Congress and National Movement in Haryana | HPSC Preparation: All subjects - HPSC (Haryana) PDF Download

Congress

• Rai Bahadur Murlidhar founded a branch of Congress in Ambala in 1886. In 1884, Lala Lajpat Rai moved to Rohtak with his father, who was a teacher there.
• The Congress held its inaugural session in Rohtak in October 1886, with Turrabaz Khan serving as the Chairperson. Lala Lajpat Rai, who was the principal speaker at the meeting, played a significant role in this session.
• Three representatives from Haryana, Deen Dayal Sharma from Jhajjar, Babu Balmukund Gupt from Rohtak and Lala Murlidhar, participated in the Second Session of Congress held in Calcutta in 1886 AD.
• In 1887, Lala Lajpat Rai established the Congress in Hisar and Rohtak and made Hisar the center of his social and political activities.
• Other notable representatives from Haryana who participated in various Congress sessions included Deendayal Sharma, Balmukund Gupt, Chhabildas, Shaadi Lal, Gaurishankar, and Dulichand, among others.
• In 1888, Rai attended the Congress Session in Allahabad as a representative of Hisar Congress for the first time.
• In 1889, Lala Lajpat Rai attended the Congress Session in Mumbai with Babu Chudamani and Gaurishankar. He also founded the Arya Samaj of Hisar in 1886 AD, with Lala Chandulal as its head.
• In May 1907, Lala Lajpat Rai was exiled to Mandalay prison in Burma by Lieutenant Governor of Punjab Daniel Ibbetson on the order of Lord Minto. However, he was released on November 14, 1907, due to intense public pressure.

Response of Haryana on Morley-Minto Reforms

• The city of Ambala was a hub of resistance against the Morley-Minto Reforms, and a protest demonstration against the reforms was carried out on December 27, 1909 by throwing bombs at the Deputy Commissioner's bungalow.
• Balmukund Gupt, a journalist from the region, strongly opposed the Morley-Minto Reforms through his articles titled "Shivshambhu ka Chittha."
• The Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909 allowed for the election of a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly through the votes of District Boards in Rohtak, Gurugram, and Hisar.
• As part of this reform, the Ambala and Karnal districts were added to Shimla and the membership was confirmed.

Home Rule Movement

• Pt. Nekiram Sharma is credited with spreading the Home Rule Movement in Haryana. He was deeply influenced by the policies of Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
• The British authorities barred Tilak from entering Haryana, but Nekiram Sharma continued to spread the movement. He is often referred to as the Kesari of Haryana.

Rowlatt Act and Satyagraha

• A massive protest against the Rowlatt Act was held in Ambala on 11th February, 1919, under the leadership of Sardar Jhanda Singh.
• On 28th February, 1919, demonstrations against the Act also took place in Hisar, and on 30th March, 1919, there was a partial strike in Rohtak, Karnal, Ambala and Panipat.
• A major conference against the Rowlatt Act was held in Rohtak on 6th April, 1919.
• Mahatma Gandhi was invited to Haryana by Swami Shraddhanand to protest against the Rowlatt Act. However, the British Government arrested him in Palwal on 10th April, 1919.
• In response to Gandhi's arrest, railway workers attacked the Bahadurgarh station on 14th April.
• The revolutionaries set fire to the store of 1/34 Sikh Pioneer Regiment of Ambala Cantonment on 19th April, 1919.
• Chaudhary Piru Singh, a Congress leader and prominent Arya Samaji, was arrested under the Defence of India rules on 28th April, 1919.
• Gandhiji was arrested in the Hisar district on 30th July, 1919.

Non-Cooperation Movement

• Lala Lajpat Rai led the first meeting related to the Non-Cooperation Movement in Panipat, Haryana in October 1920.
• The Ambala Divisional Political Conference was held on October 22, 1920, at Bhiwani with Lala Muralidhar as the chairman.
• Many prominent leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Muhammad Ali, Shaukat Ali, and Maulana Azad participated in this conference.
• During the Bhiwani conference, Gandhi called the British government an evil government for the first time in front of 8000 activists.
• A conference was also organized in Rohtak on November 6-8, 1920, chaired by Pt. Ramraj Dutt, but the Congress party split due to differences over the provisions of opposition to the British government in the resolution of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Chaudhary Chhoturam and his supporting leaders left the Congress party due to these differences.
• During the Non-Cooperation Movement, people of the state returned prizes and medals. For instance, Lala Murlidhar of Ambala returned the honor of Raibahadur.
• Many leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Azad, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Lala Dulichand, Devdas Gandhi, and Maulana Muhammad Ali attended this conference.
• Lawyers boycotted government courts, and Gram Panchayats were formed. National Courts were established in place of Government Courts, but they were not more successful.
• On February 15, 1921, Gandhi addressed a large gathering in Bhiwani, which was presided over by Lala Murlidhar.
• In February 1921, Gandhi visited Haryana with Lala Lajpat Rai, Maulana Azad, Shrimati Kasturba Gandhi, Pyare Lal Sharma, and Jamnalal Bajaj to make the Non-Cooperation Movement more effective in the state.
• On February 16, 1921, Gandhi inaugurated the Jat School in Rohtak, and the National Education System was evaluated.
• Gandhi also addressed a large gathering in Rohtak chaired by Chaudhary Maturam Hooda.
• Pt. Nekiram Sharma, a prominent leader of Haryana, was arrested and sent to jail during the Non-Cooperation Movement. Most of the agitators and satyagrahis arrested in the state were kept in Ambala jail.
• The government carried out brutal atrocities on the agitators. Several leaders from Rohtak district, such as Pt. Shriram Sharma, Chaudhary Harphool Singh, Daulatram Gupta, Baldev Singh, and Pt. Janardan Sharma, and from Hisar district, such as Lala Lajpat Rai, Pt. Nekiram Sharma, Lala Gokalchand, and KA Desai, were arrested.
• Lala Ganpat Rai, Lala Hukamchand, and Lala Deshbandhu Gupt in Karnal, and Lala Dulichand, Mohammad Shamimullah, Lala Murlidhar, and Pt. Aryanand Sharma in Ambala were also arrested during the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Swaraj Party

• The Swaraj Party had a greater following in Haryana, and its leaders included Lala Dulichand in Ambala, Lala Ganpat Rai in Karnal, Nekiram Sharma and Babu Shyamalal Satyagrahi in Hisar, Pt Rupnarayan in Gurugram, and Shriram Sharma in Rohtak.
• Shriram Sharma founded Haryana Tilak on 18th March, 1923, to promote the Swaraj Party, while Shubh Chopra launched a newspaper called Swaraj in Gurugram.
• After the death of Chittaranjan Das on 16th June, 1925, the Swaraj Party began to disintegrate. Chaudhary Chhoturam, a freedom fighter from Haryana, formed the Unionist Party with Muslim leader Mian Fazle Hussain from Punjab.
• Lala Lajpat Rai and Pt. Nekiram Sharma established the Independent Congress Party, which supported Unionist Party candidates in the 1926 elections. The Swaraj Party later merged with the Congress Party.

Protest Against Simon Commission

• The Simon Commission was met with strong opposition in the Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, and Ambala districts of Haryana.
• During this protest, Lala Lajpat Rai was injured and subsequently died on 14th November, 1927, in Lahore, Punjab. This event sparked even more outrage in the Punjab-Haryana region.

Civil Disobedience Movement

• On 12th March, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi began the Dandi March, accompanied by 78 Satyagrahis including Lala Surajbhan from Ambala, Haryana.
• In Haryana, people openly defied the Salt Law by manufacturing salt in various places such as Rohtak, Jhajjar, Ambala, Panipat, and Bhiwani. Khadag Bahadur, a representative of Gandhi, visited the province to spread awareness about Satyagraha.
• Lala Dulichand’s daughters, Vidyavati, Yashoda, and Jamna, led a group of women in the Satyagraha movement in Ambala, while peasants launched the ‘Kar Mat Do’ Movement.
• The non-violent rebellion at the Dharsana Salt Depot, led by Sarojini Naidu, included Haryana protestors.
• On 15th April, 1930, Satyagrahis in Jhajjar attempted to start a salt-making movement in the village of Zahidpur, but were prevented by the government.
• Similar law-breaking incidents took place in Rohtak, Beri, Sanghi, Gurugram, and Sonipat. In addition to boycotting foreign goods, traders from Ambala, Rohtak, and Bhiwani announced a boycott on such goods.
• Students from Gaur High School and Vaishya High School in Rohtak also took part in the movement.
• Students of Chandulal Anglo-Vedic School in Hisar and DAV School in Kurukshetra were also involved.
• The British Government attempted to hold peace meetings with supporters, but the activities did not weaken the morale of the agitators. Nearly 600 people broke the Salt Law, and the highest number of arrests, 380, occurred in Rohtak.

Individual Satyagraha

• On 17th October, 1940, Mahatma Gandhi initiated the Individual Satyagraha Movement as a protest against the policies of the British rule.
• The Satyagraha led to the arrest of many people across different districts, with Rohtak, Ambala, Hisar, Karnal, and Gurugram being the most affected. Rohtak, Ambala, and Hisar witnessed the highest number of arrests, respectively.
• Several prominent leaders from different districts were arrested in support of the movement, including Gopichand Bhargava, Pt Nekiram Sharma, Chaudhary Sahab Ram, Lala Shyamlal from Hisar, Shriram Sharma and Rao Mangliram from Rohtak, Syed Mulalvi and Mahashya Bhagwan Das from Gurugram, Hammed Hussain from Karnal, and Dulichand and Prem Prakash Azad from Ambala.
• The second phase of the movement began on 10th January 1940, with Hisar being the center of the Satyagraha.
• The third phase of the movement started on 10th April 1941, with Rohtak district taking the lead. 73 individuals were arrested in Rohtak during this phase.

Quit India Movement

1. The Quit India Movement was announced on 8th August, 1942 and resulted in demonstrations at various locations including railway stations, post offices, telegraph offices and police stations in Haryana. After the arrest of major leaders, the people themselves took charge of the movement and organized it.
2. The Quit India Movement in Haryana Province had several prominent agitators including Mangeram Vats, Sheeshpal Singh, Vaidya Lekhram Singh, Radhakrishna, Laxman Singh and Ramkumar Vichhat.