posture Gandhi adopted, hijacking the forms of
resistance people were already practising and molding it
into a strict, religious-based form of nonviolence (and
collaboration).
As a result of the dual policy of the British
(repressing 'Extremists' while negotiating
with Moderates), and the promotion of
Gandhi as a national political figure, the
INC was again in the hands of Moderates
by 1918-19. As history shows, however,
this did not mean either Gandhi or his
Moderate cohorts in the INC had total
control over the people or their
movements.
Anti-Colonial Resistance
Outside the Congress
Although a national organization,
the INC did not include all of India, and
its support was stronger in some areas
than in others. Many regional movements
and struggles arose that were autonomous
from the Congress, including armed
groups. Some were ethnic based
movements while others promoted
revolution against both the British as well
as their Indian puppets in the colonial administration.
While the initial anti-colonial rebellion was
initiated by Indian troops serving in the British Army
during the 1857 Mutiny, revolutionary groups did not begin
to proliferate until during and after the 1905 Bengal
Partition (which was eventually defeated through a
diversity of tactics). The main areas they were most active
in was the Punjab and Bengal.
The Jugantar party emerged in 1906 out of the
Anushilan Samiti, a revolutionary group concealed as a
fitness club. It began collecting arms and ammunition, and
sent members abroad for military training. It was involved
in numerous attacks on British colonial officials. During
World War 1, along with other groups, the Jugantar party
attempted to increase armed attacks by smuggling in
German weapons and ammunition, but the plot became
known to the British. The group was targeted with severe
repression, and many of its members were killed or
imprisoned.
Among the numerous actions carried out against
the British by Indian revolutionaries during this time was
the July 1909 assassination of British MP William Hutt
Curzon Wylie, in London, by Mada Lal Dhingra. In 1912,
in Delhi, a bomb was thrown at the procession of the
Viceroy of India, Lord Hardinge, injuring him and his wife.
The targeting of high-ranking colonial officials was a
consistent part of revolutionary practise in India (one of the
last such attacks to occur outside of India was the killing of
Sir Michael O'Dwyer, generally held responsible for the
Amritsar Massacre, on 13 March 1940, by Udham Singh in
London).
Another example of an anticolonial
resistance movement
outside of the INC was the Ghadar
Party:
“The first Indian political
organization to call for complete
independence from British rule
was the Ghadar (or Gadar) Party,
organized in 1913 by Indian
immigrants in California...
Although Sikhs from Punjab made
up the majority of it's founding
members, the movement was
completely devoid of any trace of
regional or religious chauvinism.
It's platform was
uncompromisingly secular and
called for a total rejection of any
form of caste discrimination. And
unlike the Congress, it's
membership was primarily drawn
from the working class and poor
peasantry. Sikhs, Muslims, and
Hindus of all castes (including
Dalits) were welcomed in the movement without bias or
discrimination...
“Although the Ghadar movement started in
California, chapters were established all over the world and
by 1916, a million copies of their weekly pamphlet were
published and circulated. As the movement grew in
strength, there were plans to set up cells of the Ghadar party
all over India and thousands of young volunteers attempted
to return home and initiate local chapters wherever they
could. The British, realizing the dangers posed by this
extremely radical movement moved quickly and closed in
on the revolutionaries. Hundreds were charged for sedition
in the five Lahore Conspiracy Cases. According to one
estimate, a total of 145 Ghadarites were hanged, and 308
were given sentences longer than 14 years. Several were
sentenced to hard labour in the notorious prison known as
Kala Pani in the Andamans...”
(“Key Landmarks in the Indian Freedom Struggle,”
http://india_resource.tripod.com/freedom.html)
Bhaga Jatin, one of the founders of the
Jugantar party, pictured here in 1910.
Despite Gandhi putting an end to the official Noncooperation
Movement in 1922 (after the deaths of 21 cops
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