THE Swadeshi agitation led to a temporary split between the moderate and extremist wings of the Congress. But away from the Congress split, the Swadeshi aftermath had already seen a significant upswing in revolutionary terrorism in Bengal. The Yugantar and Anushilan groups emerged as the two key centres and in spite of the revocation of Partition in December 1911, the Bengal terrorists continued to gain in strength and popularity. The foremost leader of this school, Jatin Mukherjee (Bagha Jatin), died a hero's death near Balasore on the Orissa coast in September 1915.

Revolutionary terrorism also struck strong roots among Indian expatriates, mostly Sikhs, in British Columbia and United States. The famous Ghadr (revolution) movement began in 1913 in San Francisco. In contrast to the Hindu overtones of early Bengal terrorists, Ghadrites invoked the 1857 legacy of Hindu-Muslim unity. Many of the terrorists and Ghadrites were to be transformed eventually into communist activists.

With the outbreak of the First World War, British imperialists intensified their reign of repression in India. Even after the war was over, the British tried to perpetuate and legalise the war-time suspension of basic rights by pushing through the so-called Rowiatt Act. War had also meant unprecedented economic misery for the great majority of the Indian people while for the business and mercantile Community it was a god-send opportunity to reap fabulous super-profits. On the whole, the unfolding post-war situation was ripe for a major popular offensive.

Official history designates this offensive as Rowlatt Satyagraha and describes it as the first major effect ot the Gandhian magic on the Indian people, Gandhi had already developed his theme of passive resistance or satyagraha in the course of his campaigns in South Africa between 1907 and 1914. Returning to India in 1915 he also gathered some first-hand experience from the popular peasant agitations at Champaran in Bihar and Kheda in Gujara. Rajasthan too witnessed the rise of a peasant movement led, first by Sitaram Das at Bijolia in 1913, and then by a former revolutionary, Bhoop Singh alias Vijay Singh Pathtk in 1916. No-tax, no-rent slogans had evolved naturally in the course of these peasant agitations.

The official Gandhi-led campaign took off with a one-day hartal on a Sunday (30 March, 1919) and in spite of repeated postponements and deliberate dilution by Gandhi it went on to grow into a wider non-cooperation movement. The movement reached its peak between November 1921 and February 1922 before being abruptly called off by Gandhi following the killing of 22 policemen by angry peasants at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur district of UP on 5 February, 1922.

While Gandhi's unilateral decision to withdraw the movement on 11 February, 1922 was resented by most Congress leaders, there was virtually no protest against the barbaric repression let loose on the Chauri Chaura peasants. Of the 225 Chauri Chaura accused, no less than 172 were initially sentenced to death; eventually 19 were hanged and the rest transported. Till date, Chauri Chaura has a memorial for the killed policemen, but none for the persecuted peasants.