Image: Mahatma Gandhi, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
On 4 February 1922, violence at Chauri Chaura in present-day Uttar Pradesh changed the course of Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement.
What happened at Chauri Chaura?
A procession of protesters clashed with police. The police station was attacked and set on fire, and police personnel were killed.
Gandhi’s response
Gandhi believed that a mass movement based on nonviolence could not continue if participants were becoming involved in violent attacks. He therefore decided to suspend the Non-Cooperation campaign.
The Gandhi Heritage Portal chronology records the Chauri Chaura killings on 4 February and Gandhi’s arrest on 10 March 1922.
A controversial decision at the time
Gandhi’s decision disappointed some supporters who wanted the campaign to continue. The episode exposed the difficulty of maintaining a uniform nonviolent discipline across a movement involving millions of people.
The legal aftermath
Gandhi was charged with sedition over articles published in Young India. His trial took place in Ahmedabad on 18 March 1922, and he received a six-year sentence.
Historical importance
Chauri Chaura is important for understanding the limits Gandhi placed on mass civil resistance. It also demonstrates how a single local event could have consequences for a nationwide political campaign.
See the Gandhi Heritage Portal chronology and NewsNationOnline’s Non-Cooperation Movement feature.
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