Fighting the British in court A cycle of violence and repression had ensued in some parts of the country as a result of the partition of Bengal, and Alipore Bomb Case was a famous controversy which arose at that time. Aurobindo Ghosh and 37 other revolutionaries were suspected to have been engaged in illegal activities and sedition and were arrested. However, the eminent lawyer CR Das came to the rescue, who through his brilliant handling of the case got Aurobindo and many others was acquitted. This case brought Das to the forefront professionally and politically. Also called Deshbandhu, CR Das, used his legal knowledge to save many other nationalists and revolutionaries from the clutches of the British. He was the defence counsel in the Dacca Conspiracy Case (1910-11) as well and was famed for his handling of both civil and criminal law. Meanwhile, in 1909, the British Government announced certain reforms in the structure of Government in India, known as Morley-Minto Reforms. But these reforms came as a disappointment as they did not mark any advance towards the establishment of a representative Government. The provision of special representation of the Muslims was seen as a threat to the Hindu-Muslim unity on which the strength of the National Movement rested. Thus these reforms were vehemently opposed by all the nationalists. The disgust with the reforms announced in 1909 led to the intensification of the struggle for Swaraj. While, on one side, the extremists waged a virtual war against the British, on the other side, the revolutionaries stepped up their violent activities. There was a widespread unrest in the country. To add to the already growing discontent among the people, Rowlatt Act was passed in 1919, which empowered the Government to put people in jail without trial. This caused widespread indignation, led to massive demonstration and hartals. Lawyer cum nationalist, Saifuddin Kitchlew was one of the leaders who protested against this legislation. Kithclew was also a founding leader of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha (Indian Youth Congress), which rallied hundreds of thousands of students and young Indians to nationalist causes. He was also among the principal founders of Jamia Millia Islamia. Mahatma Gandhi This also marked the entrance of Mahatma Gandhi in the mainstream Indian politics. Gandhi, also a lawyer by profession, had just returned from South Africa, where he had carried out a successful Satyagraha against the racial discrimination and for civil liberties of the people. Meanwhile, Gandhi had made his mark in India already by his success in Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha. Gandhi led organized protests and strikes against the landlords who, with the guidance of the British government, signed an agreement granting the poor farmers of the region more compensation and control over farming, and cancellation of revenue hikes and its collection until the famine ended. In Kheda, Sardar Patel, a lawyer by profession, represented the farmers in negotiations with the British, who suspended revenue collection and released all the prisoners. Patel subsequently organised the peasants of Kheda, Borsad, and Bardoli in Gujarat in non-violent civil disobedience against oppressive policies imposed by the British Raj; in this role, he became one of the most influential leaders in Gujarat. Rajendra Prasad, an eminent lawyer and the first President of India, was also involved with Gandhi in the Champaran movement. Bhulabhai Desai, another lawyer and a politician, represented the farmers of Gujarat in the inquiry by the British Government following the Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928. Bhulabhai formidably represented the farmers’ case, and was important to the eventual success of the struggle. Most lawyers gave their time freely, at the cost of their own legal practice, to the defense of scores of helpless victims of Martial Law implemented by the British, who had been condemned to the gallows or sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.There was a shift in ideology as well, from moderate to a more radical one.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 04:23:25 +0000
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