Beginning Of Freedom Movement

The Servants of India Society was founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale in Pune, Maharashtra on June 12, 1905.

The Indian National Congress conducted its first session in Bombay from 28–31 December 1885 with the consent of the Viceroy Lord Dufferin. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first president of Congress. The first session was attended by 72 delegates.

Shrimadh Bhagavad Gita Rahasya, commonly also known as Gita Rahasya or Karmayog Shashtra, is a 1915 Marathi language book authored by Indian social reformer and independence activist Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

(1) Moderate leaders --- Surendranath Banerjee, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta Dadabhai Naoroji

(2) Extremist leaders --- Bala Gangadhara Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, Aurobindo Ghosh.

The ideological awareness about the ancient tradition and the exploitation imposed by Britishers made sense of identity among the Indians. Other reasons are:

• The spread of Western education new ideas such as a justice Liberty equality democracy etc. was introduced to the Indians.

• Many Indians started the study in the Indian culture, and they realized they no longer should tolerate slavery under the British rule.

• Dr Bhau Daji Lad Dr R. G Bhandarkar made an intensive study of ancient Indian culture and spread its essence to others

• Indian Nationalism and the social reform movements made Indians gain their own opinion and ideology.

• Mahatma Gandhi’s efforts and the feeling that the freedom battle could be won made Indians more united

The Indian National Congress was formed in 1885. Later a division happened in the organization due to the difference in opinions of two groups. The two groups were

a) Extremists

b) Moderates

INC was divided into two groups in the year 1907. In the Surat session of the Congress, this spilt was officially visible.

The reasons for the differences between extremists and moderates were:

• The period 1885-1905 Indian national congress (INC), was dominated by moderates.

• Surendranath Banerjee, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta etc. were moderates.

• The moderates had the influenced of the “moderate”(modest) idea that the Britishers would agree with their demands as and when they confirm it.

• These Moderates believed in the request, prayers, meetings, leaflets, and pamphlets formal messages and delegations to present their demands to the British.

• But Moderates failed to achieve any notable goals. They only could expand the legislative council by the Indian Council Act of 1892.

• This created unhappiness among the members in INC.

• The partition of Bengal made the members restless, and it was one of the reasons for the rise of extremism in INC

• In 1907 the Indian National Congress meeting which was conducted in Pune witnessed many problems within the organization. The extremists wanted Lala Lajpat Rai or Bal Gangadhar Tilak as president. But moderates wanted Rash Behari Ghosh to be president.

• Therefore a decision was made by Gopal Krishna Gokhale to change the meeting place of INC from Pune to Surat. If Pune was the meeting place, then Bal Gangadhar Tilak would become President. This was the fear of moderates.

The Partition of Bengal was announced on 19 July 1905 by the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. The partition took place on 16 October 1905 and separated the largely Muslim eastern areas from the largely Hindu western areas.

Thereasons for the partition were:

• Partition was promoted for administrative reasons since Bengal was geographically large and had a significantly larger population.

• The reason behind the partition that was formally announced was that the Bengal province was too large. Therefore, it was difficult to be administered by a single governor, and so it would be partitioned for administrative purpose.

• The eastern region of Bengal was neglected and under-governed. By splitting the province, an improved administration could be established in the east, and later the population would benefit from new schools and employment opportunities.

• The real reason behind the partition was political and not administrative. East Bengal was dominated by the Muslims and West Bengal by the Hindus. Partition was yet another part of the divide and rule policy of the British.

• Indian National Congress started in 1885 by A.O.Hume was mainly to use the organization as an intermediary to discuss the Indian social matters.The very leaders Dadabai Naoroji, Surendra Banerjee, Gopalakrishna, Ghokale, etc. guided it well.

• The Jallianwalka Bhag massacre in 1918 created the anger against British rule. After that incident, two developments happened. Two groups within Congress Extremists and Moderates developed. Lala Lajpat Rai, Vipin Chandra Paul, and Bala Gangadhar Tilak got identified with extremists. Mahatma Gandhi was in the line of moderates. satyagraha, or ahimsa, became the main bullets under M.K.Gandhi, to drive the British out.

• The non-cooperation movement of 1920 initiated by INC was a great success. The Congress leaders Shoukat Ali, and Shoukat Ali burnt a police station in a remote place in UP in revenge to police excess. This movement was the greatest one that happened before independence in INC.

• India supported Britain in World War II which helped in gaining independence. The discussions were carried out by the INC with the British. India achieved independence after a great struggle in 1947. Also, the British realized that any more extension would affect them more. Hence they gave India freedom.

British, who ruled India for nearly a hundred years stayed on in the idea to divide and rule India. The unity of India was destroyed by creating indifferences in political, cultural and religious grounds. Partition of Bengal was such a political idea of the British to divide and rule India.

They wanted to make problems in the name of religious sentiments. Lord Curzon divided the territories of Bengal in this way:

• Western part formed the Hindu majority area

• Eastern part formed the Muslim majority area.

The partition of Bengal ultimately took place on 16th October 1905. The group of protest movements that happened against the Bengal partition is called the anti-partition movement. The main features of the Anti-partition movement are:

a) Objections and gatherings

The people appealed to the government to change the decision in Bengal partition. The leaders of the Muslim organizations were of the opinion that the partition is neither necessary nor needful. Objection meetings were organized all over Bengal. Journalists of Bengal also launched a movement against the proposal for the partition of Bengal.

Leaders of Bengal travelled through the country and asked people the boycott of British goods. The boycott aimed at creating economic pressure on England. The Boycott movement spread all over Bengal. Students forced the shopkeepers to stop selling British goods through picketing. They boycotted government schools and colleges.

b) Swadeshi movement and overall participation of people

The boycott movements lead the way to the Swadeshi movement. The Swadeshi movement was to make Indians use Indian goods only. All classes of people participated in the movement. The entire national leadership was a part of it. The idea of British to create communal tension was lessened by the national spirit and patriotism.

The Indian national congress (INC) has put forward many objectives in the political administration, and it can be labelled in the four-point program. It includes:

• Social democracy, which is based on a socialist system of government achieved by democratic means.

• Indian nationalism, which is the instance of protective nationalism, inclusive of its entire people, regardless of their diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds.

• Gandhian socialism, which is based on the nationalist interpretation of the theories of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhian socialism generally centres on Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule authored by Gandhi.

• Progressivism, which is the support for the improvement of society by reforms.

The Indian National Congress was considered to be the largest and most prominent Indian public organization. It is also the central and defining influence of the long Indian Independence Movement

A.O. Hume, a retired British officer, led its foundation on 28 December 1885. The establishment of INC passed through several phases.

A) Centralization of administration

• The Britishers established a centralized administrative system and executed uniform policies in India.

• They focused on the principle that all people would have equal status before the law, irrespective of religion, class, and caste.

• All Indians became subject to the common rule, the feeling of unity among Indians grew stronger.

• the means of communication such as railways and roads in India to protect and promote the interest of the British empire, turned out beneficial for Indians also.

• They enabled the Indians living in the different provinces to develop contacts with one another and thereby strengthened the feeling of national unity.

• Economic exploitation

• The Indian economy under the British Raj from 1858 to 1947 was not a developing sector.

• During this period, the Indian economy basically remained stagnant. India experienced deindustrialization during this period.

^• India during the British colonial era can be featured with a lower per-capita income, a great decline in the secondary sector, and lower levels of urbanization.

^• India went back in the world market, and the common workers suffered for it. They got low wages, and they were exploited by the landlords. The landlords were just the tools of the British.

• Western education

British East India Company was not interested in the development of education system in India because their prime motive was trading and profit-making.

To rule in India, they planned to educate a small section of upper and middle classes to create a class who are “Indian in blood and colour but English in taste.”

The educated class were to act as interpreters between the Government and the masses. This was also called the “downward filtration theory”.

• Study of Ancient Indian History

Western education opened up new horizons to Indians. They began reading, and that leads them to explore more on Indian tradition and culture.

The people who became aware of the exploitation of British rule made others conscious of the need to achieve freedom.

The study of ancient Indian history made changes in the mindset of people, and they began to praise India's immense tradition which should not be kept under the control of the British.

The Congress leaders initiated and influenced people in all ways.

• Role of newspapers

The freedom of press and newspapers were not allowed in India under the British rule. The following acts controlled the spread of news in India.

• Censorship of Press Act, 1799

• Licensing Regulations, 1823

• Press Act of 1835 or Metcalfe

• Licensing Act, 1857

• Registration Act, 1867

• Vernacular Press Act, 1878

• Newspaper (Incitement to Offences) Act, 1908

• Indian Press Act, 1910

But later, after the beginning of nationalist waves, the British could not defend the attempts of the educated leaders to make people know about the social actions. Freedom of the press was of utmost importance as it was a powerful tool to spread political ideas.

Many newspapers emerged during these years under distinguished and fearless journalists. These included:

1. The Hindu and Swadesamitran under G. Subramanya Aiyar,

2. The Bengalee under Surendranath Banerjee,

3. Voice of India under DadabhaiNaoroji,

4. Amrita Bazar Patrika under Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh,

5. Indian Mirror under N.N. Sen, Kesari (in Marathi)

6. Maharatta (in English) under BalgangadharTilak,

7. Sudharak under Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and

8. Hindustan and Advocate under G.P. Verma.

Thus, Indian national congress came to an establishment because of the necessity of freedom from the British. The ill-effects of centralized British administration and economic exploitation lead to social decay. The emergence of an educated class made new ideas among people and leaders came up. The research on Indian tradition made people proud of their own country, and they united. The newspapers which were owned and prepared fearlessly by Congress leaders supported the freedom-ideas of the common man. Thus INC was formed in 1885. It was a need of that period.

The early phase of Indian national congress had efficient and great leaders. They made social reforms that could make huge changes in the mind of common people. The leaders are:

a) SURENDRANATH BANERJEE

Sir Surendranath Banerjee (10 November 1848 – 6 August 1925) was one of the earliest Indian political leaders during the British Raj. He founded the Indian National Association, through which he led two sessions of the Indian National Conference in 1883 and 1885, along with Anandamohan Bose. Banerjee later became a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. He was editor of "The Bengali" newspaper.

b) GOPALAKRISHNA GOKHALE

Gopal Krishna Gokhale ( 9 May 1866 – 19 February 1915) was one of the political leaders and a social reformer during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Empire in India. Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and founder of the Servants of India Society. Through the Society as well as the Congress and other legislative bodies he served in, Gokhale campaigned for Indian self-rule and also social reform. He was the leader of the moderate faction of the Congress party that advocated reforms by working with existing government institutions.

c) ALLAN OCTAVIAN HUME

Allan Octavian Hume, (6 June 1829 – 31 July 1912) was a member of the Imperial Civil Service (later the Indian Civil Service), a political reformer, ornithologist and botanist who worked in British India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, a political party that was later to lead in the Indian independence movement. A notable ornithologist, Hume has been called "the Father of Indian Ornithology" and, by those who found him dogmatic, "the Pope of Indian Ornithology".

d) DADABHAI NAOROJI

Dadabhai Naoroji (4 September 1825 – 30 June 1917), known as the Grand Old Man of India, was a Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political and social leader. He was a Liberal Party member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom House of Commons between 1892 and 1895, and the first Indian to be a British MP, notwithstanding the Anglo-Indian MP David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, who was disenfranchised for corruption.

Naoroji is also credited with the founding of the Indian National Congress, along with A.O. Hume and Dinshaw Edulji Wacha. His book Poverty and Un-British Rule in Indiabrought attention to the draining of India's wealth into Britain. He was also a member of the Second International along with Kautsky and Plekhanov.

In 2014, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg inaugurated the Dadabhai Naoroji Awards for services to UK-India relations.

These are the additional details of the leaders of the early phase of Indian national congress, collected with the help of INTERNET.