This chapter discusses the Non-Co-operation Movement; the return of communalism; the Swaraj Party; other parties and movements; and the Simon Commission. In March 1920, Mahatma Gandhi issued a manifesto elaborating his doctrine of non-violent non-cooperation. This was the first public presentation of the technique of political action that dominated the Indian scene for the next few years, and fundamentally altered the course of the struggle for freedom. India’s communists were dedicated to the removal of social inequalities, and to the curbing of the power of the monied classes. But they...

This chapter discusses the Non-Co-operation Movement; the return of communalism; the Swaraj Party; other parties and movements; and the Simon Commission. In March 1920, Mahatma Gandhi issued a manifesto elaborating his doctrine of non-violent non-cooperation. This was the first public presentation of the technique of political action that dominated the Indian scene for the next few years, and fundamentally altered the course of the struggle for freedom. India’s communists were dedicated to the removal of social inequalities, and to the curbing of the power of the monied classes. But they never lost sight of India’s primary need — the attainment of independence. The immediate task of the communists in India is not to preach communism but to organize the national revolution; the role of the communist party of India is to be the heart and soul of the revolutionary nationalist party.