Cut to early 1929. The Civil Disobedience Movement was yet to start, the Chittagong rebels were under training, and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was yet to find his call. There was nothing that could accelerate the movement for independence, until came the two bills.⁣
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The British imperialists, annoyed at the rise of communism & rising influence of trade unions and protests by the working class decided to clamp down on them with the following two bills:-⁣
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1. Public Safety Bill, which allowed to detain suspects without any trial.⁣
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In those days, following the rise of communism in the USSR, leftist politicians several countries had started affiliating their political organizations with the USSR’s communist party. ⁣
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Britishers first tried a Communist Deportation Bill which failed and then it was reintroduced as the Public Safety Bill in 1928 and then again in 1929.⁣
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2. Trade Dispute Bill, which allowed the Britishers to declare any sort of protest as illegal, forget strikes alone. It was eventually enacted the next month. ⁣
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The legislation curbed many of the freedoms of industrial workers. It required a 15-day written notice for strikes and lockouts in public utility services. It became a foundation for tater versions of this law which were even more stringent and repressive for industrial workers.⁣
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Motilal Nehru said that it was ‘a direct attack on Indian nationalism, on the Indian National Congress’ and as ‘the Slavery of India, Bill No. 1’. ⁣
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When Hindustan Socialist Republican Association heard of this, they decided to spring back into action. The attention they had gained through the encounter of ASP J.P. Saunders, one of the officers responsible for the death of the venerated nationalist, Lala Lajpat Rai, was rapidly diminishing, and they had yet to gain momentum with the masses. The time for action was ripe.⁣