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Within the Congress
, by 1905 was a large section of delegates trying for petition , resolution
and constitutional demands. At it's helm were leaders like Arvind ,Tilak
,Bipin Chandra Pal and others .This along with the repercussion of the
Swadeshi movement , winded the gap between the two school of thought
and gave rise to (ultimately) two political parties, the Moderates and
the Extremists . The Basic difference in their thoughts was concerning
both the political goal , and method to be adopted to achieve it. As
for the goal , idea setup by Congress in 1905 was,colonial form of self
government . As against that, the Extremists were of the view to achieve
absolute autonomy free from foreign control . Also the Extremists had
their attention concentration on ' Swaraj ' or self government . They
thought ' petitioning ' as mad and fanatic and advocate method
of organised resistance to the existing form of government . They also
sought the meansof ' Passive resistance '.
Leaders and members of the moderate party thought all of these , as
impracticable . (Boycott of English
goods , government service , and honorary offices ) or they thought
some of the extremist views as injurious (Boycott of universities &
educational institution ). Also they feared that
some of extremist agenda may invite heavy resistance e.g. strikes. Though
arguments of Moderates were logical , the Extremists looked upon politics
as a part of religion and thought , that it should be approached by
the power of faith neither counting obstacles ' nor measuring time '.
Hence they never tried to counter the individual argument of Moderates
. The first likeness of split between the two thoughts occurred at the
Congress session at Varanasi , in December 1905. No need was paid to
the Congress resolution to avoid Begal's partition and even Gopal Krishna
Ghokhale- the Moderate stalwart had to accept the opinion that
India has to achieve freedom , by it's own efforts. However , no consensus
could be reached no ' Boycott ' issue. As the result differences, the
Extremists decided to remain within the Congress , but with a platform
of it's own, with a distance programme.
With
this the 1906 Congress session took place at Culcutta . There were 1663
delegates , and visitors numbered to about 20,000 to avert a major drift
, a veteran leader Dadabhai Navroji , then 82 years old, was chosen
as the president. Extremists and Moderates were in upbeat mood , owing
to two separate incidents. For Extremists , the victory of Japan in
Ruso-Japan war had proved , that Asia can win over Europe . Simultaneously
for Moderates , the victory of liberal party had boosted their morale
.( As they believed that it will end the narrow imperialism ) Ultimately
the demands of Moderates were denied by Lord Morley in scathing words
& this benefited the Extremists .
In
general for 1906 Congress , Extremists had won over the people of Bengal
to a large extent. Yet the Moderates had a solid phalanx in the Congress
. The president , however in 1906 , referred to Swaraj - self government
as the goal of India , and a virtual split was avoided.
The
Congress in 1907 , however witnessed what was avoided in 1906. 1907
Congress was held at Surat . The sharp difference of opinion , exclusion
of the Extremists' ( or nationalist ) agenda , prompted Extremists to
suggest name of Lala Lajpat Rai as the president . The Moderates suggested
name of Mr. Rash Behari Ghosh . The list of subjects, published ten
days before excluded the nationalist topic of self government , boycott
and national education.
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2001 vandemataram.com All rights reserved.
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