Mahatma Gandhi decided in 1919 to launch a nationwide satyagraha campaign against which proposed law of the British Government in India?

Introduction / Context:
In the years after the First World War, the British colonial government in India introduced harsh legislation to curb political activity and suspected revolutionary violence. Mahatma Gandhi responded by mobilising a new kind of mass non violent resistance called satyagraha. This question asks which proposed law in 1919 prompted Gandhi to call for a nationwide satyagraha campaign for the first time on an all India scale.

Given Data / Assumptions:

- The year is 1919. - Gandhi decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha. - The law in question was proposed by the British Government in India. - The options include the Simon Commission, the Rowlatt Act, the Salt Act, and Pitts India Act.

Concept / Approach:
The Rowlatt Act of 1919 extended emergency wartime powers into peacetime, allowing detention without trial and severe curbs on civil liberties. It was widely condemned as unjust and repressive. Gandhi saw this as a direct attack on basic freedoms and called for a nationwide hartal and satyagraha in protest. The Simon Commission came later in 1928, the famous Salt Satyagraha was in 1930, and Pitts India Act dates to the late eighteenth century. Thus, the only option that matches the year and context is the Rowlatt Act.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Remember that Gandhi’s first all India satyagraha was against the Rowlatt legislation in 1919. Step 2: Note that the Simon Commission was appointed in 1927 and arrived in India in 1928, so it cannot be the correct answer for 1919. Step 3: The Salt Act and the related Salt Satyagraha are linked with 1930, not 1919. Step 4: Pitts India Act is an eighteenth century statute and has no connection with Gandhi’s satyagraha movement. Step 5: Therefore, the repressive law that triggered the nationwide satyagraha in 1919 was the Rowlatt Act.

Verification / Alternative check:
Standard narratives of the Indian national movement mark 1919 as the year of the Rowlatt Satyagraha. Gandhi called for non violent resistance against the Rowlatt Act, and there were widespread protests, particularly in Punjab. These events form the immediate background to the tragic Jallianwala Bagh massacre. No other law among the options fits both the date and the description given in the question, which confirms that the Rowlatt Act is the right answer.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Simon Commission: A fact finding commission on constitutional reforms that was opposed in 1928 with the slogan that it had no Indian members. It is not the 1919 law against which satyagraha was launched.
Salt Act: The Salt Satyagraha in 1930 protested the salt tax and monopoly but happened more than a decade later than the events mentioned in the question.
Pitts India Act: Passed in 1784 to regulate the East India Company, long before Gandhi’s time and unrelated to satyagraha.

Common Pitfalls:
Learners sometimes confuse different satyagrahas and associate any major Gandhi led protest with the Salt March, because it is the most famous. Others mix up the timeline and link Gandhi’s early activism with later events like the Simon Commission. Keeping a simple chronological mental map of 1919 Rowlatt Satyagraha, 1920 Non Cooperation, 1930 Civil Disobedience, and so on helps avoid these errors.

Final Answer:
In 1919, Mahatma Gandhi decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act.