Moderate Phase, Extremist Phase & Swadeshi Movement

1. Moderate Phase (1885–1905): Methods, Demands, and Achievements

Who were the Moderates? The early leaders of the Indian National Congress (1885–1905) are called "Moderates" because of their moderate, constitutional, and petitionary methods. Key leaders: Dadabhai Naoroji (Grand Old Man of India), Pherozeshah Mehta (Uncrowned King of Bombay), Gopal Krishna Gokhale (Gandhi's political guru), Surendranath Banerjee (Nation Maker), Dinshaw Wacha, Badruddin Tyabji (first Muslim president of INC, 1887).

Methods (3 P's):

1. Prayer — petitions to the British government and Parliament.
2. Petition — constitutional memoranda, representations.
3. Protest — through newspapers and public speeches; no boycott or mass agitation.

Key Demands:

• Expansion and reform of Legislative Councils — more elected Indian members.
• Separation of judicial and executive functions — to prevent abuse of power.
• Indianization of higher Civil and Military Services — allow Indians to compete equally (ICS exams held simultaneously in India and England, or raise the age limit).
• Reduction of military expenditure (which drained Indian revenues).
• Free and compulsory primary education.
• Reduction of Home Charges (drain of wealth).
• Repeal of the Arms Act (1878) — which disarmed Indians.
• Freedom of press — repeal of the Vernacular Press Act (1878).

Major Achievements of Moderates:

• Indian Councils Act (1892): Slightly enlarged the legislative councils; introduced indirect elections for some non-official seats — a small step toward representative government.
• Indian Councils Act, 1861 had already expanded councils but with nominated (not elected) members.
• Created a national political consciousness and trained the country in political thinking.
• Developed the concept of economic nationalism — Drain theory, critique of British economic policy.
• Secured some relief — abolition of salt tax in certain areas, some tariff adjustments.

Limitations of Moderates:

• Their methods were largely ineffective — petitions were ignored.
• They had faith in British "sense of justice" — which was misplaced.
• Congress was seen as an elite talking shop — not representative of the masses.
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak (one of the leaders who would later become an Extremist) famously said: "Mendicancy is no politics at all." He and others grew frustrated with the Moderate approach.

2. Partition of Bengal (1905) and Swadeshi Movement

The Partition (October 16, 1905): Lord Curzon (Viceroy 1899–1905), citing administrative convenience (Bengal was too large), divided Bengal on communal lines:

• West Bengal (Hindu majority) + Bihar and Orissa → smaller Bengal province.
• East Bengal and Assam (Muslim majority, capital Dacca) → new province.

Hidden Motive:

• Weaken the Bengali nationalist movement — Bengal was the hotbed of Indian nationalism.
• Create a wedge between Hindus and Muslims.
• Counter the influence of educated Bengalis who led anti-British agitation.

Reaction:

• August 7, 1905: INC session at Calcutta adopted a Boycott Resolution — beginning of the Swadeshi Movement.
• October 16, 1905 (Partition Day): Rabindranath Tagore led a protest — people tied rakhi on each other across religious lines; observed as day of mourning.

Swadeshi Movement — Features:

1. Boycott of British goods: Manchester cloth burned; Agarbattis and Indian lamps used instead of British items. Leaders: Lal-Bal-Pal + Aurobindo Ghosh.
2. Promotion of indigenous industry: National stores (Swadeshi Bhandar) opened; spinning and weaving revived; new Swadeshi factories.
3. National Education Movement: Bengal National College (Calcutta, 1906) — Aurobindo Ghosh became principal. Satish Chandra Mukherjee's Dawn Society.
4. Cultural awakening: Tagore composed Amar Sonar Bangla; Swadeshi songs, plays, art exhibitions. Tilak's Ganapati (1893) and Shivaji (1896) festivals now became platforms for nationalist fervor.
5. Secret revolutionary activities: Alipore Bomb Case (1908), Nasik Conspiracy.

Annulment of Partition (December 12, 1911):

• At the Delhi Durbar to celebrate King George V's coronation, the Partition was annulled.
• Bengal reunited; Assam separated; Bihar and Orissa made a separate province; capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi (proclaimed December 12, 1911).
• Nationalists celebrated the annulment as a victory of mass agitation.
• Hindu reactionaries and Muslim leaders were unhappy for different reasons.

3. Extremist Phase and Surat Split (1907)

Who were the Extremists? A group of younger, more aggressive nationalist leaders who disagreed with the Moderate approach. Key leaders: Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Lokmanya — "Beloved of the People"), Bipin Chandra Pal (Prophet of New India), Lala Lajpat Rai (Lion of Punjab) — collectively called Lal-Bal-Pal — and Aurobindo Ghosh.

Extremist Methods:

• Passive resistance + mass agitation — go beyond petitions.
• Swaraj (self-rule) — their goal, unlike Moderates who wanted only reform within the British system.
• Swadeshi and boycott as weapons.
• Invocation of Hindu tradition and nationalism — Kali, Durga, Shivaji — to mobilize masses. (This is why they are also called the "Hindu nationalists" — though this had mixed consequences for Hindu-Muslim unity.)
• Tilak's famous line: "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it!"

Tilak's Key Actions:

• Deccan Education Society (1884) and Kesari (Marathi) and Mahratta (English) — powerful nationalist newspapers.
• Ganapati Festival (1893) and Shivaji Festival (1896): Used to mobilize masses under cultural/religious umbrella.
• Aravind Ghosh's Yugantar and Kal (Kaal): Revolutionary journals.

Surat Split (December 1907):

• At the Surat session of INC (1907), the Moderates (supporting Rash Behari Ghosh for President) and Extremists (supporting Lala Lajpat Rai) clashed physically.
• The session ended in chaos — shoes thrown, chairs broken.
• INC split into: (a) Moderate INC, and (b) Extremist INC.
• British used this split: Tilak was arrested and imprisoned in Mandalay (Burma) for 6 years (1908).
• After Tilak's return from Mandalay, both groups reunited at the Lucknow Session (1916) — also famous for the Lucknow Pact (1916) between INC and Muslim League (Congress agreed to separate electorates for Muslims).

Morley-Minto Reforms / Indian Councils Act 1909:

• Named after Secretary of State John Morley and Viceroy Lord Minto.
• Enlarged legislative councils at the Centre and provinces.
• Introduced separate electorates for Muslims — a major constitutional landmark; Muslims could only vote for Muslim candidates in Muslim seats. Seen as the beginning of communal politics.
• Introduced the principle of election — though limited.
• Tilak denounced the separate electorates; Congress accepted it grudgingly. Muslim League (founded 1906, Dhaka) celebrated.
• First Indian member of the Viceroy's Executive Council: Satyendra Prasad Sinha (1909).

4. Home Rule Movement (1916) and World War I Context

World War I (1914–18) and Indian Politics:

• Initially, INC leaders supported Britain in the war, expecting rewards (constitutional advance) after its conclusion.
• The war created opportunities for nationalist leaders to bargain for political reforms.

Home Rule League (1916):

• Two separate leagues formed in 1916:
  1. Tilak's Home Rule League (April 1916) — based at Poona, active in Maharashtra, Central Provinces, and Karnataka.
  2. Annie Besant's Home Rule League (September 1916) — based at Adyar (Madras), active in the rest of India.
• Goal: Home Rule (self-government) within the British Empire — similar to what Ireland was demanding.
• Methods: Mass lectures, pamphlets, newspaper campaigns — not boycott. More organized and geographically broader than previous movements.
• Impact: Created a mass political organization for the first time; first movement to go beyond the educated elite to include large sections of the urban middle class.
• Annie Besant was interned by the British (June 1917) — this created enormous sympathy for her; she was released September 1917 and became INC President (the first woman president, Calcutta Session 1917).

Lucknow Pact (December 1916):

• Historical agreement between INC and Muslim League at the Lucknow Session.
• INC leaders included: Tilak and the Moderate-Extremist reunited Congress.
• Muslim League leaders included: Muhammad Ali Jinnah (then a strong nationalist).
• Terms: INC accepted separate electorates for Muslims; Congress-League joint demand for greater self-government.
• Significance: Rare moment of Hindu-Muslim political unity; both organizations presented a joint demand to the British. Tilak and Jinnah praised each other — Sarojini Naidu called the pact the "Lucknow marriage." However, the acceptance of separate electorates deepened communal division long-term.

August Declaration (1917):

• Secretary of State Edwin Montague announced: British Government's policy was the "increasing association of Indians in every branch of administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions" — first formal British acknowledgment that self-government was the goal.
• This declaration led to the Montagu-Chelmsford Report (1918) and the Government of India Act, 1919 (Dyarchy) — important constitutional development.