Though released from prison, the next five years were to be a different period in Gandhi’s life. He seemed to be retired from his agitate role in the struggle for freedom. He chose, instead, a period of thinking, writing, traveling across the country, speaking and doing things aiming at the reconstruction of rural economy and employing his techniques of hand-spinning and weaving. 

He wrote and spoke on Hindu-Muslim unity, removal of the ugly practice of untouchability, equality of women with the men, population control, re-marriage of widows and a number of similar topics which he regarded as the basic needs for the nation to progress.

During one of these days he wrote: “I am not interested freeing India merely from the English yoke. I am bent upon freeing the people from social shackles and economic dependence because social freedom and economic freedom should go together.” Gandhi had one more reason to adopt such a stand. 

On his release from prison, he found that the party Congress was not a united movement of the people, but its leaders had made it a divided house of fissiparous tendencies. The communal situation was also not encouraging. 

Hindus and Muslims were in internecine quarrels and clashes, though not in any large scale. In Calcutta the Hindus and Muslims engaged in clashes for days and many killed and scores wounded. Even nationalist leaders joined certain communal outfits and it vitiated the atmosphere disappointingly. 

His failing health was another reason for him to go slow on matters of agitate politics for the country’s freedom .He wrote continuously on various social and rural problems through his journals, ‘Navajivan’ and ‘Young India.’