Introduction
- Indian National Congress(INC), a political party of India was formed in 1885,
- INC was formed in 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant. Other founding members include Dadabhai Naoroji and Dinshaw Wacha
- The first session of the Indian National Congress was held in December 1885 in Bombay with seventy two delegates
- More than just a political party, Congress was an assembly for politically-minded individuals who were interested in reform
- Initially, the Congress was formed with the intention of discussing problems faced by the people of the country irrespective of caste, creed, religion or language
- It was basically a movement of the upper and middle class, western-educated Indians in its moderate phase
Foundation
- In 1883, Hume had outlined his idea for a body representing Indian interests in an open letter to graduates of the University of Calcutta.
- It aimed to obtain a greater share in government for educated Indians and to create a platform for civic and political dialogue between them and the British Raj
- Hume organized the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of the Viceroy Lord Dufferin.
- Umesh Chandra Banerjeewas the first president of Congress; the first session was attended by 72 delegates, representing each province of India
- In 1890, Kadambini Ganguly, the first woman graduate of Calcutta University, addressed the Congress session, which symbolised the commitment of the freedom struggle to give the women of India their due status in national life
Aims and Objectives of the Congress
- The main aims of the Indian National Congress in the initial stage were to:
- Find a democratic, nationalist movement
- Politicise and politically educate people
- Establish the headquarters for a movement
- Promote friendly relations among nationalist political workers from different parts of the country;
- Develop and propagate an anti-colonial nationalist ideology
- Formulate and present popular demands before the government with a view to unifying the people over a common economic and political programme;
- Develop and consolidate a feeling of national unity among people irrespective of religion, caste or province
- Carefully promote and nurture Indian nationhood
The Moderate Phase
- The period between 1885 to 1905 is referred to as the Moderate Phase of Congress
- The prominent Moderate leaders include:
- Dadabhai Naoroji
- Known as the Grand Old man of India
- He became the first Indian to become a member of the House of Commons in Britain
- Authored ‘Poverty and Un-British rule in India’, which focused on the economic drain of India through British policies
- Womesh Chandra Bannerjee
- First president of INC
- Lawyer by profession. First Indian to act as Standing Counsel
- G Subramanya Aiyer
- Founded ‘The Hindu’ Newspaper, where he criticised British imperialism
- Co-founded the Madras Mahajana Sabha
- Gopal Krishna Gokhale
- Regarded as Mahatma Gandhi’s political guru
- Founded the servants of India Society
- Surendranath Banerjee
- Also called ‘Rashtraguru’ and ‘Indian Burke’
- Found the Indian National Association which later merged with the INC
- Founded newspaper ‘The Bengalee’
- Moderate Approach
- The Early Nationalists believed in patience and conciliation rather than confrontation, adopting orderly progress and constitutional means to realise their aims
- To educate the people, to arouse political consciousness, and to create powerful public opinion in favour of their demands they organised annual sessions
- Processions and meetings were held, speeches delivered and discussions held on various economic, social and political questions
- They also drafted petitions and memorandums before submitting them to the government.
- To influence the British government and to enlighten the British public and its political leaders, the Early Nationalists sent deputations of leading Indian leaders to England
- Dadabhai Naoroji
- Achievements of Moderate Nationalists
- They created a national awakening among the people that made Indians conscious of the bonds of common political, economic, and cultural interests that united them
- They also trained people in politics by popularising the ideas of democracy, civil liberties, secularism and nationalism
- They carefully analysed the political economy of British rule in India, and put forward the “drain theory” to explain British exploitation of India
- The efforts of the Early Nationalists also led to the implementation of various social reforms such as:
- the appointment of a Public Service Commission
- A resolution of the House of Commons (1893) allowing for simultaneous examination for the Indian Civil Service in London and India.
- Appointment of the Welby Commission on Indian Expenditure (1895)
- The early nationalists worked with the long-term objective of a democratic self-government.
- Their demands for constitutional reforms were meant to have been conceded in 1892 in the form of the Indian Councils Act
- Through an incessant campaign, the nationalists were able to spread modern democratic ideas, and soon the defence of civil rights became an integral part of the freedom struggle
- It was due to the increased consciousness that there was a great public outrage at the arrest of Tilak and several other leaders and journalists in 1897 and at the arrest and deportation of the Natu brothers without a trial
Evaluation of Early Work of Congress
- Whatever may be the drawback in the demands put forward by the Congress, it was a national body in true sense of the term
- There was nothing in its programme to which any class might take exception
- Its doors were open to all classes and communities.
- Its programme was broad enough to accommodate all interests.
- It may be said that it was not a party, but a movement.
- It must be said to the credit of the nationalist leaders that though they belonged to the urban educated middle class, they were too broad-minded and free from narrow and sectional class interests.
- They kept in mind the larger interests of the people in general
- Criticism
- The methods used by the Early Nationalists of passing resolutions and sending petitions were seen as inadequate by critics who argued that they depended on the generosity of the British instead of relying on their own strength and directly challenging colonial rule
- Some historians have argued that the Early Nationalists misunderstood the British government and believed the fundamentally diametric interests of both the colonial administration and the nationalist movement could be resolved in favour of the latter
- The Early Nationalists failed to draw the masses into the mainstream of the national movement such that their area of influence remained limited to urban educated Indians
