Almost ten months after Duke’s visit, Prince of Wales visited India on November 17, 1921 but people of India fiercely opposed this visiting, because the special repressive measures were taken by government to end non-cooperation movement. They arrested the Ali brothers, the leaders of the Khilafah movement, and some non-cooperation leaders.
As soon as Prince landed at Mumbai port, the people of Mumbai protested against his visit with massive strikes, large gatherings and large processions.
Gandhiji addressed a large gathering at Chopati and there was a big Holi of foreign cloth. Crowds forced people, especially those returning from the Prince of Wales reception and wearing foreign clothes, to take off their foreign hats and turbans on the way. During this time mobs attacked trams, trains, motors, liquor stores, etc.
Prince was scheduled to visit Calcutta on December 25. ( It was here on 28th December 1921 that the Prince officially opened the Victoria Memorial, an impressive marble building dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria.)
Intending to stop the protests, the Governor of Bengal, Lord Ronaldo, issued a proclamation declaring the recruitment of volunteers as well as public demonstrations made illegal under the amended Criminal Code.
In case of Bengal, people immediately started opposing this. Recruitment of volunteers started under the leadership of Chitaranjandas. About 20,000 volunteers joined from Calcutta alone, including Subhash Chandra Bose.
Government started arresting all of them but they were forced to release most of them due to lack of special jails in Calcutta.
They arrested Azad, Subhash Chandra Bose and other leaders of the Mahasabha and Caliphate in Calcutta and handed over to British troops.
Following Bengal government, Delhi, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh issued same orders and arrested Lala Lajpat Rai, Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders.
This had severe repercussions and about forty thousand Satyagrahis were imprisoned. This gave special impetus to the non-cooperation movement.
270. Opposition to Prince of Wales’s Visit to India – 1921
