EHI - 01(5th Part)

Fifth Part

Q.  List three main aims of the Congress at the time of its formation.
A.  The declared aims of the Congress were:

#  the promotion of friendly relation among political workers hailing from different parts of the country,

#  development and consolidation of the feeling of national unity irrespective of caste, creed, or region, and

# the education and organization of public opinion for the welfare of the country.

Q.  Was Congress a middle class organization in the early years?

A.  From the first session at Bombay in 1885 attended by 72 delegates , in 1886 second session at Calcutta was attended by 434 but the majority of the delegates were from the presidencies of Bombay , Madras and Calcutta .

           Representing the entire nation, the Congress became a platform of all the races, castes, creeds, professions, trades and occupations, as well as provinces. But this doesn’t present a correct picture.As a matter of fact there was a great disparity in the representation of various castes, creeds, races, professions, trades and provinces. Among the classes, the educated middle class had the largest share. The legal profession was most heavily represented among the professions. The Brahmins among the castes were comparativelylarger in number. The masses were conspicuous by their absence. So was the case with the landed class. So the Congress was by and large an entirely middle class affair.

Q.  List 5 main demands of the Congress during 1885-1905.
A.  The demands were:

#  the organization of the provincial councils,

#  simultaneous examination for the I.C.S. in India and England,
#  the abolition or reconstitution of the Indian Council,
#  the separation of the Judiciary from the executive,
#  the repeal of the Arms Act,
#  the appointment of Indians to the commissioned ranks in the Army,
#  the reduction of military expenditure, and
#  the introduction of Permanent Settlement to other parts of India

Q. What was the critique of economic policies of the Raj put forward by early nationalists?

A.  A strong point made by the nationalists during this phase was about the economic drain of India. In the nationalist opinion, the British were responsible for the destruction of India's indigenous industries. The remedy for the removal of India's poverty was the development of modem industries. The Government could promote it through tariff protection and direct government aid. However, after seeing the failure of the Government in this regard the nationalists popularized the idea of Swadeshi or use of Indian goods and boycott of British goods as a means of promoting Indian industries. They demanded end of India's economic drain, the reduction of land revenue in order to lighten the burden of taxation on the peasants, improvement in the conditions of work of the plantation laborers, abolition of the salt tax, and the reduction in the high military expenditure of the Government of India. They also fully recognized the value of the freedom of the press and speech and condemned

all attempts at their curtailment. Most of them opposed on grounds both economic and political, the large-scale import of foreign capital in railways, plantations and industries and the facilities accorded to these by the Government. By attacking expenditure on the army and the civil service, they indirectly challenged the basis of British rule in India. By attacking the land revenue and taxation
policies, they sought to undermine the financial basis of British administration in India. The use of Indian army and revenue for British imperial purposes in Asia and Africa wasidentified as another form of economic exploitation.

Q. What was the ideological basis of the rise of extremism?

A.  Humanities answer and
There were three groups of the Extremists-the Maharashtra group, headed by B.G. Tilak; the Bengal group represented by B.C. Pal and Aurobindo and the Punjab group led by Lala Lajpat Rai. This nationalism of the Extremists was emotionally charged. The social, economic and political ideals were all blended in this concept . Extremists believed that a trial of strength between the ruler and the ruled was inevitable, and argued for building a new India of their dreams in which the British had no contribution to make.

Q.  What was the political program of the extremists?
A.  Extremists didn’t believe in the political process of petitioning and praying before the British . They did not want Indians to take to arms, rather they should develop their power of self denial and self-abstinence in such a way as not to assist the foreign power to rule over them. Tilak advised his countrymen to run their own courts, and to stop paying taxes. They wanted to unite and mobilize people in mass movement against the British rule . They resented any interference by an alien government into the domestic and private life of the people. Tilak started Ganpati festival in 1893 with attempt to unite masses against the British rule .

Q.  What led to the split in Congress in 1907 at Surat?

A.  Tilak was unpopular with the moderate section of Congress . The unity was forged between the Maharashtra group and Bengal extremists at Benaras Congress (1905) with the proved advantageous to Tilak at the Calcutta Congress (1906). To begin with there was controversy over the Presidentship. Pal and Aurobindo wanted Tilak to be the President, but the Moderates were in no mood to accept him. After failing in their attempt to get Tilak installed as President, the Extremists-Tilak, Aurobindo, Pal, Ashwini Kumar Dutt, G.S. Khaparde etc.-formed themselves into a pressure group to press their points. The Extremists were in majority and they had substantial local support. There was much heat in the atmosphere & the meeting of the Subjects Committee was stormy. Resolutions the resolutions on the partition of Bengal, Swadeshi & Boycott were re-phrased were discussed and amended under pressure from the Extremists.

After the Calcutta Congress of 1906 the differences between the two groups widened further . Differences of temperament and ideology and clash of personalities created bitter feelings among the rival groups. Persistent criticism by the Extremists alarmed the Moderates. Moderates were afraid that the former had already captured Bengal, Maharashtra, Berar and the Punjab and there was danger of the rest of the country also being lost to them. So they were desperate. At Calcutta it has been decided to held the next session of the Congress at Nagpur where the Moderates thought that they would be in majority. The election of the Congress President for the ensuing session (1907) developed into an occasion for trial of strength between the Moderates and the Extremists. The

Moderates were determined not to allow Tilak to hold the presidential chair. The Moderates were unanimous on the exclusion of Tilak but not on who should be elected. Gokhale had his eyes fixed on Rash Behari Ghosh, a renowned lawyer and powerful orator. But the Moderates found themselves unnerved at Nagpur and Pherozeshah Mehta changed the venue to Surat where he thought he would have his way. The Extremists did not like this. The tense atmosphere and the intemperate language used by both sides pointed to the inevitability of the coming crisis at Surat. Rash Behari Ghosh was elected the Congress President. The relations between the two groups worsened further. In the meeting there was open conflict to the proposal of Ghosh being elected as President. Tilak was not allowed to express his views in the matter. This was a signal for pandemonium. There were shouts
and counter-shouts, brandishing of sticks and unrolling of turbans, breaking of chairs and brushing of heads. There were allegations and counter-allegations as to who was responsible for this episode and this led to the split at Surat in 1907.

Q.  How did Surat split hamper the growth of National Movement?

A.  The split did immense harm to the Congress in particular and the national movement in general. It can be said that the Moderates were the brain of the Congress and the nation and the Extremists were the heart; the former were the 'law' and the latter 'impulse'. The unified action of the two was absolutely necessary for the proper functioning of the organisation and growth of national movement. With the extremists in the wilderness, the Moderates were to achieve little. For about a decade, the Moderates were not in a position to show the kind of strength that was needed to seriously oppose the British. It was only after 1916, with the re-entry of the Extremists in the Congress and exist of the Moderates from it (1918) that the Congress could be reactivized.

========================================================================
Q.  What was the Curzon's real motive in partitioning Bengal?

A.  In the eyes of Curzon and others like him Bengal was the most vulnerable point in the entire British Indian empire. In their view the Bengalis were formidable nationalist force. To meet the growing nationalist challenge in eastern India, Curzon and his advisers decided the division of the Bengali-speaking people. Curzon was determined to split up the nationalist forces . This Curzon wanted to create a situation of mutual suspicion and jealousy between the two major communities in Bengal - the Hindus and the Muslims. By partitioning Bengal, therefore, Curzon and his lieutenants wanted to set up Dacca as a parallel political centre to the nationalistically oriented Calcutta. This mischievous game was being played, above all, to cripple the educated Indian middle class nationalists.

Q.  Periodicals with the names of their editors.
A. Bande Matram ----- Aurobindo Ghosh
Sandhya --------------- Brahmabhandav Upadhyaya
New India ---------- Bipin Chandra Pal

Q.  Discuss in about 10 lines that circumstances leading to the Swadeshi Movement

A.  While dividing the Bengal , Curzon and his men were aware of the resistance they will have to face , but miscalculated the massive scale. They knew about the worries of the babus in eastern Bengal over the prospect of clerical jobs. They were also aware of the difficulty the Bengali Zamindars (having estates in both eastern and western parts) had to face over the increased expenses for engaging two sets of agents and pleaders. The Calcutta High Court lawyers', they knew, will feel concerned over the loss of practice because of a separate High Court in the new province. They would think of the anxieties of the jute and rice trading interests near the port of Calcutta over the challenge that Chittagong might pose as an alternative outlet. They also knew how Calcutta nationalists might feel disturbed on account of the loss of a considerable portion of their audience and

following. But they expected all worries to subside in course of time.

The Government had no idea whatsoever of the stormy political movement which the Partition would cause, breaking it away from traditional ways of respectful resentment, generating unprecedented militancy and turning it rapidly into a battle for swaraj (self- rule). The authorities grossly underestimated the Bengali dislike for authoritarianism which had been produced among them by their long history of virtual independence from nominal central powers. They also failed to grasp the Bengali feeling for unity and pride in their attainments, at least among the literates which had been fostered by intense educational, intellectual and cultural activities during the whole of the 19th century. Apart from its being the center of economic and political affairs, the metropolis of Calcutta-the capital of British India-had already become the nerve-centre of Bengali consciousness. It drew students from all parts of Bengal, sent out teachers, professionals (engineers and doctors) and petty officials to every nook and comer of the province, often far beyond it. Calcutta had made a significant contribution to the growth of a powerful literary language. The city had an increasing number of high-level newspapers and periodicals as well as a band of writers who were producing developed modern literature. In sum, one could say that Bengal and the Bengali middle class in 1905 were by no means in a mood to surrender to the Curzonian , assault.

Q.  Write in about 100 words the techniques which evolved during the Swadeshi movement.

A.  The anti-partition agitation began in Bengal on the conventional moderate nationalist lines, though with a great deal of noise and angry protestations. There were sharp press campaigns against the partition scheme, numerous public meetings in opposition to it and the drafting of petitions to the Government for its annulment. All this was impressive, making the educated middle class's case against the partition loud and clear. But it made no effect on the indifference of the authorities in India and Britain. The evident failure of these methods, therefore, led to a search for new techniques from the middle of 1905 & resulted in the discovery of the boycott of British goods as an effective weapon. The boycott of British products was followed by - 

# the advocacy of swadeshi or exhorting purchasers to buy indigenously produced goods as a patriotic duty,

# Charkha (the spinning wheel) came to typify the popular concern for the country's economic self-sufficiency, and

# the holding of swadeshi melas or fairs for selling handicrafts and other articles became a regular feature.

Picketing before the shops selling British goods and boycott of the officially controlled educational institutions were other steps taken during the agitation .

Q.  What were the political trends which developed during the Swadeshi Movement?

A.  Several trends of political thinking were competing with one another for popular acceptance during the swadeshi days in Bengal:

i) The moderate nationalist opinion (which was represented by persons like Surendranath Banerjea, Krishnakumar Mitra and Narendra Kumar Sen) still had abiding faith in the British sense of justice, and were not in favor of stretching the agitation too far.They were out of tune with the prevailing militant mood against the British authorities that the moderates rapidly and conclusively lost their popularity.

ii) The second or the social reformist creed of "constructive swadeshi"- as it was aimed at gathering national strength through a persistent movement of self-help and self-reliance (or Atmashakti according to Rabindranath Tagore) by organizing indigenous enterprises, nationalistic educational processes and setting up village uplift societies to bridge the gulf between the rural and urban people. All those who did not see eye to eye with the moderate nationalists supported the cause of "constructive swadeshi" in the beginning.

iii) Even though the program recommended by the social reformists was significant in some ways, it was too arduous and unexciting to have wide appeal in those days . It could neither match the exuberance of political leaders nor satisfy the impatient, adventurous youth of Bengal. In such circumstances, the appearance of political extremism-the third trend-was natural. It found expression in periodicals like New India (edited by Bepinchandra Pal), Bande Mataram (edited by Aurobindo Ghosh), Sandhya (edited by Brahmabandhav Upadhyaya) and Yugantar (edited by Bhupendranath Dutta). The political extremists demanded self-government for India, not under British tutelage or British Paramountcy (as the moderates wished), but by severing all British connections, and wiping

off all British influences.

  The extremist political leaders gave a clarion call for the establishment of swaraj & attempted to find the ways and means for achieving it. They speedily came to the conclusion that the techniques of boycott should be escalated from British goods and educational institutions to other spheres, such as the British administration, the British courts of law and the British services, shaking the foundation of British authority in India.

Q.  Why did the peasants not participate in the Swadeshi movement in a big way?

A.  The reason was the lack of genuine interest among these leaders in improving the agrarian situation, or in formulating concrete programs for the betterment of the peasant masses. The members of the middle class in Bengal, whether, professionals, clerks or businessmen, depended substantially for their economic well-being on the rentals from their ancestral lands. Their rental character had, therefore, placed them into an exploitative category vis-a-vis the exploited peasantry, and had perpetuated a contradiction between their interests and the peasants' aspirations. The Swadeshi movement did not raise any voice of protest against the peasant's burden of debts, his periodic eviction from land or against his continued subjection to begar (unpaid forced labor). No Samiti gave any call to the cultivators for launching an agitation on the issues of exorbitant tax and rent. Even a radical spokesman of the stature of the Aurobindo Ghosh expressly ruled out such campaigns lest they should hurt the interests of pamotic Zamindars (Aurobindo Ghosh's articles in Bande Mataram, April 1907). What was worse, the strong religious overtone that the Swadeshi movement acquired in course of time - its undue emphasis on the Hindu revivalistic symbols and idioms - largely discouraged the Muslim peasants (who formed the bulk of the peasantry in east Bengal) from taking a

lively interest in the great commotion.

Q.  How did "Revolutionary terrorism" emerge in 1907-08?

A.  A large-scale participation of the masses in the struggle for Swaraj didn’t yield any result . With little success among the workers, total failure in respect of the cultivators and sad mismanagement of the communal tangle, the Swadeshi movement was unable by a to rise to its full potential second half of 1907 .It was ruthlessly suppressed by the Colonial government too. The authorities prohibited the shouting of the slogan "Bande Mataram" in public places, disqualified from the Government employment all those who took part in the agitation in any form and expelled and fined student participants of the movement. The authorities resorted to physical violent measures like exemplary caning of the picketers and institution of cases against demonstrators , banning of public meetings and processions, and innumerable arrests and convictions of persons, including Bepinchaddra Pal and Liakat Hussain. Thus , the question of meeting force with force--using terror against terror-naturally came to the forefront.

A violent method also appealed to-the romantic recklessness of the middle class youth of Bengal, who sought solace in heroic individual acts when mass actions did not materialize and who pinned their hopes on secret societies when open politics could not overwhelm the Government. The cult of violence was also attractive to those who were in a desperate hurry and whose patience had practically run out. The alternative method of resorting to violence against the tyrannical British emerged .These militant organizations were spearheaded by the Yugantar group in Calcutta and the Anushilan Samiti in Dacca. Prafulla Chaki died and Khudiram Bose, a boy of 18, were hanged for their attempt on the life of a notorious British Magistrate Kingford who escaped unhurt.