Naoroji spent fifty-one years in Britain, most of which were devoted to the Indian cause. Before standing for parliament he was a businessman dealing in cotton, but his life's main aim was always to fight for more rights for his fellow countrymen and women. Among the many achievements that can be attributed to his unflagging efforts was the incorporation of Indians to the Indian Civil Service, which before Naoroji intervened, was virtually closed to them because the entrance examination was held in London. After an extremely long personal campaign, ridden with numerous obstacles, racism being the main one, Naoroji was chosen as Liberal candidate for Central Finsbury. He had promised to represent the constituency first and India second, which he did. Not only was he the sole voice representing 250 million Indians, but he also worked hard for the people of Finsbury and also espoused other causes, Irish Home Rule being the principal one. Many Indian nationalists took great interest in the Irish Home Rule Movement seeing a parallel between their situations and thinking that Indian support for their cause would be corresponded by Irish solidarity for India, but Charles Stewart Parnell and his followers did not respond as expected. (Visram, 1986:77-8) 75 Naoroji became famous *overnight1 owing to a rather unfortunate remark made by the Conservative Prime Minister of the time, Lord Salisbury, who declared that "however great the progress of mankind has been, and however far we have advanced in overcoming prejudices, I doubt if we have yet got to the point of view where a British constituency would elect a black man." (Quoted in Visram & Dewjee, 1984:10) The speech was widely reported in the press and, ironically, helped Naoroji in his political career. The Liberal party made an issue out of the words Ablack man1 bearing in mind the Indian's particularly pale complexion. Even when he was finally elected, by a very narrow majority of three, the sentiment behind Lord Salisbury's words would be revived. St. Stephen's Review declared that "Central Finsbury should be ashamed of itself at having publicly confessed that there was not in the whole of the Division an Englishman, a Scotchman, a Welshman, or an Irishman as worthy of their vote as this fire-worshipper [Naoroji was a Farsee] from Bombay" (ibid.,11) Towards the end of his life, this *Grand Old Man of India'7 gradually moved towards the left in his political views, but he never lost faith in basic British fairness and honour. In his old age he made friends with the British socialist H.M. Hyndman (Fryer, 1989:264) who may have influenced the tone of his denunciations of British 7 This is the title of a biography of Naoroji by R.P.Masani (George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1939) 76 imperialism, which became considerably stronger without ever becoming downright radical. The nearest he would ever reach was in 1904 when, as a guest of honour at the International Socialist Congress in Amsterdam, he denounced the barbaric way the British Government was treating India. He appealed to the British people to remedy the situation. (Chandan, 1986:24) Naoroji had founded the London Indian Society in 1865 together with another moderate Indian, Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee. Bonnerjee studied law in Britain and was the second Indian to be called to the Bar, the first being Monmohon Ghose who beat him by a few months in 1868. (Fryer, 1989:265) Unlike Naoroji, Bonnerjee was an unsuccessful parliamentary candidate but deserves to be remembered among the early Indian settlers in Britain for being the first president of the Indian National Congress, which met for the first time in Bombay in December 1885. (Watson, 1979:147) It was believed that the important work of Congress had to be done in England not in India and great efforts were made by leading members to become elected members of the British Parliament. The second Asian, or non-white for that matter, to be elected Member of Parliament was Mancherjee Bhownaggree, who represented Bethnal Green Northeast for the Conservative Party from 1895 to 1906.. Like Naoroji, Bhownaggree was a Parsee but 77 he was definitely pro-British and anti anything which smelled of ^agitation1. He was a rich man staunchly supported by the Tories, who used him to counteract the rising popularity of his fellow Asian but political rival, Naoroji. (Visram, 1986:92-7)8 The political awakening of the Muslims in India was due in part to the work of Syed Ameer Ali, former Judge of the High Court of Calcutta, who retired and settled permanently in England. Ameer Ali, who became the first Indian Privy Councillor in England, (ibid.) may be considered the last of the older generation of Indian nationalists, still very western in their outlook. These first native voices sought reform rather than revolution, as opposed to the new generation, who would not be fobbed off with the excuse that the bulk of the Indian community were still not ready for self-government. The second wave of Asians in Britain would, in their majority, no longer believe in the myth of xoriental stagnation1, which had been cultivated for so long and so carefully by the white 8 A comparison between the obituaries of these two prominent Indians reflects current opinions of British subject peoples. The Times wrote of Naoroji that "the Indian member's lack of mental adaptation and narrowness of view stood in the way of his making any distinct mark." (3 July 1917), whereas Bhownaggree spoke "from the standpoint of a sound imperialist, averse to changes for which he did not believe his country to be ripe." (15 November 1933) 78 man "to ease his own conscience as he enjoyed the perquisites of power." (Metcalf, 1965:326) The students and intellectuals of the early twentieth century did not stop at reform but instead wished to rid India of foreign rule once and for all. 3.2.2. Radicals. The more authoritarian British rule in India became, the more radical Indian nationalists grew. The 1905 partition of Bengal was seen by the Indian National Congress to be a deliberate attack on Indian union. Lord Curzon, the viceroy who had ordered the partition, failed to understand the ardent reaction provoked by what he believed to be a "sensible administrative operation" (Watson, 1979:150)9 Certainly the ill feeling generated by the partition of Bengal, which had been carried out without consulting Indian interests, was the most militant phase of political unrest since the 1857 Uprising. That historic year saw the birth of one of the Anew' Indians, 9 The partition of Bengal was revoked a few years after Curzon1s resignation in October 1905. Ironically, the Indians themselves would divide up Bengal in 1947 in order to separate Hindus (West Bengal) from Muslims (East Pakistan, later Bangladesh) 79 Shyamaji Krishnavarma, a passionate anti-imperialist, who believed that Britain would only quit India by force, the "jewel in the crown" being far too profitable to abandon through choice. Krishnavarma founded the Indian Home Rule Society in 1905. The society's headquarters were a meeting place for young politically-minded Indians, who, among other things, could learn how to make a bomb. (Fryer, 1989:267; Chandan, 1986:24) Krishnavarma was inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1905 and believed in the need for armed struggle against British occupation. He recruited most of his followers from the small student population. In the first decade of the twentieth century there were approximately one hundred Indian students in Britain, half of whom were in London. (Visram,1986:104 & 178) The authorities began to realize that they posed a serious threat to the British Raj both in India as well as in Britain, (ibid., 107; Fryer, 1989:267) Until then, the British government had tolerated any native Indian political movements, such as the National Congress, in the same spirit that a benevolent teacher might smile patronisingly at his/her pupils1 debating society. When the Congress had developed into a great political institution exerting enormous influence on educated sectors of Indian society, it was already too late to quell it. 80 Many of the supporters of the India Home Rule Society became ardent revolutionaries, but perhaps the most outstanding member was Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. This man took over from Krishnavarma as head of India House, the Highgate headquarters of the Society, when the latter abandoned Britain when his presence started to become rather too oppressive for the authorities. Savarkar played an active part in the assassination of Sir William Curzon Wyllie, an official in charge of keeping tracks on the activities of Indian students in Britain. Wyllie was shot dead by a young student called Madan Lai Dhingra during the annual meeting of the National Indian Association. Dhingra was arrested and hanged for his crime on 18 August 1909 (Visram, 1986:108) but he left a written statement explaining the motive for his violent act. Although the police denied the existence of such a statement, Savarkar, who had another copy, had it published in the Daily News (18 August 1909) the same day of Dhingra1s execution. "I attempted to shed English blood as an humble revenge for the inhuman hangings and deportations of patriotic Indian youths... I believe that a nation held down by foreign bayonet is in a perpetual state of war. Since open battle is rendered impossible to a disarmed race I attacked by surprise... As a Hindoo I felt that wrong to my country is an insult to God." (Quoted in Fryer, 1989:269) 81 I The police did not hesitate to close down India House and arrest Savarkar.