PM will inaugurate the centenary Celebrations at Chauri Chaura at Gorakhpur Dist. Uttar Pradesh.

‘Chauri Chaura’ Incident

• The incident took place on 4 February 1922 at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district of the United Province.
• A large group of protesters participating in the Non-Cooperation Movement clashed with police who opened fire.
• In retaliation the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, killing all of its occupants.
• The incident led to the death of three civilians and 22 policemen.
• Mahatma Gandhi, who was strictly against violence, halted the non-co-operation movement on the national level on 12 February 1922, as a direct result of this incident.

Try this PYQ:

Q.The ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’ adopted as methods of struggle for the first time during the

(a) Agitation against the Partition of Bengal

(b) Home Rule Movement

(c) Non-Cooperation Movement

(d) Visit of the Simon Commission to India

Background

• In the early 1920s, Indians, led by Mahatma Gandhi, were engaged in a nationwide non-cooperation movement.
• Using non-violent methods of civil disobedience known as Satyagraha, protests were organised by the INC to challenge oppressive regulations such as the Rowlatt Act.

Course of the incident

• Two days before the incident, on 2 February 1922, volunteers participating in the Non-cooperation Movement led by a retired Army soldier named Bhagwan Ahir.
• The protest was planned against high food prices and liquor sale in the marketplace.
• Several of the leaders were arrested and put in the lock-up at the Chauri Chaura police station.
• In response to this, a protest against the police was called on 4 February, to be held at the local marketplace.
• Infuriated by the gunfire into their ranks, the crowd set the chowki ablaze, killing all of the Indian policemen and other staff trapped inside.

Aftermath

• Appalled at the outrage, Gandhi went on a five-day fast as penance for what he perceived as his culpability in the bloodshed.
• In reflection, Gandhi felt that he had acted too hastily in encouraging people to revolt against the British Raj without sufficiently emphasizing the importance of non-violence.
• On 12 February 1922, the Indian National Congress halted the Non-co-operation Movement on the national level as a direct result of the Chauri Chaura tragedy.

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