ALS-II NOTES BY

VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

MODULE V
INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

MODERATES

Moderate phase (1885-1905 A.D)

Till 1905 a.d congress followed the methods of political mendicancy or tea party
politics viz petition, prayer and protest.
Their basic objectives were to lay the foundation of a secular and democratic
national movement, to politicize and politically educate the people, to form the
headquarters of the movements, i.e to form an all India leadership group and to
develop and propagate an anti-colonial nationalist ideology.

The congress during these days desired all round progress and the modernization
of India- social reform, modern education, industrial and economic development
of India.
They earnestly wished the betterment of the society and worked to lessen the
harshness of the British rule.
But it must also be said that the congress failures were also too numerous due to
inherent basic weakness.

WEAKNESSES

The congress lacked faith in the common people, did not work among them and
failed to acquire roots among them.
Congress politics were based on the belief that it would be able to persuade the
rulers to introduce economic and political reforms but its practical achievements
in this respect were meagre.
Congress basic failure, however was that of not keeping pace with the events.it
could not see that their own achievements had made their politics obsolete.
They failed to meet the demands of the new stage of the national movements.
Visible proof of this was its failure to attract the younger generation.
Nor did it organize any all-India campaigns and when during 1905-1907 such an
all India campaign did come up in the form of swadeshi and boycott movements
,the congress moderate leadership were not its leaders.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

EXTREMISTS
EXTREMISTS PHASE (AFTER 1905 A.D)

After 1905 a.d, the extremists acquired a dominant influence over Indian national
movement. Several new forms of mobilization and techniques of struggle now
began to emerge at popular level.
The trends of mendicancy prayer, petition and protest were on the restraints.
The militant nationalists put forward several fresh ideas at the theoretical,
propagandistic and programmatic plane.
Political attendance was to be achieved by converting the movement into a mass
movement through the extension of boycott into a full scale movement of non-
cooperation and passive resistance.
The techniques of extended boycott include apart from boycott of foreign goods,
boycott of government schools and colleges, courts, titles and government
services and even the organization of strikes.
The aim was to make the administration under present conditions impossible by
an organized refusal to do anything which shall help either the British commerce
in the exploitation of the country or British officialdom in the administration of it.
This new nationalist spirit found expression in the boycott and the swadeshi
movements which formed the highlight of the anti-partition agitation and opened
a new chapter in the history of Indian national movement.
This form of struggle also served as a genesis to the Gandhian form of struggle
with some modifications like extreme non-violence and satyagraha form of
struggles.
This period also saw the birth of a new school viz terrorists, who were hot headed
nationalists and took to the cult of bomb. They hoped to paralyze the imperialists
machinery in India through a program of assassination, dacoities etc.

DIFFERENCE IN IDEOLOGY OF EXTREMISTS AND MODERATES

Both the moderates and extremists came from the middle class, both were
reacting to the British rule and both voiced Indian grievances.
But the moderates claimed social equality and a share in the British government
of India on the grounds that they were British subjects; the extremists demanded
social equality and political emancipation as their birthright.
The moderates appealed to Englishmen in England and placed their reliance on
English history and English political ideas but the extremists grew sustenance
from India’s heritage and appealed to Indians by invoking religious patriotism.
The moderates emphasized the need for political apprenticeship under the
providential guidance of British rule; the extremists think it only an illusion.

The moderates believed in political mendicancy but the extremists called for self-
reliance and self-apprenticeship through swadeshi boycott and passive resistance.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

In contrasts to the moderates- who were modernists and enlightened in matters of

social reform, the extremists were revivalists and obscurantists in matters of social
reforms.

Moreover, the moderates also stressed that their constitutional agitation was
practical statesmanship; the emotional idealism was fraught with peril, that
rashness was not courage that British rule would not come to end because of
boycott and above all, the removal of the British rule would result in chaos and
anarchy. These were certainly not the strategy of militant nationalists.

INDIAN REVOLUTIONARIES IN INDIA AND ABROAD

IDEOLOGICAL REVOLUTIONARIES
The first decade of the 20th century saw the rise of revolutionary terrorism in Indian
politics with active participation from extremists within the Congress. The
revolutionaries wanted quicker results and discounted the value of persuasion. The
revolutionary terrorists aimed at overthrowing British rule from India.

They were inspired by the Irish terrorists and Russian Nihilists and followed their method
of assassinating corrupt and unpopular officials. They also engaged in dacoities to raise
funds for the purchase of arms, etc. popularly known as Swadeshi dacoities. The
revolutionary terrorists were operating in Bengal, Punjab, Maharashtra, and parts of
South India and even in foreign countries. Many secret societies of the terrorist youths
also came into existence.

In Bengal, the beginning of revolutionary activities is traced to the Bhadralok class.

Secret societies like the ANUSHILAN SAMITI came to be established by Pramotha
Mitra at Calcutta and by Pulin Das at Dacca. There were other societies as SWADESHI
BANDANA and SADHANA SAMAJ.

YUGANTAR, a weekly was started by B.Ghose and Bhupindra Nath Datta in 1908. The
Bengal revolutionaries namely Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw a bomb on the
carriage of Kingsford, the unpopular judge of Muzzafarpur in 1908.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

In Maharashtra, the first political murder of a European was committed at Poona by the
Chapekar brothers, Damodarand Balkrishna. In 1904, V.D. Savarkar organized the Mitra
Mala that later merged into the secret society ABHINAV BHARAT formed on the lines
of Mazzini’s Young Italy.

In Punjab, the revolutionary movement rose under Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh. A
bomb was thrown at an English official by Rash Behari Bose and Sachindranath Sanyal.

THE GHADAR MOVEMENT

The Ghadar Movement was founded in the United States by Sohan Singh Bhakna and
recognized by Hardayal. Some of its prominent leaders were Rehmat Ali Shah, Bhai
Paramanand, Mohammed Barkatullah, Ram Chandra and soon. It aimed at bringing an
armed revolution in India and brought out a weekly called Ghadar.

Under the leadership of Lala Hardayal, the Ghadar party operated from Germany and set
up an Indian Independence Committee at Berlin. The Committee planned to mobilize
Indian settlers abroad to make all efforts, send volunteers to India to incite rebellion
among the troops, to send explosives to Indian revolutionaries and even organize an
invasion of British India to liberate the country.

In reaction to the revolutionary activities the government unleashed repressive measures

against the revolutionaries. Many legislations were passed to curb the activities of the
revolutionaries.

MILITANT REVOLUTIONARIES
Revolutionary terrorism was a byproduct of the process of the growth of militant
nationalism in India. It acquired a more activist form as a fall out of the Swadeshi and
boycott movement. The first revolutionary groups were organised in 1902 in Midnapore
under Jnanendranath Basu and the Anushilan Samiti founded by Promotha Mitter and
Barindra Kumar Ghosh in Calcutta.

The methods adopted by the revolutionaries were propagation of revolutionary ideas

through the organization of secret societies in India and abroad, publication of pamphlets,
books & journals, organisation of military conspiracies, assassination of oppressive and
unpopular officials, etc. In 1908, Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose threw a bomb at a
carriage supposed to be carrying Judge Kingsford in Muzaffarnagar.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

In 1908, Barrah Dacoity was organised by Dacca Anushilan under Pulin Das. Rasbehari
Bose and Sachin Sanyal staged a spectacular bomb attack on Vicerory Hardinge in 1912.

In Maharashtra, THE CHAPEKAR BROTHERS, Damodar and Balkrishna murdered

the plague commissioner of Poona, Rand and one Lt. Ayerst in 1897. Savarkar and his
brother organised MITRA MELA, a secret society in 1899, which merged with Abhinav
Bharat in 1904. Madan Lai Dhingra in 1909 assassinated Curzon Wyllie.

During the First World War, the Berlin Committee for Indian Independence was
established in 1915 by Virendranath Chattopadhyay, Hardayal and others. Bhaga Jatin
organized revolutionary activity in Bengal and died in an encounter at Balasore.
Revolutionary terrorism was again revived after the sudden withdrawal of non-
cooperation movement.

The revolutionaries were influenced by Russian Revolution (1917), Journals such as

Atmasakti, Sarathi, Bijoli, novels and books such as Bandi Jivan by Sachin Sanyal and
PatherDabi by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. In 1924, HINDUSTAN REPUBLICAN
ARMY (HRA) was founded at Kanpur by Sachin Sanyal, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee
with an aim to organize an armed revolution to overthrow the colonial government. The
most important action of HRA was the KAKORI ROBBERY in which official railway
cash was looted (9 August 1925).

The participants Bismil, Ashfaqullah, Roshan Singh and Rajendra Lahiri were hanged. In
1928, HINDUSTAN SOCIALIST REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION was organised in
Delhi under the leadership of Chandra Sekhar Azad. In December 1928 Bhagat Singh,
Azad and Rajguru shot dead Saunders, the police official responsible for the lathi charge
on Lala Lajpat Rai in Lahore.

In 1929, Batukeshwar Dutt and Bhagat Singh were asked to throw a bomb in the Central
Assembly against the passage of the Public Safety Bill and Trade Disputes Bill. Azad
was killed in a police encounter in Allahabad in February 1931. Bhagat, Sukhdev and
Rajguru were hanged on March 23, 1931. In Bengal the famous Chittagong Armouy raid
(April 1930) was carried under the leadership of Surya Sen.

CAUSES FOR THEIR FAILURES

ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

1. The revolutionaries mainly came from the urban middle class intelligentsia out of
touch with the peasants and workers. It could not mobilize the masses. In fact, it had no
base among the people. They believed in individual heroism. The revolutionaries failed to
gain the support of the common people of India and that remained the primary cause of
their failure

2. They lacked a common plan and central leadership.

3. The British government on its part followed a ruthless and repressive policy towards
them.

4. The non-violent movement led by Gandhiji was more popular and proved more
successful..

The revolutionary movement failed to achieve its object of independence. With the death
of Chandrasekhar Azad in a shooting encounter in a public park at Allahabad in February
1931, the revolutionary movement virtually came to an end in Punjab, U.P. and Bihar.
Surya Sen’s martyrdom also marked an end to the terrorist activity in Bengal.

POLITICAL MOVEMENTS OF GANDHI

NON CO-OPERATION MOVEMENT(1920-1922)

CAUSES

The last year of the second decade of the 20th century found India highly
discontented.
The Rowlatt act, the Jallianwala bagh tragedy and the martial law in Punjab had
belied all the generous war-time promises of the Britishers. The Montagu-
Chelmsford reforms announced towards the end of the 1919 a.d with their ill-
considered diarchy, satisfied few.
Also the generous treatment of the Caliph of Turkey by the Treaty of Sevres
incensed the feeling of Muslims.
Many sections of the Indian society suffered considerable economic distress. The
workers, artisans, lower middle class and the middle class were hit by high prices.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

The rural poor and peasants were in addition victims of widespread drought and
epidemics.
All this provided Gandhiji an impetus to start the non-movement.

COURSE

Its programs included boycott of government or semi-governments schools,

colleges, courts etc.

The surrender of all the titles and honorary offices, refusal to attend government
functions and refusal of military, clerical and labouring classes to offer
themselves as recruits in Mesopotamia.
The positive programmes included establishment of national schools, colleges,
establishments of panchayats, popularization of swadeshi and khadi, development
of Hindu-Muslim unity, removal of untouchability, emancipation and upliftment
of women.

SIGNIFICANCE

This movement for the first time in history acquired a real mass base with the
participation of different sections of the society.
The movement witnessed the spread of nationalism to the remotest corners of the
country.
It also transformed the Indian national congress from a mere deliberative
assembly into an organization for action, as evident from the various programs of
the movement.
Further, the movement marked the height of Hindu-Muslim unity.
Finally, the movement demonstrated to a remarkable degree the willingness and
ability of the masses to endure hardships and make sacrifices in the cause of
national independence.

CIVIL-DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT (1930-1934)

CAUSES

The country was in the grip of a world-wide slump which had struck India with
the violence of a tropical tornado.
There were soaring prices, falling incomes, high taxation and lack of essential
commodities.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

Agricultural prices had fallen by more than 50% due to which the peasants could
not pay taxes, their rents or their debts.
Among commercial and industrial classes much heat had been generated by the
new rupee-exchange rate. The industrial workers too were in an explosive mood.
they suffered acutely from the effects of depression
The Lahore conspiracy case and Meerut conspiracy case had electrified the
atmosphere in many parts of the country.
The demand of complete independence advocated by the congress session of 1929
a.d was also rejected by the britishers.
And finally when Gandhiji requested to introduce reforms in his 11 point
ultimatum was turned down, congress decided to start the civil-disobedience
movement from the famous “Dandi march of Gandhiji”.

COURSE

The first phase of the movement saw the high point of bourgeoisie participation in
towns and peasants mobilization in the villages on the issues of salt, burning of
foreign cloths, no revenue campaigns, picketing of liquor shops and non-payment
of chaukidari tax.
The second phase of the movement was marked by clear decline in participation
which finally resulted in the Gandhi-Irwin pact.
The third phase saw the brutal repression of the government and eventual
withdrawal of the movement.

SIGNIFICANCE

The number of people that went to jail was three times the figure of non-
cooperation movement (1920-1922).
Import of foreign cloth from Britain had fallen by half; other imports like
cigarettes had suffered a similar fate. Government income from liquor, excise and
land revenue had also been affected.
Elections to the legislative assembly had been successfully boycotted. Also a
variety of social groups had been politicized on the side of Indian nationalism.
The support which the movement garnered from poor and illiterate, especially the
women was indeed remarkable. The labour class also contributed on a significant
scale.
But there was one drawback in the movement-------the movement saw the lessor
participation of Muslims and hence there was less Hindu-Muslim unity.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT (1942)

CAUSES

The failure of the Cripps mission in April 1942 a.d made it clear that Britain was
unwilling to grant full independence to India. Apart from British obduracy,
popular discontent, a product of rising prices and war-time shortages was
gradually mounting.
High handed government actions such as the commandeering of the boats in
Bengal and Orissa to prevent their being used by the Japanese had led to a
considerable anger among the people.
Also the people started thinking of an eminent British collapse in the war.
Combined with this, was the impact of the manner of the British evacuation from
Malaya and Burma.
The nationalist leadership also started thinking that the people were becoming
demoralized and that in event of a Japanese occupation might not resist at all.

COURSE

This movement saw massive and violent action on the part of the masses in the
form of hartals, strikes and clashes with the police and army.
It also saw the formation of many parallel governments run throughout the
country like at balia, midnapur and satara.
The movement also saw the setting of underground networks like a radio-station
ran by Usha Mehta.

SIGNIFICANCE

The movement was marked by the high degree of mass participation in the
national movement viz. students, workers, peasants, women etc. Even big
zamindars supported the movement.
Government officials, especially those at the lower levels of the police and
administration were generous in their assistance to the movement.
In fact the erosion of loyalty to the government of its own officers was one of the
most striking features of this movement. This made the Britishers think that their
days of leaving India, were not far off.
the outbreak also provided a phillip to the activities of Indian national army.
But the greatest significance of this historic movement lies in the fact that it
placed the demand of complete independence on the immediate agenda. After
“quit India” there would be no more retreat.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

COMMUNALISM AND PARTITION

IDEOLOGY

Communalism or the communal ideology consists of the three basic elements or

stages.
First it was the belief that people who follow the same religion have common
secular interests, that is, common political, economic, social and cultural interests.
The second element of the communal ideology rests on the notion that in a multi-
religious society like India, the secular interests, that is, the social, cultural,
economic and political interests, of the followers of another religion are dissimilar
and divergent from the interests of the followers of another religion.
The third stage of communalism is reached when the interests of the followers of
different religions or of different communities are to be seen to be mutually
incompatible, antagonistic and hostile. Thus the communalists assert this stage
that Hindus and Muslims cannot have common secular interests, that their secular
interests are bound to be opposed to each other.

REASONS FOR THE GROWTH OF COMMUNALISM

Because of economic stagnation there was intense competition among individuals

for the government jobs, in professions like law and medicine.
In an attempt to get a larger share of existing economic opportunities, middle
class individuals freely used all the means at their disposal-educational qualities,
personal merit as also nepotism, bribery and so on.
At the same time, to give their struggle a wider base, they also used other group
identities such as caste, province and religion to enhance their capacity to
compete.
Thus some individuals from the middle classes could, and did, benefit in the short
run, from communalism, especially in the field of government employment. This
gave a certain aura of validity to communal politics.

Gradually, the spread of education to well-off peasants and small landlords

extended the boundaries of the job-seeking middle classes to the rural areas.
This newly educated rural youth could not be sustained by land whether as
landlords or peasants, especially as agriculture was totally stagnant because of the
colonial impact. They flocked on the towns and the cities for opening in the
government jobs and professions and tried to save themselves by fighting for jobs
through the system of communal reservations and nominations.
This development gradually widened the social base of communalism to cover the
rural upper strata of peasants and landlords.

There was another aspect of the colonial economy that favoured communal
politics.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

In the absence of openings in industry, commerce, education and other social

services, and cultural and entertainment fields, the government service was the
main avenue of employment for the middle classes.
Much of the employment for the teachers, doctors and engineers was also under
government control.
The communal politics could be used to put pressure on the government to
reserve and allocate its jobs as also seats in professional colleges on communal
and caste lines.
Consequently communal politics could be used to put pressure on the government
to reserve and allocate its jobs as also seats in professional colleges on communal
and caste lines.
The communal politics till 1937 a.d was organized around government jobs,
educational concessions and the like as also political positions- seats in legislative
councils, municipal bodies etc.- which enabled control over these and other
economic opportunities.

It may also be noted that though the communalists spoke in the name of their
communities, the reservations guarantees and other rights they demanded were
virtually confined to these two aspects. They did not take up any issues which
were of interest to the masses.
Communalism represented at another level, a struggle between two upper classes
or strata for power, privileges and economic gains. Belonging to different
religions (or caste) these classes or strata used communalism to mobilize the
popular support of their co-religionists in their mutual struggles.
This was for example the case in western Punjab where the Muslim landlords
opposed the Hindu moneylenders and in eastern Bengal where the Muslim
jotedars (small landlords) opposed the Hindu zamindars.

FACTORS WHICH LED TO THE PARTITION OF INDIA

With the introduction of separate electorates for Muslims in 1909 a.d and
congress acceptance of Lucknow pact in 1916 a.d, congress tried to appease
Muslim league and sacrificed their seats for the sake of political unity. Same was
the basis in the Khilafat and Non-cooperation movement over the issue of
dismemberment of Turkey.
Mutual suspicion increased after failure of Delhi proposal, Nehru report and
Jinnah’s 14 points. Muslim league ultimate failure was manifested in 1937
elections. In 1940 Pakistan resolution was brought into being and the concept of
“two-nation theory” emerged.
Further, Cripps mission added fuel by making provision for freedom to any
province to remain outside Indian union that is tantamount to secession.
Both the communities, Hindus and Muslims were provided equal proportion of
seats by Wavell plan. Also Wavell had formally handed over the veto power to
Jinnah as the latter did not agree on the appointment of those Muslims who did
not belong to Muslim league.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

The climax was reached when Shimla conference practically ensured the creation
of Pakistan. Also, the rejection of Desai-Liaqat Pact, Rajagopalachari formula by
league and the failure of Gandhi-Jinnah talks added to the cause.

HOW AND WHY DID CONGRESS ACCEPT PARTITION

Partition is projected as the logical culmination of the long standing British policy
of divide and rule and the Muslim league’s ideology of communalism and
separateness.
It is forgotten that congress leadership was only accepting what had become
inevitable because of the long term failure of the congress to draw Muslim masses
into the national movement.
Each concession which the congress gave to the communal frenzy league,
consolidated the latter’s cause and drew more Muslims towards Jinnah. Similarly
Hindu communalists also got a chance to grow by vaunting itself as the true
protector of Hindu interests. The virtual collapse of the interim government also
made Pakistan appear to be an unavoidable reality.
Another additional consideration in accepting immediate transfer of power to two
dominions was that the prospect of balkanization was ruled out as the provinces
and the princes were not given the option of independence.
Another unreal assumption was that once the British left India, the differences
would be patched up.
But this was not to be, so the congress leader finally had to accept partition
because they could not stop the communal riots.

HOW TO SOLVE COMMUNAL PROBLEM

The real answer lay in an all-out opposition to communalism in all arenas-

ideological, cultural, social and political.
Based on the scientific understanding of its ideology, its social and ideological
sources and roots, its social base and the reasons for its growth in the face of the
nationalists work in favour of Hindu-Muslim unity, an intense political-
ideological struggle had to be waged against communalism and communal
political forces.
Moreover, it was necessary to take up the peasants’ cause where their class
struggle was being distorted into communal channels.
All this was not done, despite deep commitment to secularism of the bulk of the
nationalist leadership from Dadabhai Naoroji to Gandhi and Nehru.
The need was to direct the debate with the communalists into hard rational,
analytical channels so that the latter were forced to fight on the terrain of reason
and science and not of emotion and bias.
Gandhiji and congress did make Hindu-Muslim unity one of the three basic items
of the nationalists political platform. They also at crucial moments, refused to
appease the Hindu communalists. Gandhi ji several times staked his life for thr
secular cause. but he and congress provided no deeper analysis of the communal
problem.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

THE INDIA INDEPENDENCE ACT 1947

 This act was passed so as to give legal effect to the plan of lord Mountbatton.

LORD MOUNTBATTON PLAN

 The partition of India was inevitable.

 The representatives of the Muslim majority districts and those representing the
rest of the province in the legislative assemblies of both Bengal and Punjab would
meet separately and decide by a simple majority vote whether their respective
provinces were to be divided or not.
 If either part decided in favour of partition it would be done.
 It was left to the sole discretion of the constituent assembly of that province to
join India or some other country.
 The plan was accepted by the Muslim league and the congress.
 Accordingly Punjab and Bengal was partitioned and Sindh and North West
Frontier Province (n.w.f.p) decided to join Pakistan.

PROVISIONS OF INDIAN INDEPENDENCE ACT

 The act provided for the partition of India and the creation of India and Pakistan.
 The British government has to relinquish control over the affairs of the
dominions.
 The territory of the two dominions was defined. They could also add or subtract
the territory on their own.
 Until the new constitution was framed the legislative assemblies of the two
dominions were to act as their legislatures.
 Pending the formation of the new constitution the dominions would be governed
by the government of India, 1935 a.d .
 Each dominion could have a separate governor-general. But a single person could
also be the Governor General for the two provinces.
 All laws in force in the two dominions on august 15.1947 would remain so until
amended by the respective legislatures.

CATCH

 The act provided for the termination of the suzerainty of the crown over the
Indian states. All treaties, agreements and functions exercisable by his majesty
with regard to the states and their rulers were to lapse from august 15, 1947.
 It was also stated that the existing arrangements between the government of India
and the Indian states were to continue pending detailed negotiations between the
Indian states and the new dominion.
ALS-II NOTES BY
VAIJAYANTI BANERJEE

 The office of the secretary of state for India was abolished and his place was to be
taken by the secretary of state for common wealth.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ACT

 The independence of India was the natural and inevitable outcome of the process
of creating natural consciousness and common purpose, accompanied by raj,
unconsciously and by the congress consciously, over a period of time .
 The passing of this act marked the end of the British raj and the partition of India
into two sovereign nations-India and Pakistan.