Establishment of Indian National Congress
To give expression to the political aspirations of Indians and articulate their wish for participation in governance in India in order to ultimately realize the goal of self rule, the Indian National Congress was established at Bombay in 1885. The Englishman Allan Octavian Hume, a former British civil servant and W. C. Bonnerjee were important founding members of the Indian National Congress.
The Indian National Congress was founded on 28 December 1885 at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay, with 72 delegates in attendance. Hume assumed office as the General Secretary, and Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee of Calcutta was elected president. Besides Hume, two additional British members (both Scottish civil servants) were members of the founding group, William Wedderburn and Justice (later, Sir) John Jardine.
The delegates (72 total number) who participated in the meeting for the formation of the Congress Party included Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerjee, Badruddin Tyabji,Pherozeshah Mehta, W. C. Bonnerjee, S. Ramaswami Mudaliar, S. Subramania Iyer and Romesh Chunder Dutt.
Between 1885 and 1905, the Indian National Congress passed several resolutions in its annual sessions. This phase of the Congress Party is described as moderate phase and the leaders of the Party made humble demands through resolutions pertaining to civil rights, administrative, constitutional and economic policies.
However, there grew two factions and thought processes in the Congress- one moderate nationalism and the other militant nationalism.
Naram Dal and Moderates
The moderates, led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta, and Dadabhai Naoroji believed in political dialogue with the British regime to address different kinds of injustice meted out to the Indian people by the British regime and moved several resolutions in the party forum for freedom of speech and press, the right to organize processions, meetings and similar other rights. The moderates tried to awaken nationalistic sentiments and highlight the desire to be represented in the bodies of government, to have a say, a vote in the lawmaking and issues of administration of India. Although moderates saw themselves as loyalists, they wanted an active role in governing their own country, albeit as part of the Empire. The Congress leaders urged the government to remove certain administrative abuses and run public welfare measures. They put emphasis on the appointment of Indians in the government services. The Congress leaders also raised the voice of protest against the discriminatory laws enacted by the government. Moderate Congress leaders wanted constitutional reforms: to increase the power of legislative councils and include elected Indian representatives. In the economic sphere, Congress blamed the economic policies of the British government that resulted in rising property prices and other economic issues which affected the Indian people. They made Specific proposals to open agricultural banks for the relief of peasantry. However, Bal Gangadhar Tilak described the method of three P’s – Prayer, petition and protest as political mendicancy.
Gopal Krishna Gokhale
Gopal Krishna Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and the 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 for social reforms. He was the leader of the moderate faction of the Congress party that advocated reforms by working with existing government institutions. The “Naram Dal” or moderates believed in constitutional methods of opposition of the British rule.
Dadabhai Naoroji
Dadabhai Naoroji, the eldest Indian statesman or “Grand Old man” articulated India’s aspirations for participation in administration and governance of the country as a moderate leader. He successfully contested an election to the British House of Commons, becoming its first Indian member. He wrote a book titled “Poverty and Unbritish Rule” in which he propounded the thesis of “Drain of Wealth” by the British from India. He was the first Indian to calculate national income of India.
Pheroz Shah Mehta
Pheroz Shah Mehta was an Indian Parsi politician and lawyer from Bombay. He was knighted by the British Government in India for his service to the law. He became the Municipal commissioner of Bombay Municipality in 1873 and its president four times – 1884, 1885, 1905 and 1911. Mehta was one of the founding members and President of the Indian National Congress in 1890 held at Calcutta. Mehta was nominated to the Bombay Legislative Council in 1887 and in 1893 a member of the Imperial Legislative Council. In 1894, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) and was appointed a Knight Commander (KCIE) in 1904.
Garam Dal and Militant Nationalism
Militant nationalism extremism began to develop within the congress after 1892. Bal Bal Gangadhar Tilak was among the first Indian nationalists to embrace swaraj as the destiny of the nation. Tilak deeply opposed the British colonial education system in India which he thought ignored and defamed India’s culture, history, and values, defying and disgracing the Indian culture. He resented the denial of freedom of expression for nationalists and the lack of any voice or role for ordinary Indians in the affairs of their nation. For these reasons, he considered swaraj as the natural and only solution: the abandonment of all things British, which would protect the Indian economy from economic exploitation and gradually lead to eventual Indian independence. He was backed by rising public leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, Aurobindo Ghose, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai who held the same point of view. Under them, India’s four states – Madras, Bombay, Bengal, and Punjab region shaped the demand of the people and India’s nationalism The legacy of B.G Tilak could be seen as laying the foundation of “ Garam Dal” or “militant nationalism.” In due course of time it inspired the growth of “ revolutionary nationalism” in India.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the first leader of the Indian independence movement. The British colonial authorities called him “The father of the Indian unrest.” He was also conferred with the title of “Lokmanya”, which means “accepted by the people [as their leader]”. Mahatma Gandhi called him “The Maker of Modern India”.Tilak was one of the first and strongest advocates of Swaraj (“self-rule”) and a strong radical in Indian consciousness. He is known for his quote in Marathi: “Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it!”.
Bipin Chandra Pal
Bipin Chandra Pal was a writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement freedom fighter. He was one third of the “Lal Bal Pal” triumvirate. Pal was one of the main architects of the Swadeshi movement along with Sri Aurobindo. He also opposed the partition of Bengal by the British colonial government. Pal is known as the Father of Revolutionary Thoughts in India of India. Pal became a major leader of the Indian National Congress. At the Madras session of Indian National Congress held in 1887, Bipin Chandra Pal made a strong plea for repeal of the Arms Act which was discriminatory in nature. He was one of the chief exponents of a new national movement revolving around the ideals of Purna Swaraj, Swadeshi, boycott and national education.
Lala Lajpat Rai
Lala Lajpat Rai was an author, freedom fighter, and politician who played a pivotal role in the Indian Independence movement. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was one of the three members of the Lal Bal Pal triumvirate. He was also associated with activities of Punjab National Bank and Lakshmi Insurance Company in their early stages in 1894. He died a few weeks after sustaining severe injuries during a baton charge by police when he led a peaceful protest march against the all-British Simon Commission, a commission constituted by the United Kingdom for Indian constitutional reform.
Muslims in the Congress
Many Muslim community leaders, like the prominent educationalist Syed Ahmed Khan, viewed the Congress negatively, owing to its membership being dominated by Hindus. In the early years, the members of INC were mostly Hindus from the Bombay and Madras Presidencies. However, the INC did not make any rule for membership against the Muslim and other communities and neither pursued any discrimination against non- Hindus. Dada Bhai Naoraji, when he contested election in England was aided in his campaign by young, aspiring Indian student activists like Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
The moderates, led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta, and Dadabhai Naoroji, held firm to calls for negotiations and political dialogue. Gokhale criticized Tilak for encouraging acts of violence and disorder. The Congress of 1906 did not have public membership, and thus Tilak and his supporters were forced to leave the party.
With Tilak’s arrest, all hopes for an Indian offensive were stalled. The Congress lost credit with the people. Muslims formed the All India Muslim League in 1906, considering the Congress as completely unsuitable for Indian Muslims.
Partition of Bengal
The first Partition of Bengal (1905) was a territorial reorganization of the Bengal Presidency implemented by the authorities of the British Raj. The reorganization separated the largely Muslim eastern areas from the largely Hindu western areas. Announced on 19 July 1905 by Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India, and implemented on 16 October 1905, it was undone a mere six years later. The Hindus of West Bengal complained that the division would make them a minority in a province that would incorporate the province of Bihar and Orissa. Hindus were outraged at what they saw as a “divide and rule” policy, even though Curzon stressed it would produce administrative efficiency. The partition animated the Muslims to form their own national organization along communal lines. To appease Bengali sentiment, Bengal was reunited by Lord Hardinge in 1911, in response to the Swadeshi movement’s riots in protest against the policy.
Creation of Muslim League
On December 30, 1906, Muslim league was formed under the leadership of Aga Khan, the Nawab of Dhaka and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk to the notion to safeguard the rights of Indian Muslims. The objectives of the league were: To create among Muslims the feelings of loyalty towards the British Government. To safeguard the political rights of the Muslims and to convey the same to the government. To prevent the rise of prejudice against other communities of India among the Muslims. Its strong advocacy, from 1930 onwards, for the establishment of a separate Muslim-majority nation-state, Pakistan, led to the partition of India in 1947 by the British Empire. Aga Khan was appointed the first honorary president of the Muslim League. The London branch of the League was also founded by Syed Ameer Ali.