Rise of Nationalism In India
Study Materials
RISE OF NATOINALISM
AWAKENING OF NATIONAL
CONSCIOUSNESS
The early nationalists felt that India could not
exist as a nation or a united country until there was a
revolution in the fields of transport and
communication. In the words of the Bengali nationalist
Bipin Chandra Pal in 1916. Our language has no word
corresponding to the English word nation. And the
reason is that our social synthesis practically stopped
with the race-idea. We never had, therefore, this
nationalist aspiration before.
Before this period Indians mostly lived in
remote and scattered villages. Their viewpoints hardly
stretched beyond 30 km. Even intellectuals living in
the urban areas, did not have any sense of identity with
even other urban people in India. The only link that
had anything common wits that the British
administration which controlled and ruled as semi-
hegemonic and semi-authoritarian colonial state. The
nature and working of the colonial state forced the
Indian masses to participate in the Indian National
Movement and it made them have a sense of identity
with other Indians. They did not completely reject the
constitutional validity of the British system. Rather,
they used it effectively in combination with the, non-
constitutional struggle to make changes in the
existingstructure.
The negative factors of the British rule which
inspired the struggle for freedom were:
1. Humanitarian: Not much was done for the
Indians. Everything that was done was to
facilitate the British who were coming to or
had settled in India.
2. Civilizational: Efficiency on the part of the
government was required to help the
civilization make progress. There is no doubt
that railways were built and ambitious
irrigation projects were undertaken. However,
it was not adequate. Moreover, everything was
done to facilitate the smooth functioning of the
British government. It did not involve any
concern for the Indian people.
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3. Political: The British repeatedly breached
their promise of giving the Indians fair and
equal treatment. They were denied reasonable
representation in higher administration as had
been promised. Alt this shook the confidence
of the Indians towards the British Indians were
being denied their birth right of adequate
political aspirations and the legitimate claim to
have a reasonable voice in legislation. This
was after disregard of the feelings and views
of the Indians.
4. Financial: The British were evolving new
methods of imposing taxes on the Indians,
without making any effort to Increase their
income. Inequitable financial relations
between England and India, that is the political
debt of$100,000,000 forced on the shoulders
of India.
5. Material: It is estimated that the material
drain from India to England was more than
£500,000,000. The calculations were made at
the lowest computation. It had been included
the principal alone, and it would run into
thousands of millions if interest had also been
included. Moreover, this drain continued at the
rate of more than $12,000,000 annually, with a
tendency to increase. The impoverishment and
exhaustion of the country grew steadily. The
exports from India increased without adequate
compensation. It led to a loss in the
manufacturing industry and its skill, did much
damage to Indians materially.
6. Others: During the years after the rebellion of
1857, there was an increase in political
awareness, expression of Indian public
opinion, and emergence of Indian leadership.
The economic uncertainties that the British
rule had created for the ever-expanding
number of Western-educated youth began to
dominate the speeches of the leaders. They
had started thinking of themselves as a
‘nation', despite gaps created by region,
religion, language and caste.
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The educated class of India highlighted Ute
facts how wealth from India was being drained out of
India and how it was leading to poverty among
Indians. The criticism of the British colonial rule
hastened the rise of nationalism. The educated thinking
class voiced for liberal and democratic principles
emphasised by Western education. It further promoted
nationalism. There is no denying of the fact that
Western-style education was beginning to form a new
class of Indians having an understanding of the
English political outlook. The number of Indians
studying English increased from 298,000 in 1887 to
505,000 in 1907. In the same period, the circulation of
English-language newspapers grew from 90,000 to
276,000.
Indian National Movement vs. European `
Revolutions `
Indian nationalistic movements were similar to those `
in Europe, The goats of autonomy and self-rule were `
the same. Circumstances that led to the unification or `
the division of a place were alike. The catalysts far `
nationalism were, however, slightly different. Both `
were based on the corruption or ineffectiveness of a `
government on its subjects, but the sources were `
different. European abuse of power came from within `
(e.g. French kings over French people or disunity in `
Germany). Indian nationalistic movements for
independence were a direct reaction to imperialism.
European nations were in a period of imperialism, or
the taking over of another country for political, social
and/ or economic gain. In this case, India had
experienced long periods of imperialism at the hands `
of European authorities. As imperialism progressed, `
nationalistic movements rose up in an attempt to `
throw out foreign influence and gain independence. `
EMERGENCE OF NATIONALIST `
MOVEMENT
Event such in the passage of the Vernacular `
Act in 1878, and the Ilbert Bill of 1882, as well as the `
lowering of the age limit for the Civil Services exams `
in 1876,resulted in a wave of opposition from middle- `
class Indiana Consequently, some of them came `
together and anumber of small political patties that `
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Rise of Nationalism In India
Study Materials
came out on the streets for protests and rallies. The
Indian nationalist movement was the political
expression of rational and religious uproar, and social
and economic development. It was the result of
numerous factors and influences. The following are
some of the important factors in the rise of
nationalism.
National Awakening by Socio-religious
Reformists
These socio-religious movements, which
brought out the cultural-ideological struggle, were
some of the important factors in the evolution of
national consciousness. The chief reformist
organizations active during that time included: (i)
Brahmo Samaj, founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy,
1828; (ii) Prarthana Samaj, founded by Atma Ram
Panduranga, 1867; (iii) Arya Samaj, founded by
Swami Dayanand Saraswati, 1875; (iv) Adhyatma
Samaj founded by Annie Besant, 1893; and (v)
Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekanand,
1897, These movements were not restricted to the task
of mainly reforming religion, but extended to that of
reconstructing social institutions and social relations.
Thus, these became the first universal expression of
national awakening.
` English Language and Western Education
` The socio-religious reform movements of the
` nineteenth century triggered the evolution of the Indian
` nationalconsciousness. Nineteenth century literary
pioneers such as Bankimchandra Chatterjee (1838-
1894), whose novels Krishnakanter Will(1878) and
(1882) with its famous song Vande Matram, brought a
patriotic flavour to Indian literature. This Indian
intelligentsia set out to invoke national consciousness
`
among the Indians. They did so in many cases, using
the English language as their weapon. From essayists
`
such as social 'reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-
1833) to poets, such as Michael Madhusudan Dutt
(1824-1873), English provided a new and effective
way to communicate’ with educated Indians and to
carve out a new role for Indian literature which
brought out the patriotic emotions among the Indian
masses Further, the dissemination of religious
`
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`
`
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knowledge through the translation of religious texts

into vernacular languages and the right granted of
Significance Role Played by the Linguistic-
anybody to interpret scriptures reduced the influence
Cultural Communities
of the caste system. The advent of British capitalism in the colonial form
was not only destructive, but also regenerative to the
FREEDOM OF THE INDIAN PRESS formation of nationalities. At that time, several
The press is a mould and mirror of all linguistic-cultural communities were in different stages
activities of the national and international life. Indians of growth. The Indian freedom struggle coincided with
came to know about contemporary events and the period of awakening of these communities and
movements abroad such as the unification of Italy their graduation to nationalities. The rise of these
(1861), the Great American Civil War (1861-1865), nationalities manifested themselves in the form of
The unification of Germany (1870), and independence agitation for recognitions of their respective
movements in Romania, Montenegro, Serbia and other vernaculars, separation from advanced nationalities
places. The Indian press advocated the cause of the and movement for the formation of unilingual
local people which helped in fuelling political and provinces. After independence, these movements
social reforms and seeding patriotic emotions in the gained intensity and demanded greater regional
masses. With the active help of the press, despite the autonomy. Without the inclusion of these sub national
imposition of restrictions by the British government, `
currents, any understanding of the making of the
the nationalist groups were able to popularise the idea `
Indian would be incomplete.
of representative government, liberty, democratic `
institutions, home rule, dominion status and even `
complete independence in the end. `
`
`
Hindu Socio-Religious Movements `
`
Name of the Year Place ` Founder Remarks
Organization `
Atmiya Sabha 1815 Kolkata Raja `Ram Mohan Roy Its aim was to attack the evils
in Hinduism and to propagate
` monotheism
Brahmo Samaj 1828 Kolkata Raja `Ram Mohan Roy It was initially known as
` Brahmo Sabha and its aim
` was the same as above.
Tattvabodhini Sabha 1839 Kolkata Debendranath Tagore Its aim was to propagate Raja
`
Ram Mohan Roy’s ideas.
Paramahansa 1849 Mumbai `
Durgaram Manchharam Its main aim was to break
Mandali ` caste restrictions
Radha Soami Satsang 1861 Agra Tulsi` Ram Its aim was to propagate a
` monotheistic doctrine.
Brahmo Samj of India 1866 Kolkata Keshab Chandra Sen A group of Brahmos under
` Sen established this new
` organization after seceding
` from the original Samaj
` (established by Roy) over the
question of social reforms.
`
After this secession, the old
` one came to known as the
`
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`
`
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‘Adi Brahmo Samaj’. Among

the other things, it
campaigned and supported
the cause of women
education.
Prarthana Samaj 1867 Mumbai Dr. Atmaram Pandurang In 1870, it was joined by M.
G. Ranade and R. G.
Bhandarkar. Its aim was the
reformation of the Hindu
religious thought and
practice.
Arya Samaj 1875 Mumbai Swami Dayanand Its main aims were reforms
Saraswati of Hinduism and prevention
of the conversion of Hindus
to other religions.
Theosophical Society 1875 New York Madame, H. P. Blavatsky They came to India (1879)
(USA) and Col H. S. Olcott and established their head
quarters at Adyar, near
Chennai (1882). Its main
aims were promotion of
ancient religions and
philosophies formation,
universal brotherhood of man
etc.
Sadharan Brahmo 1878 Kolkata Ananda Mohan Bose, As the result of second
Shivanatha Shastri etc. schism among the Brahmos,
a group of young followers of
K.C. Sen left him over the
question of management of
the Samaj and social reforms.
Deccan Education 1884 Poona G. G. Agarkar Its aim was to remodel the
Society education of the young to
prepare them for the service
of the country.
Ramakrishna Mission 1897 Belur Swami Vivekananda Its main aim was to carry on
humanitarian relief and social
work.
Servants of India 1905 Mumbai Gopalakrishna Gokhale Its aim was to train Indians in
Society different fields for the service
of their motherland.
Poona Seva Sadan 1909 Poona Mrs. Ramabai Ranade Its aim was to promote the
and Mr. G.K. Devadhar welfare of women.
Rahnumai Maz- 1851 Mumbai Naoroji Furdunji, S.S. Its aim was to reform the
dayasnan Sabha Bengalee and others Zoroastrain religion, sacred
(religious organization reform book of the Parsis –
of the Parsis) Avesta God – Zoroaster
(founder of their religion).
Nirankaris 1840s Punjab Dayal Das, Darbara Purification of Sikhism
Singh, Rattan Chand, etc.
Namdharis 1857 Punjab Ram Singh Same as above
(successors of Kukas)

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Table 4.2 Muslim Socio-Religious Movements

Movement/Institution Year(s) Place Founder Aims and Significance

Dar-ul-Ulum 1866 Deoband Maulana Hussain Ahmad Its aim was to resuscitate
and others classical Islam and to inprove
the spiritual and moral
conditions of the Muslims. The
liberal interpretation of Islam
by its founders created political
awakening among its
followers. Some of them, like
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
played an important role in the
national movement.
Nadwah-ul-Ulama 1894 Lucknow Maulana Shibli Numani Its aim was to re-direct Muslim
and others educational system, developing
religious sciences and to end
the theological difference
within Islam.
Ahl-i-Hadis (people of the Second Punjab Maulana Syed Nazir This group of theological
Quran) half of the Hussain refused to recognize the
nineteenth existing four schools of
Century jurisprudence and considered
only hais (saying of the
prophet) and the Quran as the
ultimate authority on Islam.
Alh-i-Quran (people of Second Punjab Maulavi Abdullah They considered only Quran as
the Quran) half of the Chakralavi (his followers the ultimate authority on Islam.
nineteenth are also known as
Century ‘Chakralavis’)
Barelwis Second Punjab Maulana Ahmad Riza They preached the revival of
half of the Khan many old Islamic practices,
nineteenth and vehemently opposed the
Century deoband school and its
preachings.
Qadiant of Ahmadia End of the Qudian Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Its aim was to reform Islam
movement nineteenth in Punjab and to defend it against
century Christian missionaries and
Arya Samjis. It gave religious
recognition to modern
industrial and technological
progress: it was the most
closely knit and the best
organized Muslim group in
India.
Muhammadan 1886 Aligarh Sir Syed Ahmad Khan Its aims was to promote the
Educational Conference and others education of the Muslim
masses on western lines (this
and other educational and
social service activities of Sir
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Syed and his followers are

together known as the ‘Aligarh
Movement’).

Table 4.3 Political and Nationalist Organisztions

Organiztion Founder(s) Year Place

Pre-Congress Associations
Eastern India Based
Landholders Society Dwarkanath Tagore 1836 Kolkata
British India Society William Adams 1839 Kolkata
Bengal British India Society George Thompson 1843 Kolkata
British India Association Devendranath Tagore 1851 Kolkata
Indian Society Anandmohan Bose 1872 Kolkata
Indian Association Anandmohan Bose and S. N. Banerji 1876 Kolkata
Indian National Society Shishir Chandra Bose 1883 Kolkata
Indian National Conference Anandmohan Bose 1883 Kolkata
Western India Based
Mumbai Association Jagannath Shankershet 1852 Mumbai
Poona Sarvajanik Sabha S. H. Chiplunkar, G. V. Joshi, M. G. 1867 Poona
Ranade, etc.
Mumbai Presidency Association Feroz Shah Mehta and Telang 1885 Mumbai
Southern Based
Chennai Native Association ----- 1852 Chennai
Chennai Mahajan Sabha G. S. Aiyer and M. Viraraghavachari 1885 Chennai
Based Abroad
London India Committee C. P. Mudaliar 1862 London
East India Association Dadabhai Naoroji 1866 London
National Indian Association Mary Carpenter 1867 London
Associations After the Advent of Congress
Indian National Congress A. O. Hume 1885 Mumbai
Northern India Based
United Indian Patriotic Association Sir Syed Ahmed Khan 1888 Aligarh
UP Kisan Sabha Madan Mohan Malviya, Gauri Shankar 1918 Lucknow
Mishra and Indra Narayan Dwivedi
Awadh Kisan Sabha Jawaharlal Nehru, Ram Chandra and 1920 Pratapgarh
Gauri Shankar
Indian Trade Union Congress N. M. Joshi, Lala Lajpat Rai 1920 Lucknow
Swaraj Party Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das 1923 Delhi
All India Communist Party Satyabhakta 1924 Kanpur
Khudai Khidmatgar Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan 1929 Peshawar
Progressive Writers Group Munshi Premchand, Kaifi Azmi, Faiz 1936 Lucknow
Ahmed Faiz
All India Kisan Sabha Sahjanand and N. G. Ranga 1936 Lucknow
Western India Based
Servants of India Society Gopalakrishna Gokhale 1905 Mumbai
Home Rule League Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak 1915 Pune
All India Scheduled Castes Federation Dr. B. R. Ambedkar 1942 Nagpur
Independent Labour Party Dr. B. R. Ambedkar 1936 Mumbai

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Eastern India Based

Communist Group of India Nalini Gupta 1921 Kolkata
Forward Block Subhas Chandra Bose 1939 Kolkata
Indian Bolshevik Party N. D. Majumdar 1939 Kolkata
Radical Democratic Party M. N. Roy 1940 Kolkata
Indian Bolshevik Lenin Party Ajit Rai and Indrasen 1941 Kolkata
Revolutionary Socialist Party Satyendra Nath Tagore 1942 Kolkata
Based Abroad
Servants of People Society Lala Lajpat Rai 1920 Tashkent
Free Indian Legions Subhas Chandra Bose 1942 Germany

Table 4.4 (I) Paper/Journals Founded in 18th Century

Year Paper/ Jounal Founder(s) Place

1780 Bengal Gazette (first paper from India) James Augustus Hicky Kolkata
1787 India Gazette Henry Louis Vivian Derozio was an Kolkata
editor in the later years
1784 Chennai Courier (first paper from Chennai) Not available Chennai
1789 Mumbai Herald (first paper from Mumbai) Not available Mumbai
1795 India Herald R. Williams (published by Humphreys)

Table 4.4 (II) Paper/Journals Founded in 19th Century

Year Paper/Journal Founder(s) Place

1818 Digdarshana (first Bengali monthly) Edited by John Clark Kolkata
1818 Samachar Darpan (first Bengali newspaper) William Carey and others Kolkata
1818 Kolkata Journal J. S. Buckingham Kolkata
1818 Bengal Gazette (first Bengali paper from Gangadhar Bhattacharya (close relative Kolkata
India) of Harishchandra Ray)
1821 Sambad Kaumudi Raja Ram Mohan Roy Kolkata
1822 Mirat-ul-Akhbar (first journal in Persian) Raja Ram Mohan Roy Kolkata
1822 Jam-i-jahan Numah (first paper in Urdu) Lal Sadasukh lal (Editor) Kolkata
1822 Bangaduta (A weekly in four languages Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dwarkanath Kolkata
English, Bengali, Persian and Hindi) Tagore and others
1822 Mumbai Samachar (first paper in Gujarati) Fardunjee MArzban Mumbai
1831 East Indian Henry Louis Vivian Derozio Kolkata
1838 Mumbai Times (became the Times of India Robert Knight, stated by Thomas Mumbai
in 1861) Bennett
1851 Rast Goftar Dadabhai Naoroji Mumbai
1853 Hindu Patriot Girishchandra Ghosh (later Kolkata
Harishchandra Mukerji became its
owner-cum editor)
1858 Som Prakash (first Bengali paper to devote Dwarkanath Vidhyabhusan Kolkata
itself to politics)
1862 Indian Mirror (first Indian daily paper in Devendranath Tagore Kolkata
English)
1862 Bangalee Girishchandra Ghosh (S. N. Banerji took Kolkata
it over in 1879)
1865 National Paper Devendranath Tagore Kolkata

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1868 Chennai Mail (first evening paper in India) Not available Chennai
1868 Amrita Bazar Patrika (began publishing in Sisirkumar Ghosh Kolkata
Bengali but became an English paper in
1878 to escape from the Vernacular Press
Act)
1873 Bangadarshana (a Bengali Monthly) Bankim Chandra Chatterji Kolkata
1875 Indian Statesman Robert knight (it later became The Kolkata
Statesman)
1878 The Hindu G. S. Aiyar and M. Veeraraghavachariar Chennai
and D. Kesava Rao Pant
1881 The Tribune Dyal Singh Majithla Lahore
1881 Kesari (Maratha Daily) and Maharatta Tilak, Chiplunkar, Agarkar (after them Mumbai
(English Weekly) (before Tilak became the Tilak, Agarkar and Kelkar became its
editor, Agarkar and Kelkar edited them editors)
respectively)
--- Swadesh Mitram (Tamil paper) G. S. Aiyar Chennai
1886 Paridasak Bipin Chandra Pal
Table 4.4 (III) Paper/Journals Founded in 20th Century

Year Paper/Journal Founder(s) Place

1905 Bhavani Mandir Barindra Kumar Ghosh Bengal
1906 Yugantar Barindra Kumar Ghosh and Bhupendranath
Dutta
1906 Sandhya Brahamabandhab Upadhyay Bengal
1906 Kal Maharashtra
1906 Indian Sociologist Shyamji Krishnavarama London
Bande Matram Madam Bhukaji Cama Paris
Talvar Carendranath Chattopadhyay Berlin
Free Hindustan Tarakanth Das Vancouver
1913 Gadar Gadar Party San Francisco
1913 Mumbai Chronicle Pherozeshah Mehta
1920 The Hindustan Times K. M. Panikkar
1923 The Milap M. K. Chand
Leader Madan Mohan Malviya
1926 Kirti Santosh Singh Punjab
1926 Pather Dabi Sarat Chandra Chatterjee Bengal
1927 Mooknayak, Bahishkrit Bharat B. R. Ambedkar
The Philosophy of Bomb Bhagwati Charan Vohra
1910 Kudi Arsau E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker Periyar
1927 Kranti S. S. Mirajkar, K. N. Jogelkar, S. V. Ghate Maharashtra
1927 Langal and Ganabani Gopu Chakravarti, Dharani Goswami Bengal
Bandi Jeevan Sachindranath Sanyal
1938 National Herald Jawaharlal Nehru
Al-hilal Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Comrade Muhammad Ali
Young India, Harijan Mahatma Gandhi
Nation Gopalakrishna Ghokhle
Bengali Surendranath Banerjee
Som Prakash Ishwar Chander Vidyasagar
Karamyogi Arvindo Ghosh
Zamindar; Lahore Zafar Ali Khan
New India; Commonwealth Annie Besant
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Satpatra Series Gopal Hari Deshmukh

Din Mitra Mukandrao Patil
Ghudamgiri Jotirao Phule
Maratha, Din Bandhu Bhaskar Rao Jhadav
Darpan Bal Shashtri Jambekar
Prabhudha Bharat, Udbodhava Vivekananda
Administrative Unification
For efficient functionality, the British introduced uniform administration in India, bringing all Indians
under a single rule. This promoted a sense of unity among the Indians that ultimately helped in attaining political
unity.

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 Modern History - Study Materials

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INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (INC)
ORIGIN OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL
CONGRESS
Congress Ideology at its Inception
At its inception, the Congress had no well-defined
ideology and commanded few of the resources
essential for a political organization. It functioned
more as a debating society that met annually to express
its loyalty to the Raj and passed numerous resolutions
on less controversial issues such as civil rights or
opportunities in the government, especially the civil
services. These resolutions were submitted to the
viceroy’s government and, occasionally, to the British
Parliament, but the Congress’s early gains were
meagre. Despite its claim to represent all of India, the
Congress voiced the interests of the urban elite; the
number of participants from other economic
backgrounds remained negligible. According to A. O.
Hume, the aims of the Congress were (i) to make
British Rule long-lasting in India; (ii) to make Indians
satisfied and proud citizens of the British Empire; and
(iii) to function as the opposition party in the British
Parliament by criticizing and suggesting proper
remedies in the British Administration.
Historical proof of the Safety Valve Theory
The Safety Valve Theory was based on even volumes
of the secret report which A.O. Hume read at Shimla
in 1878. It was related to the seething discontent
among the classes to over-throw the British rule. It was
first mentioned in William Wedderburn’s biography of
Hume, published in 1913.
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Political Associations Before the Indian
National Congress
Before the inception of the Indian National Congress,
there existed other small political platforms for the
Indians. These organizations limited their focus to
safeguard the interest of a particular class or group.
The Indian Association set up by Surendranath
Banerjee was probably the most active, among the
earlier political associations. The focus of the Indian
Association was to create mass awakening among the
Indians and to create a strong public opinion in the
country on the issues of national importance.
Gradually, these organizations united the Indians on a
common political platform and gradually, the masses
became critical of the British policies. Some major
political associations that existed before the emergence
of the Indian National Congress were:
 British Indian Association (1851)
operated in Chennai, Bengal and Mumbai. It
looked after the interests of the landlords.
 East India Association (1866) was set
up by Dadabhai Naroji in London. It aimed
to mobilise public opinion about India in
England.
 Poona Sabha (1870)was set up by M.
G. Ranade in Poona.
 Indian Association (1876) was set up
by S. M. Bannerjee in Kolkata.
 Madras Mahajan Sabha (1881) was
set up by G. Subramania Iyer, R.
Anandacharlu and others in Chennai.
 Bombay Presidency (1885)was set up
in Mumbai against the rise of taxes in the
region.
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Theories behind the Birth of Congress
There are two theories by which historian try to
explain the birth of a national level organization such
as the Congress.
1. The need of a headquarter for the
movement A Nation and its people become
capable of meaningful and effective political
action only when they are organized. As a part
of the growth of the national movement, it was
necessary to create a common, all-India
political leadership, that could be looked upon
as the headquarter of the movement. On this
common political platform, political workers
from different parts of the country could gather
and conduct their activities and mobilies
people on an all-India basis. The founders of
the Congress realized that the requirement of a
national movement was a national leadership.
The role of Allan Octavian Hume, the father of
Congress, was pivotal as he was British and
the government allowed the Congress to come
into existence.
2. The Safety Valve Theory The British
foresaw the political situation in the country
leading to another rebellion along the lines of
the War of Independence of 1857. To avoid
such a situation, the British decided to provide
an outlet to the local people where they could
discuss their political probles. To this end,
Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil
servant, had a series of meetings with Lord
Dufferin, the Viceroy. He also visited England
and met people such as John Bright, Sir James
Caird, Lord Ripon and some members of the
British Parliament. Hume also had the support
of a large number of Englishmen in India,
including Sir William Wederburn, George
Yule and Charles Bradlaugh. On his return
from Britain, Hume consulted the local Indian
leaders and started working towards the
establishment of an Indian political
organization. The convention of the Indian
National Union, an organization he had
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already formed in 1884, was held in Mumbai
(now Mumbai), in December 1885, Seventy
delegates, most of whom were lawyers,
educations and journalists, attended the
convention where the Indian National
Congress was founded.
Objective of the First Session of the
Congress
The objectives of the Congress as declared in the first
session were:
(a) Development and consolidation of national
unity among the Indian masses irrespective of
religion, region or caste divide.
(b) Establishing friendly relations and synergizing
the efforts of the nationalist workers operating
in different regions of the country.
(c) Form an agreement on popular demands and
important issues and present it before the
government.
A. O. Hume
The rise of the Indian nationalist movement
started in the early 1880s. Allan Octavian Hume (1829
– 1912), an Englishman and retired civil servant who
had studied medicine and surgery came to India as an
Indian Civil Services officer in 1849. After retiring
from the British Administrative service, he chose to
stay behind in India for the purpose of inculcating the
spirit of nationalism in the Indian youth. The racial
discrimination and inequality of the Indians under the
British rule propelled Hume to form the Indian
National Union with the help of Wyomesh Chandra
Banerjee, in 1884. He is also known as the father of the
Indian National Congress. He served as the first
general secretary of the Indian National Congress.
The Founding Members of the INC
Most of the early members of the Congress
were upwardly mobile and successful Western
educated provincial elites, engaged in professions such
as law, teaching and journalism. They had acquired
political experience from regional competition in their
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professions and from their aspirations in securing
nomination to various positions in the legislative
councils, universities and special commissions. Among
the founders were some of the leaders such as
Dadabhai Naoroji, Badruddin Tyabji, Anand Mohan
Bose, R. C. Dutt, K. T. Telang, R. Anandacharly,
Behranji Malbari, Feroz shah Mehta, Gopal Krishna
Gohale, G. Subramaniam Iyer, Dinshaw Wacha, Bal
Ganagadhar Tilak, Mahadev Govind Ranade and
Madan Mohan Malviya. To begin with, the Congress
acted as a ‘Kings Party’. All the founding members
backed the basic four objectives of the Congress
initially. These were: (i) to seek cooperation of all the
Indians in its efforts; (ii) to bring an end to the race,
creed and provincial prejudices and try to form
national unity; (iii) to discuss and solve the social
problems of the country and (iv) to request the
government to give more share to Indians in
administrative affairs. As time went by, the Congress
changed its stance and apparently became the biggest
opposition to the British government.
The Poona Meeting
A. O. Hume, in association with various
national leaders, called for its first meeting in Poona on
28 December 1885. The conference received the
unanimous support of all Indian leaders, but the venue
was shifted to Mumbai.
First Session
The leaders decided to rename the Indian
National Union as the Indian National Congress during
the first session. Lord Reay, Governor of Mumbai, was
invited to convenue the first session as the President of
the session, but on his refusal, the session was held
under the presidentship of W. C. Bannerjee. He was a
veteran lawyer from Kolkata (now Kolkata). About 72
delegates from all over India attended the conference.
This was a truly national gathering with leaders such as
Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Pheroze
Shah Mehta, Dinshaw Wacha and K. T. Telang
participating. The main demands put forward at the
session included: (i) reforms of the Legislative
Councils and acceptance of election in the place of
nomination as a principle to constitute them; (ii) a
examsdaily.in
Indian National Congress
Study Material
simultaneous examination for the ICS to be held in
India and England; (iii) reduction in military
expenditure and (iv) opposition to the annexation of
Upper Burma.
Moderate Period (1885 – 1905)
At first, the Congress was a moderate,
constitutional movement. In its early days, he party
confined itself to an annual debate where political
issues were discussed. It asked the government to
remedy complaints, but had no constitutional role.
However, some Congress members were also members
of the Legislative Assembly, which advised the
viceroy and the executive committee on the drafting of
new laws. The cause of the Indian National Congress
spread rapidly among the middle-class Indians. With
the founding of the Indian National Congress, the
struggle for India’s independence was launched in a
small, hesitant and mild but organized manner. The
first two decades of the Indian National Congress are
described in history as one with moderate demands and
a sense of confidence in British justice and generosity.
Its aim was not to be aggressive in attaining
independence lest the British should suppress them.
This resulted in the Indian Council Act in 1892, which
allowed some members to be indirectly elected by the
Indians but kept the official majority intact.
Indian Parliamentary Committee and Sir
William Wedder Burn
Sir William Weddrburn was a politician from the
liberal Party in the United Kingdom. He was born on
25 March 1838 in Edinburgh, Scotland in the United
Kingdom. He tried to reform the banking system to
solve the grievances of the peasants during his career.
He, along with W.S. Caine set up the Indian
Parliamentary Committee in 1893 to agitate for Indian
political reforms in the House of Commons. When he
felt that he did not get adequate support in the reforms,
he started helping the Indian National Congress and
support the local self-government.
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INC before World War I

However, certain changes at the turn of the
century resulted in changing the mood of the Congress.
The most important among them was the change in the
attitude of the British. Some of the repressive and
oppressive measures of the British promoted the
growth of extremism within the Congress. Extremist
leaders such as Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Ganagadhar
Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai called on the people to show
courage and self-reliance for the cause of India’s
nationalism. The partition of Bengal in 1905 raised the
political temper of the country. The Congress started
getting polarized into the moderates and the extremists.
This era of militant nationalism prevailed within, and
without the Congress during 1906 – 1919. The 1906
session of Congress, declared Dominion Status, to be
the political goal of the Congress and the four
resolutions on boycott, swadeshi, swaraj and national
education were adopted.

INC during World War I

The Congress reunited in support of the British
during World War I but was disappointed soon after
the war when British restricted political activity in
India. Under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the
Congress demanded Purna Swaraj (complete
independence) and waged periodic campaigns of non-
violent civil disobedience. Although leaders of the
organization were imprisoned several times, British
made some concessions in the 1930s.

INC during World War II

During World War II, the Congress was
suppressed when it refused to support British.
However, it had proved the strength of its popular
support, and Britain granted independence to India
following the war (1947). The predominantly Hindu
Congress reluctantly accepted the creation of Pakistan
as a separate Muslim nation.

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Table 4.5 Important Sessions of INC

Session Year President Venue National Events

that Took Place
1st 1885 W.C.Banerjee Mumbai Beginning years
1. Stressed upon the need for an
unbiased Government through
administrative alterations
2. Concern regarding poverty-
elimination.
3. Motion against the increase in
poverty and misery, poor
financial condition of the country
and steady deterioration in the
condition of ryots since 1848 as
nearly 40 million people had only
one meal a day and some times
not even that
4. Annual sessions of the
Congress party held at differenct
places every year.
5. Organization of provincial
conferences to promote country-
wide involvement.
6. Concrete efforts to amass
public opinion in the favour of
Indians in Great Britain.
7. Emphasis on the look out for
representation in government as
Madan Mohan Malviya upheld
‘No taxation without
representation’.
2nd 1886 Dadabhai Naroji Kolkata
3rd 1887 Badruddin Tyabji Chennai
4th 1888 George Yule Allahabad
5th 1889 Sir Willial Mumbai To pressurize the
Wedderburn Parliament in Great
Britain to accept their
demands, British
Committee of the
Indian National
Congress, established
its offices in London.
6th 1890 Sir Feroz Shah Mehta Kolkata
7th 1891 P. Anandacharlu Nagpur
8th 1892 W. C. Banerjee Allahabad Dadabhai Naoroji
elected to the British
Parliament in Great
Britain.

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9th 1893 Dadabhai Naroji Lahore Indian Council Act

1882, despite being a
big victory for the
Congress, it did not
conceive the idea of
elected
representation.
10th 1894 Alfred Webb Chennai
11th 1895 Surendranath Banerjee Poona Integration of Congress
1. Demand for economic
responsibility.
2. Demand to Indianise the
services.
3. Protection against being
economically feeble and
powerless.
4. Government’s insensitivity
towards natural calamities.
5. Famine-hit area of Pune
witnessed Lokmanya Tilak’s
efforts in the form of social
welfare. His writings in Kesari
wereperceived as the tools of
inciting violence because of
which he was put behind the bars.
6. Under the Viceroy, Lord
Curzon, many oppressive
measures were taken such as
(a) The sedition Act that snatched
the elementary freedom of
people.
(b) Official Secrets Act that
shifted the burden of proof of
innocence onto the accused, and
(c) Disapproval regarding the
partition of Bengal on Communal
basis.
12th 1896 Rahimtulla Kolkata Revolution holding
M. Sayani the British
responsible for
creating the famine
that took place.
13th 1897 C. Sankaran Nair Amravati
14th 1898 Ananda Mohan Bose Chennai
15th 1899 Romesh Chanderdutta Lucknow Framing of the First
Party Constitution.
16th 1900 N. G. Chandvarkar Lahore As a result of the
growing Congress
movement, the
British deprived the
Indians from
education through the

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Universities Act,
1904 that limited the
spread of the English
education.
17th 1901 Sir Dinshaw Eduljee Kolkata Mahatma Gandhi
Wacha appeared on the
Congress platform
for the first time
seeking support for
the struggle in South
Africa.
18th 1902 Surendranath Ahmedabad
Bannerjee
19th 1903 Lal Mohan Ghosh Chennai
20th 1904 Sir Henry Cotton Mumbai
21st 1905 G. K. Gokhale Banaras Demand for Self Government
1. Widerspread protests against
the Partition of Bengal – blatantly
promoted by Lord Curzon as the
creation of a Muslim Enclave.
2. The Congress witnessed
arguments between the
Moderates (who favoured
peaceful afitation) and the
Extremists (who favoured violent
means, if needed).
22nd 1906 Dadabhai Naoroji Kolkata India demanded
Swaraj; and
boycotted British
goods
23rd 1907 Rash Behari Ghosh Surat First split in Congress
between Moderates
and Extremists took
place whereby, the
moderates retained
the control of the
Organization
24th 1908 Rash Behari Ghosh Chennai
1909 Pr. Madam Mohan Lahore Although the Minto-
Malviya Morley Reforms
created the Indian
Councils and gave
representation, they
had sown the seed of
communalism by
providing separate
electorates for the
Hindus and the
Muslims.
25th 1910 Sir William Allahabad The first signs of
Wedderburn strain in Hindu-
Muslim relations

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appeared.
26th 1911 Pandit B. N. Dhar Kolkata The partition of
Bengal was nullified
27th 1912 R. N. Modholkar Bankipore
28th 1913 Nawab Syed Karachi
Mohammad Bahadur
29th 1914 Bhupendranath Basu Chennai
30th 1915 Sir Satyendra Prasad Mumbai The Foundations of Independent
Sinha India
1. The House Rule Movement.
2. The Advent of Gandhi.
3. The Khilafat Movement.
4. The Non-Cooperation
Movement.
31st 1916 Ambica Charan Lucknow The Lucknow Pact
Mazumdar was signed Muslim
League in a joint
session
32nd 1917 Dr. Annie Besant Kolkata (a) A Congress Flag
was proposed
(b) The Principle of
Linguistic Division
was accepted which
led to the foundation
for the eventual
creation of states by
linguistic identity.
(c) Satyagraha was
introduced by
Mahatma Gandhi in
weagon of political
protest
33rd 1918 Syed Hasan Imam Mumbai Satyagraha became
1918 Pt. Madan Mohan Delhi successful in Gujarat.
Malviya
34th 1919 Motilal Nehru Amritsar Throughout the
country, Satyagraha
was organized by
Mahatma Gandhi
against the Rowaltt
Act; Jallian Wala
Bagh massacre in
Amritsar.
35th 1920 Lala Lajpat Rai Kolkata (a) The Khilafat
C.Vijayaaghavachariar Nagpur Movement took place
(annual) (b) Mahatma Gandhi
toured India to
organize the Non-
Cooperation
Movement; The
congress became a
mass movement and

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the whole country

became one under
Mahatma Gandhi.
36th 1921 C. R. Das (in prison) Ahmedabad
Hakim Ajmal Khan
(Acting)
37th 1922 C. R. Das Gaya (a) Gandhiji was
imprisoned
(b) Formation of the
Swaraj Party
38th 1923 Maulana Abul Kalam Delhi
Azad
Maulana Mahammad Kakinada
Ali (Annual)
39th 1924 Mahatma Gandhi Belgaum Gandhiji fasted for 21
days to mark his
protest against the
communal
disturbances.
40th 1925 Mrs. Sarojini Naidu Kanpur Hindi was adopted as The Demand for Complete
the official language Independence
for the Congress 1. Gandhi – Irwin Pact.
sessions. 2. Definition of Fundamental
Rights.
41st 1926 S. Srinivasa Iyengar Guwahati For proposing
constitutional reforms
in India, the Simon
commission was
proposed.
42nd 1927 Dr. M. A. Ansari Chennai The resolution
marked the boycott of
the Simon
Commission.
43rd 1928 Pandit Motilal Nehru Kolkata (a) Hartals held
successfully against
the Simon
Commission
(b) UnderPt. Motilal
Nehru, the All Party
Committee was
appointed to frame
the Constitution for
Independent India.
(c) Under Sardar
Vallabhai Patel, the
Bardoli Satyagraha
also became
successful.
44th 1929 Jawaharlal Nehru Lahore (a) Talks between
Gandhi and Irwin.
(b) Resolution
marked for complete

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1930 (No session) but independence.

Independence Day (a) 26th January was
Pledge was adopted adopted as the ‘Purna
on 26th Jan 1930. Swaraj Day’.
(b) There was a call
for Civil
Disobedience.
(c) Salt Satyagraha –
Dandi march took
place.
(d) All major
Congress leaders
were arrested; the
AICC Working
Committee was
declared as an
unlawful body.
(e) Congress opposed
the Round Table
Conference.
45th 1931 Vallabhabhai Patel Karachi (a) The Fundamental
Rights were defined.
(b) The AICC
Working Committee
Members were
released.
(c) The Viceroy
invited the Congress
to join discussions
regarding the future
of India.
(d) Mahatma Gandhi
got the authority to
speak on behalf of
the Congress.
(e) Gandhi – Irwin
Pact inked.
46th 1932 Delhi (session was (a) Despite the
banned) repression by the
Ranchod Lal Amrit British, the struggle
Lal for freedom
continued.
(b) Gandhi was
imprisoned.
(c) The 1932 Poona
Agreement passed
guarantying
reservation of seats
for the SCs/STs.
47th 1933 Nellie Sengupta Kolkata Gandhi was on fast
(session was banned) for 21 days for the
cause of the Harijans.

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48th 1934 Rajendra Prasad Mumbai (a) Gandhiji

(continued again for withdrew from the
1935) Congress.
(b)Non-violence and
Khadi became the
1935 fundamental belief of Struggle at the Final Stages of
Rajendra Prasad the Congress as a part Gaining Independence
of the amendment of 1. People demanded immediate
its constitution. freedom
(a) The Government 2.Mass Satyagraha all over India.
of India Act was
passed.
(b) Gandhiji’s focus
shifted to social
reforms.
(c) Congress decided
to content the
election but disagreed
with the new
Constitution.
49th 1936 Jawaharlal Nehru Lucknow Nehru condemned
Fascism in his
Presidential address.
50th 1937 Jawaharlal Nehru Faizpur Elections won by the
Congress in five out
of the nine provinces
51st 1938 Subhas Chandra Bose Haripura
52nd 1939 Bose (Re-elected for Tripuri (a) The Congress
1939 1939) Tripuri ministers resigned
Rajindra Prasad and withdrew from
the Legislative
Process.
(b) A constituent
assembly elected by
Universal Franchise
was demanded.
53rd 1940 Maulana Abul Kalam Ramgarh (a) Non-cooperation
Azad in the war effort.
(b) Demand for a
national government.
(c) Resolution of
August 1942 Quit
India Movement
passed.
1941 (No sessions, caused
(d) Public protests all
by arrests and jailing)
over India because of
1942 (No sessions, caused
the mass arrests.
by arrests and jailing)
1943 (No sessions, caused
by arrests and jailing)
1944 (No sessions, caused
Victories of allies in
by arrests and jailing)
the war leading to
(No sessions, caused
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1945 by arrests and jailing) adamant stance of the

Britishers.
Jinnah steadfast on
the partition of India.

Failure of the Shimla

Conference.
54th 1946 Acharya J. B. Meerut (a) INA trials.
Kripalani (b) Mutiny in the
Navy at Mumbai and
Karachi.
(c) The Cabinet
Mission was
supposed to decide
the fate of India.
(d) Congress wins
majority in the
Constitutional
Assembly.
55th 1947 (a) India achieved
Independence and
was also partitioned.
56th 1948 B.Pattabhi Jaipur
Sitaramayya

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TERRORIST AND REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS
The left wing of the Congress eventually got
divided as a result of the agitational outburst and
governmental repression. The government
disliked the growing popularity of the militant
nationalism and used the growing schism within
the Congress to crush agitational politics. It
passed the Seditious Meeting Act (1907) to curb
public meetings and demonstrations, enacted the
Newspapers Incitement to Offence Act (1908) to
choke the voice of the critical press, and later
placed in the statute book, a special form of trial
for the terrorist offences under the Criminal Law
Amendment Act (1908). The disintegrated
Extremists eventually divided into two groups;
(i) the nationalist extremists, who remained
satisfied with the programmes of Swadeshi and
boycott; and (ii) the terrorists and
revolutionaries, who were inspired by the
knowledge of the revolutionary movements in
the West for freedom. The terrorist and
revolutionary movements and a summarized
account of their activities are being given in the
following sections.
TERRORIST MOVEMENTS
The terrorist movement in India started
after many Indian leaders including Lala Lajpat
Rai and Sardar Ajit Singh were deported to
Mandalay in 1907, without a trial. This agitated
young leaders such as Barindra Kumar Ghosh
and Bhupendra Nath Dutt in Kolkata and they
plotted to blow up the train in which the Lt.
Governor of Bengal Presidency, Sir A. Frazer,
was travelling. Later, the terrorist movement
gained popularity and the programme of
political assassination and armed decoity with a
view to secure money for their cause gathered
momentum. The terrorists argued that the
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Terrorist And
Revolutionary Movements
unmitigated evil that was the British rule could
be eliminated from India only by violence and
no amount of arguments and moral persuasion
was useful. The main centres of their activities
were Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra.
THE REVOLUTIONARY
MOVEMENT
The revolutionaries believed in ousting
the British from India by means of a mass
uprising. They were against the slow and steady
approach of the Congress extremists and they
also disapproved of the assassinations and
destruction of public property by the terrorists.
They tried to convince the Indian troops to rebel
and tried to get help from foreign countries
hostile to Britain. They were active in gathering
support for themselves in China, Japan, France,
Germany, North America and even Britain. The
important revolutionary movements were as
follows:
THE GADAR MOVEMENT
In 1907, Lala Hardyal came under the
influence of the revolutionaries working in
Oxford and started a weekly paper called Gadar.
His subsequent associations with more leaders
culminated into the formation of the Gadar
Party in 1913, in North America. The Gadar
movement planned to (a) temper the loyalty of
the Indian troops, (b) assassinate the British
officials, (c) court foreign enemies to Britain and
(d) form secret societies and propagate seditious
literature. The Gadar movement’s anti- British
sentiment was intensified because of the
Komagata Maru episode.To challenge the
Page 1

discriminatory immigration law of Canada,
Gadar activists hired a Japanese ship called
Komagata Maru and took 500 passengers from
India to Canada. The passengers who were
mainly Sikh were led by Baba Gurdip Singh
and had the full support of Lala Hardyal. When
the ship reached Vancouver on 22 May 1914, it
was refused permission to berth; the ship waited
in vain for more than 2 months before returning
to Kolkata on 26 September 1914. The police
rounded up the passengers despite stiff
resistance. The death toll that day reached 22,
with many wounded. Most of the captured
passengers were sent to jail. The Gadar
movement got a fillip because of this incident.
Hindustan Republican
Association(HSRA)Re-organised
On 9 and 10 September 1928, many of the major
revolutionaries of northern India gathered
secretly at Feroz Shah Kotla, set-up a new
collective leadership, elected Chandrashekhar
Azad as their creed, inserting the word
‘Socialist’ into their name. The Hindustan
Socialist Republican Association was rapidly
moving from the phase of individual actions to
one of building a revolutionary movement.
Although their major action after the
reorganisation was the assassination of the
Assistant Superintendent of Police, John P.
Saunders, who killed Lala Lajpat Rai, the
motives behind the action were significant. for
one , the action was taken because Lala Lajpat
Rai’s death had evoked enormous popular
resentment. Secondly, the assassination was
carried out as the HRSA’s popularity and mass
membership were growing.
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Terrorist And
Revolutionary Movements
The All-India Mutiny that
Failed(1915)
The revolutionaries took their ideas to
the army and the peasants, small mutinies in
Ferozpur, Lahore and Rawalpindi garrisons
cautioned the British officers of a possible revolt
of greater magnitude. The activists had planned
the All-India Revolt on 21 February 1915.
However, the British got wind of the plans and
were able to curb the revolt.
Other Revolutionary Events
 Murder of W.C.Rand and Lt.Ayerst by
Chapekar brothers at poona in 1897.
 Formation of the India House in
London (1905) by shyamji Krishna
Verma and V.D.Savarkar.
 Establishinment of the Indian House in
New York by Barkatatullah and
S.L.Joshi.
 Attempted murder of Lt.Governor
Fuller of East Bengal by Barindra
Kumar Ghosh and Bhupendranath
Dutta in 1906.
 The Kennedy murder in 1908, in
which two English ladies were killed
when Khundi Ram Bose attempted to
kill Magistrate Kingsford of
Muzaffarabad who escaped ubnhurt.
 Madan Lal Dhingra murdered Curzon-
Willie, an official in the British India
Office at London.
 Attempted assassination of Lord
Hardinge when he was approaching
Delhi in 1912. Rash Bihari Bose and
Sachin Chandra Sanyal missed their
target.
Page 2

 Formation of the Berlin Committee in
Germany (1914) by Virendranath
Chattopadhayaya, Dr.Avinash
Chandra Bhattacharya and other
prominent activists who formed the
Anushilan and Yugantar groups in India.
 ‘Bagha Jatin’. Jatin Mukherji carried
out the Plan of Bengal in 1915. This
aimed at disrupting the rail and
communication network in Bengal and
seizing Fort William. The plan falied
because of the lack of coordination and
the death of ‘Bagha Jatin’ in 1915.
 Formation of Indian Independence
Committee in 1915 under the
Zimmerman Plan organised by the
German official at Berlin. The
committee included Virendranath
Chatopadhyay, Lala Har Dayal and
Bhupendranath Dutta.
 Appointment of the Provisional
Government of Free India with Raja
Mahendra Pratap as the president and
Barkatullah as the prime minister, with
support from Germany, Afghanistan and
the Sultan of Turkey. However, the Czar
of Russia did not approve of the
government because of the defeat of
Germany in the World War.
 In 1915, revolutionaries looted a train
which carried government cash at a
place called Kakori (between Lucknow
and Shahjahanpur). The involved
activists were arrested and sentenced to
death by the British. Among them were
Bhupendra Sanyal, S.N.Biswas,
Ashfaqullah Khan and Thakur Singh.
 Chandrashekar Azad joined hands
with Bhagat Singh and formed the
Hindustan Socialist Republican
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Terrorist And
Revolutionary Movements
Partyin 1928. It had two faces-the
public face headed by Bhagad Singh.
and a secret face. called Hindustan
Socialist Republic Army. heated by
Azad. It was the first organisation which
envisioned free India to be secular. Its
activists took note of the changing
political structure of the nation.
 Bhagat Singh. Azad and Rajguru
avenged the death of Lala Lajpat Rai by
killing General Saunders in 1928.
 Bombing of the central Legislative
Assembly by Bhagat Singh and his
associates in 1929.
 Attempted bombing of the train in
which Lord Irwin and his family was
travelling in 1929 at Delhi.
 Issuing of an independence
proclamation in the name of Indian
Republic Army under the leadership of
Surya Senin 1930, when revolutionaries
captured the Chittagong Armoury.
Surya Sen was arrested in 1933. and
executed.
 Execution of Bhagat Singh. Rajguru and
Sukhdev on 23 March 1931, and the
death of Chandrashekar Azad in a
shooting episode in Allahabad 1931.
 Assassination of the magistrate of
Tippera in Bengal. by the school going
Shanti and Suniti in 1932.
 Formation of the Indian Independence
League by Ras Bihari Bose in 1942, in
Japan.
 Formation of the All India Central
Revolutionary committee in Russia by
M. N. Roy and other activists.
 Other Prominenet Revolutionaries
who Operated outsie India-P.M.
Bapat; Madam Bhikaji Cama, a parsee
Page 3

lady who was connected with the Paris
Indian Society established by S.R. Rana
under the inspiration of Shyamji
Krishna Verma, who unfurled the first
tricolour flag at the International
Socialist Congress (Germany), designed
by Hem Chand Das in 1907: Sardasr
Sohan Singh, M.P.T.Archarya: Gyan
Chand Verma; Obeidullah sindhi, the
translator of V.D. Savarkar’s book,
Idian war of Independence in Tamil;
V.V.S.Iyer and Harish Chandra.
Rise of Bhagat Singh
Bhagat Singh’s group gained enormous
popularity, not only in Punjab but throughout
North India. It is no coincidence that, in the
1929 Congress, held in tahore-the centre of
Bhagat Singh’s activities-Jawaharlal Nehru
described himself as ‘a socialist and a
republican’; words that echoed exactly the same
of Bhagat Singh’s organisation, HSRA was
responsible for a number of other major
‘terrorist’ actions, including an attempt to blow
up Viceroy Irwin’s train near Delhi in 1929, and
a whole series of similar actions in Punjab and
UP towns in 1930 [26 being recorded in Punjab
that year alone]. However, their single most
important action was the throwing of bombs into
the Legislative Assembly by Bhgat Singh and
Batukeshwar Dutt on 8 April 1929. The bombs
themselves were not intended to injure anyone
(as indeed they did not), they were for
demonstrative effect.
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Terrorist And
Revolutionary Movements
REASONS FOR FAILURE
The revolutionaries organised rebellions
against the British government and became
stronger and more determined once they started
getting support from foreign nations hostile to
the British. Despite gaining popularity and a
dedicated following, both the terrorist and the
revolutionary movements could not achieve their
objectives of freeing India from the British. This
was because (i) there was no central, all-India
level organization which could control the
activities in an organised manner; (ii) these
movements appealed to the youngsters who had
faced the hostilities of the British rule, but the
mass following in the rural belt was unavailable;
(iii) Germany, which promised arms and funds
to be used against Britain could not deliver; (iv)
the US entry and its subsequent dominance in
the world war demoralised Germany and the
allies to be of help to the Indian cause; (v)
Montagu’s package of self-governance for the
Indians took the fizz out of the revolutionary
activists; (vi) the congress party and other upper
middle class politicians and leaders always
disapproved of the ways of these movements;
and (vi) Gandhi’s entry into the political scene
of India marked a revolution in the form of
satyagraha, which contributed to the decline of
the revolutionary and terrorist activities.
The Moderate Approach
The early nationalists that it their demands were
presented to the government thorough
constitutional methods, their grievances would
be redressed. so, instead of resorting to
aggressive methods, they passed resolutions or
sent petitions of appeals. Delegations were
sometimes sent to England to put forward their
demands to the British Parliament. They worked
Page 4
 Terrorist And
Revolutionary Movements

within the framework of law. Bharat Mata Nilkant - Chennai

Association Brahmachari
, Vanchi
Ayyer
TABLE4.6 Revolutionary Organisations Atomonnati Bipin Bihari Bengal
Smiti Gangly
Organisatio Founder(s) Yea Place
n r
Mitra Mela V.D.Savarka 1899 Maharatr
Mass Rejection of Prayer-Petition
r a
Abhinav G.D.Savarka 1904 Bengal Politics
Bharat r
Bharat Mata J.M.Chatterj 1904 Bengal After Curzon’z proporsal for the partition,
Society ee Bengal became known {December 1903}.
Anushillan Pulin Bihari 1906 Dhaka Congress carried out protests and petitions were
Samiti Das carried out for more than 1 ½ years, with
Anushillan Pramatha 1902 Kolkata absolutely no effect on the British. On 19 July
Samiti Nath Mishra, 1905, Curzon went ahead with his partition plan.
Barindra Within days, spontaneous protests were
Kumar
organised in a large number of mofussil areas,
Ghosh,
Jatindra where the pledge for the boycott of British
Nath goods was taken, In Kolkata, the students
Banerjee organised meetings were the Swadeshi call was
Ghadar Party Lala 1913 San taken up. By August, even the Congress leaders
(Hindu Hardyal, Francisc such as Surendranath Banarjee were forced to
Association Sohan Singh o take up the boycott call. On 7 August 1905, in a
of America) Bhakha
public meeting at the Kolkata Town Hall, the
Hinduisan Sachindra 1924
Republic Nath Sanyal, boycott resolution was passed. The response in
Association Yogesh Bengal was overwhelming. By September 1905,
Chandra the sale of British clothes in some districts fell to
Chatterjee 6 per cent from the original levels of 20 per cent.
Indian Surya Sen - Bengal Public burning of foreign clothes and the setting
Republican up of village samillis took place spontaneously.
Army
One of these samitis, the Swadesh Bandhab
Hinduistan Chandra 1928 Delhi
Republic Shekar, Samiti of Barisal, headed by Aswini Kumar
Association Bhagat Dutt, attained remarkable popularity for its
Singh social and humanitarian work among the
Indian Ras Bihari 1942 Japan Muslim peasantry.
Independenc Bose
e League

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THE EARLY PHASE OF THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE (1900 – 1915)
THE PARTITION OF BENGAL (1905)
Lord Curzon, the New Viceroy
On 30 December 1989, Lord Curzon took
over as the new viceroy of India. Lord Curzon
ordered the partition of Bengal in 1905. He
wanted to improve the administrative efficiency in
that huge and populous region, where the Bengali
Hindu intelligentsia exerted considerable
influence on local and national politics. The
partition of Bengal came into effect on 16 October
1905, through a royal proclamation. The partition
created a new province of East Bengal, which
later became East Pakistan, the present day
Bangladesh. The government explained that the
partition was for stimulating the growth of the
under developed eastern region of Bengal.
Partition of Bengal
Finding the Bengal presidency too large
for one governor to administer, in 1905, the
British decided to redraw its boundaries and
divide it into two parts. The provinces of Bengal
and Assam were reconstituted to form two
provinces of manageable size-West Bengal, with a
population of 54 million (42 million Hindus and
18 million Muslims). The territory to be
transferred from Bengal to the new province
consisted of the districts of Chittagong and Dhaka
Divisions, Rajshahi Division excluding Darjeeling
and the District of Malda. Lord Curzon sent the
proporsal to London in February, 1905. The
secretary of state for India, Sir John Brodrich,
sanctioned it in June, and the proclamation of the
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formation of the new province was issued in
September. The province of Bengal and Assm
came into being on 16 October 1905.
Reasons for the Partition of Bengal
The partition of Bengal sought to destroy
the political influence of the educated middle class
among whom the Bengali intelligentsia were the
most prominent. It also set up a communal gulf
between the Hindus and the Muslims. The Indian
National Congress Unanimously condemned the
partition of Bengal. Actually, the main most
advanced region of the country at that time.
Reaction of the People
An ill-conceived and hastily implemented
action, the partition outraged the Bengalis. Not
only had the government failed to consult the
Indian public of their opinion, but the action
appeared to reflect the British resolve to ‘divide
and rule’. Widespread agitation ensued on the
streets and in the press, and the Congress
advocated boycotting British products under the
banner of swadeshi. The Congress-led boycott
of the British goods was so successful that it
unleashed anti-British forces to an extent
unknown since the sepoy Rebellion. A cycle of
the violence, terrorism and repression ensued in
some parts of the country. Indians launched a
mass movement , declaring 16 October as the day
of mourning in Kolkata raising Vande-Mataram as
the national cry protecting the Indian nationality.
This organised anarchist movement took a
Page 1

terrorist turn, resulting in political sabotage and
riots.
Reversal of the Partition
Keeping in view the fluid political
situation in India, the British tried to mitigate the
situation by announcing a series of constitutional
reforms in 1909, and by appointing a few
moderates to the imperial and provincial councils.
In what the British saw as an additional goodwill
gesture, in 1911, King Emperor George V (1910-
1936) visited India for a durbar, during which he
announced the reversal of the partition of Bengal
and the transfer of the capital from Kolkata to a
newly planned city to be built immediately south
of Delhi, which became New Delhi.
SWADESHI MOVEMENT (1905)
Beginning
The swadeshi Movement had its genesis in
the anti-partition movement started to oppose the
British decision to divide Bengal. With the start of
the SwadeshiMovement at the turn of the century,
the Indian national movement took a major leap
forward. The richness of the movement was not
confined to politics alone. Women, students and a
large section of the urban and a rural population of
Bengal and other parts of India became actively
involved in the national movement.
Components of the swadeshi Movement
Various sections participated in the swadeshi
agitation for different reasons, and these
differences got reflected in the movement. For
instance, Hindu Zamindars of East Bengal, who
were opposed to the partition , so as not to became
a religious minority in a situation of increasing
peasant unrest, e,mployed openly communal
propaganda throughout their agitation-promoting
Shivaji utsavs, image-worship, Hindu ceremonies
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and so on. This propaganda infected the entire
movement, and weakened it considerably as
communal riots broke out in Mymensingh in
1907-19.8. But many Muslims still joined the
movement. Among the noted swadeshi agitators
were men like Ghaznavi, Rasul Din Mohammed,
Dedar Bux, Moniruzzaman, Ismail Hussain siraji,
Abul Hussain, Abul Gafer, and Liakat Husain.
The 10,000-strong joint Hindu-Muslim student
procession in Kolkata on 23 September 1905, also
testified the potential for communal solidarity on
the swadeshi issue. The fact that it could be
triumph has to be ascribed to British divide-and-
rule policies and to Zamindars’ objectively
furthering the designs of the British by
heightening communal propaganda. The appeal of
the swadeshi movement was its straightforward
mass approach and its rejection of ’prayer
petition’ politics. Along with this movement came
enunciated and widely propagated theories for not
simply a limited reform of British rule, but its
complete overthrow.
Banaras session of the Congress
The Indian National Congress took up the
swadeshi call in its Banaras session, 1905,
presided over by G.K. Gokhale. Militant
nationalism spearheaded by Bal Gangadar Tilak,
Bipin Chandra pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and
Aurobindo Ghosh was, however, in the favour of
extending the movement to the rest of India and
carrying it beyond the programme of just
swadeshi and boycott of goods to full-fledged
political mass struggle. On 7 August 1905, a
resolution to boycott the British goods was
adopted at a meeting of the Indian National
Congress held in Kolkata. It began as a purely
economic measure for the development of the
Indian industry. Bonfires of foreign goods were
conducted on a large scale in all major cities. It
had many positive consequences: (a) it
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encouraged Indian industries especially the small
and medium-scale, (b) many swadeshi banks and
insurance companies were launched and (c)
development of journalism and national poetry
which inculcated the feeling of nationalism in the
Indian masses.
Spread of the Swadeshi Movement
The message of swadeshi and boycott soon
spread to the rest of the country: Lokmanya Tilak
took the movement to different parts of India,
especially Poona and Mumbai. Ajit Singh and
Lala Lajpat Rai spread the swadeshi message in
Punjab and other parts of northern India; Syed
Haidar Raza set up the agenda in Delhi,
Rawalpindi, Kangra, Jammu, Multan and Hardwar
witnessed active participation in the swadeshi
Movement; Chidambram Pillai took the
movement to Chennai president, which was also
galvanised by Bipin Chandra Pal’s extensive
lecture tour.
The 1906 Congress Session
By the 1906 session of the Congress, the
‘extremists’…..
Congress, by their sheet numbers and popularity,
…….
Poised to take over the Congress. One factor was
the ……
To hold the session at Kolkata. ‘Extremists’ from
different……..had forged some links in the
interim, and there were attempts ……. to elect one
of them as the president of the Congress.
The……. was scotched by the ‘moderates’. They
elected the aged….. respected Naaraji instead. The
1906 Congess ……… was forced to accept four
resolutions which they were ….. with-on the
partition of Bengal, on the boycott movement on
swadeshi, and on self-government. However, the
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1906, Congress was by no means a radical affair.
The ……… managed to lone down each
resolution considerat….. made them ambiguous.
Thus, ‘Swaraj’ became ‘the system of government
obtaining in the self-governing British colonies’.
…. effort of the ‘extremists’, to have the
resolution in support …. Bengal boycott
movement extended to cover other …… was
defeated. And the Congress leaders were …. to
review even such limited defeats at the next
session….. ‘moderates’ made sure that the
mistake of locating the Congress at Kolkata was
not repeated.
ORIGIN OF THE MUSLIM LEAGUE (1906)
Fear of Minority Status
By 1900, although the Congress had
emerged as an all-India political orgainsation, its
achievement was undermined by its singular
failure to attract Muslim. Who had by then begun
to be aware of their inadequate education and
under representation in government service.
Muslim leaders saw that their community had
fallen behind the Hindus. Attacks by Hindus
reformers against religious conversion, cow
slaghter and the preservation of Urdu in the
Arabic Script deepened their fears of minority
status and the denial of their rights if the Congress
alone were to represent the people of India.
Loyalty to the British
For many Muslims, loyalty to the British
crown seemed preferable to cooperation with the
Congress leaders. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-
1898) launched a movement for Muslim
regeneration that culminated in the foundation in
1875 of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College
at Aligarh, UP (renamed Aligarh Muslim
Page 3

University in 1921). Its objective was to educate
the wealthy students by emphasising the
compatibility of Islam with modern Western
knowledge. The diversity among India’s Muslims,
however, made it impossible to bring about
uniform cultural and intellectual regeneration.
Simla Conference
When lord Minto was appointed as the
Viceroy of India in 1905, new reforms were
indicated in which the electoral principle would be
extended. The anti-partition agitation had
convinced the Muslims of the futility of expecting
any fair play from the Hindu majority. Therefore,
to safeguard their interests, the Muslim leaders
drew up a plan for separate electorates for their
community, and presented it to Lord Minto at
Simla, on 1 October 1906.
Syed Ali Bligrami wrote the text of the
plan. The Simla deputation consisted of 70
representatives, representing all opinionsof the
Muslim community, and headed by Sir Aga Khan
who read the address. The long address said,
among the other things, that the position of the
Muslimcommunity should not be estimated by its
numerical strength alone, but in terms of its
political importance and services rendered to the
Empire. He also pointed out that the
representative institutions of the West were
inappropriate for India and that their application
was raising difficult problems. He stressed the
need for utmost care while introducing or
extending the electoral system in whatever sphere,
be it municipal or provincial. He started that the
Muslim should be represented as a community.
The Viceroy, in his reply to the Simla deputation
address, reassured the Muslim that their political
rights and interests as a community would be
safeguarded by any administrative reorganisation
under him. The
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acceptance of the deputation’s demands proved to
be a turning point in the history of India. For the
first time, the Hindu-Muslim conflict was raised
to the constitutional plane. The Muslim made it
clear that they had no confidence in the Hindu
majority and that they were not prepared to put
their future in the hands of an assembly selected
on the assumed basis of a homogeneous Indian
nation. It is in this sense that the beginning of
separate electorate may be seen as the beginning
of the realisation of the two-nation theory. its final
and inevitable consequence being the partition of
British Indid in 1947. The Simla
deputation was successful because the Muslims
strongly urged to protect their separate identity,
and also because the British responded to their
demands, as Lord Minto was anxious to apply the
age-old ‘divide and rule’ policy of the British.
Separate electorates were given statutory
recognition in the Indian Councils Act of 1909.
Muslims were accorded not only the right to elect
their representatives in general constituencies. In
addition, they were also given weightage in
representation.
Foundation of the Muslim League
The major inspiring factor for the creation of the
Muslim League was that the Muslim intellectual
class sought representation the masses looked for
a right kind of platform that could unite them. It
was the knowledge of western thought of John
Locke, Milton and Thomas Paine at the MAO
college that began the rise of Muslim nationalism.
On 30 December 1906, the yearly convention of
the Muhammadan Educational Conference was
conducted at Ducca (now, Dhaka). The chairman
of the convention was Nawab Viquar-ul-Mulk.
Nearly three thousand members attended the
session. It was the largest-ever representative
assembly of the Muslim in India. For the first
time, the conference removed its ban on
Page 4

discussions over political issues. In the
conference, Nawab Sallimullah Khan proposed
the interests of the Muslims. In 1906, the All
India Muslim League was formed. Aga Khan,
Nawab Samlimullah of Ducca and Nawab
Mohsin-ul-Mulk were its important founding
leaders. Lucknow was chosen as the headquarters
of the All India Muslim League. Aga Khan was
elected as its first president, Other six vice-
presidents, a secretary and two joint secretaries
were also elected for a term of 3 years. The
number of menbers was 400. They belonged
proportionality to all provinces. Maulana
Muhammad Ali Jouhar drafted the constitution
of the League, known as the Green Book, Syed
Ameer Ali set up a branch of the league in
London in 1908. The following were
the objectives of the Muslim league:
1. To inculcate a feeling of loyalty among
Muslims towards the government and to
remove the misunderstandings and
misconceptions about its actions and
intentions.
2. To safeguard and put forward the political
rights and interests of the Indian Muslims
and to represent their needs and aspirations
to the government.
3. To check the ill will between the Muslims
and the other communities its own
purposes.
A Muslim deputation met with the Viceroy.
Gilbert John Elliot (1905-1910), seeking
concessions from the impending constitutional
reforms, including special considerations in
government service and electorates.
Recognition by the British
Many Hindu histories and several British writers
have alleged that the Muslim League was founded
at official instigation. They argue that it was Lord
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Minto who inspired the establishment of a Muslim
organisation to divide the Congress and to
minimise the strength of the Indian freedom
movement.
The Freedom Movement
The British recognised the Muslim League
by increasing the number of elective offices
reserved for the Muslim in the India Councils Act
of 1909. The Muslim League insisted on its
separateness from the Hindu-dominated Congress,
as the voice a ‘nation within a nation’. The
League supported the partition of Bengal, opposed
swadeshi movement and demanded special
safeguards for its community, and separate
electorates for the Muslims. This led to communal
differences between the Hindus and the Muslims.
RESOLUTION OF SWARAJ (1906)
The Extremist leaders were Lala Lajpat
Rai. Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Thilak and Bipin
Chandra Pal. These three were also known as Lal-
Bal-Pal. The movement that these leaders started
alarmed the British. Tilak coined the famous
slogan, ‘Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have
it’. In all the other movements before, the
participants were the well educated in the middle
class. However, in this movement, started by Lal-
Bal-Pal, the whole of India moved as one. In this
movement, they stressed on swadeshi and boycott.
The moderate Viewpoint
In December 1906, at the Koilkata
Congress Session, the Congress under the
leadership of Dadabhai Naoroji adopted swaraj as
the goal of the Indian people. In his presidential
address. Naoroji declared that the goal of the
Indian National congress was ‘Self-government or
swaraj like that of the United Kingdom’. The
session passed the resolution on boycott.
Page 5

Swadeshi and national education. The differences
between the moderates and the extremists became
apparent. Especially regarding the pace of the
movement and the techniques to be adopted for
the struggle, and the reluctance of the moderates
to launch any agitation for the attainment of
Swaraj. The differences came to a head in 1907, at
the surat session of the congress, where the party
split with serious consequences for the swadeshi
movement.
Change of Venue of the 1907 Congress Session
The site of the 1907 Congress session was
originally Nagpur-a Tilak stronghold, where the
local delegales would have swung the issue in
favour of the ‘extremists’. However, the Mehla-
Wacha-Gokhale combine, with its greater control
over the actual machinery of the Congress, got the
location transferred to surat-a stronghold of the
‘moderates’.
SURAT SESSION: SPLIT IN CONGRESS
(1907)
Confrontation at the Session
The Indian National Congress split into
two groups-the extremists and the moderates-at
the Surat session in 1907, held on the banks of the
Tapti River. The extremists were led by lokmanya
Tilak, Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal and the
moderates were led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. At
the Surat session, the moderate and the extremists’
delegates of the Congress met in an atmosphere
surcharged with excitement and anger.
The moderates were deeply hurt by the ridicule
and venorn poured on them by the extremists in
the mass meetings held at Surat a few days before
the session and the extremists were excited by the
rumour that the moderates wanted to scuttle their
Kolkata resolutions. The Congress session started
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with the objection made by the extremists to the
duly elected president for the year, Ras Behari
Bose. As both sides came to the session prepared
for the confrontation, the split was inevitable.
Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915)
A Brahmin from Maharastra, he was educated in
India and became involved in the nationalist
movement when he was quitter young. A
moderate, he stressed negotiation and conciliation
rather than non-cooperation or violence. He was
elected to the Mumbai Legislative Council in
1902. The conflict of Gokhale’s moderate views
with the more militant ideas of Bal Gangadhar
Tilak led to a breach in the Indian National
Congress that nearly immobilised it from 1907 to
1916. Gokhale was instrumental in forming the
Servants of India Society, a nationalist
orgainsation whose members, sworn to poverty
and obedience, were enlisted to serve as
volunteers for the social, political and economic
welfare of India. In the course of the Indian
freedom, he rejected the little of ‘knighthood’ and
refused to accept a position in the council of the
Secretary of State for India.
Suppression of the Extremists
The suddenness of the Surat flasco took
the extremists leaders by surprise and they offered
their cooperation to the working committee of the
Congress by accepting the presidentship of Ras
Behari Bose. However, the moderates would not
relent as they found themselves on firm ground.
The government used this opportunity to launch a
massive attack on the extremists by suppressing
their newspaper and arresting their main leader,
Tilak, and sending him to Mandalay jail for 6
years. It passed the Seditious Meeting Act (1907),
to control demonstrations and public meetings,
Page 6

and also enacted the Newspaper Incitement to
Officences Act (1908) to curb the critical press.
Later, it passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act
(1908) to bring to trial the agitating politicians
under the charges of terrorist’s offences. The
extremists were not able to organise an effective
alternate party, or to sustain the movement.
Aurobindo Ghosh gave up politics and left for
Puducherry. Bipin Chandra Pal also left politics
temporarily and Lala Lajpat Rai left for Britain.
After 1908, the national movement as a whole
declined.
Bal Gangadar Tilak(1856-1920)
Tilak was a journalist in poona, and in his
newspapers, kesari [lion] in Marathi and Mahratta
in English, he set fourth his nationalist ideals. He
sought a Hindu revival based on Maratha
traditions and independence [Swaraj] from the
Britain. After the Indian National Congress was
founded (1885), Tilak became the acknowledged
leader of the extreme wing. He fought the
moderate measures of Gopal Krishna Gokhale and
advocated resistance to the British rule. He was
arrested (1897) by the British and imprisoned for
18 months. In 1907, a split took place in the
Congress, and Tilak led his extremist’s wing out
of the party. The next year he was again
imprisoned this time for 6 years. Unlike Gandhi,
he welcomed the Mantague-Chelmstord Repot
(1918), which conceded a substantial measure of
self-rule.
Influence of the Extremists on the National
Movement Before 1916
Despite an able leadership, the extremists
could not influence the course of the national
movement in the direction of active political
agitation, as the moderates, who were still a
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stronger group, would not allow them. The
moderates still firmly belived in the policy of
social reforms, gradual political development and
the remaking of India largely in the image of the
west. Soon ater the Surat split, the moderates
called a conventiuon in 1908, and framed a party
constitution to debar the extremist’s leaders from
the Indian National Congress. It was only in 1916,
that the moderates and the extremists again joined
hands for the national cause.
The achievements of the extremists were:
1. They instilled courage and self-confidence
among the masses;
2. They made the concept of the Indian
nation more precise and force-ful;
3. They made patriotism a major factor in
Indian politics;
4. Their sacrifices helped the cause of
freedom and democracy in the country;
5. They championed the boycott of foreign
goods, which helped in the development of
Indian industries.
MORALITY-MINTO REFORMS (1909)
Initiatives of Lord Morley and Lord Minto
Lord Morley, who was the secretary of
state for Indian Affairs declared in the British
parliament in the year 1906 that his government
wished to bring new reforms for India. The
reforms would enable the locals to exercise more
powers in the legislative affairs. This initiated a
series of correspondence between him and Lord
Minto, who was the then Governor General of
India. A committee was constituted to give
suggestion about the scheme of reforms. The
committee tabled its report. When the report had
been approved by Lord Minto and Lord Morley,
the act of 1909 was passed by the British
Page 7

parliament. The Morlay-Minto reforms suggested
a separate electorate for Muslims, apart from
some other constitutional measures. The
government wished to develop a gulf within the
Congress on one hand by garnering the support of
the moderates, and on the other, to win over the
Muslims and put them against the Hindus. The
reforms introduced the system of separate
electorates under which the Muslims could only
vote for Muslim candidates. This was done with
an objective of creating a notion that the political,
economic and cultural interests of the Hindus and
Muslims were different. The Indian political
leaders were against these reforms. The
following were the main features of the Act of
1909:
1. The number of members of the Legislative
Council at the centre was increased from
16 to 60.
2. The number of members of the provincial
Legislatures was also increased. It was
fixed as 50 in the provinces of Bengal,
Chennai and Mumbai, and at 30 for the
rest of the provinces.
3. There were four categories of the members
of the Legislative councils, bothat the
centre and in the provinces-ex-officio
members (Governor-General and the
members of the Executive Councils),
nominated non-official members
(nominated by the Governor-Genenral but
who were not government officials) and
elected members (elected by different
categories of Indian people).
4. Right of separate electorates for the
Muslims.
5. Official members were to form the
majority at the centre, but in the provinces
non-official members would be in
majority.
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6. The members of the Legislative Councils
were permitted to discuss the budgets,
suggest amendments and even to vote on
them except on those items that were
included as non-voter items. They were
also entitled to ask supplementary
questions during the legislative
proceedings.
7. The Secretary of State for India was
empowered to increase the number of the
Executive Councils of Chennai and
Mumbai from two to four.
8. Two Indians were nominated to the
council of the Secretary of State for Indian
Affairs.
9. The Governor-General was accorded the
power to nominate one Indian member to
his Executive Council.
Indians Councils Act (1909)
The Indian Councils Act introduced the principle
of ‘elections’, which actually meant a minority
of indirectly elected members in the Central
Legislative Council and a majority of indirectly
elected members in the provincial councils. The
Councils themselves allowed only some powers
of discussion, pulling of questions and
sponsoring of resolutions. These Councils had
no control over the administration or finance, let
alone defence or foreign policy. The reforms
were made with the sole intent f isolating the
growing nationality movement. Repression had
already started with the police’s forcible entry
into the 1906 Barisal conference of Dulf’s
Bandhab Samiti, where they beat up a large
number of the participants. The Bande Mataram
Slogan was banned. Even more systematic
repression followed with the agitations in Punjab
and the rise of the revolutionary terrorists in
Bengal. The major measures included the
banning of ‘seditious’ meetings specific areas
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(May and November 1907), Press acts enabling

the seizure of pressure (June 1908, February
1910), the criminal Law Amendment Act
(December 1908), which permitted bans on the
principal samitis in Bengal and deportations.
Lala Lajpat Rai and ajit Singh were deported in
May 1907; nine Bengal leaders including Aswini
Kumar Dutt were deported in December 1908;
Chidambaram Pillai and others from Chennai
were arrested; and Tilak was sentenced to 6
years in prison on 22 July 1908.

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MIDDLE PHASE OF THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE (1915-1930)
WORLD WAR I-REFORMS AND
AGITATION
When World War I began, the British were
surprised to see the massive outpour of symp0athy,
loyalty and goodwill for them. On the contrary, they
had feared that the Indians would use the opportunity
to revolt. India supplied to the British with men and
resources very generously. Nearly 1.3 million
soldiers and labourers from India rendered their
services in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Not
only the Indian government, but also the princes
provided huge supplies of food, money and
ammunition. However, the high rate of casualties,
rising inflation fuelled by heavy taxation, an outbreak
of influenza and the interruption of trade increased
suffering in India. The nationalist movement again
saw a revival. The moderate and the extremist groups
within the Congress forgot their differences to stand
as a united front. These were also a temporary
alliance set up between the congress and the Muslim
League in 1916. The alliance was known as the
Lucknow pact. The alliance was made over the issue
of devolution of political power and the treatment
met to Islam in the Middle East. The British adopted
a ‘carrot and stick’ approach in acknowledging
India’s support during the war. In the month of
August 1917, Edwin Montague, who was the
secretary of State for India was ‘increasing the
association of Indians in every branch of
administration of Indians in every branch of
administration and the gradual development of self-
governing institutions with a view on the progressive
realisation of a responsible government in India as an
Integral part of the British Empire’. The methods of
attaining the suggested measure were later preserved
in the government of India Act of 1919.
HOME RULE MOVEMENT (1915-1916)
The Home Rule Movement was launched by Dr.
Annie Besant in 1916, who was inspired by the
success of Irish rebellion. The movement expanded
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very fast and subsidiaries of the Home Rule League
were opened across India. Bal Gangadar Tilak
worked for the movement wholeheartedly. He joined
with Dr. Besant and convinced the Muslim League to
offer their cooperation to the movement.
Champaran
The flots of Champaran, a district in Bihar, were
carried out against the zamindari system. The
zamindars sublet their leases to English planters who
forced the reyats to grow Indigo on 3/20 of their land
(the notorious Tinkathia System) and ‘bought’ it from
them forcibly at absurdly low prices. In the 1860s, this
practice had already led to the massive indigo riots in
which most indigo-growing districts in Bengal and
Bihar participated, and the memory of that uprising
remained among the reyots. From the turn of the
century, as the demand for Indigo in Europe declined
in the face of competition from synthetic dyes, the
planters passed the burden onto the peasants by
charging sharahbeshi (rent enhancement) or (lump-
sum compensation), not to mention over 40 other types
of fines, cesses, rents and son, arbitrarily invented and
collected. The result was an explosive situation. In the
Motihari – Bettiah region of Champaran, widespread
resistance developed during 1905 – 1908, over an area
of 400 square miles. By 1917, nevertheless, the
situation had become even more explosive. The World
War I led to an even sharper drop in the indigo
exports, and the planters made up their losses with
such vicious enhancements that another major riot was
in store. It was in such a situation that Mahatma
Gandhi was to make his entrance into Indian politics
by launching Satyagraha.
LUCKNOW PACT (1916)
Change in the Attitude of the Muslim
League
At the time of its creation, the All India
Muslim League was a moderate party. Its basic aim
was to maintain friendly relations with the
Government. However, when the British Government
annulled the partition of Bengal, its leadership decided
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to change its stance. In 1913, a new group of leaders
entered the Muslims and the Hindus. The most
important among those new leaders was Muhammad
Ali Jinnah. He was already a member of the Indian
National Congress. The Muslim League re-though its
goal and decided to cooperate with the Congress so
that pressure could be exerted on the British
Government. When Lord Chelmsford invited the
Indian politicians for their suggestions on post- World
War I reforms, there was further in the development of
the situation.
Joint Sessions of the Congress and the
Muslim League
Because of the efforts of Jinnah, the annual
session was held at Mumbai in December 1915, in
which both the Congress and the Muslim League met.
The prominent leaders of both the political parties
gathered at one place for the first time. Leaders from
both the parties delivered speeches from a common
platform which were also based on similar theme.
After some months of the Mumbai meet, 19 elected
members elected the members of the Imperial
Legislative Council; both the Hindus and the Muslims,
gave a memorandum to the Viceroy on the issue of
reforms in October 1916. The suggestions they gave
were not taken very seriously by the press, but they
were debated, changed and accepted at a later meeting
of the Congress and the Muslim League leaders which
was held at Kolkata in the month of November, 1916.
The Lucknow Pact
An important step forward in achieving
Hindu-Muslim unity was the Lucknow Pact, 1916.
Anti-British feelings were generated among the
Muslims following a war between Britain and Turkey,
which opened the way for the Congress and Muslim
League unity. Both the Congress and the Muslim
League held sessions at Lucknow in 1916. This
meeting settled the details of an agreement on the
composition of the legislatures and the quantum of
representation to be allowed to the two communities.
The agreement was confirmed by the annual sessions
of the Congress and the League held at Lucknow on 29
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and 31 December 1916, respectively. The Congress
accepted the separate electorates, and both the
organizations jointly demanded dominion status for the
country. Hindu-Muslim unity weakened the British
attitude. In 1916, the British announced a policy
whereby the association of Indians in the government
was to be increased and there was to be a gradual
development of local self-governing institutions.
Sarojini Naidu gave Jinnah, the chief architect of the
Lucknow Pact, the title ‘the Ambassador of Hindu-
Muslim Unity’.
AUGUST DECLARATION OF 1917
During World War I, the British claimed that
they stood for the protection of democracy around the
world. Thus Indians, who fought for them in this war,
demanded that democracy should also be introduced in
their country. In his famous August Declaration
presented before the House of Commons on 20 August
1917, Lord Montagu, the Secretary of State for Indian
Affairs, said that to satisfy the local demands, his
government was interested in giving more
representation to the natives of India. New reforms
would be introduced in the country to meet this
objective. The control over the Indian government
would be transferred gradually to the Indian people.
This was the result of the Hindu-Muslim unity
exhibited by the Lucknow Pact.
BEGINNING OF THE GANDHIAN ERA
After World War I, the Britishers came up
with some reforms. Indian leaders were, however, not
appeased. The freedom movement had advanced far
beyond such halting concession. It was, in fact, to
enter its last phase called the Gandhian Era. Mahatma
Gandhi dominated the Indian political scene from 1918
to 1947. It was the most intense and eventful phase of
India’s freedom struggle. Mahatma Gandhi provided
leadership of the highest order and his philosophy of
non-violent Satyagraha became the most potent
weapon to drive out the British from the Indian soil.
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Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
Lord Montagu visited India and remained here
for six months. During the period of his stay, he met
various government and non-government people. At
last, along with Governor- General Lord Chelmsford,
he introduced a report on the constitutional reforms for
India in 1918. There were discussions on the report in
the British Parliament and it was approved. It became
the Government of India Act of 1919. This act is
popularly known as the Montagu-Chelmsford
Reforms.
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT
(1919)
The important features of the Act were:
1. The Council of the Secretary of State was to
have eight to twelve members, including three
Indians, and at least half of them should have
spent a minimum of 10 years in India.
2. The Secretary of State was supposed to follow
the advice of his council.
3. A portion of the expenditure of the office of
the Secretary of State was to be met by the
British Government.
4. The Secretary of State was not allowed to
intervene in administrative issues of the
provinces in the matters of ‘Transferred
Subjects’ and also in the matters on which the
Governor-General and his Legislative Council
agreed.
5. The Governor-General was empowered to
nominate as many members to his Executive
Council as he wished.
6. Members appointed to the Executive Council
were to have served in India for minimum of
10 years.
7. The Central Legislature was to be composed
of two houses – the Council of the State
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(Upper House) and the Legislative Assembly
(Lower House).
8. The Council of the State was to be composed
of 60 members, of which 33 would be elected
and 27 nominated by the Governor-General.
9. The Legislative Assembly was to be composed
of 144 members, of which 103 would be
elected and 41 nominated by the Governor-
General.
10. There was to restricted franchise.
11. The term of the Upper House was to be 5
years and of the Lower House 3 years.
12. Both the houses enjoyed equal legislative
powers. If there was a tie, the Governor-
General was supposed to summon a joint
meeting to decide the matter by majority vote.
13. The Executive Council was not responsible to
the Legislature and the Governor-General
could reject its advice.
14. Provincial legislatures were to be unicameral.
15. Seventy per cent members of the Provincial
Legislative Councils were to be elected and
the remaining 30 per cent were to be
nominated.
16. The Governors were to be handed over an
‘Instrument of Instructions’ which was
supposed to help them in executing their
administrative functions.
17. The system of diarchy was set up in the
provinces.
18. Apart from the Muslims, other minorities
(Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Christians and
Europeans) were also accorded the right of
separate electorates.
19. New reforms were to be introduced after 10
years.
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Reaction to the Act of 1919
The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms were not accepted
by most quarters in India as they fell far short of the
Indian expectations. It introduced the principle of a
dual made of administration, or diarchy, in which both
the elected Indian legislators and the appointed British
officials shared power. Dyarchy set in motion certain
real changes of the provincial level; a number of non-
controversial or ‘transferred’ partfolios, such as
agriculture, local government, health, education and
public works, were handed over to the Indians, while
more sensitive matters such as finance, taxation and
maintaining law and order, were retained by the
provincial British administrators.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
(1869 – 1948)
M. K. Gandhi returned to India in 1914 and led three
major crusades for the Indian independence from the
British rule. The first was the Satyagraha campaign of
peaceful non-cooperation urging the Indians to fast,
close businesses and the boycott British goods in
protest against the Rowlatt Bill of 1919 (a plan to
imprison people suspected of trouble-making). By
1920, Gandhi was dominating Indian politics,
thousands were jailed for supporting the Satyagraha,
and in 1922, Gandhi was jailed for 6 years. In 1933, he
launched his second major campaign to defy the law
that forbade Indians to make their own salt. His
journeys to the coast led thousands to follow him and
his subsequent imprisonment. Finally, in 1942 he
endorsed the ‘Quit India’ campaign, formally calling
for the Indian Independence. Once again he was jailed,
but negotiations led to the Mountbatten Plan of 1947,
which formed India and Pakistan. He never wanted the
partition of the country; he suggested that Jinnah
should be invited to form the Government. To
Gandhi’s dismay, the country was split and the
subsequent riots led to his assassination in January
1948. Nelson Mandela cites Gandhi as a dominant
influence in his own struggle and described him as ---
no ordinary leader. There are those who believe he was
divinely inspired, and it is difficult not to believe with
them.
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ROWLATT ACT (1919)
During the viceraoyalty of Lord Chelmsford, a
sedition committee was appointed by the government
in 1918, headed by Justice Rowlatt, which made
certain recommendations to curb seditious activities in
India. The Rowlatt Act, 1919, gave unbridled powers
to the government to arrest and imprison suspects
without trial. The Rowlatt Act was passed by the
Government in spite of being opposed by all the Indian
members of the Legislative Council. The act created
anger among all sections of the society. Even before
the act was passed popular agitations had begun
against it. Gandhi decided to fight against this act and
he gave a call for Satyagraha on 6 April 1919. He was
arrested on 8 April 1919. This led to further
intensification of the agitation in Delhi, Ahmedabad
and Punjab.
Kheda Satyagraha
The Kheda Satyagraha which is also known as the no-
lax peasant struggle was launched in March 1919
under the able leadership of Gandhiji along with
Sardar Patel, N. M.Joshi and others. This movement
provided an opportunity to the educated public
workers to establish contact with the real life of the
peasantry. The Kheda peasantry mainly consisted of
the Patidar peasants. The Patidars have always been
known for their skills in agriculture. The land of
Kheda, a part of central Gujarat, is quite fertile for the
cultivation of tobacco and cotton crops. The struggle
of peasants was organized because the peasants had
suffered a famine and this had resulted in a large scale
failure of crops, but the government did not accept the
failure of crops and insisted on the full realization of
tax.
The Satyagraha of 1919
The Satyagraha was to be a non-violent affair to the
point of riot offering any real resistance. The plan for
an all-India harial was fixed on a Sunday. Two of the
factors which contributed to the unexpected
nationwide upsurge in answer to the Satyagraha call
were the spontaneously growing labour movement
(fueled by the fact that on 80-100 per cent increase in
the price of food grains had been hardly offset by the
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wage rises of say 15 per cent) and the remarkable
Hindu-Muslim unity. The former phenomenon
included the formation of the first regularly
functioning trade unions, and the great largely
spontaneous, Mumbai textile strike of January 1919.
Hindu-Muslim unity had been facilitated partly by the
1916 Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the
leaders of the Muslim League, whereby the Congress
accepted separate electorates and ta bargain was struck
over the distribution of seals. Muslim politicians were
agitated over the Khilafat issues. The Sultan of
Turkey, who was accepted as the major Muslim
power, was being subjected to humiliating terms by the
British after World War I and Muslim leaders
worldwide sympathized. The anxieties of Muslim
politicians coincided in 1919, with the agitational
plans of the Congress. And so, for the first time, the
major politicians of both communities jointly gave a
call for struggle.
JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE (13
APRIL 1919)
The arrest of Dr. Kitchlu and Dr. Satyapal on
10 April 1919, under the Rowlatt Act in connection
with the Satyagraha caused serious unrest in Punjab.
Rioting started in Amritsar on 10 April 1919. The
people of Amritsar took out processions to protest
against the arrest. Police firing made it more violent
and as result five Europeans were killed by the mob. A
public meeting was held the next day, 13 April 1919,
in a park called Jallianwala Bagh where thousands of
people, including women and children, assemble.
These protestors were unaware of a ban that had been
imposed by the martial law administrators on public
meetings. Before the meeting could start General O’
Dyer ordered indiscriminate heavy firing on the crowd
and the people had no means of escape. Hundreds of
men, women and children were killed and more than
1200 people wounded in the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy.
The Hunter Commission was appointed to look into
the situation of unrest after the incident.
Public Response to the Massacre
The massacre was a turning point in Indo-British
relations and inspired the people to begin a more
unrelenting fight for freedom. It sickened some in
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protest, Rabindranath Tagore returned the knighthood
conferred on him. It gave strength to Gandhi’s
mission, which ultimately led to the British leaving
India.
On 13 March 1940, Sardar Uddham Singh, an
Indian patriot from Punjab visited England. He shot
down Michal O’ Dwyer, former Lieutenant Governor
of Punjab, while the latter was addressing a meeting in
Cazton Hall, London. Uddham Singh was executed on
31 July 1940, in England. Uddham Singh’s ashes were
brought hack to India after 34 years on 19 July 1974.
KHILAFAT MOVEMENT (1920)
The Khilafat (The Caliphate)
The Khilafat, as an institution did not have a
stable past. Initially, it had migrated from Medina to
Darmascus and from Damascus to Baghdad. It
remained in Egypt for some time, and then it shifted to
Turkey. The Indian Muslims had a strong sense of
closeness to the world community of Islam. They had
witnessed the fall in the political fortunes of Islam.
They had seen how the European powers defeated the
Muslim kingdoms and captured their lands one after
the other. The Anglo-Russian convention held in 1908
had brought the status of Iran to just a dependency.
Afghanistan was also reduced to a bone of contention
between Russia and Britain. Ultimately, British
established its control over Afghanistan.
Response of the Indian Muslims
The Indian Muslims had a feeling that the
European powers were waging a war against Islam
across the world so that its power and influence could
be ended. Till then, the Ottoman Empire was the only
Muslim power that had maintained an impression of
authority. The Indian Muslims wished to stop the last
Islamic political authority from becoming extinct. The
Sultans of Turkey had proclaimed themselves to be the
caliphs of the Muslims all over the world. Before the
fall of the Mughal Empire, Muslims of India had not
acknowledged their claim. However, when there was
no other Indian Muslim sovereign power left, the
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Muslims of India began to see the necessity of
recognizing the Sultan of Turkey as their Caliph. Tipu
Sultan also, who when first failed to gain recognition
from the Mughals, had turned to the Sultan of Turkey
to get recognition of a legal right to his throne.
Origin of the Khilafat Movement
As a consequence of the World War I, the
Ottoman Empire faced humiliation. Two brothers also
known as the Ali Brothers, Maulana Muhammad
Aliand Maulana Shaukat Ali, inspired the Muslims
of South Asia and initiated an anti-British movement
in 1920 popularly known as the Khilafat Movement.
The movement wished the restoration of the Caliphate.
The objectives of the movement were: (i) to restore the
Turkish caliphate; (ii) to safeguard the holy shrines of
the Muslims; and (iii) to preserve the unity of the
Ottoman Empire. The European forces had played a
prime role in cutting the authority of Turkey in Europe
to Eastern Thrace, Constantinople and the straits in the
Balkan Wars fought between 1912 and 1913. As an act
of revenge, Turkey decided to join the Germans
against the Allied forces. The Indian Muslims hailed
the decision and showed their anti-British attitude
more aggressively.
British Response to the Khilafat Movement
The Indian Muslims were unanimous in their
support to the Caliph. Despite the fact that they were
separated from Turkey by thousands of miles, they
were resolute to support Turkey from India. The
conditions of the Treaty of Serves declared in 1920,
led to resentment among the Muslims. They felt that
they had been cheated. In the month of June 1920,
ninety prominent Muslim personalities wrote to Lord
Chelmsford, the Viceroy, declaring that they would
start a non-cooperation movement against the
government from August, it the conditions of the treaty
with Turkey were not changed. This did not bring any
positive results because the British Prime Minister
Lloyd George was a bitter enemy of Turkey and also
of the Indian Khilafat Movement, When the Indian
Khilafat deputation reached England in 1920 to
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express views before the British Government, they
were not treated properly.
The Moplah Uprising
In the month of August 1921, reasant riots
broke out in Nilambur, Kerala. The Moplah peasants
rebelled against the oppressive policies of their Hindu
landlords. The landlords worked in alliance with the
British. The landlords re-distributed the lands of the
peasants. This increased the suffering of the Moplahs,
and rose in revolt. There started a pitched battle
between the British regiment and the Moplahs. The
Moplahs killed many Europeans. More than four
thousand Moplahs were killed in the action and
thousands were injured and then, the infamous Moplah
train tragedy occurred. Nearly hundred prisoners,
cramped in a closed and airtight goods van, were being
transported by rail. When the door of the wagon was
opened, sixty six Moplahs were found dead because of
suffocation and the remaining were on the brink of
collapse. This led to Hindu-Muslim communal clashes,
especially in Multan and Bengal in the month of
September, 1922. The Sanghattan and Shuddi
movements were launched as a result of these
communal rioting. They were directed against the
Muslims and aimed at the revival of Hinduism.
Decline of the Khilafat Movement
Along with other factors, the arrest of the Ali
brothers in Septemebt 1921 was an important factor
responsible for the decline of the Khilafat movement.
After the Chaura-Chauri incident, Gandhi also
withdrew his support from the movement. He had been
a staunch supporter of the movement earlier. In the
year 1924, Turks under the leadership of Mustafa
Kamal were trying to consolidate their position in
Turkey. They declared the end of the Khilafat. It was a
big shock for the members of the Indian Khilafat
movement, who had been supporting Turkey and the
Khilafat. Slowly, the interest of the people in the
movement died down and people associated with the
movement started developing new interests.
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Significance of the Khilafat Movement
The Lucknow Pact indicated that it was the
Hindus and the Muslims belonging to the English
educated middle-class, could reach at an amicable
settlement on political and constitutional issues related
to them. This unity peaked during the Khilafat and the
non-cooperation movements. Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad also guided the movement. Gandhi and the
Indian National Congress wholeheartedly supported
the movement and paved the way for Hindu-Muslim
unity. It became an important countrywide popular
movement. No doubt that the Khilafat movement
failed to achieve its goals, it led to political awakening
of the large masses of Muslims. It was during the days
of the movement that representatives of the Indian
Muslims had a chance of meeting eminent
personalities from other Muslims countries.
Moplah Rebellion: I
A large number of people in Kerala were influenced by
the Gandhian movement. They joined the Satyagraha
campaign in large numbers. The non-cooperation
movement was at its peak during this period of time.
Gandhiji toured Malabar in 1921, giving more
momentum to the movement. Khilafat Committees
were established in large numbers and the sense of
brotherhood between the Hindus and Muslims, through
the efforts in Congress-Khilafat Committees, was realy
a noticeable feature of the non-cooperation movement
initially. The pace of spreading of the Khilafat
agitation particularly in the Eranca and Valluvanad
taluks alarmed the administration. A stunned
administrative system imposed prohibitory orders in
the both the taluks. Gatherings of people were banned
and many were imprisoned. A tragic event then took
place, known as the Moplah Rebellion or the Malabar
Rebellion of 1921. The police tried to arrest the
secretary of the Khilafat Committee of Pokotturin
Eranad allegedly for having stolen a pistal.
Moplah Rebellion: II
A mob of 2,000 Moplahs from the neighbourhood
obstructed the police. The following day, a police
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looking for the Khilafat rebels entered the renowned
Mambaram mosque at Tirurangadi. They took some
records and took into their custody some Khilafat
volunteers. A rumour spread that the mosque had been
defiled by the police. Hundreds of agitated Moplahs
gathered on Tirurangadi and encircled the local police
station. The police Violence stretched over Eranad and
Valluvanad taluks and the neighbouring areas for more
than 2 months. The Congress leaders tried to curb the
violence but could not succeed. During the later stages,
because of the rumour of Hindus having helped the
police or sought police help, there were events of
atrocities committed on the Hindus. This damaged the
realtions between the two communities. In the
meantime, British and Gorkha regiments were sent to
the area. Martial law was imposed. A number of
repressive measures followed, and by the month of
November, the rebellion was practically flattened.
Many voluntary agencies carried out relief operations
for almost 6 months with the active support from
Gandhi.
NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT
(1920-1922)
Launching of the Non-Cooperation
Movement
With the Congress support to the Khilafat
movement, Hindu-Muslim unity was achieved which
encouraged Gandhi to launch his non-violent, non-
cooperation movement. When the British refused to
fulfill the demands of the Congress, a programmed of
boycott of government schools, colleges and law
courts was approved in an all-party joint conference
held in Allahabad in June 1920. At Kolkata, the
Congress organized a special session in September
1920, and resolved in favour of the non-violent, non-
cooperation movement, and defined Swaraj as its
ultimate aim. The movement envisaged (i) surrender of
titles and honorary officers; (ii) resignation from
nominated offices and posts in the local bodies; (iii)
refusal to attend government darbars and boycott of
British courts by the lawyers; (iv) refusal of members
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of the public to join military and other government
jobs; (v) boycott of government schools, colleges,
courts and election process as per the Act of 1919 and
(vi) boycott of foreign goods.
This led to the foundation of national schools
and educational institutions and panchayats (which
acted as private arbitration courts) throughout India.
Swadeshi and Khadi became popular and domestic
hand-spinning and hand-weaving industry began to
grow. Nationwide programmes began for the removal
of untouchability and for the upliftment of ‘Harijans’
and women. Participation of Muslims and other
minorities helped in developing a sense of national
unity.
Significance of the Movement
This was the first truly nationalist movement
of India which brought together almost all working
strata of the society such as peasants, teachers,
students, women and merchants. It acquired a real
mass base as it gained momentum and spread across
the length and breadth of the country. The Congress
also got a face lift with this movement, gaining
recognition as an organization for action instead of a
mere deliberative assembly. The development of
national unity and willingness of people to make
sacrifices for the cause of national independence also
emerged from this movement.
Phases of the Movement
PHASE I (JANUARY – MARCH 1921)
Gandhi, along with the Ali brothers undertook
a nationwide tour, addressing hundreds of meetings
and a large number of political leaders. In the initial
weeks itself, thousands of students left schools and
colleges and joined more than 800 national schools
and colleges that sprang up all over the country. The
educational boycott was especially successful in
Bengal, with Punjab too responding under the
leadership of Lala Lajpat Rai. Other areas that were
active were Mumbai, United Provinces, Bihar, Orissa,
Assam and Chennai. Apart from educational boycott,
there was a boycott of law courts which saw major
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lawyers such as Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das, C.
Rajagopalachari, Saifuddin Kitchly, Vallabhbhai Patel
and Aruna Asaf Ali, give up their lucrative practices,
inspiring thousands of followers.
PHASE II (APRIL – JUNE 1921) Operation
Tilak Swaraj Fund was organized throughout the
country by which common people were enrolled in the
Congress. The aim was to raise a fund for organizing
the Congress activity on a larger platform. The
Congress succeeded in creating a fund of more than
crore from the donations. It installed spinning wheels
throughout the nation to mark the success of the Tilak
Swaraj Fund.
PHASE III (JULY – SEPTEMBER 1921)
The non-cooperation movement also saw picketing of
shops selling foreign cloth and boycott of foreign cloth
by the followers of Gandhi. Another dramatic event
during this period was the visit of the Prince of Wales.
The day he landed in Mumbai, 17 November 1921, he
was greeted with empty streets and downed shutters
wherever he went.
PHASE IV (NOVEMBER 1921 –
FEBRUARY 1922) The non-cooperation
movement had other indirect effects also, it led to the
Kisan movement throughout the country, Akaji
movement in Punjab, strikes in steamer service and
Assam – Bengal Railways and many other local
movements. There was a mood of civil mass
disobedience throughout the country. The unrest and
defiance of authority engendered by the non-
cooperation movement contributed to the rise of many
local movements in different parts of the country,
movements which did not often adhere strictly to the
programme of the non-cooperation movement or to the
policy of non-violence. In December 1921, at the
annual session of Congress at Ahmedabad under the
presidentship of C. R. Das, a resolution was passed
affirming the fixed determination of the Congress to
continue the programme of non-violent, non-
cooperation till the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and
Khilafat wrongs were redressed and Swarajya was
established.
Page 8

CHAURI – CHAURA INCIDENT (1922)
The Congress session held at Ahmedabad in
December 1921, decided to launch a civil disobedience
movement while reiterating its stand on the non-
violent, non-cooperation movement of which Gandhi
was the appointed leader. Before Gandhi could launch
the civil disobedience movement, a mob at Chauri-
Chaura led by Jawahar Yadav, near Gorakpur in the
present day Uttar Pradesh, clashed with the police
which opened fire. In retaliation, the mob burnt the
police station and killed 22 policemen. This compelled
Gandhi to call off the civil disobedience movement on
11 February 1922. Even so Gandhi was arrested and
sentenced to 6 years imprisonment. The Chauri-Chaura
incident convinced Gandhi that the nation was not yet
ready for mass disobedience and he prevailed upon the
Congress Working Committee in Bardoli on 12
February 1922, to call off the non-cooperation
movement.
Trade Unionism: Ideological Battleground
Ideological differences in the labour movement began
to appear within a few years after the birth of the All
India Trade Union Congress (AITUC). The three
distinct ideological groups in the trade union
organization had entirely different views regarding the
labour movement. These groups were; (i) Communists
led by M. N. Roy and shripad Amrut Dange who
wanted AIIUC to be affiliated to such --- international
organizations as the League against imperialism and
the Pan-Pacific Trade Union Secretariat. The party
ideology was supreme to these leaders and they took
the unions as instruments for furthering it. (ii)
Moderates led by N. M. Joshi and V. V. Giri, who
wanted affiliation with the British labour Organization
(BLO) and the international Federation of Trade
Unions based in Amsterdam. The moderates were …
unionists at heart who did not want to crush trade units
under political interests. (iii) Nationalists led by the
freedom fighters Gandhi and Nehru, who argued that
affiliation with the latter organizations would be
accepting unending dominion status for the country
under the British rule.
examsdaily.in
Middle Phase of the Freedom
Struggle (1915 - 1930)
TRADE UNION MOVEMENT
The working class of the developed capitalist
countries began powerful struggles that affected other
nations as well like India, where the reformers started
organized successful struggles with the workers.
Organizations such as the Amalgamated Society of
Railway Servants of India and Burma, Unions of
Printers in Kolkata, which were not exactly trade
unions, came into existence. The first trade union was
formed on permanent basis in 1906 in the Postal
Offices at Mumbai and Kolkata. By the early years of
the twentieth century, strikes by workers and visible
links between nationalist politics and labour movement
had become quite common.
MUMBAI MILL WORKER’S
STRUGGLE In 1908, a week long protest was held
by the Mumbai Mill workers against the conviction of
the nationalist leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak on charges
of sedition. An uproar against the indenture system of
labour recruitment for the plantations led to the
abolition of the system in 1922.
SHOLAPUR COMMUNE The workers
of Sholapur established workers power for the first
time in India – the heroic Sholapur Commune. The
colonial ruler prosecuted the workers and detained the
leaders in the Meerut conspiracy case.
CHENNAI LABOUR UNION It was an
association of the textile workers including workers of
other trades in the European owned Buckingham and
Carnatic Mills which was founded in 1918 by the
nationalist leaders like Thiru Vi. Ka. (Real name T. V.
Kalyanasundara Mudaliar) and B. P. Wadia. There was
a remarkable disagreement between the union and
caused strike and lockout. A civil suit was filed against
Wadia claiming the payment of damages for inciting
workers to breach their contract. The court ruled out
that the Chennai Labour Union was an illegal
conspiracy to hurt trading interests and demanded the
restraining of activities of the union. Finally, it ended
into a compromise which led to reinstatement of all the
victimized workers except 13 strike leaders. Wadia
Page 9

and other outside leaders separated themselves from
the union.
TEXTILE LABOUR ASSOACIATION
At the time when Chennai Labour Union was
being organized, Anasuyaben Sarabhai began working
for the mill workers in Ahmedabad which eventually
led to the formation of the famous Mazdoor Mahajan –
Textile Labour Association in 1920.
GANDHI’S BACKING TO THE TRADE
UNION MOVEMENT
Gandhi called the Textile Labour Association,
Ahmedabad, as his laboratory where he experimented
upon his ideas on industrial relations and a model
labour union. Being successful with his experiments,
he advised other trade unions to follow it.
GROWTH OF TRADE UNIONS IN
INDIA
Several reasons support the coming up of
unions in the 1920s. Against this background N. M.
Joshi introduced a bill for the rights of a Trade Union.
But the then member for Industries, Commerce and
Labour promised to legislate the subject himself and
the Trade Union Act of 1926 was enacted. By this
time, many active trade union leaders notably N. M.
Joshi, Zabwalla, Solicitor Jinwalla, S. C. Joshi, V. G.
Dalvi and Dr. Baptista organized strong unions
specially in Port Trust, Dock staff, Bank employees
(especially in Imperial Bank and currency office),
Customs, Income – Tax, Ministerial staff, etc.
AMALGAMATION OF NATIONALIST
AND TRADE UNION MOVEMENT
After the war, the growth of the nationalist
Home Rule Movement encouraged the labour
movement to take part in its nationalist effort.
Following World War I, the wages were not at par
with the price hike. The workers being unaware about
the concept of trade union needed the guidance of
philanthropists and social workers (politicians) who
recognized labour’s potential for their political
examsdaily.in
Middle Phase of the Freedom
Struggle (1915 - 1930)
organization. There were different kinds of politicians
like Gandhians, socialists and communists supporting
the workers.
GREAT OCTOBER SOCIALIST
REVOLUTION
After World War I, workers throughout the
country took inspiration from the Great October
Socialist Revolution of Russia and struggled against
British colonialism.
Labour Movements After 1939
When World War II broke out in 1939, the workers
opposed the war through a serfes of strikes. Favourable
conditions such as worldwide anti-imperialist
struggles, establishment of rule of under working class
leadership in one third of the globe defeat of fascist
powers and the role of working class encouraged anti-
imperialist struggles in India. Some of the incidents
that showed the working class power were the
nationwide post and telegraph strike, the Mumbai
general strike in support of the naval mutiny and street
battles. In the princely feudal states, the working class
supported the Telegana armed struggle and was in the
forefront of Punnapra-Vygiayar struggle.
BIRTH OF AITUC
The need felt for a central organization was
fulfilled with the birth of the All India Trade Union
Congress (AITUC) in 1920. Many protests and
martyrdom of many gave the working class the right to
organize itself into trade unions and the right to strike.
In 1926, the India Trade Union Act was enacted.
TRADE UNIONS ACT, 1926
The Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926, legalized
that seven workers can combine to make a trade union.
It also removed the pursuit of legitimate trade union
activity from the purview of civil and criminal
proceedings which is still the basic law governing
trade unions in the country.
Page 10

SPLIT IN AITUC AND FORMATION OF
NTUF
From the mid-1920s of the twentieth century,
the communists launched a major offensive to capture
the AITUC. They started rival unions in opposition to
those dominated by the nationalists. By 1928, they
fielded their candidate for election to the office of the
President of the AITUC in opposition to the nationalist
candidate Nehru who managed to win the election by a
narrow margin. In the 1929 session of the AITUC
chaired by Nehru, the communists garnered enough
support to carry a resolution to affiliate the Union to
International Communist Forum. This resolution
sparked the first split in the labour movement. The
moderates, who deeply opposed it, walked out and
eventually formed the National Trade Union
Federation (NTUF).
RED TRADE UNION CONGRESS
Within 2 years of this evet, the Union suffered
another split. The communists walked out of AITUC
in 1931 and formed the Red Trade Union Congress but
following its ban by the British, they returned. The
British being most favourably disposed towards the
moderate NTUF, appointed N. M. Joshi, the moderate
leader as a member of the Royal Commission.
Trade Union Movement : The Beginning
The corresponding growth of nationalist and the trade
union movement rose consciousness among the
struggling Indian Industrial workers who emerged as
winners and stood by the nationalist organisers.
In the years after the revolt of 1857, the British
imperialists had a firm footing in the country and they
began to set up industrial enterprises. But the inhuman
conditions in which the Indian labourers worked
resulted in a struggle by the workers throughout the
later half of the nineteenth century at various industrial
centres like Mumbai and Howrah.
Strike at Empress Mills Nagpur This was an erratic
struggle by the workers of the Empress Mills at
Kanpur in 1877 following a wage cut. But because of
poor organization, it failed and led to more cruely by
the rulers.
examsdaily.in
Middle Phase of the Freedom
Struggle (1915 - 1930)
Agitation of Mumbai Textile Workers Regular
payment of wages and improved working conditions
were demanded by 5,000 Mumbai Textile workers, in
1884. This was followed by unsuccessful strikes
between 1882 and 1890. Because of oppression, many
workers quit their jobs. Concerned about low labour
costs, which gave an unfair advantage to Indian made
goods, the Lancashire and Manchester Chambers of
Commerce called for an inquiry into the conditions of
the Indian workers.
The First Factories Act, 1881 In 1875, the first
appointed committee enquired into the conditions of
factory workers and demanded factory laws. The first
Factories Act was adopted in 1881 and The Factory
Commission was appointed in 1885.
The Factories Act, 1891 Another Factories Act came
up in 1891, and a Royal Commission on labour was
appointed in 1892. This forced restrictions on the
working hours and the employment of women.
The Mumbai Millhand’s Association This association
formed in 1890 was the first workers organization
headed by Narayan lakhande who can be treated as the
Father of India’s modern trade union movement. This
organization with no rules, regulations or funds
worked for the welfare of workers. Soon other
organizations like Kamgar Hitvardhak Sabha and
Social Service League also came up.
MERGING OF NTUF WITH AITUC
The breaking away of the NTUF cost the
AITUC 30 affiliated unions having close to hundred
thousand members. The Red Trade Union Congress
quickly fell apart, and the communists returned to the
AITUC. During the next few years, there was
compromise between the AITUC and NTUF as well.
The split had occurred on issues such as affiliation
with international organizations which were of no
concern to the ordinary worker. By 1940, the NTUF
merged completely with the AITUC and it was agreed
that the AITUC would not affiliate itself with any
international organization and political decisions
would be taken on the basis of a two-thirds majority.
In conclusion, the thirties involved wage cuts, wartime
inflution, political dissent and the Government's failure
Page 11

in 1937 to meet the expectations of the workers
depicting a depressing period for Indian labour.
However, some prominent labour leaders such as Shri
Nanda and Shri Giri did pass some useful legislations,
major being the Mumbai Industrial Disputes Act of
1938, which attempted to eliminate inter-union
rivalries by introducing a system recognising the
dominant union.
VISIT OF SIMON COMMISSION
The victorious October Revolution led to the
development of the ideology of scientific socialism in
the working class movement in India and puttorth
immediate political demands. Simon Commission’s
visit to India was marked by protests by the working
class.
Conspiracy Trials against the Communists
To stop the communists effort for a united party, the
British banned ther activity with four conspiracy
trials between 1921 and 1924. These were the First
Peshawar Conspiracy Case, the Second Peshawar
Conspiracy Case, the Moscow Conspiracy Case and
the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case, which had
great political impact.
COMMUNIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA
Manabendra Nath Roy, earlier known as Narcndra
Nath Bhattachuryu. is credited to be the founder of the
communist movement in India. He attended the
Second Congress of Communist International in
Russia and in Tashkent along with Evelina Trench
Roy, Abani Mukhcrji, Rosa Fitingof, Mohammad Ali
(Ahmed Hasan), Mohammad Shafiq Siddiqui; he
founded the emigre Communist Party of India on 17
October 1920. He had earlier played an important role
in the forminging of the Communist Party of Mexico
in 1919. Roy kept in contact with the Anushilan and
Yuguntar groups in Bengal and tried to strengthen the
movement in India. Small communist groups were
formed in Bengal (Jed by Muzaffar Ahmed), Mumbai
(led by S. A. Dange), Chennai (led by Singaravelu
examsdaily.in
Middle Phase of the Freedom
Struggle (1915 - 1930)
Chettiar), United Provinces (led by Shaukat Usmani)
and Punjab (led by Ghulam Hussain). The activities of
the new breed of revolutionaries caused panic among
the British administrators and on 17 March 1924, M.
N. Roy, S. A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, Nalini Gupta,
Shaukat Usmani, Singaravelu Chettiar, Ghulam
Hussain and R. C. Sharma were charged for starling a
violent revolution to deprive the King Emperor of his
sovereignty of the British in India. This was termed as
the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspir case. This action of the
government, however, blessing in disguise for the
communists as the mas,1 became aware ot the plans,
doctrines and the aims of Communists International in
India.
Kanpur Communist Conferencewas
held 25 December 1925, where more than 500
participated and adopted the name ‘Communist Party
of India’ (CPI). The Labour and Swaraj Party of the
indian National Congress were formed in Bengal on 1
November 1925. The name of the party was changed
to Workers and Peasants Party of Bengal (WPP) on 6
February 1925 at a conference in Krishnanagar. After
the conference, the underground CPI members joined
the provincial Wpps to carry out their; Activities. WPP
became the face of the communist movement, which
was declared illegal. M. N. Roy in this period opposed
nationalism in India and argued that India ivas not
ready for a socialist revolution as it was populated by
an industrial working class. On the other hand, the
Berlin group of the Indian revolutionaries represented
by Virendranath Chattopadhyay, Maulana Barkatullah
and Bhupendranath Datta had a positive aspect of
nationalism and considered India as an ugrarian
country.
SIXTH CONGRESS OF THE
COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL
The sixth congress of the Communist
International met in 1928. The colonial thesis of the
6th Comintern Congress demanded the Indian
communists to protest against the national-reformist
leaders thus opposing Swarajists, Gandhists and their
expression of passive resistance. The Tenth Plenum of
Page 12

the Executive Committee of the Communist
International. 3-19 July 1929 directed Indian
Communists to sever tics with WPP to which they
obliged.
MERRUT CONSPIRACY CASE
On 20 March 1929, Meerut Conspiracy case
involved the arrests of WPP, CPI und other labour
leaders in several parts of India. The trial proceedings
of Communist leadership lasted for years. The main
centres of activity of CPI were Mumbai, Kolkata,
Punjab and Chennai.
CONGRESS SOCIALIST PARTY
The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) formed by
the Indian left-wing elements in 1934 was branded as
‘Social Fascist’ by the CPI. After 1936, both these
parties worked together and the period between 1936
and 1937 saw the co-operation of these parties
attaining zenith. During the third CSP Congress in
Faizpur, several communists got included into the CSP
National Executive Committee.
Nagpur Session of the INC
The Nagpur session held m December 1920, brought
change, in the Constitution ot the Congress. These
include that the Congress was now supposed to the
led by a 15 memberworking committee Membership
was thrown open to all and women of ihe age of 21
years or more on the payment of 4 annas as annual
subscription (Age limit reduced to 18 years in 1921).
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, G, S. Khaparde,
Bipin Chandra Pal Annie Besonl and so on left the
Congress as they did not believe in Gandhi’s non
cooperation strategy.
SWARAJ PARTY (19220
Origin and Purpose
Gandhi’sdecision to call off the agitation
caused frustration among the masses. His decision
came in for severe criticism from his colleagues such
as Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das and N. C. Kelkar, who
examsdaily.in
Middle Phase of the Freedom
Struggle (1915 - 1930)
organised the Swaraj Party. The foundations of the
Swaraj Party were laid on 1 January 1923. as the
Congress-Khilafat-Swarajya Party with C. R. Das as
the President and Motilal Nehru as one of the
secretaries, It proposed that an alternative programme
of diverting the movement from a widespread civil
disobedience programme to restricted programme
would be undertaken. By this programme, its members
would enter the legislative councils by contesting
elections to wreck the legislature from within and use
moral pressure to compel the authorities to concede to
the popular demand for self-government. Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr. Ansari and Rujendra Prasad
opposed council entry and were known as non-
changers. They warned that legislative politics would
weaken nationalist fervour and create rivalries among
the leaders.
Rise and Decline
In the elections held in 1923, the Swaraj Party
captured 42 of the 101 elefcted seats. In provincial
elections, they secured a few seats, but in the Central
Provinces they secured a clear majority. In Bengal, the
Swaraj Party was the largest party. It followed the
policy of undiluted opposition. The Swarajists
demanded the release of all political prisoners,
provincial autonomy and repealing of the repressive
laws imposed by the British government. However,
after the death of C. R. Das in J925, the party drifted
towards a policy of cooperation with the government.
This led to dissensions in the party and it broke up in
1926. In the 1926 general elections, the party fared
badly in the United Provinces and Punjab which were
its stronghold earlier. Finally, in 1930, it merged with
the Congress.
MUDDIMAN COMMITTEE (1924)
In 1924, a nine-member committee was
constituted under e c airmanship of Sir Muddiman to
enquire about the dyarchy, instituted by the Momague-
Chclmsford Reforms. The committee submitted its
report in 1925. The majority report stated that the trials
of the dyarchy system were not air and adequate
resources and time frame was not prov ided to check
Page 13

the validity of the system. It recommended the
continuation of the system with the incorporation of
only a few changes. The majority report actually
constituted the views and opinions of the loyalists and
officials. The Secretary of State for India took a note
of the majority report and issued a statement that
action would be taken based on the report. There was,
however, a minority report as well as which consisted
of opinions of other non-official Indians who had
categorically opposed dyarchy and recommended the
framing of a new constitution. This view was not justly
presented by the Muddiman Committee.
SIMON COMMISSION (1927)
Appointment of the Commission
The Government of India Act of 1919 was
essentially transitional in character. Under Section 84
of the said Act, a siatutory commission was to be
appointed at the end of 10 years to determine the next
stage in the realisation of self-rule in India. The
activities of the Swaraj Party had induced the British
government to review the working of dyarchy
introduced by the Montaguc-Chelmsford Reforms and
to report as to what extent a representative government
could be introduced in India. The British government
appointed a commission under Sir John Simon in
November 1927. The commission, which had no
Indian members, was sent to investigate India’s
constitutional problems and make recommendations to
the government on a future constitution for India.
Indian political leaders felt insulted and decided to
boycott the commission.
Boycott of the Commission
The call for the boycott of the Simon
Commission was endorsed by the Liberal Federation
led by Tej Bahadur Sapru, by the Indian Industrial and
Commercial Congress and by the Hindu Mahasabha.
The Muslim League split on the issue, with
Mohammed Ali Jinnah carrying the majority with him
in favour of a boycott. Sir Muhammad Shall, who
wanted to cooperate with the commission, decided to
convene a Muslim League session in Lahore in
examsdaily.in
Middle Phase of the Freedom
Struggle (1915 - 1930)
December 1927. The Jinnah faction held a Muslim
League session at Kolkata, and decided to form a sub-
committee to confer with the working committee of
the Indian National Congress and other organizations,
with a view to draft a constitution for India.
The Congress decided to boycott the Simon
Commission and challenged Lord Birkenhead.
Secretary of State for India, to produce a constitution
acceptable to the various elements in India. An all
parties’ conference appointed the Nehru Committee to
produce an agreed constitution. The Congress was
moving from the demand of ‘Dominion Status’ to
‘Complete Independence’. The Chennai session of the
Congress in 1927, passed a resolution of ‘Complete
National Independence’ and later, in 1928, the All
Party Muslim Conference also adopted ‘the goal of
complete independence’ as its objective. The Congress
boycotted the Commission as it had no Indian member.
Transformation of Boycott into a
Movement
It was the Indian National Congicss that turned the
boycott into a movement. The action began as soon
as Sir John Simon and his colleagues bnded in
Mumbai on 3 February 1928. All the major cities and
towns observed a complete hartal and people came
out on the streets to participate in mass tallies,
processions and black flag demonstrations. Wherever
the commission went, they were met with the slogans
of 'Simon, go back'. While leading the demonstration
at Lahore, Lola lajpat Rai was severely beaten in a
police lathicharge and succumbed to his injuries. It
charged lire political atmosphere in India it was his
death that Bhagat Singh and his commdes were
seeking, to avenge when ihey killed a white ooiice
official, Saunders, in December 1928.
BUTLER COMMITTEE (1927)
In 1927, the British government constituted
the Indian States Committee under the chairmanship of
Sir Harcourt Butler. The other two members in the
committee were S. C. Peel and W. S. Holdsworth. The
Page 14

purpose of the committee was to inquire into the
relationship between the Indian states and the British
throne; and suggest measures for improvement. The
committee submitted its report in 1929, which was
subsequently endorsed by the Simon Commission. The
committee found that the relations of the British
Crown with the Princely states in India was a thriving
and growing one, and it was suggested that the states
should be transferred to British India without any
contract with a new government which would be
responsible for an Indian legislature. It also divided the
roles of the Governor-General and the Viceroy of India
stating that the Viceroy should be the agent of the
British Crown in its relation with the princes.
DELHI MUSLIM PROPOSAL
(1927)
Considering separate electorates to be the
main hindrance in improving Hindu-Muslim relations,
Jinnah proposed that ifthe Congress agreed to provide
certain safeguards, the Muslim League would give up
this demand. Consequently, the proposals were
formally approved at a conference helrl by the Muslim
League in 1927 at Delhi. The Delhi Musij proposals
proposed the following safeguards: (i) the formation of
a separate province of Sindh and (ii) introduction of
reforms in the North West Frontier Province and
Baluchistan on the same footing as in the other
provinces.
Unless and until the above proposals were
implemented the Muslim League would not surrender
the right of thei’ representation through separate
electorates. The Muslim League was willing to
abandon separate electorates jn favour of joint
electorates with the reservation of seats fixed in
proportion to the population of different communities
if the above two proposals weik, implemented to their
full satisfaction and also, if the following proposals
were accepted: (a) hindu minorities in Sindh,
Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier Province be
accorded the same concessions in the form of
reservation of scats over and above the proportion of
their population as Muslims would get in lire Hindu
examsdaily.in
Middle Phase of the Freedom
Struggle (1915 - 1930)
majority provinces; (b) muslim representation in the
Central Legislature would not be less than onerthird;
and (c) in addition to provisions such as religious
freedom, there was to be a further guarantee in the
constitution that on communal matters, no bill or
resolution would be considered or passed, if, three-
fourth of the members of the community concerned
were opposed to it. These proposals were to be
accepted or rejected in total.
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)
Jawahorlal Nehru was born on 14 November 1889.
He was the son of a rich Brahman lawyer from
Kashmir. When he reached the age of 16, he went to
England to get educated at the Harrow School and at
the University of Cambridge. He returned to India in
1912, and started the practice of law Soon, in 1919 he
joined the Indian National Congress. It was the major
nationalist organization of India. Its leader was
Mohandas K. Gandhi. Very soon, Nehru became the
leader of the nationalist movement, He was
imprisoned nine times by the British for his
participation in the activities related to the
independence of India. He remained the president of
the Congress perty from 1929 to 1931. He was again
appoimed the president of the party for five more
times. Nehru remained a staunch supporter of Gandhi
until Gandhi's demise in 1940; howevei, he did not
endorse Gandhi’s views of passive resistance as a
means of pushing the British out of India. Rather, he
suggested a militant program which involved the use
of nil possible measures, just short of armed
resistance to the British.
NEHRU REPORT (1928)
When the Simon Commission failed
miserably, there was no substitute for the British
government but to invite the Indians to draft a
constitution For themselves. They understood that the
two main parties, the Congress and the Muslim
League, had serious difference of opinions. Lord
Birkenhead. Secretary of State for Indian Affairs,
threw the ball in the Indian politicians' court and
Page 15

invited them to plan of the future action to which both
Hindus and Muslims would agree. The Indian leaders
took the opportunity and the All parries Conference
was summoned at Delhi in January 1928. Over a
hundred representatives of almost all the parties of
India participated in the conference. However, the
leaders could not arrive at any consensus. The biggest
obstruction was the issue of the rights of the
minorities. Another meeting of the All Parties
Conference took place in the month of March. The
leaders once again could not resolve their differences
and did not reach a conclusion. The sub¬committees
too proved a failure because of the difference in
opinions of die Congress and the Muslim League
The meeting of the All Parties Conference was
conducted for the third time in Mumbai on 19 May
1928 There was no prospect of an agreed constitution.
It was decided that a small committee should be
appointed to look into the details of the constitution.
Jawaharlal Nehru was appointed the head of this
committee. The committee included nine other
members including two Muslim League
representatives, Syed Ali Imam and Shoaib Qureshi.
The committee worked for 3 months at Allahabad and
the memorandum that it presented was known as the
Nehru Report The report suggested that a Declaration
of Rights should be included in the constitution
making sure complete liberty of conscience and
religion.
The following were the recommendations put
forward by the Nehru Report:
1. India should be accorded the status of a
dominion.
2. There should be federal system of
government: residuary powers lying with the
centre.
3. India should have a parliamentary s item of
government headed by a Prime Minister arid
six other ministers designated by the
Governor-General
4. The legislature should be bicameral.
5. There should be no separate electorates for any
community.
examsdaily.in
Middle Phase of the Freedom
Struggle (1915 - 1930)
6. The proposal of reservation for the minorities
was as bad as that of separate electorates.
7. Reservation of seats for Muslims could be
possible in provinces where Muslim
population was at least 10 per cent of the total,
but this was to be in strict proportion to the
size of the community.
8. Muslims should be given one-fourth
representation in the Central Legislature.
9. Sindh should be separated from Mumbai only
it the committee approved that it was
financially self-reliant.
10. The North-West Frontier Province should be
given a complete provincial status.
11. A new Kanarese speaking province,
Karnataka, should be established in South
India.
12. Hindi should be made the official language of
India.
13. Provision of Fundamental Rights tor the
people of India in the Constitution.
Evnets that Unfolded after Nehru Report
Despite opposition from the Muslim League, the
Congress government with a disobedience movement
if the Nehru Report was not implemented into the
Government of India December 1929. This attitude of
the Congress ploved to be pivotal in the partition of
India, it also proved to be a turning point in the life of
Mohammad Ali Jinnah. After reading the Nehru
Report, Jinnah announced a 'parting of the ways'.
Muslim League's Reaction to Nehru Report
The recommendationsf of the Nehru Report
were not accepted by the Muslim League. Jinnah
claimed it to be going against the interests pi the
Muslim community on account of rejection of separate
electorates. He had expected the report to take into
account the Delhi Proposals fully. The Muslim League
had been asking for one-third representation at the
centre while the Nehru Committee gave them only
one-fourth representation. Though both the demands uf
the Muslim League were considered in the Nehru
Report, they were incomplete. It was said that Sindh
Page 16

should be separated from Mumbai but the condition of
self-economy was also put forward. It demanded
constitutional reforms in the North-West Frontier
Province but Baluchistan was overlooked in the report.
ALL PARTIES MUSLIM CONFERENCE
(1929)
The immediate result of the publication of the
Nehru Report was that Muslims of all shades of
opinion united in opposition to it. The two wings of the
Muslim League that had been split since 1924 came
closer. On 21 January 1929. an All Parties Muslim
Conference was convened in Delhi under Aga Khan.
The Conference laid down the Muslims’ demands in
the clearest possible terms: (i) The only form of
government suitable to Indian conditions was a federal
system, with complete autonomy and residuary powers
vested in the constituent states, (ii) Muslims should not
be deprived of the right to elect their representatives
through separate electorates without their consent, (iii)
Muslims should continue to have weightage in the
Hindu majority provinces and they were willing to
accord the same privilege to non-Muslim minorities in
Sindh, the North-West Frontier Province and
Baluchistan, (iv) Muslims should have their due share
in the central and provincial cabinets, (v) The Muslim
majority in all Muslim majority provinces (with
particular reference to Bengal and Punjab) should in
no way be disturbed.
This resolution was the Muslim League’s
reply to the Nehru Report. The rejection of the
Congress-inspiredconstitution was completely
unanimous and clear. The Muslims were adamant on
two points—continuation of separate electorates; and a
federal form of government for India. The Nehru
Report was primarily repudiated because it denied
these conditions.
At this critical juncture, Jinnah tried to wrestle
for his position by asking the Congress for certain
modifications to be made in the recommendations of
the Nehru Report. At the all Parties Convention at
Kolkata in 1929, he argued that (i) one-third of the
elected representatives of both the houses of the
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Central Legislature should be Muslim; (ii) in the event
of adult suffrage not being established in Punjab und
Bengal, there should be reservations of seats for the
Muslims on the basis of population for 10 years,
subject to a re-examination after that period, but that
they shall have no right to contest additional seats; and
(iii) residuary powers should be left to the provinces
and should not rest with the Central Legislature. The
Nehru Committee rejected these suggestions. In March
1929, Jinnah compiled a set of recommendations that
provoked Muslim thinking for the better part of the
next decade.
Muhammad Ali jinnah (1876-1948)
Referred to as the 'Father of Pakistan', Jinnah war,
born in Karachi in 1876. He went to England to be a
barrister He returned to India in 1896 and became a
close friend with, moderate leaders such as Gokhle
and Naoroji. He Became a member of ihe Muslim
League in 191 3, but remained very close to the
Indian National Congress till the 1930s. However, he
had little appreciation for the, Gandhian techniques of
civil disobedience and non-cooperation. He
articu’ated the idea of a separate nation of Pakistan
and became fhe first Governor-General of
Independent Pakistan. On 11 September 1948, he
died after a protracted illness at Karachi.
JINNAH’S FOURTEEN POINTS (1929)
On March 28 1929, a meeting of the council of
the All India Muslim League was held. In the meeting,
the members of both the league, i.e. Shah league and
Jinnah league look part. Jinnah called the Nehru
Report a Hindu document, but suggested that merely
rejecting the report was not adequate. He decided that
he would give a different Muslim League agenda. In
this meeting he introduced his Fourteen Points. These
points were us follows:
1. The structure of the constitution be
constructed should be federal in nature, in
which residuary powers would be vested in the
provinces.
Page 17

2. A standardised measure of autonomy shall be
offered to all provinces.
3. The legislatures and other elected bodies shall
be created on the principle of adequate and
effective representation of minorities in each
province withoutcurtailing the majority in any
province to a minority even equality.
4. The representation of the Muslims shall not be
less than one-third in the Central Legislature.
5. Communal group representation shall be
continthrough the means of separate
electorates with the condition that it shall be
open to any community at any time to give up
its separate electorate in favour of a joint
electorate.
6. Any necessury territorial distribution shall not
affect th Muslim majority in the provinces of
Punjab. Bengal, and the North-West Frontier
Province.
7. All religious communities will be given full
religious liberty, that is, liberty of belief,
Worship and observance propaganda,
association anil education.
8. Any bill or resolution Ar any part thereof shall
not be passed in any legislature or any other
elected body, in case three-fourth of the
members of any community oppose such a
bill, resolution, or pan thereof, if it would be
injurious to the interests of that community or
in the alternative, such other method would be
devised as tnay be found feasible and
practicable to deal with such cases.
9. The region of Sindh should be separated from
the Mumbai presidency.
10. Like all other provinces, reforms should be
brought in \ the North-West Frontier Province
and Baluchistan.
11. Such provision should be made in the
constitution which give Muslims a sufficient
share, along with other Indians, in all the
services of the state and in local self-governing
bodies having due consideration to the
requirements of efficiency.
12. The constitution should symbolise for the
protection of Muslim culture and for the
examsdaily.in
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Struggle (1915 - 1930)
protection and promotion of Muslim
education, language, religion, personal laws
and Muslim charitable institutions and for
their due share in the grants-in-aid given by
the state and by the local self- governing
bodies.
13. No central or provincial cabinet should be
formed without there being a proportion of at
least one-third Muslim ministers.
14. The constitution cannot be amended by the
Central Legislature except with the
concurrence of the States’ contribution to the
Indian federation.
The given Fourteen Points were accepted by
the Council of the all India Muslim League. They
passed a resolution according to which no scheme for
the future constitution was tolerable to the Muslim
League, if it did not include the demands presented in
the Fourteen Points.
The Meerut conspiracy
Beginning in March 1929, the British Government
had unleashed reign of terror on the rapidly-growing
labour movement in India. By 20 March 1929, 31 of
India's mostimportant labour leaders were arrested.
They included Dange, Mirajkar, Ghate, Joglekar,
Adhikari, Nimbkar, Alve and Kasle from Mumbai;
Mazaffar Ahmed, Kishorilal Ghosh, Dharani
Goswortit, Gopen Chakraborti, Radhoraman Mitra,
Gopal Basak and Sibnath Bannerji from Kolkata;
Sohan Singh josh who had associated closely with
Bhogai Singh and whose Kirti Kisan Party
cooperated w.th the Naujawan Bharat Sabha from
Punjab: P. C. Joshi and Viswanalh Mukherji from
UP; as well as three English Communists active in
the Indian Trade Union Movement. They were
implicated in a conspiiacy case and the trial was to be
staged at Meerut. This was the famous Meerul
Conspiracy Case. While the Congress condemned the
arrests, it was an open secret that the leadership was
somewhat relieved and mounted no nationwide
campaign for their release. Certainly, the arrests
crippled the radical wing of the Congress. The
arrested included about eight members of the All
Page 18
 Middle Phase of the Freedom
Struggle (1915 - 1930)

India Congress Committee presidential address to the All India Muslim League at
Allahabad in 1930. Allama Muhammad Iqbal was nf
poet, philosopher and thinker who had gained
LAHORE SESSION (1929) countrywide fame and recognition by 1930. Political
events had taken an ominous turn. The Muslim League
In December 1929. under the presidentship of Ieuders were frustrated because they were edged out
Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress at its by the Congress, in their opposition of the Nehru
Lahore session declared Poortm Swaraj (complete Report. On the other hand, the British government in
independence) to be the goal of the national India had totally Ignored their demands in the Simon
movement. It was Gandhi again, who was the decisive Commission report.
voice in investing Jawaharlal Nehru with the office of
president in what was to he a critical year of mass As a permanent solution to the Muslim-Hindu
struggle. problem, Iqbal proposed that Punjab. North-West
Frontier Province. Baluchistan and Sindh should be
Jawaharlal Nehru’s presidential address was a converted into one province. He declared that the
ktirring call to action: ‘We have now an open north-western part of the country was destined to unite
conspiracy to free this country from foreign rule, and as a self-governed unit, within the British Empire or
you. comrades and all the countrymen and without it. This, he suggested, was the only way to do
countrywomen are invited to join it’. Nehru also made away with communal riots and bring peace in Indi
it known that in his vjew, liberation did not mean only
throwing off the foreign yoke: l must frankly confess
that I am a socialist and a republican, and am no
believer in kings and princes, or in tin order which GK Study Materials PDF Download
produces the modern kings of industry, who have
greater power over the lives and fortunes on men than
All subject Study Materials PDF Download
even the kings of old, and whose methods are as
predatory as those of old feudal aristocracy.’ He also
spelt out the method of struggle: ‘Any great 2018 Current Affairs Download – PDF Download
movement for liberation today must necessaril;y be a
mass movement, and mass movements must
essentially be peaceful, in times of organised nd if the
principal movement is a peaceful one, Whatsapp Group Click Here
contemporaneous attempts at a sporadic violence can
only distract attention and weaken it’.
Telegram Channel Click Here
On 31 December 1929. the newly adopted
tricolour flag was unfurled, and 26 January fixed as
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ALLAHABAD ADDRESS (1930)
Several Muslim leaders and thinkers having
insight into the Muslim-Hindu situation proposed the
separation of Muslim India. However. Allama
Muhammad Iqbal gave the most lucid explanation of
the inner feelings of the Muslim community in his
examsdaily.in Page 19

CLOSER TO FREEDOM (1930-1947)
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
MOVEMENT (1930)
Dandi March (12 March-6 April 1930)
Gandhi started his famous march along
with 79 followers from Sabaramati Ashram on
20 March 1930 to the small village of Dandi to
break the Salt Law. It is also called the ’Salt
Satyagraha’ or the ’Dandi March’. The Congress
leaders and workers had been busy at various
levels w.th the organizational tasks of enrolling
volunteers and members, forming Congress
Committees at the grass-rootlevel, collecting
funds and touring villages and towns to spread
nationalistic messages. Preparations for
launching the Salt Satyagraha were made, sites
chosen, volunteers prepared and the logistics of
‘battle’ worked out. By the time Gandhi reached
Dandi, he had a whole nation aroused and
expeetunt, waiting for the final signal. On
reaching the seashore on 6 April 1930, Gandhi
broke theSalt Law by picking up salt from the
seashore. Through this act. Gandhi set into
motion the Civil Disobedience movement, a
movement that was to remain unsurpassed in the
history of the Indian national movement for the
countrywide participation it unleashed. The
movement became so powerful that it sparked
off patriotism even among the Indian soldiers in
the Army. One such example was that of the
18th Royal Garhwali Rifles soldiers who refused
to fire at the people in Peshawar, on 25 April
1930.
Imposition of Martial Law
Gandhi was arrested on 5 May 1930.
The protest of the people over the arrest was
widespread. In many towns, the crowd that
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spilled out into the streets was so large that the
police just withdrew. Another round of boycott
of foreign goods followed, provoking a
nationwide Civil Disobedience movement in
which women also participated. Soon, thereafter,
the British used repressive measures such as
mass arrests, lathi-charge, police firing, about
1,00,000 people went to jail. In Sholapur. the
textile workers, who dominated the strike along
with the residents of the town, went on to attack
all symbols of the government authority. They
established a virtual parallel government in the
city which could only be dislodged with the
imposition of martial law after 16 May 1930.
Gandhi’s 11-point Ultimatum
Gandhi launched another civil disobedience
movement towards achieving the goal of
complete independence. In the Beginning, he
served an 11-point ultimatum to the authorities
which was mainly about the common
grievances of the people of India, but did not
include the demand for complete
independence. Among the 11 demands, two
were the demands of the peasants (abolition of
salt tax to eradicate the government's salt
monopoly and reduction in the land revenue by
50 percent); three were the demands of the
middle class (coastal itippi'igjo be reserved for
Indians, adequate protection to the domestic
textile industry of India, and checking the
deterforcringi rupee-sterling exchange ratio);
the rest were common grievances-
modifications in the working of the Central
Intelligence Departments, release ot political
pnsoners, complete-prohibition of intoxicants,
50 per cent reduction in military expenditure,
50 per cent cut in civil administration
Page 1

expenditure, and changes in the Arms Act, thus
allowing citizens to beafarms for self-
protection).
THE FIRST ROUND TABLE
CONFERENCE (12 NOVEMBER
1930)
Events Leading to the Conference
The Indian political community received
the Simon Commission Report issued in June
1930, with great resentment. Different political
parties gave vent to their feelings in different
ways. The Congress started the Civil
Disobedience Movement under Gandhi’s
command. The Muslims reserved their opinion
on the Simon Report declaring that the report
was not final and that matters shouldbe decided
after consultations with leaders repnesenting all
communities of India. The British government
refused the contemplate any form of selt-
govemment for the peopleof
India. The Indian political situation reached a
deadlock. This caused frustration among the
masses, who often expressed their anger in
violent clashes.
The Labour Government returned to
power in Britain 1931, raising hope in the
Indians. Labour leaders had always been
sympathetic to the Indian cause. The
government decided to hold a Round Table
Conference in London, consider new
constitutional reforms. Representatives of Indian
political parties were summoned to London f0r
thc conference.
The Conference
In the first session of the cohference
which opened in London, all parties were
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.present except the Congress, whose leaders
were in jail because of the Civil Disobedience
movement. The Congress leaders stated that they
would have nothing to do with further
constitutional discussions unless the Nehru
Report was enforced in its entirety as the
constitution of India.
Almost 89 members attended the
conference, out of whom 58 were chosen from
various communities and interests in British
India, and the rest from the princely states and
other political parties. The prominent Muslim
delegates invited by the British government
were Sir Aga Khan, Mohammad Alt Jinnah.
Maulana Muhammad AliJouhar, Sir Muhammad
Shaft and Maulvi Fazl-i-Haq. Sir Tej Bahadur
Sapru, Jayakar and Dr. Moonje too were invited.
The Commission had proposed self-government
in the provinces and federation of British India
and the princely states at the Centre. However,
the representatives of the Muslim League,
Liberals and other parties assembled for
discussion on the commission report. The
Muslim-Hindu differences overshadowed the
conference—the Hindus were pushed for a
powerful central government while the Muslims
stood for a loose federation of completely
autonomous provinces. The Muslims demanded
maintenance of weightage and separate
electorates, the Hindus did not want these. The
Muslims claimed statutory majority in Punjab
and Bengal, while the Hindus resisted its
imposition. In Punjab, the situation was
complicated by inflated Sikh claims. Further, Dr.
Ambedkar was demanding separate electorate
for the depressed classes. Eight subcommittees
were set up to deal with all these details. The
committees dealt with the federal structure,
provincial constitution, adult franchise, Sindh,
the North-West Frontier Province, defence
services and minorities. However, in the absence
Page 2

of the Congress-premier political party, the First
Round Table Conference had to be adjourned to
2 January 1931. All that emerged was a general
agreement to write safeguards for the minorities
into the constitution and a vague desire to devise
a federal system for the country.
Peshawa incident of 18th Royal
Garhwali Rifles (25 April 1930)
Events in Peshawar took an even more
dramatic turn. Ghaffar Khan's Pathan
movement (whose members were
called'Khudai Khidmatgars’) stayed non-
violent and within the Congressfold but if
attracted huge number of Pathans who bestit
attracted huge number of Pathans who believed
it would fight against the chronic Indebtedness
to moneylenders. In 6 months after the Lahore
Congress, its membership shot up from 500 to
50,000. The British freely used aerial
bambardment on the village areas. The arrest of
Ghaffa, Khan and on 23 April 1930, led to a
massive upsurge in Peshawar with the crowds
confronting armoured cars and defying,
intensive firing for 3 hrs at Kissakahani Bazaar.
Accordi to the British, 30 were killed whereas
according to non-official estimates 200-250
were killed-recalling the scale of Jallianwala
Bagh. A remarkable event took place during
the firing. Two platoons of the Second
Battalion of the18th Royal Garhwali Rifles,
Hindu troops facing a Muslim crowd, refused
to fire, broke ranks, and fraternised with the
crowd, handing over their weapons. They were
bter lo declare before their court martial.
GANDHI-IRWIN PACT (5 MARCH
1931)
After the conclusion of the First Round
Table Conference, the British government
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realised that the cooperation of the Indian
National Congress was necessary to make
progress in framing the Indian constitution.
Early in 1931, two demand for freedom. The
communal question dominated moderate
statesmen. Sapru and Jayakar, initiated eltorts to
conference and Gandhi had to return empty-
handed bring about a rapprochement between
Gandhi and the government. Lord Irwin, the
Viceroy, extended an invitation to Gandhi for
talks. Gandhi agreed to end the Civil
Disobedience Movement without setting any
preconditions. Six meetings with Loul Irwin
finally led to the signing of a pact between the
two on 5 March 1931. whereby the Congress
called oft the movement and agreed to join the
Second Round liable Conference. The terms of
the agreement included the immediate release ot
all political prisoners not convicted for violence,
the remission ol all fines not yet collected, the
return of confiscated land not yet sold to third
parties and lenient treatment of all the
government offic ials who had resigned. Gandhi
and other leaders were released from jail as
Irwin agreed to release most political ni isoners
and to return the properties that had been seized
by the government. The government also
conceded the right to make salt for consumption
in villages along the coast and also the right to
peaceful and non- aggressive picketing. The
salient points of the agreement were as follows:
1. The Congress was supposed to
discontinue the Civil Disobedience
movement.
2. The Congress was supposed to
participate in the Round Table
Conference.
3. The government was supposed to
withdraw all ordinaces issed to curb the
Congress.
Page 3

4. The government was supposed to
withdraw all prosecutions relating to
offenses not involving violence.
5. The government was supposed to
release alt persons undergoing sentences
of imprisonment for their activities in
the Civil Disobedience Movement. The
pact indicatedBritish government was
anxious to bring the Longress to the
conference table.
SECOND ROUND TABLE
CONFERENCE (12 SEPTEMBER
1931)
The second session of the conference
opened in London on 7 September 1931, during
the viceroyalty of Lord Willington. Gandhi
attended, it on behalf of the Indian National
Congress. Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya and
Sarojinl Naidu went there in their personal
capacity. The main taskv of the conference was
done through two committees'on federal
structure and minorities. Nothing much was
expected from the conference. The imperialist
political forces, which ultimately controlled the
British Gov ernment in London, were opposed
to any political or economic concession being
given to India which could lead to its
independence. The Round Table Conference,
however, failed as Gandhi opposed the British
Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald's policy of
communal representation and the British
Government refused the basic Indian demand for
freedom.
The communal problem represented the
most difficult issue for the delegates. Gandhi
again tabled the proposal for a settlement, but
the Muslim League rejected it. As a result, the
communal issue was postponed for future
discussion. Three important committees drafted
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their reports; the Franchise Committee, the
Federal Finance Committee and the States
Inquiry Committee.
The conference closed on 11 December
1931, without any concrete result. On the
concluding day. the British Prime Minister
appealed to the Indian leaders to reach a
communal settlement. Failing to do so. he said,
would force the British government to take a
unilateral decision. Jinnah did not participate in
the session of the Second Round Table
Conference as he had decided to keep himself
aloof from Indian politics and to practise as a
professional lawyer in England. On his return to
India. Gandhi once again started Civil
Disobedience movement, and was duly arrested.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
MOVEMENT (SECOND PHASE)
Lord Willington, who took charge as the
new Viceroy of India in April 1931, paid no
heed to the Delhi pact and started breaching the
pact on various counts. The Congress was
already angry with the government over the
execution of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and
Sukhdev on 23 March 1931. The Congress was
declared as an illegal party by Viceroy Lord
Willington and the Viceroy’s measures to curb
Indian nationalism and harass Congressmen was
not taken lightly by the Congress. Gandhi
returned to India on 28 December 1932, and was
compelled to resume the second phase of the
disobedience movement. Within 10 days, more
than 60,000 activists of the Congress were
arrested and confined to jail. The second phase
of the disobedience movement carried on till
1934. With the government repression, the Civil
Disobedience Movement gradually waned. The
Congress officially suspended the movement in
May 1933. Gandhi also withdrew from active
Page 4

politics and formally left the Indian National
Congress. As a result, the membership of the
Congress dropped to less than five lakhs.
THIRD ROUND TABLE
CONFERENCE (17 NOVEMBER
1932)
The third session began on 17
November 1932, but again proved fruitless since
the national leaders were in prison. The Indian
National Congress was not represented, and
Mahatama Gandhi was also absent. The session
was short and unimportant. Reports of the
various committees were scrutinised. The
conference ended on 25 December 1932. The
recommendations of the Round Table
Conferences were embodied in a White Paper. It
was published in March 1933, and debated in
Parliament directly afterwards, analysed by the
Joint Select Committee and after the final
reading and royal assent, the bill reached the
Statute Book on 24 July 1935. It was held in
London on 12 November 1930, to discuss the
Simon Commission, but was totally boycotted
by the Indian National Congress.
Karachi session of Congress (1931)
The Congress session in Karachi in March
1931, endorsed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. During
this session, the Congress also adopted the
memorable resolution of Fundamental Rights
of Indians and the National economic
Programme (drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru)
which included the national democratic charter,
the nationalisarion of key industries in India,
agrarian reforms, free and compulsory primary
education and protection of culture, language
and script of the minorities of different
linguistic areas.
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THE COMMUNAL AWARD (1932)
While Gandhi was arrested on his return
from London after the Second Round Table
Conference, Ramsay Macdonald announced the
Communal Award on 16 August 1932. This was
another expression of the age-old British policy
of ‘Divide and Rule’. Besides containing
provisions for representation of Muslims. Sikhs
and Europeans, it envisaged communal
representation of the depressed classes also.
According to the Award, the right of separate
electorates was not only given to the Muslims of
India, but also to all the minority communities in
the country. The Award declared untouchables
or Harijans as a minority and thus the Hind
depressed classes were given a number of
special seats, to filled from special depressed
class electorates in the areas where the voters
were concentrated. Under the Communal
Award, the principle of weightage was also
maintained with some modifications in the
Muslim minority provinces. The principle was
also applied fot Europeans in Bengal and
Assam, Sikhs in Punjab and, North-West
Frontier Province and Hindus in Sindh and
Noith-West,Frontier Province.
The communal Awards
Gandhi was deeply grieved by the Communal
award and went on a fast m protest against the
award since it aimed to divide India on a
communal basis. While many Indians saw the
fast as a diversion from the ongoing political
movement, all were deeply concerned and
emotionally shaken. Almost everywhere in
India, mass meetings took place. Political
leaders off different persuasions, such as
Madan Mohan Malviya, B. R. Ambedkar and
M. C. Rajah became active. In the end, they
succeeded in hammering out an agreement,
Page 5

known as the Poona Pact, between caste
Hindus and the 'untouchable' leaders on 20
September 1932. The leaders of the various
groups and parties among the Hindus and B. R.
Ambedkar on behalf of the Harijans. signed the
pact. The Poona Pact between caste Hindus and
the depressed classes agreed upon a joint
electorate.
The award was not popular with any
Indian parly, The Muslims were not happy with
the Communal Award as it had reduced their
majority in Punjab and Bengal to a minority.
Yei, they were prepared to accept it. In its
annual session held in November 1933, the All
India Muslim League passed a resolution that
read: 'Though the decision falls far short of the
Muslim demands, the Muslims have accepted it
in the best interest of the country, reserving to
themselves the right to press for the acceptance
of all their demands.'
On the other hand, the Congress
refused to accept the Award and decided to
launch a campaign against it. The Congress did
not accept the untouchables as a minority and
Gandhi undertook, a fast unto death. The
Congress organised the Allahabad Unity
Conference in which they demanded the
replacement of separate electorates by joint
electorates. Many nationalist Muslims and
Sikhs also participated in the conference.
Gandhi also held meetings with the leaders of
tne untouchables and convinced them that they
were very much part of the mainstream Hindu
sociefy. He signed the Poona Pact with Dr. B.
R. Ambedkar, the leader of untouchabes. The
Congress met many of the untouchables'
demands in the Poona Pact.
POONA PACT (1932)
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The Communal award created immense
dissatisfaction among the Hindus. Gandhi staked
his life to get the award repudiated. In jail,
Gandhi began his fast unto death against the
Communal award. The fast ended on 26
September 1932, with the Poona Pact between
Gandhi and Ambedkar. This annulled the
Communal award. According to the Pact, the
idea of separate electorates for the depressed
classes (Harijans) was abandoned, but the seats
reserved for them in the provincial legislatures
were increased.
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
ACT (1935)
After the failure of the Third Round
Table Conference the British government gave
the Joint Select Committee the’task of
formulating a new Act for India. The Simon
Commission Report submitted in 1930, formed
the basis for the Govrnment of India Act, 1935.
The new Act received the royal assent on 4
August 1935. It was the last major constructive
achievement of the British in India; its
significance matched both its hulk and the
deliberations in its preparation.
The committee comprised 16 members
each from the House of Commons and the
House of Lords, 20 representatives from British
India, and seven from die princely states. Lord
Linlithgow was appointed as the president of the
committee. After a year and a half of
deliberations, the committee finally came out
with a draft Bill on 5 February 1935. The Bill
was discussed in the House of Commons for 43
days and in the House of Lords for 13 days and
finally, after being signed by the King, was
enforced as the Government of India Act, 1935.
Reaction to the Act of 1935
Page 6

The Act of 1935 was condemned by nearly all
sections of the Indian public and was
unanimously rejected by the Congress. The
Congress demanded, instead, the convening of
a Constituent Assembly e.ecied on the basis of
adult franchise to frame a constitution for an
independent India, Although the Congress
opposed the Act, yet it contested the elections
when the Constitution was introduced on 1
April 1937 The Congress formea ministries;
first in 6 provinces and then in another two The
Congress high command exercised a great hold
upon the ministries of each province. The
Muslim League was, however, not happy with
the Congress rule, especially Jinnah, who
described it in these words; Congress was
drunk with power and was oppressive against
the Muslims.'
Main Features of the Act
The Act continued and extended all the
existing features of the Indian constitution.
Popular representation, which went back to
1892; dyarchy and ministerial responsibility,
which dated from 1921; provincial autonomy,
whose chequered history went back to the
eighteenth-century presidencies; recognition in
1909; and the safeguards devised in 1919, were
all continuedand in most cases extended.In
addition, there were certain new principles
introduced. It provided a federal type of
government. Thus, the Act:
(a) introduced provincial autonomy;
(b) abolished dyarchy in provinces; and
(c) made ministers responsible to the
legislature and federation at the Centre.
The salient features of the Act were as follows:
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1. A federation of India was promised,
comprising both British provinces and
Princely states. The British wanted the
princes to counter-balance the anti-
imperialist doctrines of die nationalist
leaders. The provisions of the Act
establishing the- federal Central
Government were not to beunne
operative until a specified number of
rulers of states hud signed the
Instruments of Accession. As this did
not happen, the Central Government
continued to function in accordance with
the 1919 Act. and only the part of the
1935 Act dealing with the provincial
governments became operational.
2. The Governor-General remained the
head of the central administration and
enjoyed wide powers
concerningadministration, legislation
and finance.
3. No finance bill could be placed in the
Central Legislature without the consent
of the Governor-General.
4. The Federal Legislature was to consist
of two houses, the Council of State
(Upper House) and the Federal
Assembly (Lower House).
5. The Council of State was to consist of
260 members, out of whom 156 were to
be elected from British India and 104 to
be nominated by the rulers of the
princely states.
6. The Federal Assembly was to consist of
375 members; out of which 250 were to
be elected by the Legislative Assemblies
of the British Indian provinces, while
125 were to be nominated by the rulers
of the princely states.
7. The Central Legislature had the right to
pass any bill, but the bill required the
approval of the Governor-General
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before it became law. On the other hand,
the Governor- General had the pow er to
frame ordinances.
8. The Indian Council was abolished. In its
place, a few advisers were nominated to
help the Secretary of State for India.
9. The Secretary of State was not expected
to interfere in matters that the Governor-
General dealt with, with the help of the
Indian ministers.
10. The provinces were given autonomy
with respect to subjects deleguted to
them.
11. Dyarchy, which had been established in
the provinces by the Act of 1919, was to
be established at the Centre. However, it
came to an end in the provinces.
12. Two new provinces—Sindh and
Orissa—were created.
13. Reforms were introduced in the North-
West Frontier Province as also in the
other provinces.
14. Separate electorates were continued as
before.
15. One-third Muslim representation in the
Central Legislature was guaranteed.
16. Autonomous Provincial Governments in
11 provinces, under ministries
responsible to the legislatures, were to
be set up.
17. Burma and Aden were separated from
India.
18. The Federal Court was established at the
Centre.
19. The Reserve Bank of India was
established.
20. The Governors had the power to veto
legislative action and the power to
legislate on their own.
WORLD WAR II AND THE INDIAN
POLITICAL SITUATION
Just before World War II broke out, the
Congress declared its unwillingness to associate
itself to the British government. It also clearly
informed the government that India should not
be pushed to war without the consent of the
Indian people. The British government also
made no clear statement concerning its war and
peace aims as applicable to India. The British
Prime Minister stated that the British were in the
war to maintain the world safe for democracy
and uphold the right of every nation to self- x
model after the war. He further promised, (a) the
immediate determination. On 3 September 1939,
Britain declared war expansion of the Viceroy s
executive council by inducting against Germany.
The Governor-General to India, Lord
Linlithgow, began dispatching die Indian troops
to the battlefield, without consulting the Indian
leaders. The Governor-General also declared
emergency in India under Article 93 of the Act
of 1935, to curb internal disorder. The Congress
told the British government that if it is fighting
Germany for die maintenance and extension of
democracy, then it must first extend: full
democracy to India. On 10 October 1939, the
Congress pressed the government to free India
after the war. The Viceroy, on 17 October 1939,
made an official , statement, declaring that the
British Government had promised to issue
dominion status to India and the Act of 1935,
was to be reconsidered after the war.
RESIGNATION OF CONGRESS
MINISTERS (1939)
The national reaction to the declaration
to the Governor-General’s statement was hostile.
The Indians wanted complete independence and
were not satisfied with the promise of mere
dominion status. On 22 October 1939, the
Congress ministers resigned from their offices in
the eight provinces. This action by the Congress

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changed the course of history. It lost its
important bargaining position at an important
juncture and it was never able to retrieve that
position. However, the Muslim League
provocateively, declared 22 December 1939. as
a ‘Day of Deliverance’ from the oppressions of
the ‘Congress Raj’.
POONA RESOLUTION AND
CONDITIONAL SUPPORT TO
BRITAIN (1941)
After the French surrender on 5 June
1940, the British We left alone against the
German forces. The British governmem was in
no position to handle disorder in India. It
appealed the Indian political parties for support
and cooperation. On 7 July 1941, the Congress
passed a resolution at Poona providing
conditional support to Britain. The conditions
included:
(a) India’s right to self1 governance after
the war must be recognised in clear
terms; and
(b) a provisional national government at the
Centre, consist- ing of all political
parties be set up.
AUGUST OFFER OF 1940
The Governor-General subsequently
issued a statement front Simla on 8 August
1940, that the British Government would
establish a full responsible government on the
dominion more Indians. Also, the responsibility
of framing the constitution would be given to the
Indians. This amounted to agreeing to the
Congress demand for a Constituent Assembly,
(b) He also declared that a War Advisory
Committee with an Indian perspective would be
constituted, (c) That initiatives would be taken
for an agreement among the Indians in the form
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of the representative body after the war was
over. He added that the British government
could not contemplate the transfer of its personal
responsibilities for the peace and welfare of
India to any system of government whose
authority was directly denied by a large and
principle element in India’s national life.
Because of this condition, the offer fell short of
the Congress demand of a national government.
The Congress rejected the offer as the British
government put the majority at the mercy of the
minority. The Muslim League had another
reason for rejecting the offer as the government
did not provide for equal partnership to Muslims
in the Centre and Provincial Government.
THE INDIVIDUAL CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE
The political crisis in India was
deepening and the Congressmen looked upon
Gandhi to lead them. Gandhi did not want to do
anything that would bring political disorder in
the country in the critical war situation. He
restored to a novel form of Satyagraha, the
individual satyagraha, which kept the torch of
nationalism burning. It hada symbolic character
against the attitude of the government.It drew
the attention of the world at large to the right to
self-determination. Lord Linlithgow described
the August Movement of 1942 as the most
serious revolt after the Sepoy mutiny.Some
places even saw large scale peasants’
participation. In November 1940, the individual
Satyagraha started and Vinoba Bhave became
the first satyagrahi and Jawaharlal Nehru the
second. They were followed by more than
30,000 individuals who courted imprisonment in
this movement. Thismovement continued during
1940-1941, and almost the entinZT™ leadership
was in prison.
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TWO-NATION THEORY
The Lahore Resolution
From 22 to 24 March 1940, the All India
Muslim League held its annual session at the
Minto Park, Lahore. This session proved to be
historic. On the first day of the session
Muhammad Ah Jinnali narrated the events of
some preceding months. In an extempore
speech, he presented his own - solution to the
Muslim problem. He said that the problem of
India was not of an inter-communal nature, but
manifestly an international one and must be
treated as such. To him, the differences between
Hindus and Muslims were so great and so sharp
that their union under one Central Government
was full of serious risks. They belonged to two
separate and distinct nations and therefore, the
only chance open was to allow them to have
separate states. In the words of Jinnah: ‘Hindus
and Muslims belong to two different religions,
philosophies, social customs and literature. They
neither inter-marry nor inter-dine anti, indeed,
they belong to two different civilizations that dre
based mainly on conflicting ideas and
conceptions. Their concepts on life and of lite
are different. It is quite clear that the Hindus and
the Muslims derive their inspiration from
different sources of history. They have different
epics, different heroes and different episodes.
Very often the hero of one is a foe of the other,
and likewise, their victories and defeats overlap.
To yoke together two such nations tinder a
single state, one as a numerical minority and the
other as a majority, must lead to growing
tsconten an final destruction of any fabric that
may be so built up forthe government of such a
state’. He further son nation according to any
definition o nation. We wish our people to
develop to the fullest spiritual, cultural,
economic, social and political life in a way that
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we think best and m consonance with our own
ideals and according Jinnah, the Chief Minister
of Bengal, A. K. Fazl-ul-Haq, moved the historic
resolution, which has since come to be known as
the Lahore Resolution are the Pakistan
Resolution.
Two-Nation Theory: Origin of the
Concept
This theory held that there were two nations-
one belonging to the Hindus and one two the
Muslims-living in the territory of India. Sir
Syed Ahmad khan was the first exponent of the
Two-Nation Theory in the modern era. He
belived that India was a continent and not a
country, and that among the vast polpulation of
different races and different creeds, Hindus and
Muslims were the two major components.
Events such as the Urdu-Hindi controversy
(1867), the partition of Bengal (1905), and the
Hindu revivalism set the Hindus and the
Muslims further apart. However, the annulment
of the partition of Bengal in 1911 by the British
Government brought the Congress and the
Muslim League on one platform. Starting with
the constitutional cooperation in the Lucknow
Pact (1916), they launched the Non-
cooperation and Khilfat movements to press
upon the British government the demand for
constitutional reforms in India in the pos-
World War I era.
Reaction to the Two-Nation Theory
The politicisation of the Muslim
community came about as a consequence of
three developments:
(a) Various efforts towards Islamic reform
and revival during the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries.
Page 10

(b) The impact of Hindu-based nationalism.
(c) The democratisation of the government
of British India.
While the antecedents of Muslim nationalism in
India go back to theearly Islamic conquests of
India, organizationally it stems from the
demands presented by the Simla deputation to
Lord Minto, the Governor-General of India, in
October 1906. proposing separate electorates for
the Indian Muslims. The principal reason behind
this demand was the maintenance of a separate
identity of the Muslim nationhood.
In the same year, the founding of the All
India Muslim League, a separate political
organization for Muslims, highlighted the fact
that the Muslims of India had lost trust in the
Hindu-dominated Indian National Congress.
Besides being a Hindu-dominated body, the
Congress leaders, in order to win support at the
grass roots for their political movement, used
Hindu religious symbols and slogans, thereby
arousing Muslim suspicions regarding the
secular character of the Congress.
After the collapse of the Khilafat
Movement, Hindu- Muslim antagonism revived
once again. The Muslim League rejected the
proposals forwarded by the Nehru Report and
they chose a separate path tor themselves. The
idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims ot
Northern India as proposed by Allama Iqbal in
his famous Allaha a Address showed that the
creation of two separate states or the Muslims
and Hindus was the only solution. The idea was
reiterated during the Sindh provincial meeting of
the League, und finally adopted as the official
League position in the Lahore Declaration of 23
March 1940.
Thus, these historical, cultural, religious
and social differences between the Hindus and
the Muslims accelerated the pace of political
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developments, finally leading to the division of
British India into two separate, independent
states—Pakistan and India—on 14 and 15
August 1947, respectively.
DEMAND FOR PAKISTAN (1942)
In 1930, Iqbal suggested the union of
the Frontier Province, Baluchistan, Sindh and
Kashmir into a Muslim state within the
federation. This proved to be rhe idea which
germinated during the early 1930s and burst into
vigorous life with the advent of the new reforms.
The idealist Chaudhry Rehmat All developed
this concept in Cambridge, where he inspired
groups of young Muslims and invented the term
Pakistan. His ideas seemed visionary during that
time. Within 7 years, these ideas were turned
into a politicailprogramme by Muhammad Ali
Jinnah. The ideology of Iqbal, the vision of
Rehmat Ali and the fears of the Muslims were
thus united by the practical genius of Jinnah to
bind the Muslims together as never before. It
was to lead to the creation of a, new state-
Pakistan.
In 1942, the British government realised
that it could not ignore the Indian problems any
more. The Situation- worsened for the British
with the Japanese advance towards the Indian
borders. By 7 March 1942. Rangoon fell and
Japan occupied the entire South-east Asia, The
British government under Prime Minister
Winston Churchill, with a view of getting
cooperation from the Indians, sent Sir Stafford
Cripps on 22 March. 1942 a member of the
British cabinet, to India to settle terms with the
Indian leaders. The Congress sent Pandit Nehru
and Maul ana Azad to negotiate on their behalf.
CRIPPS MISSION (MARCH 1942)
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The important points made by the Cripps
Mission were as follows:
(a) General elections in the provinces would
be arranged as soon as the war ended.
(b) A new Indian dominion, associated with
the United Kingdom, would be created.
(c) Those provinces not joining the
dominion could form their own separate
union.
(d) Minorities were to he protected.
(e) Provision for forming the Constitution
making body.
However, both the Congress and the
Muslim League rejected these proposals. Jinnah
opposed the plan, as it did not concede Pakistan.
QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT (1942-
1945)
Origin and Objective
The Indian leaders were concerned
about their national interest in case the Allied
forces were defeated in World War II. The news
of British defeats at the hands of the Japanese
was instrumental in making the Indian leaders
believe that the British power was fading. There
wasacute shortage of foodstuff in India and the
rate of inflation to alarming levels. The British
who managed their own economy carefully
seemed unconcerned about the state of affairs in
India. The failure of the Cripps’ Mission made
the Congress aware that they would have to take
some active steps to compel the British to leave
India if the Indians were to gain independence.
On 8 August 1942, the Congress in its meeting
at Mumbai passed a resolution known as the
‘Quit India’ resolution, whereby Gandhi asked
the British to quit India and gave a ‘Do or die’
call to his countrymen.
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Spread of Violence
On 9 August 1942, Gandhi was arrested, but the
other leaders continued the revolutionary
struggle. Violence spread throughout the
country, several government offices were
destroyed and damaged, telegraph lines were cut
and communications paralysed. The movement
was, however, crushed by the government.
Gandhi's Fast
Gandhi undertook a 21-day fast in jail.
His condition deteriorated after 13 days and all
hopes of his surviving were given up. However,
he survived and completed the 21-day fast. This
was his answer to the government which had
been constantly exhorting him to condemn the
violence of the people in the Quit India
Movement. Gandhi not only refused to condemn
the people resorting to violence but
unequivocally held the government responsible
for it. The popular response to the news of the
fast was immediate and overwhelming. All over
the country, there were demonstrations and
strikes. The fast had done exactly what it had
intended to. Public morale was raised, the anti-
British feeling heightened, and an opportunity
for the political activity provided.
Significance of the Quit India
Movement
The Quit India movement marked a new
high in terms of popular participation in the
national movement and sympathy with the
national cause As earlier, students were at the
forefront of the struggle. Women, especially
school girls, played a vital role. Aruna Asaf Ali.
Sucheta Kriplani and Usha Mehta were among
the important members of small groups
participating in the agitation. The great
significance of this historic movement was that
it placed the demand for independence on the
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immediate agenda of the national movement.
After Quit India, there could be no retreat. Any
future negotiations with the British government
could only be on the matter of transfer of
power. Independence was no longer a matter of
bargain now.
Usha Mehta
Usha Mehta was a staunch supporter of
the Gandhian movement and ideology. She was
born on 25 March1920 in Saras village near
Surat in Gujarat. She was the mastermind for
organising the Congress Radio during the Quit
India Movement in 1942, which was also known
as the Secret Congress Radio. The first telecast
on this radio was on 14 August 942. Her
associates were Vithalbhai Jhaveri Chandrakant
Jhaveri, Babubhai Thakkar, Nanka Motwani
who supplied equipments and provided
technicians. In 1998 the Government of Indio
conferred on ner Padma Vibhushan, the second
highest civilian award of the Indian republic.
She died on 11 August 2000.
THE CR FORMULA (1944)
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari consented
to the idea of partition and made the following
proposals on 9 September 1944:
1. Major parties such as the Congress and
the Muslim League would form a
coalition government;
2. After World War II, a definite boundary
would be marked between India and
Pakistan;
3. Voluntary settlement by the people
would be allowed in both the countries.
However, the Muslim League opposed
these proposals.
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GANDHI-JINNAH TALKS (1944)
The Gandhi-Jinnah talks were very
important as these dealt with the political
problems of India and the issue of two-nation
theory of the Muslim League. They began their
talks as the general public wished for an
amicable solution to the Hindu-Muslim
differences. On 17 July 1944, Gandhi sent a
letter to Jinnah expressing his wish to meet him.
The formal talk started in Mumbai on 19
September 1944. and continued till 24
September. The talks were not only held directly
but also through correspondence. Gandhi
conveyed to Jinnah that he had come to meet
him on his own. He was not representing
anybody. The main objective of the talks for
Gandhi was to make Jinnah realise the
absurdness ol the whole proposition of Pakistan.
Throughout the talks, Gandhi
maintainedthat India was one nation andsaw in
the Pakistan resolution ‘nothing but ruin for the
whole of India. If, however, Pakistan had
conceded, the areas in which the Muslims are in
an absolute majority shoutd be demarcated by a
commission approved by both the Congress and
the Muslim League. The wishes of the people of
these areas will be obtained through re
ferendum. These areas shall form a separate
state as soon as possible after India is free from
foreign domination. There shall be a treaty of
separation which should also provide for the
efficient and satisfactory administration of
foreign affairs, defence, internal communication,
customs and the like, which must necessarily
continue to be the matters of common interest
between the contracting countries’.
This meant, in effect, that power over
the whole of India would first be transferred to
the Congress, which, thereafter, would allow the
Muslim majority areas that voted for separation
Page 13

to be constituted, not as an independent
sovereign state, but as part of an Indian
federation. Gandhi contended that his offer gave
the substance of the Lahore Resolution. Jinnah
did not agree to the proposal and the talks ended.
DESAI-LIAQAT PACT (1945)
Alter the failure of Gandhi-Jinnah talks
in 1944, another attempt was made by the
Congress and the Muslim League leaders to find
a way out from the political impasse. The
Congress representative of the Central
Assembly, Bhulabhai Jeevanji Desai and his
Muslim League counterpart, Nawabzada Liaqat
Ali Khan met and came up with the following
proposals:
1. Both the Congress and the Muslim
League would join in forming an interim
government at the Centre which would
function as per the Act of 1935,
independent of the Governor-General.
2. The interim government would have
equal seats for representatives of both
the parties, with adequate representation
of the minorities. This pact came to be
known as the Desai-Liaqat pact; it.
however, never got approval from either
the Congress or the Muslim League.
Achievements of the Indian National
Army (INA)
The achievements of the INA fell much short
of its targets, bur it acquired a great
significance in ihe history of India, it created a
design of communal harmony in India. India's
freedom struggle, which was till then a
territorial struggle against the ruling
government became an international issue. The
Indiun Army also started thinking of
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independent India and showed little will to
fight for the British crown It also gave
Congress the knowledge that its non-violent
methods to gain independence may not be
adequate. Overall, the INA helped expedite the
process of the Indian independence.
WAVELL PLAN AND SIMLA
CONFERENCE (1945)
In May 1445, Lord Wavell. the Viceroy
of India, went to London to discuss with the
British administration about the future of India.
The talks resulted in the formulation of a plan of
action that was made public in June 1945. The
plan was known as the Wavell Plan.
The plan suggested the reconstitution of
the Viceroy’s Executive Council in which the
Viceroy was to select people nominated by the
political parties. Different communities were
also to get their due share in the Council and
parity was to be reserved by having equal
representation for both the Hindus and the
Muslims. While declaring the plan, the Secretary
of State for Indian Affairs made it clear that the
British government wanted to listen to the ideas
of all major Indian communities. Yet, he said,
that was only possible if the leadership of the
main Indian political parties agreed to the
suggestions of the British government.
To discuss these proposals with the
Indian leaders, Wavell called for a conference at
Simla on 25 June 1945. Leaders of both the
Congress and the Muslim League attended the
Simla Conference. However, differences arose
between the leadership of the two parties on the
issue of representation of the Muslim
community. The Muslim League claimed that it
was the only representative party of the Muslims
in India and thus, all the Muslim representatives
Page 14

in the Viceroy’s Executive Council should be
the nominees of the party. The Congress, which
had sent Maulana Azad as the leader of their
delegation, tried to prove that their party
represented all the communities living in India
and thus should be allowed to nominate Muslim
representatives as well. The Congress also
opposed the idea of parity. This resulted in a
deadlock. Finally, on 14 July Wavell announced
the failure of his efforts.
PROVINCIAL AND GENERAL
ELECTIONS OF 1945
With the failure of the Simla
Conference, Lord Wavell announced that the
Central and Provincial Legislature elections
would be held in the winter of 1945. after which
a constitution-making body would be set up. He
also announced that after the elections, the
Viceroy would set up an Executive Council that
would have the support of the main Indian
political parties. Both the Muslim League and
the Congress opposed the proposal.
While Jinnah declared that the Muslims
were not ready to accept any settlement less than
a separate homeland, the All India Congress
Committee characterised the proposal as vague,
inadequate and unsatisfactory because it had not
addressed the issue of independence. Despite
this, the two parties launched huge election
campaigns. They knew that the elections would
be crucial for the future of India, as the results
were to play an important role in determining
their stand. The League wanted to sweep the
Muslim constituencies so as to prove that they
were the sole representatives of the Muslims of
India, while Congress wanted to prove that,
irrespective of religion represented all the
Indians.
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Both the Muslim League and the
Congress promulgated opposite slogans during
their campaign Muslim League presented a one-
point manifesto want Pakistan, vote for the
Muslim League’. Jinnah hi toured the length and
breadth of India and tried to unite the Muslim
community under the banner of the Muslim
League.
The Congress, on the other hand, stood
for a united India. To counter the Muslim
League; the Congress press, termed Jinnuh’s
demand for Pakistan as the ‘vivisection of
Mother India’, ‘reactionary primitivism’ and
‘religious barbarism’. The Congress tried to
brand the Muslim League as an ultra-
conservative clique of knights, Khan, Bahadurs,
toadies and government pensioners.The
Congress also tried to get support of all the
provincial and central Muslim parties who had
some differences with the League, and backed
them in the elections. Elections forihe Central
Legislature were held in December 1945.
Though the franchise was limited, the turnover
was extraordinary.
The Congress was able to sweep the
polls for the non-Muslim scats. They managed
to win more than 80 per cent of the general seats
and about 91.3 per cent of the total general
votes’. The League's performance, however, was
even more impressive: it managed to win all the
30 seats reserved for the Muslims. The results of
the provincial elections held in early 1946 were
not different. The Congress won most of the
non-Muslim seats while the Muslim League
captured approximately 95 per cent of the
Muslim seats.
In a bulletin issued on 6 January 1946,
the Central Election Board of the Congress
claimed that the election results had vindicated
the party as the biggest, strongest and the most
Page 15

representative organization in the country. On
the other hand, the League celebrated 11 January
1946, as the Day of Victory and declared that
the election results were enough to prove that
the Muslim League, under the leadership of
Jinnah, was the sole representative of the
Muslims of the region.
Notable Books and journals of Pre-
independent India Books
1. Causes of Indian Mutiny: Syed Ahmad
Khan
2. Percepts of Jesus. Raja Ram Mohan
Roy
3. Satyarth Prahash: Swami Dayanand
4. The Indian Struggle: Subhas Chandra
Bose
5. Poverty and the UnBnlish Rule in
India: Dadabhai Naroji
6. Neel Darpan: Dinabandhu Mitra
7. Hind Swaraj: Mahatma Gandhi
8. What Congress and Gandhi Haw Done
to Untouchables:Dr B. R. Amhedkar
Journals
1. Kesari: Bal Gangaahar Tilak
2. Bande Matram: Madam Carna
3. New India: Bipan Chandra Pal
4. Comrade: Mohammad Ali
5. Sonjeevani: Krishna Kumar Mitra
6. Satya Praknsh Karsandas Muljl
7. Dina Mitra: (Satyashodhak Samaj
Paper) Mukundrao Patil
8. Free Hindustan: Tarakhnath Das
9. Bandi jiwan: Sachindranath Sanyal
CABINET MISSION PLAN (1946)
The struggle for freedom entered a
decisive phase in the year 1945-1946.All
attempts by the british government to establish
peace between the congress and the muslim
league had falied. The result of the general
elections held in 1945-1946 served.to underline
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the urgency to find a solution to the political
deadlock ,the result of non cooperation between
the two major parties. To end this ,the british
government sent a special mission of cabinet
ministers to India.
The British Prime Minister, Lord Attlee,
made a declaration on 15 March 1946, that a
Cabinet Mission would visit India to make
recommendations regarding constitutional
reforms to be introduced in India. The mission
envisaged the establishment of a Constituent
Assembly to frame the Constitution as well as an
interim government. The purpose of the mission
could be summed up as follows:
1. Preparatory discussions with the elected
representatives of British India and the
Indian states to secure agreement as to
the method of framing the constitution.
2. Setting up of a constitution body.
3. Setting up an Executive Council with
the support ot the main Indian parties.
It consisted of Lord Pethic Lawrence, the
Secretary of State for India. Sir Stafford Cripps,
President of the Board of Trade, and A. V.
Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty. The
Mission arrived on 24 March 1946. After
extensive discussions with the Congress and the
Muslim League, theCabinet Mission put forward
its own proposal on 16 May 1946. The main
points of the plan were as follows;
1. There would be a union of India which
will include both the Rritish India as
well as the Indian states and in which
the Union would deal with foreign
affairs, defence and communications.
The union would involve an Executive
and a Legislature.
2. All residuary powers would belong to
the provinces.
3. A provinces would be divided into three
sections. The provinces could opt out of
Page 16

any group after the first general election.
(a) Northwest frontier provinces,
Blauchistan and Punjab; (b) Bengal and
Assam and(c) the other states.
4. There would also bc an interim
government having the support ot the
major political parties.
5. The Pakistan demand was rejected.
6. A federal constitution would be formed,
and a separate electorate considered.
The Congress accepted the plan on 24
May 1946, though it rejected the interim
set up. The Muslim League accepted the
plan on 6 June 1946. The Viceroy
should now have invited the Muslim
League to form the government as it had
accepted the interim set up; but he did
not do so.
AZAD HIND FAUJ (INDIAN
NATIONAL ARMY)
Origin and Purpose
Subhas Chandra Bose', popularly known as
‘Netaji’, was not convinced by the policy of the
Congress to acquire freedom. He was an
extremist and felt that it was impossible to
compel the British to leave India without force.
In 1943, Netaji formed the Azad Hind
Fauj (Indian National Army) in Singapore and
gave his famous call ‘Dilli chalo)'. He started a
military campaign for the independence of India.
Indian residents of South-east Asia and Indian
soldiers and officers captured by the Japanese
forces in Malaya, Singapore and Burma joined
the INA in large numbers.
Rise and Decline
Subhas Chandra Bose set up the
headquarter of the INA in two places—Rangoon
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and Singapore—recruits were sought from
civilians, funds were gathered, and even a
women’s regiment called the Rani Jhansi
regiment was formed. One INA battalion also
accompanied the Japanese Army to the Tndo-
Burma front to participate in the Imphal
campaign. But with the defeat of Japan in
1944—1945, the INA also died out. Bose is said
to have been killed in an air crash on his way to
Tokyo in August 1945. But his death is stilf
considered a mystery.
Subhas Chandra Bose (1897-1945)
Born in Cuttack, Bengal, and educated at the
universities of Kolkata and Cambridge, Subhas
Chandra Bose left a career in the Indian Civil
Service to fight for India s independence and
was Imprisoned a dozen times by the British.
He shared the leadership of India's youth and
peasant societies with Jawaharlal Nehru and
became the president of the n fan National
Congress in 1938. Bose was opposed owever,
by Gandhi, whose principle of non-violence he
did not accept, and was forced to resign Iho
following year. In 1941, hoping to toko
advantage of the war to free India of the British
rule, Sose fled to Germany. From there he went
to Malaya, where he set up (1943) a
Provisional Government of Free India, and
with Japanese help, organised the so-called
Indian National Army. Bose led his troops
against the British on the Burma-lndla f'ontier
until 1945; He is speculated to have been killed
In a plane crash while fleeing to Japan In
August of that year.
DIRECT ACTION CAMPAIGN
(1946)
Provoked by the success of the
Congress, the Muslim League launched a direct
action campaign on 16 August 1946, to achieve
Page 17
 Closer to Freedom In India
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Pakistan which resulted in communal riots immediate acceptance of his plan was
across the country. Rioting broke out on an imperative. Lord Mountbatten entered into a
unprecedented scale, especially in Bengal and series of talks with the Congress and the Muslim
Bihat, the massacre of Muslims in Kolkata League. Jinnah made it clear that the demand for
brought Gandhi to scene, where he worked with Pakistan had the support of all the Muslims of
the Muslim provincial Chief Minister Hussain India and that he could not withdraw from it.
Shaheed Suhrawardy. Gandhiji’s and With staunch extremists, such as Patel, agreeing
Suhrawardy’s efforts calmed fears in Bengal, but to the Muslim demand for a separate homeland,
rioting quickly spread elsewhere. Mountbatten now prepared for the partition of
It disassociated itself from the Cabinet India and announced it on 3 June 1947.
Plan. As a result, Viceroy Wavell invited the
Congress to join the interim government, INTERIM GOVERNMENT (1946)
although it had practically rejected the plan.
On 2 September 1946, an interim government
However, the Viceroy soon realised the futility
was formed on the 6-5-3 formula. It had six
of the scheme without the participation of the
Congressmen, five Muslim League
League. Therefore, on 14 October 1946, he
representatives and three representatives of the
extended an invitation to them ask well. Jinnah
minorities. The composition of the 14-member
nominated Liaqat Ali Khan. T. T. Chundrigar,
interim government was as follows:
SardarAbdurRabNishtar, GhavanfarAli Khan
1. Jawaharlal Nehru (Vice-President)
and Jogandra Nath Mandal to the cabinet. The
2. Vallabhbhai Patel (Home, Information
Congress allocated the Finance Ministry to the
Executive Council External Affairs and
League. This, in effect, placed the whole
Broadcasting and
governmental set-up under the Muslim League.
CommonwealthRelations)
As Minister of Finance, Liaqat Ali Khan
3. Baldev Singh (Defence)
presented a budget which was called a ‘poor
4. Liaqat Ali Khan (Finance)
man’s budget’ and it adversely affected the
5. Dr. John Matthai (Industries and
Hindu capitalists. Disagreements among the
Supplies)
ministers paralysed the government, already
6. Ghazanfar Ali Khan (Health )
haunted by the spectre of civil war.
7. Rajendra Prasad (Food and Agriculture)
The deadlock between the Congress and
8. Jogindernath Mandal (Law)
the League further worsened in this set-up. On
9. C. H. Bhaba (Works, Mines, and Power)
22 March 1947, Lord Mountbattcn arrived as thd
10. Jagjivan Ram (Labour)
last Viceroy of India. He announced that power
11. T. T. Chudrigar (Commerce)
would be transferred from the British to Indian
12. Abdur Rah Nishtar (Communications)
hands by June 1948. Mountbattcn assessed the
13. Asaf Ali (Railways)
situation and was convinced that Congress was
14. C. Rajagopalachari (Education)
willing to accept partition as the price of
The Muslim League joined the interim
independence; Jinnah would accept a smaller
government without any intention to cooperate.
Pakistan than the one he demanded, that is, all of
They kept on organising anti-Congress and anti-
Punjab and Bengal, and the Sikhs would learn to
Hindu rallies in Punjab and the United
accept the division of Punjab. Mountbatten was
Provinces. Liaqat Ali, the Finance Minister,
able to persuade most Indian leaders that

examsdaily.in Page 18

presented the first budget, which was allegedly
designed to harm the industrialists and the
merchant community dominated by the Hindus.
The Muslim League kept its hard stance of not
joining the Constituent Assembly, which began
its sitting in New Delhi on 9 December 1946,
and started pressing for its demand of Pakistan.
MOUNTBATTEN PLAN (1947)
On 3 June 1947, Lord Mountbatten
announced a plan offering a key to the political
and constitutional deadlock
Chronology of Indian National
Movement: (1940 Onwards)
Lahore Session 1940 (Muslim league)
August Offer 1940
Individual CDM 1940 (by Gandhi)
Cripps' Mission 1942
Quit India Movement 1942
Karachi Session 1943 (Muslim League)
Simla Conference and Wavell Plan; 1945
Cabinet Mission 1946
Interim Government 1 946
Attlee Announcement Febnjary 1947
Mountbatten Plan June 1 947
India Independence Bill July 1947
created by the refusal of the Muslim League to
join the Constituent Assembly formed to frame
the Constituion of India. Mountbatten’s formula
was to divide India but to retain maximum unity.
The country would be partitioned but so would
Punjab and Bengal, so that the limited Pakistan
that emerged would meet both the Congress
and'the League’s position to some extent. The
League’s position on Pakistan was conceded in.
that it would be created, but the Congress
position on unity would be taken into account to
make Pakistan as small as possible. He laid
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down detailed principles for the partition of the
country and speedy transfer of political power in
the form of dominion status to the newly formed
domimons of India and Pakistan Its acceptance
by the Congress and the Muslim League resulted
in the birth of Pakistan.
June 3rd Plan
Earlier, when all of Mountbatten’s
efforts to keep India united failed, he asked
Ismay, Chief of Staff, to chalk out a plan for the
transfer of power and the division of the country.
It was decided that none of the Indian parties
would view it before the plan was finalised.
However, before the announcement of
the plan, Nehru who was staying with
Mountbatten as a guest at his residence at Simla,
had a look at the plan and rejected it.
Mountbatten then asked V. P. Menon, the only
Indian in his pcrsonul staff, to present a new
plan for the transfer of power. Nehru edited
Menon’s formula and then Mountbatten himself
took the new plan to London, where he got it
approved without any alteration. Attlee and his
cabinet gave the approval in a meeting that
lasted not more than five minutes. Mountbatten
came back from London on 31 May, and tin 2
June, met the Indian leaders including Nehru,
Patel. Kiipalani, Jinnah, Liaqat Ali, Nishtar and
Baldev Singh. After ihese leaders approved the
plan, Mountbatten discussed it with Gandhi and
convinced him that it was the best plan under the
circumstances. The plan was made public on 3
June, and is thus known as the 3rd Plan.
The following were the main clauses of the Plan:
1. The provincial Legislative Assemblies
of Punjab and Bengal were to meet in
two groups, that is, the Muslim
majoritydistricts and the non-Muslim
majority districts.If any of the two
decided in favour of the division of the
Page 19

province, then the Governor-General
would appoint a boundary commission
to demarcate the boundaries of t e
province on the basis of ascertaining the
contiguous majority areas of the
Muslims and the non-Muslims.
2. The Legislative Assembly of Siiidh
(excluding itsEuropean members) was
to decide either to join the existing
Constituent Assembly or the New
Constituent Assembly.
3. To decide the future of the North-West
Frontier Province, a referendum was
proposed. The electoral college for the
referendum was to be the same as the
electoral college for the Provincial
Legislative Assembly in 1946.
4. Baluchistan was also to be given the
option to express its opinion on the
issue.
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5. If Bengal decided in favour of partition,
a referendum was to be held in the
Sylhct District of Assam to decide
whether it would continue as a part of
Assam or be merged with the new
province of East Bengal.
The Nawab of Junagarh announced to
join Pakistan, but the people of the region
wanted to join India and therefore, a plebiscite
was held and the area remained with India. The
Nizam of Hyderabad also made an attempt to
claim an independent status but was forced to
accede in 1948, after an internal revolt had
broken out in its Telangana area and the Indian
troops marched in Hyderabad. The Maharaja of
Kashmir also delayed accession to India. He
acceded in October 1947, after the Pathans and
the irregular armed forces of Pakistan invaded
Kashmir.
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INDIA WINS FREEDOM
INDIAN INDEPENDENCE ACT (1947)
The Bill containing the provisions of the Mountbatten
Plan of 3 June 1947, was introduced by British Prime
Minister Clement Attlee in the House of Commons on
14 July 1947, and passed as the Indian Independence
Act, 1947. The Act made India and Pakistan
independent dominions and the princely states were
left to accede to either of the two. The Act laid down
detailed measures for the partition of India and speedy
transfer of political power to the new governments of
India and Pakistan. The simple Act, containing 20
sections and 3 schedules, constituted two independent
dominions o India and Pakistan with effect from 15
August 1947.
The salient features of the act were as follows:
1. Creation of India and Pakistan, two
independent dominions with effect from 15
August 1947.
2. Setting up of a Boundary Commission for
demarcating the international boundaries, in
the states of Punjab and Bengal, under the
chairmanship of Sir Cyril Radcliffe.
3. The respective Constituent Assemblies of
India andPakistan would be fully sovereign
bodies but with a choice to sever their link
from the British Commonwealth of Nations.
4. The Governor-General, appointed by the
British throne, would become constitutional
head.
5. The Act of 1935. would be used us the
governing constitution till the formation of a
new constitution.
6. The Indian States would be free to join cither
India or Pakistan, without any pressure from
the British crown, or to declare themselves as
independent nations.
7. The Secretary of State of India would
conclude his activities from 15 August 1947
onwards.
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8. The provisions of 'Statute of Westminster of
1931 to remain applicable to both India and
Pakistan.
Jivanram Bhagwandas Kriplani (J. B.
Kriplani)
J. B. Kriploni was born on 11 November 1888 in
Hyderabad Sindh. He was an Indian politician who
was the President of the Indian National Congress
in 1947 when India got Independence. He was a
Gandhian socialist and independence activist. He
was a close aide of Gandhiji who had seen the time
period from the Non-Cooperation Movements of
1920s to the Emergency of the 1970s. After
Independence, he became an MP in 1952, 1957,
1963 and 1963 as a member of Praja Socialist
Party. He remained a critic of Nehru's policies and
administration while working for social and
environmental causes. He died on 19 March 1982
at the age ot 94. A postal stamp was issued in his
name in the year 1989 on his birth centenary.
from 15 August 1947. The power to rule from British
was fully and finally transferred to the two dominions.
Bloodshed and violence marked thc exodus of
refugees. In October 1947, a Pathan tribal forcc
entered Kashmir with Pakistani backing. But Maharaja
Hari Singh decided to accede to the Indian Union,
allowing Indian troops to be airlifted to the state. In
October 1947 Lord Mountbatten was appointed the
Governor-General of free India and Jinnah the first
Governor-General of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan
became its first Prime MinisterPakistan became a
dominion within the British Commonwealth of
Nations.
The boundaries of Pakistan emerged on the map of the
world in 1947. This was accomplished on the basis of
the two-nation theory.
Page 1
 India Wins Freedom Study
Material

India immediately after independence

In l 948, Sir C. Rajayopalachori was appointed the first and the last Indian Governor-General of independent India.
Jawaharlal Nehru took ever thc responsibility of the government as the first Prime Minister in 1950. Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel independently undertook the task of the accession of all the princely states. All the princely were
merged into the adjoining provinces states of Kashmir, Hyderabad and Mysore were merged later. Maharma Gandhi
started a fast to safeguard the rights of the Muslims. On 30 January 1948, he was assassinated by NaHuram Vinayak
Godse when he was at a prayer meeting in the Birla House in Delhi. On 13 September 1948, the Indian Army entered
into Hyderabad after the Razakars resored to violent activities. The state of Hyderabad acceded to the Indian Union.
On 26 November 1949, the Constituent Assembly passed the new Constitution of India. On 26 January 1950, India
was declared a republic and Dr. Rajendro Prasad became the first President, Dr, S, Radhakrishnan, the Vice-President
and Jawaharlal Nehru the first Prime Minister of India.

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