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Home , Berlin Committee, Bhai Parmanand, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Komagata Maru incident, Tarak Nath Das

Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17)

Modern History

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Darbar(1911)

● Set up to welcome King . ● Decisions taken during this were: ● Annulment of Partition of but Separation of Bihar & Orissa from Bengal ● Transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1912

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Previous Year Question

2014.The partition of Bengal made by Lord Curzon in 1905 lasted until (a) The when Indian troops were needed by the British and the partition war ended (b) King George V abrogated Curzon’s Act at the Royal Durbar in Delhi,1911 (c) Gandhiji launched a Civil Disobedience movement (d) The Partition of , in 1947 when East Bengal became East

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) The Ghadr

● The Ghadr Party was a revolutionary group organized around a weekly newspaper. ● The Ghadr had its headquarters at San Francisco. ● These revolutionaries included mainly ex-soldiers & peasants who had migrated from the in search of better employment opportunities. ● They were based in the US & Canadian cities along the western (Pacific) coast.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) The Ghadr (Cont...) ● Pre-Ghadr revolutionary activity had been carried on by Ramdas Puri, G.D. Kumar, Taraknath Das, & Lala Hardayal who reached there in 1911. ● To carry out revolutionary activities, the earlier activists had set up a 'Swadesh Sevak Home' at & 'United ' in Seattle. ● , an Indian student, & one of the 1st leaders of Indian community in North America to start a paper (called Free Hindustan) realized that while the British government was keen on Indians going to Fiji to work as laborers for British planters, it did not want them to go to North America where they might be infected by ideas of liberty.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Previous Year Question

2005. Where were the Ghadr revolutionaries , who became active during the outbreak of the World War I based? (a) Central America (b) North America (c) West America (d) South America

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Cont…

● Finally in 1913, the Ghadr was established. ● Ghadr programme was to organize assassinations of officials, publish revolutionary & anti-imperialist literature, work among Indian troops stationed abroad, procure arms & bring about a simultaneous revolt in all British colonies. ● The moving spirits behind the Ghadr Party were Lala Hardayal, Ramchandra, Bhagwan Singh, Kartar Singh Saraba, .

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Cont…

● The ghadrites intended to bring about a revolt in India. ● Their plans were encouraged by 3 events in 1914: ● arrest & escape of Hardayal , ● the , ● the outbreak of the 1st World War.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Arrest & escape of Hardayal

● Dayal was arrested on 25 March 1914 on the stated ground of his anarchist activities though everybody suspected that the British Government had much to do with it. ● Released on bail, he used the opportunity to slip out of the country. ● With that, his active association with the came to an abrupt end.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Komagata Maru incident

● Created an explosive situation in the Punjab. ● Komagata Maru was the name of a ship which was carrying 376 passengers, mainly Sikh & Punjabi Muslim would-be immigrants, from Hongkong to Vancouver. ● They were turned back by Canadian authorities after 2 months of privation & uncertainty.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Komagata Maru incident (Cont...)

● Generally believed that the were influenced by the British Government. ● The ship finally anchored at Calcutta in September 1914. ● The inmates refused to board the Punjab-bound train. ● In the ensuing with the police at near Calcutta, 22 persons died.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Ghadrites Activity During 1st WW

● Inflamed by this & with the outbreak of the War, the Ghadr leaders decided to launch a violent attack on British rule in India.

● They urged fighters to go to India.

● & Raghubar Dayal Gupta left for India.

● Rashbehari Bose & Sachin Sanyal were asked to lead the movement.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Ghadrites Activity During 1st WW (Cont...)

● Punjab political dacoities of January-February 1915: In at least 3 out of the 5 main cases, the raiders targeted the moneylenders & the debt records before decamping with the cash. ● Ghadrites fixed February 21 ,1915 as the date for an armed revolt in Ferozepur, & Rawalpindi garrisons, the plan was foiled at the last moment due to treachery.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Government Repression

● The authorities took immediate action, aided by the Defence of India Rules, 1915. ● The British met the wartime threat by a formidable battery of repressive measures — the most intensive since 1857 — & above all by the Defence of India Act passed, in March 1915 primarily to smash the Ghadr movement. ● Rebellion regiments were disbanded, leaders arrested ,deported & hanged. ● There were large scale detentions without trial, special courts giving extremely severe sentences, numerous court - martials of army men.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Government Repression (Cont...)

● fled to Japan from where he & Abani Mukherji made many efforts to send arms while Sachin Sanyal was transported for life. ● Apart from the Bengal revolutionaries & the Punjab Ghadrites, radical pan- Islamists — Ali brothers, Maulana Azad, Hasrat Mohani — were interned for years.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Evaluation of Ghadr

● The achievement of the Ghadr movement lay in the realm of ideology. ● It preached militant nationalism with a completely secular approach. ● Nor did the Ghadarites betray any narrow regional loyalties. ● Tilak, Aurobindo Ghose, Khudi Ram Bose, Kanhia Lal Dutt, Savarkar were all the heroes of the Ghadars.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Evaluation of Ghadr (Cont...)

● Rash Behari Bose was accepted as the leader of the abortive Ghadar revolt in 1915. ● Far from dwelling on the greatness of the or the , the Ghadarites constantly criticized the loyalist role played by the Punjabis during 1857. ● Democratic & egalitarian content: Ghadarites clearly stated that their objective was the establishment of an independent republic of India.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Evaluation of Ghadr (Cont...)

● But politically & militarily, it failed to achieve much because it ○ lacked an organised & sustained leadership, ○ underestimated the extent of preparation required at every level—organisational, ideological, financial & tactical strategic — & ○ perhaps Lala Hardayal was unsuited for the job of an organizer.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Previous Year Question

Q. The Ghadr (Ghadar) was a: (a) Revolutionary association of Indians with headquarters at San Francisco (b) Nationalist organization operating from Singapore (c) Militant organization with headquarters at Berlin (d) Communist movement for India’s freedom with headquarters at Tashkent

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Revolutionaries in

● The for Indian Independence was established in 1915 by Virendra Nath Chattopadhyay, Bhupendranath Dutta, Lala Hardayal, etc. with the help of the German foreign office under Zimmerman Plan'. ● These revolutionaries aimed to mobilize the Indian settlers abroad to send volunteers & arms to India to incite rebellion among Indian troops there. ● To even organize an armed invasion of British India to liberate the country.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Revolutionaries in Europe (Cont…)

● Indian revolutionaries in Europe sent missions to Persia, , & to work among Indian troops & the Indian POWs & to incite anti-British feelings amongst their people. ● One mission under Raja Singh, Barkatullah & Obaidullah Sindhi went to Kabul to organize a provisional Indian government there with the help of crown prince Amanullah.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Home Rule League Movement

● Indian response to the 1st World War in a less charged but a more effective way than the response of Indians living abroad which took the form of the romantic Ghadr adventure. ● The Indian Home Rule Leagues were organized on the lines of the Irish Home Rule Leagues & they represented the emergence of a new trend of aggressive politics.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Home Rule League Movement(Cont…)

● Tilak & Besant realised that the sanction of a Moderate-dominated Congress as well as full cooperation of the extremists was essential for the movement to succeed. ● Having failed at the 1914 session of the Congress to reach a Moderate-Extremist rapprochement, Tilak & Besant decided to revive political activity on their own while maintaining their pressure on the Congress to re-admit the Extremists.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Home Rule League Movement(Cont…)

● Annual Congress session in December 1914 was to prove a disappointment — Pherozeshah Mehta & his Bombay Moderate group succeeded, by winning over Gokhale & the Bengal Moderates, in keeping out the Extremists. ● Early 1915: Besant had launched a campaign to demand self government for India after the war on the lines of white colonies. ● She campaigned through her newspapers, New India & Commonweal, & through public meetings & conferences.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17)

Home Rule League Movement(Cont…) ● At the annual session of the Congress in 1915 the efforts of Tilak & Besant met with some success. It was decided that the extremists be admitted to the Congress ( Mehta was dead). ● Although Besant failed to get the Congress to approve her scheme of Home Rule Leagues, the Congress did commit itself to a programme of educative propaganda & to a revival of local-level Congress committees. ● Not willing to wait for too long, Besant laid the condition that if the Congress did not implement its commitments, she would be free to set up her own League — which she finally had to, as there was no response from the Congress. Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Factors Leading to the Movement

● A section of nationalists felt popular pressure was required to attain concessions from the Government. ● The Moderates were disillusioned with the Morley Minto reforms ● People were feeling the burden of wartime miseries caused by high taxation and a rise in prices, & were ready to participate in any aggressive movement of protest. ● The War, being fought among the major imperialist powers of the day & backed by naked propaganda against each other, exposed the myth of white superiority.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Factors Leading to the Movement(Cont…)

● Tilak was ready to assume leadership after his release in June 1914, & had made conciliatory gestures to reassure the Government of his loyalty & to the Moderates that he wanted, like the Irish Home Rulers, a reform of the administration & not an overthrow of the Government. ● He urged all Indians to assist the British Government in its hour of crisis.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Home Rule League (1916)

● Tilak & set up their separate leagues to avoid any friction. ● Tilak's League was set up in April 1916 & was restricted to Maharashtra (excluding Bombay city), Karnataka, Central Provinces & Berar. ● The demands included swarajya, formation of linguistic states & education in the vernacular Languages. ● Annie Besant set up The National Home Rule League in September, 1916 in Madras & covered the rest of India (including Bombay city).

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Home Rule League (1916)(Cont…)

● It had 200 branches, was loosely organized as compared to Tilak's League & had George Arundale as the organising secretary. ● Besides Arundale, the main work was done by B.P. Wadia & C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar. ● Jamnadas Dwarkadas, Shankerlal Banker & Indulal Yagnik set up a Bombay paper Young India & launched an All India Propaganda Fund to publish pamphlets in regional languages & in English.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Home Rule League (1916)(Cont…)

● The Home Rule agitation was later joined by Motilal Nehru, , , , Madan Mohan Malaviya, Jinnah, & . ● Many of the moderate Congressmen who were disillusioned with Congress inactivity, & some members of Servants of India Society also joined the agitation.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Home Rule League (1916)(Cont…)

● However, Anglo-Indians, most of the Muslims & non Brahmins from South didn’t join as they felt Home Rule would mean rule of Hindu majority, mainly high caste. ● 1920: Gandhiji was elected the president of the All India Home Rule League.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Home Rule League Programme

● Aimed to convey to the common man the message of Home Rule as self-government. ● It carried a much wider appeal than the earlier mobilisations did & also attracted the hitherto 'politically backward' regions of Gujarat & Sindh.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) The aim was to be achieved by ● promoting political education & discussion through public meetings, ● organising libraries & reading rooms containing books on national politics, ● Holding conferences, ● organising classes for students on politics, ● Propaganda through newspapers, pamphlets, posters, illustrated postcards, plays, religious songs, etc., ● collecting funds, ● organising social work, & ● participating in local government activities. Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Government Attitude

● The Government came down with severe repression, especially in Madras where the students were prohibited from attending political meetings. ● A case was instituted against Tilak which was withdrawn by the High Court. ● Tilak was defended by a team of lawyers led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Government Attitude (Cont…)

● Tilak was barred from entering the Punjab and Delhi. ● In 1917 Besant & her associates, B.P. Wadia & George Arundale, were arrested. ● Sir S. Subramania Aiyar renounced his knighthood while Tilak advocated a programme of passive resistance.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Why the Agitation Faded Out by 1919

● There was a lack of effective organisation. ● Communal riots were witnessed during 1917-18. ● Moderates who had joined the Congress after Besant's arrest were pacified by Montagu's statement which held self government as the long-term goal of the British rule in India & Besant's release. ● Montagu-Chelmsford reforms which became known in July 1918 further divided the nationalist rank.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Why the Agitation Faded Out by 1919 (Cont…)

● Talk of passive resistance by the extremists kept the moderates off from activity from September 1918 onwards. ● Tilak had to go abroad (September 1918) in connection with a case while Annie Besant vacillated over her response to the reforms & the techniques of passive resistance. ● With Besant unable to give a positive lead & Tilak away in England, the movement was left leaderless.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Positive Gains ● The movement shifted the emphasis from the educated elite to the masses and permanently deflected the movement from the course mapped by the Moderates. ● It created an organizational link between the town & country, which was to prove crucial in later years when the movement entered its mass phase in a true sense. ● It prepared the masses for politics of the Gandhian style. ● August 1917 declaration of Montagu & the Chelmsford reforms were influenced by the Home Rule agitation.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Positive Gains (Cont…)

● Tilak's & Besant's efforts in the Moderate-Extremist reunion revived the Congress as an effective instrument of . ● It lent a new dimension and a sense of urgency to the national movement. ● It created an environment of patriotism & influenced youth to join National Movement ● Leaders who emerged during this period became leaders of the future ● became a household slogan

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Previous Year Question

In 1920, which of the followings changed its name to “Swarajya Sabha”? (a) All India Home Rule League (b) Hindu Mahasabha (c) South Indian Liberal Federation (d) The Servants of India Society

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Lucknow Session 1916

● Presided over by moderate Ambika Charan Majumdar ● Moderates & Extremists rejoined ● Various factors facilitated this reunion: ○ Old controversies had become meaningless now. ○ Both Moderates & the Extremists realized that the split had led to political inactivity.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Lucknow Session 1916 (Cont…)

○ To allay Moderate suspicions, Tilak declared that he supported a reform of administration & not overthrow of Government. He also denounced acts of violence. ○ Annie Besant & Tilak made effort for reunion into INC ○ Gokhale & Feroz Shah Mehta both moderate died who were opposed to the reunion

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Lucknow Pact, 1916

● Congress and Muslim League sessions were held at the same venue ● Congress & Muslim League agreed to work for Hindu Muslim Unity ● Madan Mohan Malaviya opposed this ● This relationship helped in various national movements like Non -Cooperation, Khilafat. ● This happened at a time when the League, now dominated by the younger militant nationalists, was coming closer to Congress objectives & turning increasingly anti-imperialist.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Shift in the League's Position ● Britain's refusal to help Turkey in its wars in the Balkans (1912-13) & with Italy (during 1911) had infuriated the Muslims. ● Announcement of cancelation partition of Bengal had annoyed those sections of Muslims who had supported the partition. ● The refusal of the British Government in India to set up a university at Aligarh with powers to affiliate colleges all over India also alienated some Muslims. ● Younger League members were turning to bolder nationalist politics & were trying to outgrow the limited political outlook of the Aligarh school.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Shift in the League's Position(Cont…)

● Calcutta session of the League (1912) had committed League to "working with other groups for a system of Self government suited to India, provided it didn’t come in conflict with its basic objective of protection of interests of the Indian Muslims". ● Thus, the goal of self-government similar to the Congress brought both sides closer. ● Younger Muslims were infuriated by the government repression during the War.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Shift in the League's Position(Cont…)

● Maulana Azad's Al Hilal & Mohammad Ali's Comrade faced suppression while the Ali brothers, Maulana Azad & Hasrat Mohani faced internment. ● This generated anti-imperialist sentiments among the "Young Party". ● While the League agreed to present joint constitutional demands with the Congress to the Government, the Congress accepted League's position on separate electorates.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Shift in the League's Position(Cont…)

● The joint demands were: ○ Government should declare that it would confer self government on Indians at an early date. ○ The legislative councils should be further expanded with an elected majority & more powers be given to them. ○ ½ the members of the viceroy's executive council should be Indians.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Negative Fallouts

● Effort of the Congress & League to put up a united front was a far-sighted one, the acceptance of the principle of separate electorates by the Congress implied that they came together as separate political entities. ● This was a major landmark in the evolution of, the 2 nation theory by the League. ● While the leaders of the 2 groups came together, efforts to bring together the masses from the two communities were not considered.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17) Positive Gains

● Despite being a controversial decision, the acceptance of the principle of separate electorates represented serious desire to allay minority fears of majority domination. ● Large amount of enthusiasm generated among the people by this reunion. ● Even Government decided to placate nationalists by declaring its intention to grant self-government to Indians, as contained in Montagu's August 1917 declaration.

Modern History: XI -Indian Freedom Struggle (1911-17)