What were the key changes that took place in Gandhi's mass mobilization strategy from the 1919 Rowlatt Satyagraha onward as compared to his earlier movements in Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad? How these changes affected the further course of freedom struggle? Critically analyze.

Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad were the formative events in Gandhi’s political career. They gave concepts of Ahimsa and Satyagraha as tools to fight the adamant authorities.  However, from 1919, there was a huge change in Gandhi’s mass mobilization strategy. In the Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad Gandhi primarily pursued the class politics. From 1919 onwards, he shifted his stance from class politics to communitarian politics in the larger national perspective and this led to development of a mass movement on national scale. This strategy was followed by both Gandhi and congress during all the coming years. It helped further course of freedom struggle by allowing it to get a size and scale that could shake the colonial government. The class issues would be divisive but the communitarian issues had no such strings attached to them. Hereafter, Gandhi mobilized people on moral issues rather than class issues ‘to cement a grand alliance of Hindus and Muslims, rich and poor, labour and capitalists. With this, gradually INC became an organisation for political action.

Topics: GS-I: Modern Indian History & Freedom Struggle