Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

FREEDOM MOVEMENT

proposed or mentioned in the financial state- ment or explanatory memorandum. The .members were given the power to move resolutions in the councils. These were to be in the form of a definite recommendation to the government. Rules were framed under the Act for discussion of matters of general public interests in the legislative councils. Disqualifications were imposed on political offenders. Though the Minto-Morley reforms marked an important step in the introduction of repre- sentative government, they did not grant Parliamentary government to India. In fact, Indian administration still continued to be carried on with absolute responsibility to Whitehall. As the authors of the Report on Indian Constitutional Reforms, 1918 observed, "The reforms of1909 afforded no answer and could afford no answer, to Indian political problems.... Responsibility is the savour of popular government, and that savour the pres- ent councils wholly lack". The moderates had been willing to com- promise but felt cheated by Morley who de- nied that the reforms had been meant to intro- duce a Parliamentary form of Government. The arbitrary powers of disqualification, the narrow franchise, the official majority at the centre and the hoax of non-official majorities, the limited power of influencing the budget disillusioned the moderates. The Congress as a party disapproved of communal electorates. The extremists made a forceful political at- tack on the moderates whose influence rapidly lessened. The real purpose of the reforms was to divide the nationalist ranks and check the growth of unity among the Indians. The reforms introduced the system of elections but the number of voters was very small. As the number was small, all the votes could be bought. Women were completely excluded. The system of elections was indi- rect. The people elected members of local bodies who elected members of an electoral college. The electoral college elected mem- bers of the provincial legislatures and the members of provincial legislatures elected members of the Imperial Legislature. The consequence was that there was no connec- tion between the people and the members sit- ting in the legislature. The Minto-Morley re- forms did not come upto the expectation of the Indians and the discontent continued un- abated.

Minor Political Parties Chronology (1910-1944)

1923: Hindu Mahasabha (founded in 1907 in Punjab) became active politically after Benares session, led by Madan Mohan Malaviya. 1928: Peasants and Workers Party; estab- lished as a legal wing of Commu- nists. 1929: Abdul Ghaffar Khan in North West Frontier Province.

1910:

Hindu Mahasabha.

1912:

Khilafat Movement. Active till 1924, led by Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, adopted Gandhian non-co-op- eration pledge in 1920.

Mohammad Ali

Abdul Ghaffar Khan

1917:

Justice Party founded by T.N. Nair, P. Tygaraja Chetty and Natesa Mu- daliar; active in Madras. National Liberal Federation founded by Tej Bahadur Sapru and M. R. Jay- akar active in Bombay 1921-23. Central Provinces 1921-23 and United Provinces 1921-23. In Ben- gal it was known as the Moderate Party. Jamiatul ulema-i-Hind, founded by Maulana Mahmudal Hasan Shaikh ul Hind of Deoband school, a national- ist Muslim.

(Frontier Gandhi)

1932:

Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Con- ference founded by Sheikh Muham- mad Abdullah. Socialist Party, founded as Congress offshoot by Jaya Prakash Narayan.

1918:

1934:

1936: All-India Kisan Sabha joined by

Andhra group formed by N.G. Ranga in 1931 and Bihar Kisan Sabha founded by Swami Sahajanand in 1929. 1936: Independent Labour Party founded by B. R. Ambedkar in Bombay.

1919:

1920: Congress Democratic Party founded by B.G. Tilak to fight elections. Base for Democratic Swaraj Party of 1937. 1921-22 Communist Party organisation work begun by M.N. Roy and others. Party declared legal in 1943.

1922:

Swarajparty founded; an offshot of Congress to "wreck" councils from inside, led by Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das and others.

B.R. Ambedkar

1939: Chotanagpur Adivasi Mahasabha

founded by Jaipal Singh; later Jarkhand Party. Forward Bloc, founded by Subhash Chandra Bose in Calcutta. Radical Democratic Party founded by M. N. Roy in Calcutta. Scheduled Caste Federation founded by B.R. Ambedkar in Nagpur. Dravida Kazhagam, founded by E. V. Ramaswami Naicker.

1939:

1940:

1942:

1944:

Motilal Nehru