Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

FREEDOM MOVEMENT

IV session - 1890 - Calcutta President: Pherozeshah Mehta The chief feature of this session was that the government publicly declared the INC to be "perfectly legitimate” and al- lowed public servants to attend it. As a consequence of the efforts of Charles Bradlaugh the British Parliament passed the Indian Councils Act of 1892; though disappointing the Congress hailed it as the first victory of the constitutional agitation started by it. "Henceforth the Congress did never falter in its onward march from year to year, buoyed up with courage and hope for ultimate success. Though there was no essential change either in its ideal and outlook, or in its method of agita- tion, it came to be gradually recognized both by friends and foes, in India and in Britain, to be a potent force in the public life of India." The fifth session took a significant de- parture from earlier sessions; the policy of appealing to people to follow the path of the Congress was abandoned and Hume's pro- posal of "to approach the great English nation to do justice to India ” was pursued; the Indian National Congress henceforth adopted the sacred creed : "appeals to unselfishness, to jus- tice and to humanity will ever find a sure response from the great heart of the British people." During this session among other things, a resolution about the economic conditions of the people was passed, which reads: "That this Congress concurring in the view set forth in previous Congresses, affirms - That fully fifty millions of the population, a number yearly increasing, are dragging out a miserable existence on the verge of starva- tion, and that, in every decade, several mil- lions actually perish of starvation. That this unhappy condition of affairs is largely due to - him the name 'Member of India' in the House of Commons. A scheme of representative government was drafted in this session; the Congress also resolved to send a deputation to Eng- land to express its views on political re- forms in India. V session - 1891 - Nagpur President: P. Anand Charlu

IX - session - 1893 - Lahore President: Dadabhai Naoroji. The Congress passed the resolution point- ing out that 'material alterations are neces- sary alike in the rules of the Government of India and in the practice of most of the local governments, if real effect is to be given to the spirit of the Act.' In 1904, the Congress went one step fur- ther and demanded representation of Indians in the British House of Commons. It also asked for "the appointment of Indian repre- sentatives (who shall be nominated by the elected members of the Legislative Councils) as members of the Indian Council in Lon- don...." The Congress year after year passed reso- lutions protesting the abuses and urging for reforms in all spheres of administration; simi- larly trial by jury, police reforms, tax reduc- tion etc., comprised the contents of many resolutions. In 1898 the Congress expressed "its deep sense of disapproval of the reactionary policy of Government with regard to the local self- government, recently inaugurated by the in- troduction of the Calcutta Municipal Bill into the Bengal Legislative Council, the creation of the Bombay City Improvement Trust with- out adequate popular representation, and its action in other directions." At the 1901 Congress the Chairman of the reception committee made a statement on the 'development of Indian industries.' It reads as: "We cannot live in ignorance of the su- preme importance which industry has assumed in modern civilisation. In these days every * The exclusion of the people of India from a due participation in the administration. * The extravagant cost of the present ad- ministration. * A short-sighted system of Land Revenue Administration. That hence it has become imperatively necessary- That the cost of the administration be greatly reduced; and, in the Civil Branch, by the wide substitution of a cheaper indige- nous agency for the extremely costly im- ported staff..." The above resolution is an indication of representation of popular feelings by the INC and it also reveals the fact that its criticisms were constructive in a way to reveal the greatest evil of British admini- stration.

political question is at bottom an economic one. It seems that henceforward markets are to be the battle-fields where destinies of na- tions will be decided. With the average Euro- pean, it is a fixed idea that in the pre-estab- lished harmony of the universe, Europe is to sell and Asia to buy. But we cannot help feeling that our thoughts and energies cannot be better employed than in the work of effect- ing a revival and development of our indus- tries. " President: Surendranath Banerji. The President of the session put forward the demand for protection of Indian industries which reads thus: "Our infant industries need protection. But the Government wedded to the tradi- tions of free trade, will not grant them pro- tection. If, however, protection by legisla- tive enactment is impossible, may we not, by the fiat of national will, afford them such protection as may lie in our power if we resolve in our heart of hearts to avail overselves, wherever practicable, of in- digenous articles in preference to foreign goods.... Our industrial helplessness is even more deplorable than our political im- potency.... Let it never be forgotten that po- litical rights minister to material progress and that an unenfranchised people can never work out their industrial salvation." The Preisdential speech of Surendra Nath Banerjee; speaking on New Imperialism, he said: "Imperialism has always been syn- onymous with autocracy. In ancient Rome, as in modern France, imperial- ism meant the supersession of popu- lar authority and the establishment of one-man authority ........ British imperi- alism implies the closer union-the more intimate federation between the English-speaking subjects of His Majesty. We stand outside the pale of this federation. We are not permit- ted to enter the threshold of the Holy of Holies. We are privileged only to serve and to admire from a dis- tance.... " "The triumphs of liberty are not won in a day. Liberty is a jealous goddess, exacting in her worship and claiming from her votaries About "Our Heritage" he said, XVIII - session 1902 - Ahmedabad