Nehru's opposition to Gandhi regarding mass support for CDM

Nehru's opposition to Gandhi regarding mass support for CDM

Question:-How did Nehru oppose Gandhi's approach to achieve mass support for the Civil Disobedience Movement?

In the subsequent period of the withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience Movement and regarding the withdrawal the nationalists got divided into two opinions about the strategy.

- Constructive work approach of Gandhiji

Gandhiji advocated conducting constructive work in the villages, especially focusing on the revival of village crafts. This, in Gandhiji's belief, would lead to the unity and consolidation of the collective power of people, and, thus, graduate and mobilize millions of people to the next phase of mass struggle.

- Rise of Leftism

In the late 1930s an unconventional strategy, powerful Left trend that had developed in the early l930s, made its roots strong in one group of the nationalists. It strongly criticized the withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience and the plan to carry out the constructive program instead.

- Nehru's advocacy

It was Jawaharlal Nehru who upheld this New Leftist alternative strategy against the Gandhian anti-imperialist program and strategy.

- Fight till imperialism is overthrown

Nehru did not subscribe to Gandhi. He believed his to be an old strategy and he thought that the Indian national movement had reached such a stage where a firm confrontation and a fight with imperialism till it was overthrown was compulsory. There might be high and low phases, but these should not be a setback for the movement. No compromise or cooperation with the colonialists was allowed. Perpetual hostility was required, according to him.

- Continue mass movement

Nehru also advised the Congress to maintain ‘an aggressive direct action policy’ and continue with the mass movement even if it is at a low ebb or even if it is just symbolic.

- Unconventional, unconstitutional means

Nehru further believed in the philosophy that everything sooner or later reaches a stage when the existing order does not work anymore. At such a time a struggle could be advanced only through unconventional, unconstitutional and illegal means.

This happened when the masses entered politics. No compromise was accepted. This ultimate stage was reached with the Lahore Resolution for Poorna Swaraj. For the continuation of the struggle, Nehru severely opposed all the efforts towards the withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience Movement.