P.C. Bamford was Deputy Director, Intelligence Bureau, Home Department, Government of India.
<p>The mass awakening in India after the First World War gave a new dimension to the Indian struggle for Independence. The emergence of M.K. Gandhi on the Indian political scene, his new techniques of mass mobilization, peasant upsurges, revolutionary activities and state peoples' movements, etc., alarmed the colonial power. The Indian National Congress approached the masses through its programme of non-cooperation, broadened its mass base and attempted to unite the people on a common platform to fight British imperialism. The British reorganized their Intelligence Department to report on the activities of the ‘seditious leaders’, examine their methods of operation and to bring on record the mass response they received as well as the influence they commanded over the people. This book is the outcome of reports prepared by an intelligence bureau official in 1924 on the two crucial movements of the day – Non-Cooperation and Khilafat movements – which were inter-dependent and posed a major challenge to the British authority. It provides a connected account of the movements in different regions of country. Included in the book are the proceedings of some of the important meetings of the Indian National Congress, the Central Khilafat Committee and the Jamait-ul-Ulema Hind along with extracts from the speeches of Indian leaders. The book throws open many vital questions and offers rare documentary material which was earlier almost inaccessible to scholars. This will be of much use to those engaged in reconstructing the history of the period.</p>
