The Gandhian ideology occupies the most important place not only for the reason that it prevailed from 1920 till the advent of independence in 1947 and thereby earned the distinction of being successful in achieving national liberation in a unique way but also for the reason that it showed the successful execution of a new experiment based on the principles of truth and non-violence in our struggle for freedom against the British colonialism and imperialism. "Gandhi's first experiment of 1920-21, called nonviolent and non-co-operation movement, showed that, for the first time, large sections of Hindus and Muslims collaborated for a national goal - the goal of self-government in India". Gandhi gave constructive shape by channelizing the energy of the people in specific directions that had their manifestation in the non -co-operation movement of 1920-22, civil disobedience movement of 1930-32 and finally the quit India movement of 1942-44. It was due to his charismatic impact that his voice became the voice of the country and at his instance the masses threw themselves into the arena of fight for swaraj. He was a staunch supporter of internationalism and universalism. Since Gandhiji was an intense nationalist, he laid emphasis on some original ideas for the reconstruction of the Indian Society and for the upliftment of rural areas like cottage industries and small-scale industries which could give extra income to the villagers apart from their main profession of agriculture. Gandhi said "The non-violent state will try to equalize economic conditions of the people with a view to secure social justice and economic freedom." Gandhi holds that the Indian villages will evolve a well-balanced social-economic and political system by eschewing the two extremes of 'Laissez-faire' and totalitarian control. The village community will develop an ideal form of co-operative agriculture and industry in which there is hardly any scope for exploitation of the poor by the rich.
Key words: Non-Co-operation, self -government, Nationalists, Indian National movement, Village Swaraj.
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