Subject: Indian History (Modern India)
Topic: The Rise Of Neo-Nationalists Or Extremists

The mendicant politics of the Moderates were gradually coming under criticism from younger members of the Congress. These young men were more radical. In ‘New Lamps for Old’ in 1893-94, Aurobindo Ghosh referring to the demands of the Congress leaders and their methods compared it with ‘playing with bubbles’; A. K. Datta called the Congress sessions ‘three days tamasha’ and Tilak compared the leaders and sessions with ‘croak’ once a year like a frog. Because of their differences in the methods used by this later group they came to be known as the ‘Extremists’ while the older members who believed in appealing to the British were clubbed as Moderates’.

NOTE: You have to reconsider the categories of ‘Extremists’ and ‘revolutionary terrorists’. Can these people be really called terrorists? They were called terrorist by the British government. Using violence or force and killing unjust British officials were their means of fighting for a better India. They raised funds for arms, held secret societies and raised volunteer forces for various reasons. They provided aid in time of famine, and encouraged industries by emphasizing Swadeshi enterprise, etc. May be a better way to identify this group is to call them Neo-Nationalists which mean that their branch of nationalism was inspired by the regeneration in the pride of India’s ancient religious and cultural past.

• Bal, Pal, Lal- the three pillars of neo-nationalism/extremism

• Bal Gangdhar Tilak - Maharashtra- Gave the call for Swaraj, Swadeshi and Boycott.

• Bipan Chandra Pal, Aürbindo Ghosh and BC Paul - Bengal

• Lal Lajpat Rai- the Punjab.

• V O Chidambaram Pillai and Subramania Siva in Madras.

• Tilak was perhaps the forerunner of the neo-nationaljsts. Tilak used the Ganpati festival (1874) and invoked the personality of Shivaji (1896).

• Another example of neo-nationalists is that of Aurbindo Ghosh who believed the masses can be mobilized by using religion.

THE QUESTION- Why was there a growing dissatisfaction with the Moderates? What factors are responsible for the growth and development of the Extremists or Neo-nationalist?

• Towards the end of the 1800s, it was apparent that INC headed by the Moderates was ineffective. The demands were not being met.

• It was being realised that the provisions made in the Acts of 1861 and 1892 for participation of Indians were limited and ineffective.

• By the end of 1800s, there was a job crunch. By the end of 1900s there were less than 10,00,000 people who had western education. And by 1903 only 16, 000 Indians were in posts that paid more than Rs. 75 per month.

• Aside from the popularity of the western thought and education, there was a parallel trend which explored India’s past and sought to regenerate her by bringing out the glorious culture of Ancient India. People like, Ram Mohan Roy, Vivekanand, Swami Dayanand, Bamkin Chandra Chatterjee, Arbindo Ghosh, Tilak and many more were inspired by India’s glorious past and took pride in everything Indian.

• In Europe, the 1800s was the revolutionary century. End of Napoleonic Wars, Unification of Italy and Germany- political ideas of evolution, rights of man etc were spreading. People like Mazzini, Cavour, Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel who were the main leaders who helped in the unification of Italy were sources of inspiration for the group of people identified as extremists.

• By 1868 Japan emerged as a powerful country (the first Asian country to do so). It defeated Russia in 1905; Ethiopia defeated Italy in 1896. Indicated that white supremacy was not superior and untouchable.

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Ques. 1 : Briefly discuss the background to the rise of Neo-Nationalism?

Ans. The rise and the popularity of the Neo-nationalists have also, to be located against the rise of religious revivalism. One of the most peculiar trajectory taken by any movement was perhaps that taken by the social reform movements of the early nineteenth Century. These reform movements e.g. Arya Samaj of Swami Dayanad and those that perpetuated to the Village level, though started with the aim of countering colonial influences also fostered religious orthodoxy and increasingly demarcated the communties. One such movement was that of “Cow Protection” with the first Gaorakshini Sabha founded by Swami Dayanand in 1882. Initially, protection of cow was primarily aimed at the beef eating English and also to a degree at the muslims Part of their aim was to petition government to stop cow slaughter. Cow protection societies soon spranged up across UP, Bihar, etc. These efforts were furthered by the decree of High Court of NWP in 1888 according to which, cow was not a religious object and thus its slaughter could not be held as violation of the law.

The neo-nationalists had strong ties with India and they did not consider everything western as the best. They were more critical of the English. Their ideas and notions were more in connection with the problems of the masses. They were more reactionary than the moderates. They also encouraged the use of Swadeshi products for developing Indian industries. The Swadeshi enterprise can be traced back to Gopalrao Deshmukh of Poona who advocated use of indigenous products as early as 1849 and in Bengal it was encouraged through Hindu Mela or National Mela founded by Nabagopal Mitra in 1867. Rabindranath Tagare called for self-reliance / atmasakti through Swadeshi and national education. Lala Lajpat Rai, an Arya Samajist advocated Swadeshi cult in the Punjab.

But since the neo-nationalists glorified the ancient past, they bypassed the medieval period which had Muslim power structure at the main seat of power. So India came to be identified as being Hindu. For this reason the neo-nationalists found very little support from the Muslims.

The main contribution of the neo-nationalists was in mobilizing the masses, educating them to participate in the political struggle.

The categories of Moderate and Extremists emerged on the basis of methods used. The purpose of both groups was same- not overthrow of the British Rule but obtaining a larger share of power for the people in the administration of the country. The extremists made the demand for Swaraj OR Home-Rule OR Self-Government their main demand and not just administrative reforms. The extremists wanted Indians to get a larger share in the administration of the country and end of British exploitation.

BUT the methods used by the neo-nationalists were different.

• Moderates pleaded to through petitions and writings to the British government; the extremists believed that Indians should be mobilized and take an active part in putting their demands.

• The technique of agitation was to be based on the pride in India’s glorious past and religious traditions.

• Their techniques instead of petitions were boycott and Swadeshi, non-cooperation with the British government and passive resistance. The extremists wanted Swadeshi and boycott to extend to the whole of the country rather than just Bengal. They were seen as methods of political warfare. The moderates stressed the economic aspect of Swadeshi and boycott only as a temporary method.

Miserable Plight of Indians Abroad

The anti-British feelings were further roused by the treatment meted out to Indians in the British colonies in Africa particularly in South Africa where they were treated as sub-castes. They could not own and build houses in certain localities exclusively reserved for Europeans. They were disenfranchised, and in 1896 the indentured emigrants in Natal (South Africa) were asked either to renew their indenture for labourer pay a poll-tax amounting to half their annual earnings. By 1898, three more disabling laws were made, and the life of the Indians was made very hard. While the then Viceroy, Lord Elgin, consented to these laws being passed, the Secretary of State, Lord George Hamilton, characterized India a “nation of savages”. The important official organs, like the Civil and Military Gazette of Lahore, openly abused the Indians.

External Events

There was, during the nineteenth century, an all pervading belief in the military invincibility and technological superiority of the European countries. The success of the British in India in suppressing the national Uprising of 1857 was largely attributed to the superiority. But some events took place on the international scene and these exploded that myth. These were the defeat of Italy by Abysainia in 1896 and of Russia by Japan in 1905. These debacles exercised an enlightening effect upon the Indian mind. The victory of the non-European nations was attributed to their high sense of patriotism and spirit of sacrifice. The political leaders in India realized that if the Japanese and the Abyssinians could defeat the Russians and the Italians respectively, the Indians could also liberate their land from the ‘scourge of British Imperialism”.

The defeat of the forces of Imperial Russia by Japan served as a signal and the nationalist movement in India sprang to life.

Reactionary Policies of Viceroy Curzon

Despite the, accumulating causes of despondency and irritation the main Congress body remained hopefully cooperative “It needed a Curzon”, as super has put it “to complete breach between a slow-moving Government and politically conscious Indians”. Lord Curzon was sent to India as Viceroy in 1898 with the firm object of strengthening the foundations of the British rule. Two years after his stay in the country Curzon wrote: “In my belief Congress is tottering to its fall, and one of my great ambitions while in India is to assist it to a peaceful demise”.

When he assumed charge of his office he began his “policy of efficiency” with the Calcutta Corporation Act (1899) whereby the number of the elected members was reduced to half their original strength and the administration of the Corporation was vested in General Committee. This measure was opposed by the Indian communities of Calcutta, and twenty-eight members of the corporation resigned as a protest.

In order to solve the frontier problem Curzon formed a new Province known as the “North West Frontier Province” consisting of the trans-Indus districts of Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu and Dera lsmail Khan, together with a few political agencies. The new Province was inaugurated on King Edward’s birthday in 1901, the old “North-West Province” being re-christened “The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh”. The Punjab Government, thereafter, exercised no jurisdiction west of the Indus except in Dera Ghazi Khan. It aroused a tempest of opposition among the older civil servants in the Punjab. The open competitive tests for the provincial civil services were abolished, and his Police Commission resulted in excluding the Indians from the Special Police Service. Secret circulars encouraging the employment, on a more extensive scale, of Eurasians and Christians at the expense of the other Indian communities were sent. By a resolution of 24 May 1904, Curzon made race, instead of merit, the test of qualification. This policy led even Lord Morlay to observe that what India resented was racial domination, not so much political domination.

The administration of Curzon was also marked by a costly Durbar at Delhi, which bore striking resemblance to the Imperial Assemblage of 1877, in that it followed upon other terrible famines of’ 1892, 1896-97 and 1899 and the prevalence of plague in 1896. The increasing poverty and ever-growing suffering of the masses were attributed by the educated Indians to the lack of British interests in minimizing the causes of distress.

In the teeth of universal opposition, the Official Secrets Act was passed in 1904 whereby the poser vested in the Government by the earlier Official Secrets Acts of 1889 and 1890 were considerably widened., The earlier Acts covered only military secrets, but the new Act covered secrets relating to civil matters also.

Even the newspaper criticism, likely to bring “suspicion or contempt” to Government, was not spared. This step was condemned by the entire Press, Indian as well as Anglo-Indian protests from many quarters poured in; but the Viceroy was implacable and the Gagging Act was passed.

Most of the animosity of Indian politicians against Curzon dated from the appearance of the Universities Bill that was introduced in the Legislative Council towards the end of 1903. This Bill was designed apparently to “reform” the educational system but actually to bring the university education under official control. Despite much public criticism and consternation, the Bill was passed on 21 March 1904. The autonomy of the universities was almost destroyed, and they were brought under rigid bureaucratic control by increasing the number of nominated members of the Senates and the Syndicates. Curzon made no serious attempt to pacify the critics of Government’s educational policy.. He rather embittered the educated Indians further by his Convocation Address, in February 1905 to the graduates of the Calcutta University. He spoke of the “untruthfulness” and ‘wile of the East’ and denied that there was such a thing as “Indian nation”. This statement raised the national temper to fever heat; the whole country was shocked; and the Indian people, in the words of Annie Besant, “smarting under the afflictions of plague and famine, of broken pledges and repressive measures, rose as one man against the monstrous and studied insult flung with a high magisterial air at everything that they loved and revered, at their religion, their literature, their social institutions”.

Nothing was resented by the Indians more than the Government resolution of 3 December 1903 announcing, that the entire Chittagong division and the two districts of Dacca and Mymensing would be separated from Bengal and incorporated with Assam. This partition, that took place on 20 July 1905, divided the homogeneous Bengali-speaking people into two Provinces. Nationalism was very strong in Bengal, and it was probably to destroy the solidarity of the Bengalis that Curzon decided to divide them. The motive behind the plan of partition was quite clear. It was undoubtedly a master-plan to destroy the nascent nationalism in Bengal. The partition served as a signal for a most extensive and intensive agitation.

Ques. 2 : Briefly discuss the partition of Bengal?

Ans. The idea of partition of Bengal was quite an old one. Bengal as truly too big to be governed by a Lieutenant Governor without the aid of an Executive Council. As early as 1868 territorial realignments were being discussed and such considerations finally led to separation of Assam from Bengal in 1874, which was placed under a Chief Commissioner. The province of Bengal now comprised of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Chhotanagpur. Then again in 1892-96 plans were being made to transfer to Assam either whole of the Chittagong Division or Chittagong district. By making Assam bigger in size its administration would have improved. Its small size meant that Assam did not have a separate cadre of Indian Civil Service officers. And Bengal was too big and too populated to be governed effectively. In 1903 Sir Andrew Fraser became the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal and suggested that along with the Chittagong Division two districts of Dacca Division-Dacca and Mymensingh should also be transferred to Assam. Lord Curzon forwarded this idea.

On December 3, 1903, Lord Curzon announced the scheme of territorial redistribution which came into effect on October 16, 1905. The following were the territorial realignments:

The Plan: - The new province of Assam would consist of the state of Tripura, the Division of Chittagong, Dacca, Mymensingh (Both were the districts of the Dacca Division). Later more of its districts- Bakharganj, Faridpur, Rajshahi (excluding Darjeeling), Malda, Dinajpur, Bogra, and Jalpaiguri (along with the state of Cooch Bihar) were added to Assam.

Bengal was to surrender not only these large eastern territories but also to cede to the Central Provinces the five Hindi-speaking states.

On the western side, Bengal was offered Sambalpur and five minor Oriya speaking states from the Central Provinces. Bengal with its capital Calcutta would be left with an area of 141,580 sq. miles and population of 54 million, of which 42 million would be Hindus and 9 million Muslims. After the realignment the Bengali Hindus would be in minority as they would be outnumbered by the Hindi and Oriya speaking populace. This was one of the reasons that led to opposition to the scheme of partition. Also, such a scheme would affect the socio-cultural solidarity of the Bengali-speaking people.

The new province was named Eastern Bengal and Assam with Dacca as its capital. Its population was of 31 million, where 18 million would be Muslims and 12 million Hindus. Here the Bengali Hindus would be in minority. The Partition clearly divided the regions on the basis of religious identities Hindu and Muslims.

The plans for the partition became public in December 1903 and were met by agitations almost overnight. Since most of the initial agitations were by Bengali Hindus, Lord Curzon started courting the Muslims for garnering the support for the partition. The increasing frustration of the Extremists with the Moderates who could not put up an effective protest against the partition was responsible for bringing the neo-nationalists. They were more successful in generating responses from the masses because of their composition and methodology.

But under Lord Curzon, the Partition of Bengal had political motives which were not related with the efficiency of the administration.

Real Motives: In Lord Curzon’s own words- ‘to split up and thereby weaken a solid body of opponents to the British rule.’ ‘Calcutta is the center from which Congress party is manipulated throughout the-whole of Bengal and indeed whole of India.’ In short, the partition would have led to a rupture in the development of /national and political consciousness which till now was focused around Bengal and radiated outwards from there.

Why was the partition attractive for so many Muslims? The East of Bengal, famous for its hierarchy of tenure was dominated by majority of Muslim poor peasants and rich upper class Hindu landholders. As the protests rose, the colonial state in order to garner support started claiming that the partition would result in Muslim majority in East Bengal and thus the partition was favourable for the Muslims. Also, Curzon gained the support of Nawab Salimulla of Dacca (a leading zamindar) by promising him a large government loan on good-terms.

Course- The Announcement of- the partition - created mass unrest and agitation across Bengal. The neo-nationalists were at the forefront of the agitation. Petitions, memoranda, speeches and public meetings were the main methods of protesting. The moderates’ peaceful methods were no longer sufficient.

Zamindars, lawyers, merchants, students, common people, and even women came forward to protest the partition. Bamkin Chandra’s song ‘Vande Matram’ became the national song of Bengal most overnight. Some Muslims too opposed the partition but majority of them, were later influenced by the idea of Muslim majority. In 1906 the Muslim League was formed in Dacca where the Nawab Salimulla played an important role. The League worked for the partition.

Parallel to this was the rise in the influence of the neo-nationalists Bipan Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghosh openly promoted anti-partition movement.

When it became evident that peaceful methods of petition (first phase), and speeches, etc were be unable to prevent the Partition, the need for more effective methods of protests was felt. The British interests had to be hurt in order to bring to their notice the seriousness of the protest against the partition. This need led to BOYCOTT-CUM-SWADESHI Movement which was started after a meeting in Calcutta on August 7, 1905 in reaction to the partition of Bengal. The partition was carried out on 16 October 1905.

Ques. 3: Briefly discuss the Swadeshi movement?

Ans. The boycott of British goods, especially cotton would harm the financial interests of the English manufactures who in turn would pressure the British government to resolve the problem. It included boycotting government schools, colleges, courts and titles, government services, civil disobedience of unjust laws, organisation of strikes; public burning of foreign cloth, and picketing shops selling foreign goods. They were successful to some degree. The boycott led to 55% fall in sale of cigarettes; 68% in boots; 22% in imported cotton piece goods.

By advocating Swadeshi, indigenous industries were to be promoted thereby simulating the country’s economy. Encouragement to cottage industries; Swadeshi textile mills; match and soap factories; potteries and tanneries; revival of handloom and silk were given. But there was shortage of capital which limited the development of Swadeshi industries. And Swadeshi was essentially an economic weapon which was not a sufficient tool to threaten the British hold over the economy. However, in Bombay and Ahemdabad some enterprising individuals established industries in the vaccum created by the reduction of British imports.

Efforts were made to, develop national education- varieties of education demands- from establishment of technical training to development of vernacular education were forwarded. Bengal National College was formed by Aurobindo Ghosh; in 1906 National Council of Education was established to organise a system of education mixing literary, scientific and technical in vernacular. Bengal Technical School was established. The University of Calcutta established by the Government to supervise education in schools and colleges was decried as the ‘golam-khana’ or the house for manufacturing slaves.

There was a growth in literary culture. Tagore, Bamkin Chandra Chatterjee, Mukunda Das- burst in drama, poetry, songs and art.

The Swadeshi-cum-Boycott Movement was launched on August 7, 1905 at a meeting in Calcutta Town Hall when leaders like Surendranath Banerjee accepted the boycott programme.

The concepts of Swadeshi and boycott were not new but this time they were used to fight a common cause and increasing influence of nationalism is visible in the wider dissemination of the two concepts.

The Three Phases of the Swadeshi Movement

(A) First Phase, 1903-05- Dominated by the moderates and their methods included petitions and signature campaigns, speeches, lectures and writings in order to appeal to the conscience of the British.

Aimed at putting forward a logical critique of the partition. The signature campaign was signed by as many as 70,000 people.

LEADERS- Surendernath Banerjea, Krishna Kumar Mitra, Prithwishchandra Ray, etc.

(B) Second Phase, 1905-06- The plan was officially announced on July 19, 1905. Failure of the moderates and their methods was evident.

Methods- Starting of constructive Swadeshi, which signified rejection of the mendicant politics in favour of self-help through Swadeshi industries, attempts at village improvement and organisation. Prafulla Chandra was one such person who established a swadeshi business venture. These steps at self-reliance were termed as atmashakti by Tagore. Being the main ideologue of constructive Swadeshi, and programme of atmashakti, Tagore is called the great poet of the Swadeshi movement. He believed that self- strengthening programmes should be the first priority before the political agitation. Atmasakti led to sprouting of indigenous industries- soap, textile mills, match, and soaps.

Revival of pride in everything indigenous- use of vernacular language, beginning of Swadeshi enterprises; national education.

Emphasis on non-political constructive programmes.

(C) Third Phase, 1906-08- Swaraj became the demand and not just constitutional reforms.

• Main leaders- Aurobindo Ghosh, and Bipin Chandra Pal. They held that without freedom no real regeneration of national life was possible.

• Main programme- Aurobindo Ghosh denounced the self-help movements, swadeshism as inadequate and visualized a systematic boycott of British goods and institutions; development of indigenous alter-native; civil disobedience of unjust laws; and violent agitation if required.

• Doctrine of self-reliance turned into revivalism and Hindu-religious traditionalism was looked upon for inspiration. Use of religion was not a positive step. Gita was seen as source of spiritual inspiration, use of Hindu religious symbols, mythology, and rise of the cult of Kali all served to alienate wider participation

• Organisation of Samitis- The purpose of the samitis was to gather support by mobilizing people and training them in moral and physical aspects. Message of Swadeshi was propagated in the samitis. They also undertook organisation of crafts, schools, arbitration courts, promotion of Swadeshi through songs, plays, poetry. But samitis continued to be dominated by educated bhadralok and high caste Hindu gentry’s leadership. Their methods of coercion- physical, ideological through caste organisations alienated the peasants.

• The Swadeslii alternatives were expensive and people could hardly afford them. For the first time the workers were included but the scope and participation was limited. Only white-collar workers were affected. Plantation workers and other forms of labourers were ignored.

• In 1907 the police-reported 19 samitis in Calcutta. Some like the Calcutta- based Anti-Circular Society was secular in nature, others like the Dacca Anushilan of Pulin Das trained its cadre using Hindu idioms.

Amidst the popular protest, the partition of Bengal was carried forward on October 16, 1905. It was observed as the day of mourning across Bengal. Shops and market places were shut for the day. On Rabindranath Tagore’s suggestion as a mark of unity the partition day was further observed as Rakhi Bandhan Day.

Ques 4 : Briefly discuss the significance of the Swadeshi movement in the Indian Freedom Struggle?

Ans.

• It marked the beginning of organized movements in India with wider participation.

• It was the earliest successful movement since the partition of Bengal was revoked in 1911.

• It led to profound rise in political consciousness of the people.

• The Swadeshi Movement was later adopted as an important programme in the Gandhian programme of Swadeshi, constructive village work and national education.

• One serious outcome was the rapid growth in Muslim separatism, especially with the founding of the Muslim League in 1906. While in the initial years the call for unity against the partition was strong, the counter--British propaganda which promised more economic opportunities for the Muslims in the East Bengal gained many followers. On March 4, 1907 when Nawab Salimullah was due for a visit, disturbances erupted at Comilla in East Bengal, which targeted Hindu Swadeshi shops. The police remained passive. Thereafter, similar attacks spread across East Bengal leading to estrangement of relations between the two communities.

• The idea of partition and pitting one religious community against another were later realized on a much bigger scale in 1947 with the creation of a separate Muslim state- Pakistan.

• The later years of the Swadeshi Movement saw rise of neo-nationalist or revolutionary terrorism. They became more popular, especially in East Bengal. Here, the Dacca Anushilan Samiti of Pulin Das was active and the Barrah dacoity on June 2, 1908 was its major act of terrorism. Revolutionary terrorism was perhaps one of the main legacies of the - Swadshi movement. It attracted the more restless, radical and educated youth. Their acts comprised of assassination of oppressive or corrupt officials, military conspiracies with international aid and Swadeshi dacoities to raise funds:

Ques. 5 : Give an account of the Surat split of 1907 in Indian National Congress?

Ans. Differences between the Moderates and the Extremists had been growing throughout the course of the Swadeshi Movement. As early as the Congress Session of 1905 with Gokhale as the president, the moderates were not very comfortable with the idea of extending Swadeshi to rest of the India as it was against their peaceful methods of petitioning The extremist wanted the boycott to extend from foreign goods to every form of co-operation with the colonial government and the moderates wanted it confined to Bengal Nor could the moderates find the idea of boycotting foreign goods and the existing system of education appealing.

In the 1906 Congress Session, the extremist faction had become quite famous. They proposed the name of Tiiak for president-ship but in order to hinder the extremist influence, the moderates selected Naoroji as the President. He, to everyone’s surprise, supported the extremists in their methods. He redefined the goal of Congress as ‘self-government or Swaraj like that of the colonies or UK.

By the session in 1907, the tone of the Swadeshi movement had become more rebellion. Lala Lajpat Rai was garnering support in Punjab and consequently deported. This further stirred the people and he was released later. So for the 1907 Congress Session, the extremist suggest Lajpat Rai’s name for the president-ship. Again their demand was refused and moderates selected Ras Behari Ghosh. The moderates refused to address the the extremists’ demands for resolutions on Swadeshi, self-government, boycott and national education. The Surat session finally led to a stalemate which resulted in the split between the moderates and the extremnists/neo-nationalists that lasted for 8 years. The nationalists expanded the scope and area of their activities. Their activities gained support outside India. At the Surat session on December 28, 1907, a Convention was formed which met at Allahabad in April 1908 and set up new rules for the conduct of INC’s meetings. It was also decided to formally close its doors to the extremists. This rupture was to last for 8 years. By 1908 the extremists were on a decline especially after the Surat split of 1907 and the arrest of most of its leaders including the LaL, Bal, Pal trio.

Ques. 6 : Briefly discuss the causes for the rise of Extremism?

Ans. The closing decade of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century witnessed the emergence of a new and younger group within the Indian National Congress which was sharply critical of the ideology and methods of old leadership The agitation following the partition of Bengal brought into prominence the rise of a new political ideology which differed in some essential points-from that which had hitherto dominated the Indian National Congress The proponents of these two distinct schools of thoughts came to be identified as the Moderates and the Extremists The fundamental difference between the two parties related to both the political goals and the methods to be adopted to achieve it As regards the political goal, the idea of the Congress as defined in 1905 was colonial form of self-government, whereas that of the Extremists was absolute autonomy free from foreign control It was because of ideological differences with Tilak and his group that the Moderate leaders were determined to keep Tilak and Congressmen of his line of thinking out of all positions of power and responsibility in the Congress.

Among the causes and circumstances that helped in the growth of Extremism the following deserve special mention: (1) the efforts of the early nationalist leaders paved the way for the development of the next stage of the nationalist movement. By their paintstaking studies and writings the early nationalist leaders had exposed the true nature of British rule in India. They conclusively proved by elaborate statistical data that British rule and its policies were responsible for the economic rule of India and her deepening poverty. Scholarly writings of nationalist leaders like Ranade’s “Essay in Indian Economics” (1898), Dadabhai Naorojis “Indian Poverty and un-British Rule in India” (1901), R.C. Dutt’s “Economic History of India” (1901) were the arsenals from which the new leaders shot their arrows at the British rule in India.

(2) The intellectual and emotional inspiration of the new leadership (Extremists) was Indian. They drew inspiration from Indian spiritual heritage, they appealed to heroes of Indian History and hoped to revive the glories of ancient India The writings of Bankim, Vivekananda and Swami Dayanand appealed to their imagination.

(3) The younger elements within the Congress were dis-satisfied with the achievements of the Congress during the first 15-20 years and were disgusted with the cold and reactionary attitude of the Government. They were strongly critical of the methods of peaceful and constitutional agitation, popularly nicknamed as 3 Ps - Petition, Prayer and Protest.

(4) The economic miseries of the closing years of the 19 century provided a congenial atmosphere for the growth of extremism in Indian national activity. The terrible families of 1896-97 and 1899-1900 coupled with the bubonic plague which broke out in Maharashtra took a heavy toll of life. These events revealed to the Indians their plight of utter helplessness. Even recurring famines were attributed to the anti-national policy followed by the Government.

(5) Events outside India exercised a powerful influence on the younger generation The humiliating treatment meted out to Indians in British colonies, especially in South Africa, created anti-British feelings. Further, nationalist movements in Egypt, Turkey and Russia gave Indians new hopes and new aspirations. Indian nationalists gained more confidence and drew inspiration from Abyssinia’s repulsion of the Italian army (1896) and Japan’s thumping victory over Russia (1905).

(6) Curzon’s seven-year rule in India which was full of ‘missions, omissions and commissions’ created a sharp reaction in the Indian’ mind.
The worst and most-hated aspect of Curzon’s administration was the partition of Bengal into two provinces of Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam in 1905. The partition brought in Bengali opposition and protests from the Indian National Congress (in 1904) showed the contemptuous disregard Curzon and the Home authorities had for Indian public opinion.

Ques. 7 : Discuss in brief the objective and methods of the Extremist group?

Ans. The new turn in Indian politics found expression in two forms (i) The formation of the Extremist Group within the Congress; (ii) the growth of Terrorism or Revolutionary movement in the country at large.

It should be clearly understood that the Nationalists’ (Extremists) demand for Swaraj was a demand for “complete freedom from foreign control and full independence to manage national affairs without any foreign restraint”. The new leadership sought to create a passionate love for liberty, accompanied by a spirit of sacrifice and a readiness to suffer for the cause of the country. The Extremists advocated boycott of foreign goods use of Swadeshi goods, National Education and Passive Resistance.

Economic boycott of British made goods and use of Swadeshi or homemade products was designed to encourage Indian Industries and provide the people with more opportunities for work, and employment. A National scheme of Education was to replace the boycott of Government - controlled universities and colleges. The extremists, also encouraged co-operative organisations. The Extremists gave new slogans to the Indian nationalist movement (non-cooperative, passive resistance, mass agitation, self-reliance, discipline, self- suffering etc. The policy of the Extremists yielded good dividends. The partition of Bengal was annulled in 1911 which gave a new self-confidence and self-. assurance to Indian nationalists.

In 1907, Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh were departed from the Punjab In 1908, Tilak was arrested and sentenced to 6 years’ imprisonment.

 

 

Answer of Question 1: B

Answer of Question 2: A