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Towards
the very end of the year 1885,a new era, in the political life of
India began
with the formation of Indian National Congress . For later 20 years,
it dominated the political life of India and gave a
shape and form to the ideas of administrative and political
reforms serving as a major plank for the Indian political programme.
It
is rather unusual in any age or country , that a single political institution
has played such a dominant role for constant fifty years
, to liberate a country from the foreign ruling and yoke.
It would be however inappropriate to say that history of
Indian freedom movement means just the history of Congress.
As many other forces and agencies with diverse ways were
working towards the same goal. Of course, Congress does form
a part of the central theme in Indian's struggle for freedom the pivot
round which evolves thestory of epic grandeur. Prior
to congress, consolidation & political awareness had been initiated
chiefly in the Bengal, Madras and Bombay provinces. Public bodies
like Sarvajanik Sabha
at Pune, National conference in Bengal were being formed.
In
general reactionary measures of Lord Lytton and agitation of Anglo
Indians over the Ilbert bill hastened the process of foundation
of congress. It also awed, sizably to the English education
and liberal political ideas of the west which came along
with it . The formation was also facilitated by all India tours of
Surendranath Banerjee who met several other like minded regional associations.
Also
the credit for organising the Indian National Congress, undoubtedly
belongs to a large extent to Allan Octavian Hume- a retired
member of the British civil service, and son of the founder
of radical party in England. In general he was a great lover and
admirer of the Indian subcontinent. A lesser known fact about A. O.
Hume is , he was the man who for the 1st time chronicled
and documented the ' Fauna of British
India'-1st ever listing of the enumerated bird spices of India.
In fact , his immense, concern over the dissatisfaction
in India, threatening imminent nature to the British rule, led
the foundation for formation of Indian National Congress. What
he saw during that the Indians will die, and were ready to take
up violence - not in an organised but sporadic way. He had
decided on a name ' Indian National Union ',and also decided to hold
a conference at Poona from 25th to 31st December 1985. He also
issued a letter/ circular to " the leading politicians who knew
English well" of the Bengal, Bombay and Madras
presidencies with definite objectives.On
account of Cholera epidemic at Pune, the venue
was shifted to Bombay.
So
also, the name was changed
to 'Indian National Congress' and the 1st session was held
on December 28,1885. The total no. of delegates who attended was about
72 , representing diverse regions of India. W. C. Banerjee was
elected as president of the congress. It decided and passed
nine resolutions, in form of demands. The speeches were moderate
and loyal to the British crown. Main result of this first
session was that ,it quickened the political consciousness of
the people. Subsequently the next sessions became more &
more concrete. The fifth session which met at Bombay in 1889,
in curious coincidence had exactly 1889 delegates.
During
all these years , the British governance and the press looked upon these
events
in a rather lighter vein , some of the senior British government officers
also found it childish. It was in 1904,in a further
step congress demanded the representation of the guardians
, in the British house of
commons , each province or presidency
of India with at
least two members. Some senior members of congress party
also held a political propaganda.
Hume himself was convinced about such work. A
paid agency was established in 1888 under William Digby with a regular
office and a rigorous campaign was carried out in Britain, distributing
copies of speeches and pamphlets, throughout the country.
In 1893, House of commons passed a resolution in favor of
holding similar examination to ICS in India.
On
17th August 1904,Dadabhai Navroji
placed the question of Indian participation in British
administration at the congress of socialists in Amsterdam. But
still in general , the demands made by congress during
1889 to 1905 broadly didn't meet any success. The
then 'Young treks ' felt uneasy at this situation . Spearheading
these nationalists group was Aurobindo Ghosh later to attain unprecedented
fame . This was the emergence of new nationalists ' extremists
' within congress ,and the legacy was carried till the times
of Lokmanya Tilak . The same period after 1905, also saw
two schools of thoughts within congress, the moderates and the extremists.
Tilak struck a new note , in politics when a terrible famine broke
out in Bombay in 1896.Since then, till 1920 the nationalism
within congress
thrived & also it reassumed a sincere faith in
the past India glory . It also clearly enunciated that political goal
of India will be ' Swaraj '- self
government rather than reforms in administration .
Till
1920, and the emergence of Gandhi , this was the scenario at congress.
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