India is a land of revolution and several times during the history of India, the country witnessed political movements and revolts led by the citizens of India. The main reason behind these movements was to bring reforms in society and change the way things worked at a certain point in time. So, here we are going to talk about the top 6 political movements in the history of India
1 Swadeshi movement: The Swadeshi Movement started during India’s war of independence. The main aim of this movement was to remove the British Empire from power. The Indians started becoming self-sufficient. They boycotted all kinds of British products and revived the production of all kinds of domestic items. The Swadeshi movement gave the people the power to speak against the government and express their negative views. The people also burnt all foreign clothes and items.
2 Satyagrah movement: The Satyagraha movement is one of the most important movements in the history of India. This movement brought thousands of Indians together in a systematic and peaceful way. It was a non-violence movement that was led by Mahatma Gandhi. The Satyagraha movement has a very big role to play in giving India freedom from foreign rule. Millions of people from every corner of India took part in this event.
3 Chipko Movement: The Chipko movement began with the people hugging the trees to save them from deforestation activities. The movement was led by Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Sunderlal Bahuguna. They started the protest during the 1970s when a group of women opposed the chopping down of trees. The news of this movement spread like wildfire and different parts of the country and thousands of people came in to support this social movement.
4 Silent valley movement: This was a social movement which was taken place in 1973. The main reason behind this movement was to protect the Silent Valley which is an evergreen forest located in Kerala. The movement brought thousands of social activists together. The people tried to save the valley from a hydroelectric project. The controversies regarding this movement still exist.
5 Jungle Bachao Andolan: The Jungle Bachao Andolan took place when the government decided to start chopping the natural salt forest and replace them with high-valued teak. The people of Bihar strongly protested this decision of the Government and they tried to prevent the government from carrying out this action. The news of this movement also spread to other states like Jharkhand and Odisha and the people of those states also begin participating in the event.
6 Namantar Andolan: Namantar Andolan was a dalit movement. The main aim of the movement was to change the name of Marathwada University to Doctor BR Ambedkar University. This movement continued for several long years and finally, it became successful in 1994 when the name was finally altered. Thousands of people participated in the protest. It also led to various severe consequences like molestation, killings, burnings of houses, etc.
These were some of the most popular political movements in India that have definitely succeeded in creating history. Apart from that, there are multiple other movements as well where people stood up against the authority and expressed their grievances. If you can think of any other notable events, do let us know of them.
