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===Non-Cooperation===
▲The [[Rowlatt Act]] of 1919, which empowered the government to imprison those accused of [[sedition]] without trial, was passed. In [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], the ''[[Amritsar massacre]]'' of 379 civilians by British troops caused deep trauma to the nation, and increased public anger and acts of violence. Gandhi criticized both the actions of the British, and the retaliatory violence of Indians. He authored the resolution offering condolences to British civilian victims and condemning the riots, which after initial opposition in the party, was accepted after Gandhi made an emotional speech pushing forth his principle that all violence was evil and could not be justified.<ref>R. Gandhi, ''Patel: A Life'', pp. 82</ref> But it was after the massacre and violence that Gandhi's mind focused upon obtaining complete self-government and control of all Indian government institutions, maturing soon into ''[[Swaraj]]'' or complete individual, spiritual, political independence. Gandhi was invested with executive authority on behalf of the [[Indian National Congress]] in December 1921. Under Gandhi's leadership, the Congress was reorganized with a new constitution, with the goal of ''Swaraj''. Membership in the party was opened to anyone prepared to pay a token fee. A hierarchy of committees was set up to improve discipline, transforming the party from an elite organization to one of mass national appeal. Gandhi expanded his non-violence platform to include the [[Swadeshi movement|''swadeshi'' policy]] – the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods. Linked to this was his advocacy that ''khadi'' (homespun cloth) be worn by all Indians instead of British-made textiles. Gandhi exhorted Indian men and women, rich or poor, to spend time each day spinning ''khadi'' in support of the independence movement.<ref>R. Gandhi, ''Patel: A Life'', pp. 89</ref> This was a strategy to inculcate discipline and dedication to weed out the unwilling and ambitious, and include women in the movement at a time when many thought that such activities were not 'respectable' for women. In addition to boycotting British products, Gandhi urged the people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, to resign from government employment, and to forsake British titles and [[British honours system|honours]].
"Non-cooperation" enjoyed wide-spread appeal and success, increasing excitement and participation from all strata of Indian society, yet just as the movement reached its apex, it ended abruptly as a result of a violent clash in the town of [[Chauri Chaura]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], in February 1922. Fearing that the movement was about to take a turn towards violence, and convinced that this would be the undoing of all his work, Gandhi called off the campaign of mass civil disobedience.<ref>R. Gandhi, ''Patel: A Life'', pp. 105</ref> Gandhi was arrested on [[March 10]], [[1922]], tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years. Beginning on [[March 18]], [[1922]], he only served about two years of the sentence, being released in February 1924 after an operation for [[appendicitis]]. Without Gandhi's uniting personality, the Indian National Congress began to splinter during his years in prison, splitting into two factions, one led by [[Chitta Ranjan Das]] and [[Motilal Nehru]] favouring party participation in the legislatures, and the other led by [[Chakravarti Rajagopalachari]] and [[Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel]], opposing this move. Furthermore, cooperation among Hindus and Muslims, which had been strong at the height of the nonviolence campaign, was breaking down. Gandhi attempted to bridge these differences through many means, including a three-week fast in the autumn of 1924, but with limited success.<ref>R. Gandhi, ''Patel: A Life'', pp. 131</ref>
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