HISTORY March 22, 2018

Growth Of Militant Nationalism

1) Recognition of the True Nature of British Rule:

Having seen that, the Government was not conceding any of their important

demands, the more militant among those politically conscious got disillusioned and

started looking for a more effective mode of political action.

Also, the feeling that only an Indian Government could bring India on a path of

progress started attracting more and more people.

The economic miseries of the 1890s further exposed the exploitative character of

colonial rule.

Severe famines killed 90 lakh persons between 1896 & 1900.

Bubonic plague affected large areas of the Deccan leading to large-scale riots there.

The nationalists were wide awake to the fact that instead of giving more rights to the

Indians, the Government was taking away even the existing ones.

1892 Indian Councils Act was criticized by nationalists as it failed to satisfy them.

1897 The Natu brothers were deported without trial & Tilak & others, imprisoned on

charges of sedition.

1898 Repressive laws under IPC Section 124 A were further amplified with new

provisions under IPC Section 156 A

1899 Number of Indian members in Calcutta Corporation were reduced.

1904 Official Secrets Act curbed freedom of press.

Indian Universities Act ensured greater government control over universities, which

it described as factories producing political revolutionaries.

Also British rule was no longer progressive—socially & culturally. It was

suppressing the spread of education, especially mass & technical education.

Continued

2) Growth of Confidence and Self-Respect: A feeling started gaining currency that only

the masses were capable of making the immense sacrifices needed to win freedom.

3) Growth of Education: Led to an increased awareness among the masses & the rise in

unemployment & underemployment among the educated drew attention to poverty &

the underdeveloped state of the country's economy under colonial rule.

4) International Influences:

Progress made by Japan & its emergence as an industrial power

The defeat of the Italian army by Ethiopians (1896), the Boer wars (1899-1902)

where British faced reverses & Japan's victory over Russia (1905) demolished

myths of European invincibility.

Also, the nationalists were inspired by the nationalist movements worldwide—in

Ireland, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, Persia & China.

5) Reaction to Increasing Westernisation: The new leadership felt the stranglehold of

excessive westernisation & sensed colonial designs to submerge the Indian national

identity in the British Empire

6) Dissatisfaction with Moderates: The younger elements within the Congress were

dissatisfied with the achievements of the Moderates 1st 15-20 years. They were strongly

critical of the methods of peaceful & constitutional agitation, popularly known as the “3

'P's"— prayer, petition & protest—& described these methods as 'political mendicancy'.

7. Reactionary Policies of Curzon:

He spoke derogatorily of Indian character in general.

Administrative measures adopted during his rule—

the Official Secrets Act,

the Indian Universities Act

& above all, the partition of Bengal

left no doubts in Indian minds about the basically reactionary nature of British rule in

India.

Continued

Partition of Bengal

(16 Oct 1905)

Lord Curzon was the brain behind this partition but by the time actual partition took

place, Lord Minto II had replaced Lord Curzon as the Viceroy.

Reasons for Partition

British Government Explanation

Bengal was a very big state. Very difficult to manage the administrative work

Nationalist View

Divide & Rule Policy as Calcutta was the hub of Nationalistic activities

Division of people in terms of religious and linguistic demarcations

If ease of administration was the only reason why wasn’t Punjab, Bombay or

Madras partitioned

(i) on the basis of language

(thus reducing the Bengalis to a minority in Bengal itself as in the new proposal Bengal

proper was to have 17 million Bengalis & 37 million Hindi & Oriya speakers)

(ii) on the basis of religion

as the western half was to be a Hindu majority area (42 million out of a total 54 million)

& the eastern half was to be a Muslim majority area (18 million out of a total of 31

million)

Created divide amongst residents in terms of Hindu & Muslim religion

Created a divide in within Hindi, Oriya & Bengali speaking population

Changed the Fusion to Fission Culture i.e. from collective thinking to individualism

or community ideology

Effect of this demarcation

Government's decision to partition Bengal had been made public in December 1903

During this period, the leadership was provided by Surendranath Banerjee, K.K.

Mitra & Prithwishchandra Ray.

The methods adopted were petitions to the Government, public meetings,

memoranda, & propaganda through pamphlets & newspapers such as Hitabadi,

Sanjibani & Bengalee.

Period of 1903-05

People came out on street to protest against decision of partition.

They assembled at Town Hall & formed Swadeshi Bandhav Samiti which

propagated swadeshi goods and services

Local industries like textile, paper, glass flourished during this period

Lawyers resigned from the bar councils & Panchayats started hearing the grievances

of people

Social boycott

Women, who were traditionally home-centred, especially those of the urban middle

classes, took active part in processions and picketing.

Swadeshi Movement (After-effects of Partition of Bengal)

Teachers & students boycotted English schools

Students came out in large numbers to propagate and practise swadeshi, & to take a

lead in organising picketing of shops selling foreign goods.

Police adopted a repressive attitude towards the students.

Schools and colleges whose students participated in the agitation were to be

penalised by disaffiliating them or stopping of grants & privileges to them.

Students

Soon, the movement spread to other parts of the country—

In Poona & Bombay under Tilak

In Punjab under Lala Lajpat Rai & Ajit Singh

In Delhi under Syed Haider Raza

Madras under Chidambaram Pillai.

It was also galvanized by Bipin Chandra Pal’s extensive lecture tour.

In response to the British India Steam Navigation Company's trade monopoly,

Chidambaram started an Indian-owned shipping company. He registered the

Swadeshi Shipping Company in October 1906.

Rawalpindi, Kangra, Jammu, Multan & Haridwar witnessed active participation in

the Swadeshi Movement.

Swadeshi Movement

Extent of mass participation

Some of the Muslims participated—Barrister Abdul Rasul, Liaqat Hussain, Guznavi,

Azad (who joined one of the revolutionary terrorist groups)—but most of the upper

& middle class Muslims stayed away or, led by Nawab Salimullah of Dacca,

supported partition as it would give them a Muslim-majority East Bengal.

To further government interests, League was propped up as an anti-Congress front &

reactionary elements like Nawab were encouraged.

Thus, the social base of the movement expanded to include certain sections of the

zamindars, the students, the women, & the lower middle classes in cities & towns.

It was the First Movement under the Indian National Congress.

Class composition of the movement was everyone from the high class to low class

due to which it was not only an elitist movement.

Mobilization of masses was done by the leaders using religious symbols &

organizing festivals which led to alienation of religious minority.

Features of Swadeshi movements

One of the major planks of the programme of self reliance

Bengal National College, inspired by Tagore's Shanti Niketan was set up with

Aurobindo Ghosh as its principal.

On August 15, 1906, the National Council of Education was set up to organize a

system of education—literary, scientific & technical—on national lines & under

national control from the primary to the university level.

Education was to be imparted through the medium of vernaculars.

A Bengal Institute of Technology was set up for technical education & funds were

raised to send students to Japan for advanced learning.

Scores of national schools sprang up all over the country within a short period.

Programme of swadeshi or national education

Self-reliance also meant an effort to set up Swadeshi or indigenous enterprises.

The period saw a mushrooming of Swadeshi textile mills, soap & match factories; -

tanneries, banks, insurance companies, shops, etc.

While many of these enterprises, whose promoters were more endowed with

patriotic zeal than with business acumen were unable to survive for long, some

others such as Acharya P.C. Ray’s Bengal Chemicals Factory, became successful &

famous.

Swadeshi or indigenous enterprises

It was, perhaps, in the cultural sphere that the impact of the Swadeshi Movement

was most marked.

The nationalists of all hues took inspiration from songs written by Tagore,

Rajnikanta Sen, Dwijendralal Ray, Mukunda Das, Syed Abu Mohammad etc.

Tagore's' Amar Sonar Bangla written on this occasion.

In painting, Abanindranath Tagore broke the domination of Victorian naturalism

over Indian art and took inspiration from Mughal, Ajanta & Rajput paintings.

In science, Jagdish Chandra Bose, Prafulla Chandra Roy & others pioneered original

research which was praised the world over.

Impact in the cultural sphere

Nandlal Bose, who left a major imprint on Indian art, was

the first recipient of a scholarship offered by the Indian

Society of Oriental Art, founded in 1907

To mark the 1930 occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's arrest

for protesting the British tax on salt, Bose created a black

on white linocut print of Gandhi walking with a staff. It

became the iconic image for the non-violence movement.

He was also famously asked by Jawaharlal Nehru to

sketch the emblems for the Government of India's

awards, including the Bharat Ratna & the Padma Shri.

Along with his students, Nandalal Bose took up the

historic task of beautifying/decorating the original

manuscript of the Constitution of India.

Nandlal Bose

Thus, with the coming of Swadeshi & Boycott Movement, it became clear that the

Moderates had outlived their utility and their politics of petitions & speeches had

become obsolete.

They had not succeeded in keeping pace with time, & this was highlighted by their

failure to get the support of the younger generation for their style of politics.

No all- India campaigns of the scale of Swadeshi & Boycott Movement had been

organized earlier by the Moderates & in this campaign, they discovered that they

were not its leaders, which was rather natural.

Moderates

The Extremist ideology and its functioning also lacked consistency.

Its advocates ranged from open members & secret sympathisers to those opposed to

any kind of political violence.

Aurobindo, Tilak, B.C. Pal & Lalaji had different perceptions of their goal.

For Tilak, swaraj meant some sort of self-government, while for Aurobindo, it meant

complete independence from foreign rule.

But at the politico-ideological level, their emphasis was on mass participation & on

the need to broaden the social base of the movement.

They raised patriotism from a level of 'academic pastime' to one of 'service &

sacrifice for the country'.

Extremist

But the politically progressive Extremists proved to be social reactionaries.

They had revivalist & obscurantist undertones attached to their thoughts.

Tilak's opposition to the Age of Consent Bill (which would have raised the

marriageable age for girls from 10 years to 12 years, though his objection was

mainly that such reforms must come from people governing themselves & not under

an alien rule), his organising of Ganapati & Shivaji festivals as national festivals,

his support to anti-cow killing campaigns etc. portrayed him as a Hindu nationalist.

Similarly B.C. Pal & Aurobindo spoke of a Hindu nation & Hindu interests.

Continued

The `Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’ were adopted as methods of struggle for the first time

during the

(a) agitation against the Partition of Bengal

(b) Home Rule Movement

(c) Non-Cooperation Movement

(d) visit of the Simon Commission to India

2016

Answer a

Moderates Extremists

Believed & practiced through legal means Practiced boycott & mass movement

Wanted changes in system like constitutional

reforms & share for Indians in services but not

Swaraj

Demanded Swaraj & mass

mobilization

Social base—zamindars & upper middle classes

in towns.

Social base educated middle classes

in towns & lower middle class.

Believed in England's providential mission in

India.

Rejected 'providential mission

theory' as an illusion.

Focus of the movement was only in Bengal Wanted an all India Movement

Ideological inspiration— western liberal thought

& European history.

Indian history, cultural heritage &

Hindu traditional symbols.

Professed loyalty to the British Crown.

Believed British Crown was

unworthy of Indian loyalty.

Believed that the movement should be limited to middle class intelligentsia; masses not yet ready for participation in political work.

Had immense faith in the capacity of masses to participate & to make sacrifices.

Presided by Gokhale, the Moderate-Extremist differences came to the fore.

Extremists wanted to extend the Boycott & Swadeshi to outside Bengal & also to

include all forms of associations (such as government service, law courts, legislative

councils, etc. within the boycott & thus start a nationwide mass movement.

The extremists wanted a strong resolution supporting the programme at the session.

Moderates were not in favor of extending the movement beyond Bengal & were

totally opposed to boycott of councils & similar associations.

They advocated strictly constitutional methods to protest against the partition.

As a compromise, a relatively mild resolution condemning the partition & the

reactionary policies of Curzon & supporting the swadeshi & boycott in Bengal was

passed.

Benaras session 1905

Moderate enthusiasm had cooled a bit because of the popularity of the Extremists

and the revolutionary terrorists & because of communal riots.

Extremists wanted either Tilak or Lajpat Rai as the president, while the Moderates

proposed the name of Dadabhai.

Finally, Dadabhai was elected as the president and as a concession to the militants,

the goal of the Congress was defined as Swarajya.

Also 4 compromise resolutions supporting the programme of swadeshi, boycott ,

Self-Government & national education was passed.

The word swaraj was mentioned for the 1st time, but its connotation was not spelt

out, which left field open for differing interpretations by Moderates & Extremists.

Calcutta session 1906

Extremists: Emboldened by the Calcutta session, called for wide passive resistance

& boycott of schools, colleges, legislative councils, municipalities, courts, etc.

Thought that the people had been aroused and the battle for freedom had begun. Felt

the time had come for the big push to drive the British out & considered the

Moderates to be a drag on the movement.

Moderates: Encouraged by the news that council reforms were on the anvil, decided

to tone down the Calcutta programme.

Thought that it would be dangerous at that stage to associate with the Extremists

whose anti-imperialist agitation, it was felt, would be ruthlessly suppressed by the

mighty colonial rule.

They saw in the council reforms an opportunity to realise their dream of Indian

participation in the administration. They felt any hasty action under extremist

pressure was bound to annoy the Liberals in power in England then.

The Surat Split

The Moderates did not realise that the council reforms were meant by the

Government more to isolate the extremists than to reward the moderates.

Extremists did not realise that the Moderates could act as their outer line of defence

in face of state repression.

Both sides did not realize that in a vast country like India ruled by a powerful

imperialist country, only a broad-based nationalist movement could succeed.

Extremists wanted 1907 session to be held in Nagpur with Tilak or Lajpat Rai as the

president and reiteration of the swadeshi, boycott and national education resolutions.

The moderates wanted the session at Surat in order to exclude Tilak. They wanted

Rashbehari Ghosh as the president & sought to drop the 4 resolutions.

Continued

The split became inevitable, & the Congress now dominated by the Moderates lost

no time in reiterating Congress commitment to the goal of self government within

the British Empire & to constitutional methods only to achieve this goal.

Between 1907 and 1911,new laws were enforced to check anti-government activity.

These legislations included the

Seditious Meetings Act, 1907;

Indian Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act, 1908;

Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1908;

Indian Press Act, 1910.

Continued

Which one of the following movements has contributed to a split in the Indian

National Congress resulting in the emergence of `moderates’ and ‘extremists’?

(a) Swadeshi Movement

(b) Quit India Movement

(c) Non-Cooperation Movement

(d) Civil Disobedience Movement

All other movements mentioned in the question had occurred after 1919.

2015

Answer – (A)

What was the main reason for the split in the Indian National Congress at Surat in

1907?

(a) Introduction of communalism into Indian politics by Lord Minto

(b) Extremists’ lack of faith in the capacity of the moderates to negotiate with the

British Government

(c) Foundation of Muslim League

(d) Aurobindo Ghosh’s inability to be elected as the President of the Indian National

Congress

2016

Answer b

The Government Strategy

The Government in India had been hostile to the Congress from the beginning.

Even after the Moderates, who dominated the Congress from the beginning, began

distancing themselves from the militant nationalist trend which had become visible

during the last decade of the 19th century itself, government hostility did not stop.

This was because, in the Government's view, the Moderates still represented an anti-

imperialist force consisting of basically patriotic and liberal intellectuals.

With the coming of Swadeshi & Boycott Movement & the emergence of militant

nationalist trend in a big way, the Government modified its strategy towards the

nationalists.

A three pronged approach of repression, conciliation, suppression.

In the 1st stage extremists were to be repressed mildly, mainly to frighten moderate

In the 2nd stage, the moderates were to be placated through some concessions, &

hints were to be dropped that more reforms would be forthcoming if the distance

from the extremists was maintained. This was aimed at isolating the extremists.

Now, with the moderates on its side, the Government could suppress the extremists

with its full might. The moderates could then be ignored.

Unfortunately, neither moderates nor the extremists understood the implications of

the strategy.

Surat split suggested that the policy of carrot & stick had brought rich dividends to

the Government.

Carrot and Stick

Government immediately launched a massive attack on the Extremists.

Extremist newspapers were suppressed.

Between 1907 & 1908, 9 major leaders in Bengal including Ashwini Kumar Dutt &

Krishna Kumar Mitra were deported, Ajit Singh was deported & Chidambaram

Pillai & Harisarvottam Rao from Madras & Andhra were arrested

Tilak, was sent to Mandalay (Burma) jail for 6 years.

Aurobindo & B.C. Pal retired from active politics.

Lajpat Rai, who had been a helpless onlooker at Surat, left for Britain in 1908 to

come back in 1909 & then to go off to the US for an extended stay.

Extremists were not able to organize an effective alternative party to sustain the

movement.

Moderates were left with no popular base or support, especially as the youth rallied

behind, the extremists.

The Government had won, at least for the moment.’

In 1914, Tilak was released & he picked up the threads of the movement.

Afterwards

Severe government repression.

With arrest or deportation of all leaders, the movement left leaderless

Narrow social base: largely remained confined to the upper & middle classes and

zamindars , & failed to reach the masses—especially the peasantry.

Surat split

The movement failed to create an effective organisation or a party structure. It threw

up an entire gamut of techniques that came to be associated with Gandhian

politics—non cooperation, passive resistance, filling of British jails, social reform &

constructive work—but failed to give these techniques a disciplined focus.

The movement aroused the people but did not know how to tap the newly released

energy or how to find new forms to give expression to popular resentment.

It is difficult to sustain a mass-based movement at a high pitch for too long.

Why Swadeshi Movement fizzled out by 1908?

Formed at Dhaka in 1906

Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah (Aga Khan III) was appointed the 1st Honorary

President of the League.

Aga Khan(Not a name but a spiritual post within Shia muslim community)

Nawab Waqar ul Mulk & Nawab Mohsin ul Mulk(political heir) were the other

notable names in its formation.

Simla deputation

58 delegates from all over the Subcontinent were the founding members of League.

The headquarters were established at Lucknow.

To preach loyalty to the British Government & to keep the Muslim intelligentsia

away from the Congress.

Muslim League

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Muhammad Ali Jauhar

Shaukat Ali

Hakim Ajmal Ansari : Sole person elected to the Presidency of the

Congress, the Muslim League & the All India Khilafat Committee.

Elected 1st chancellor of the Jamia Milia Islamia University

Raja of Mehmoodabad

Important Leaders

Act increased the number of elected members in the imperial & provincial legislative

councils. Most of the elected members were still elected indirectly.

Central Legislative council will be expanded to 68 members.

The number of members in the provincial legislative councils was not uniform.

1st attempt at introducing a representative & popular element:

At least 1 Indian in the Viceroy’s Executive Council (Satyendra Sinha was the 1st .He was

appointed as the law member).

2 Indians will be made members of Indian Council office in London

Councils, for the 1st time, referred to as 'Legislative Councils'.

Separate Electorate for Hindu Zamindars, presidency corporations, universities Chamber

of Commerce-Calcutta & Bombay & for Indian Muslims.

Act ‘legalised communalism’ & Minto came to be known as the Father of Communal

Electorate.

Indian Council Act (1909) - Morley Minto Reforms

Besides separate electorates for the Muslims, representation in excess of the strength

of their population was accorded to the Muslims.

Income qualification for Muslim voters was kept lower than that for Hindus.

Powers of legislatures both at the center & in provinces were enlarged

Legislatures could now pass resolutions (which may not be accepted)

Ask questions & supplementaries

Vote separate items in the budget but the budget as a whole could not be voted upon.

Continued

Was set up to welcome King George V.

Decisions taken during this were

Annulment of Partition of Bengal but Separation of Bihar & Orissa from Bengal

Transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1912

Delhi Darbar, 1911

The Ghadr Party was a revolutionary group organized around a weekly newspaper.

The Ghadr had its headquarters at San Francisco.

These revolutionaries included mainly ex-soldiers & peasants who had migrated

from the Punjab in search of better employment opportunities.

They were based in the US & Canadian cities along the western (Pacific) coast.

Pre-Ghadr revolutionary activity had been carried on by Ramdas Puri, G.D. Kumar,

Taraknath Das, Sohan Singh Bhakna and Lala Hardayal who reached there in 1911.

To carry out revolutionary activities, the earlier activists had set up a 'Swadesh

Sevak Home' at Vancouver & 'United India House' in Seattle.

The Ghadr

Finally in 1913, the Ghadr was established.

Ghadr programme was to organize assassinations of officials, publish revolutionary

& anti-imperialist literature, work among Indian troops stationed abroad, procure

arms & bring about a simultaneous revolt in all British colonies.

The moving spirits behind the Ghadr Party were Lala Hardayal, Ramchandra,

Bhagwan Singh, Kartar Singh Saraba, Bhai Parmanand.

The ghadrites intended to bring about a revolt in India.

Their plans were encouraged by 3 events in 1914— arrest & escape of Hardayal ,

the Maru incident & the outbreak of the First World War.

Continued

Created an explosive situation in the Punjab.

Komagata Maru was the name of a ship which was carrying 376 passengers, mainly

Sikh and Punjabi Muslim would-be immigrants, from Hongkong to Vancouver.

They were turned back by Canadian authorities after 2 months of privation &

uncertainty.

Generally believed that the Canadians were influenced by the British Government.

The ship finally anchored at Calcutta in September 1914.

The inmates refused to board the Punjab-bound train.

In the ensuing with the police at Budge Budge near Calcutta, 22 persons died.

Komagata Maru Incident

Inflamed by this and with the outbreak of the War, the Ghadr leaders decided to

launch a violent attack on British rule in India.

They urged fighters to go to India.

Kartar Singh Saraba & Raghubar Dayal Gupta left for India.

Disappointment in Punjab

Rashbehari Bose & Sachin Sanyal were asked to lead the movement.

The Ghadrites fixed February 21 ,1915 as the date for an armed revolt in Ferozepur,

Lahore & the plan was foiled at the last moment due to treachery.

War

The authorities took immediate action, aided by the Defence of India Rules, 1915.

Rebellion regiments were disbanded, leaders arrested ,deported & hanged.

Rashbehari Bose fled to Japan from where he & Abani Mukherji made many efforts

to send arms while Sachin Sanyal was transported for life.

Apart from the Bengal terrorists and the Punjab Ghadrites, radical pan- Islamists—

Ali brothers, Maulana Azad, Hasrat Mohani—were interned for years.

The Ghadr (Ghadar) was a:

(a) revolutionary association of Indians with headquarters at San Francisco

(b) nationalist organization operating from Singapore

(c) militant organization with headquarters at Berlin

(d) communist movement for India’s freedom with head-quarters at Tashkent

2014

Answer a

The Home Rule Movement was the Indian response to the 1st World War in a less

charged but a more effective way than the response of Indians living abroad which

took the form of the romantic Ghadr adventure.

The Indian Home Rule Leagues were organized on the lines of the Irish Home Rule

Leagues & they represented the emergence of a new trend of aggressive politics.

Tilak & Besant realised that the sanction of a Moderate-dominated Congress as well

as full cooperation of the extremists was essential for the movement to succeed.

Having failed at the 1914 session of the Congress to reach a Moderate-Extremist

rapprochement, Tilak & Besant decided to revive political activity on their own

while maintaining their pressure on the Congress to re-admit the Extremists.

Pherozeshah Mehta & his Bombay Moderate group succeeded, by winning over

Gokhale & the Bengal Moderates, in keeping out the Extremists.

Home Rule League Movement

By early 1915, Annie Besant had launched a campaign to demand self government

for India after the war on the lines of white colonies. She campaigned through her

newspapers, New India & Commonweal, & through public meetings & conferences.

At the annual session of the Congress in 1915 the efforts of Tilak & Besant met with

some success.

It was decided that the extremists be admitted to the Congress(Mehta was dead).

Not willing to wait for too long, Besant laid the condition that if the Congress did

not implement its commitments, she would be free to set up her own League—

which she finally had to, as there was no response from the Congress.

It had 200 branches, was loosely organized as compared to Tilak's League & had

George Arundale as the organising secretary. Besides Arundale, the main work was

done by B.W. Wadia & C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar.

Tilak & Annie Besant set up their separate leagues to avoid any friction.

Tilak's League was set up in April 1916 & was restricted to Maharashtra (excluding

Bombay city), Karnataka, Central Provinces & Berar. The demands included

swarajya, formation of linguistic states & education in the vernacular Languages.

Annie Besant set up The National Home Rule League in September, 1916 in Madras

& covered the rest of India (including Bombay city).

Jamnadas Dwarkadas, Shankerlal Banker & Indulal Yagnik set up a Bombay paper

Young India & launched an All India Propaganda Fund to publish pamphlets in

regional languages & in English.

Home Rule League, 1916

The Home Rule agitation was later joined by Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru,

Bhulabhai Desai, Chittaranjan Das, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Mohammad Ali

Jinnah, Tej Bahadur Sapru & Lala Lajpat Rai.

Many of the moderate Congressmen who were disillusioned with Congress

inactivity, & some members of Servants of India Society also joined the agitation.

However, Anglo-Indians, most of the Muslims & non Brahmins from South didn’t

join as they felt Home Rule would mean rule of Hindu majority, mainly high caste.

In 1920, Gandhiji was elected the president of the All India Home Rule League.

The Government came down with severe repression, especially in Madras where the

students were prohibited from attending political meetings.

A case was instituted against Tilak which was withdrawn by the High Court.

Tilak was defended by a team of lawyers led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

Tilak was barred from entering the Punjab and Delhi.

In 1917 Besant & her associates, B.P. Wadia & George Arundale, were arrested.

Sir S. Subramaniya Aiyar renounced his knighthood while Tilak advocated a

programme of passive resistance.

Government Attitude

Presided over by moderate Ambika Charan Majumdar

Moderates & Extremists rejoined

Various factors facilitated this reunion:

Old controversies had become meaningless now.

Both Moderates & the Extremists realized that the split had led to political inactivity.

To allay Moderate suspicions, Tilak declared that he supported a reform of

administration & not overthrow of Government. He also denounced acts of violence.

Annie Besant & Tilak made effort for reunion into INC

Gokhale & Pheroj shah Mehta both moderate died who were opposed to the reunion

Lucknow session 1916

Congress and Muslim League sessions were held at the same venue

Congress and Muslim League agreed to work for Hindu Muslim Unity

Madan Mohan Malaviya opposed this

This relationship helped in various national movements like Non Cooperation,

Khilafat

This happened at a time when the League, now dominated by the younger militant

nationalists, was coming closer to Congress objectives & turning increasingly anti-

imperialist.

Lucknow Pact, 1916

(i) Britain's refusal to help Turkey in its wars in the Balkans (1912-13) & with Italy

(during 1911) had infuriated the Muslims.

(ii) Announcement of cancelation partition of Bengal in 1911 had annoyed those

sections of Muslims who had supported the partition.

(iii) The refusal of the British Government in India to set up a university at Aligarh

with powers to affiliate colleges all over India also alienated some Muslims.

(iv) The younger League members were turning to bolder nationalist politics & were

trying to outgrow the limited political outlook of the Aligarh school. Calcutta

session of the League (1912) had committed League to "working with other groups

for a system of Self government suited to India, provided it didn’t come in conflict

with its basic objective of protection of interests of the Indian Muslims". Thus, the

goal of self-government similar to the Congress brought both sides closer.

(v) Younger Muslims were infuriated by the government repression during the War.

Shift in the League's position

Maulana Azad's Al Hilal & Mohammad Ali's Comrade faced suppression while the

Ali brothers, Maulana Azad & Hasrat Mohani faced internment.

This generated anti-imperialist sentiments among the "Young Party".

While the League agreed to present joint constitutional demands with the Congress

to the Government, the Congress accepted League's position on separate electorates.

The joint demands were—

Government should declare that it would confer self government on Indians at an

early date.

The legislative councils should be further expanded with an elected majority & more

powers be given to them.

Half the members of the viceroy's executive council should be Indians.