As 1924 drew to a close, Gandhi found himself in Belgaum for the 39th session of the Indian National Congress (INC). This was a people’s assembly, concerned citizens from around the country, coming together every year since 1885, to try and guide policy for India. In 1924, for the first and only time, Gandhi presided over the session as the president.
These congresses were great networking opportunities. In 1916, it was where Gandhi first met the young Jawaharlal Nehru, who would one day be his political heir and the Prime Minister of India in 1947. But in 1924, it was his father, the influential Motilal Nehru, that worked with Gandhi to upgrade the INC framework for uniting India.
Motilal Nehru was a friend and had spent weeks with Gandhi in spring 1924 debating their competing strategies. The sticking point was noncooperation; specifically, should the INC continue to boycott the legislative councils that the British did allow Indians to participate in? (This had been one of the phases of the 1920 Swaraj-in-a-year campaign.) Gandhi argued that these councils legitimized British rule, and should be avoided; Nehru saw them as an opportunity to “vote against proposals which consolidated the bureaucracy’s power and led to the drain of wealth from India.”1 In November, there was a compromise worked out.
On December 26, 1924, President Mahatma Gandhi led the Belgaum Congress in adopting a resolution that would formally suspend the noncooperation movement. Members would be free to join the legislative councils and work for swaraj from within the system. One part of noncooperation would be kept; the boycott of foreign cloth in favor of homespun khadi. Previously, INC membership required a nominal annual fee—four annas, or a quarter of a rupee. For 1925, this option went away, and members were required to “wear hand-spun and hand-woven [khadi] … while engaged in Congress business” as well as contribute “2,000 yards of evenly spun yarn per month of his or her own spinning.” (I think it’s worth noting the inclusive “his or her” phrasing.)
As I’ve written elsewhere,
Gandhi made the spinning wheel the center of his [constructive] program; the simple, repetitive task encouraged contemplation; it was productive work that could be done by almost everyone; the homespun fabric, khadi, could be sold, addressing poverty; wearing the fabric demonstrated support for the cause of independence; and replacing foreign textiles with homespun put economic pressure on the British.
Now, the INC would be leading by example, with members spinning more than a mile(!) of yarn each month; it would take about a half hour per day to produce the four pounds worth. Of course, Gandhi allowed a loophole; those unwilling could purchase (thereby addressing poverty) a quantity of yarn spun by someone else and use it for their contribution.
Is there a daily habit you’d like to take up in the new year?
Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World (Guha, 2018) p. 208