INC December 28, 1885.

PH The Congress Raj (1937–39)

 2001, Q3: Give a detailed account of the Congress policies against Muslims from 1937– 1939.
 2005, Q4: Give the detailed account of the Indian National Congress policies against Muslims
from 1937 to 1939.
 2018, Q5: The Congress Rule in the provinces (1937–39) paved the way for the Pakistan
Movement. Comment.
PA The Indian National Congress
 2003, Q3: Examine the nature of Congress rule in the Provinces under the Government of India
Act, 1935. What was its impact on the Muslim Politics?
 2004, Q5: “Between 1937-1947 congress policies were such as to make Pakistan inevitable”.
Discuss.
 2019, Q2: Critically examine Congress Ministries of 1937. How far is it correct to suggest that it
paved the way for the separate Muslim homeland in India?
In 1853, the Company's Charter was 'to expire. Hence the discussions over the renewal of the Charter
gave birth to the British Indian Association (Calcutta) the Bombay Association and the Madras
Native Association which were to dominate the politics of the Presidency Towns for the next quarter
of a century. These associations brought nineteenth century India across the threshold of modern
politics.
The Ilbert Bill controversy showed the Indians the way to the Indian National Congress as rightly
verified by B.C. Pal. The plan of the creation of INC was conceived, nourished and nurtured by Allen
Octavin Hume a retired British Officer of the Bengal Civil Service ostensibly for political reasons.
Hume was a very staunch well-wisher of the Raj, he resigned from Bengal Civil Service to serve the
interests of the Empire in a different capacity.
he thought of ways and means to provide the Indians with opportunities to give vent to their pent up
feelings, suppressed ambitions and unrealized aspirations, so that they would not entertain any idea of
secret plots. It is worthwhile here to mention that such an idea cropped up in Hume's mind after
reading Sayyid Ahmad Khan's book The Causes of the Indian Revolt. This was stated by Hume
himself to Sahibzada Aftab Ahmad Khan
In fact, Hume wanted to establish a social platform more than a political one, where the Indian could
openly discuss and deliberate upon the problems of their social and community - welfare and
development.
Lord Dufferin, the Governor-General of India, added a new dimension to Hume's brain-child. He
suggested Hume to transform his proposed organization into a political party as there was no "Her
Majesty's Opposition" in India. He thought that in this way, the Government could know the nature of
reaction among the Indians to the measures taken by the Government.
Hume went to England in connection with the establishment of the INC and held discussion with a
large number of members of the British Parliament. Hume's return from England was marked by
hectic preparations for holding the inaugural session of the Congress which was to be held at
Bombay where W.C. Bonnerjee presided over the session at Gokaldas Tejpal Sanskrit College
on December 28, 1885.
Early Demands of the Congress During the inaugural session:

 K.T. Telang moved a resolution for expansion of the Imperial and Provincial
Legislative Councils.
 The Congress demanded elected members in councils.
 Civil Service exams to be held simultaneously in India and England.

The INC was a pro-British party.

 The INC, in its early days, supported the British Raj. It was a pro-British party. It was not only
conceived and brought up by a Britisher but it also received support and blessing from several other
Britishers.
 There is no denying the fact that the INC had established very warm and cordial relation with the
Raj. It is quite evident from the fact that in 1886, the Governor-General, Lord Dufferin, invited the
Congress delegates to tea in the Government House and very next year, Lord Connemara, the
Governor of Madras also graced the Congress delegates by treating them to tea. A year earlier, in
1885, a few days before the inaugural session of the INC a large number of Bombay dignitaries,
including Justice Jardine; Wedderburn and Principal Wordsworth, met the delegates and assured them
of their support.
 Similarly, British Committee for Indian National Congress came into existence on July 27, 1889
which launched a journal India in 1890 to present problems of India from India's point of view.

For an endless number of years, the Congress kept on harping on the same of its
unequivocal loyalty to the Raj.
Statements of Loyalty to the British Raj

 The first president of the Congress, Bonnerjee, affirmed in his first presidential address, stating,
"There is no one more complete and consistent well-wisher of the British Government than I and my
friends sitting here around me".
 In 1886, Dada Bhai Naoroji went a step ahead. Proudly proclaiming allegiance to the British
Government in his presidential address, he suggested, "We should, like men, declare that we are loyal
to the backbone and we appreciate the benefits which the English Government has bestowed upon us.
We value the English education which has transformed our darkness into sunshine".
 Sir Pherozeshah Mehta expressed similar views in 1890. Confirming his loyalty to the British
Crown, he said, ""The question of our allegiance has been settled for ever"
 Some prominent Hindus acknowledge the fact that "The. Congress was in fact brought into being
through the initiative and in pursuance of direct British governmental policies on a plan secretly pre-
arranged with the Viceroy, as an intended weapon for safeguarding British rule against the rising
forces of popular unrest and anti-British feeling".
 Lala Lajpat Rai also affirmed: "It is an undisputable historical fact that the idea of the INC was a
product of Lord Dufferin and that the Congress was established more with the object of saving the
British Empire from danger than that of winning political liberty for India".

These accounts reveal, in appropriate measures, the extent to which the Congress was socially,
morally and above all intellectually, subservient to the British Imperialism (samraaj).
Congress and the Muslims
Initial Muslim Response to the Congress Invitation : Congress’s Founding and
Muslim Leaders’ Refusal

 Hume, the godfather (founder/initiator) of the Congress, invited Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan,
Nawab Abdul Latif (Secretary, Mohammedan Literary Society) and Sayyid Ameer Ali
(President, Central National Mohammedan Association) to attend the inaugural (first)
session of the Congress.
 All the three leaders refused to attend, and rightly so, because they thought their
participation in the session would be repugnant (harmful/offensive) to the interests of
the Muslims. Separately though, they took the same decision, despite the fact that they
had divergent (different) views on political issues.

Bengali Muslim Reaction : 1886 Calcutta Congress: Zero Muslim Participation

In 1886, the Congress session was held at Calcutta. But surprisingly, not a single Muslim
delegate from Calcutta attended the session, lending credence (support) to the inference
(conclusion) that the Bengali Muslims concurred (agreed) with the opinion of Sayyid Ameer Ali
and Nawab Abdul Latif on the question of Muslim participation in the Congress.

Limited Muslim Participation : 1887 Congress Session and Sayyid Ahmad’s Objection

However, in 1887, in the second session of the Congress, out of the total delegates of 607, only
76 were Muslims. Of these 76 Muslim delegates, 56 belonged to Madras and the remaining
twenty represented all the other provinces.

This tiny group of Muslims which was projected to reflect Muslim representation prompted
Sayyid Ahmad Khan to remark that these Muslim delegates were not elected even by ten
Muslims, therefore, they could not claim to represent the Muslims.

First Muslim President and Debate with Sayyid Ahmad : Badruddin Tyabji's
Presidency and Muslim Debate

As the time passed, the INC succeeded to spread its roots and felt more at ease with itself, its
honeymoon (friendly period) with the Government firmly consummated (completed), it placed a
Muslim, Badruddin Tyabji, in the top slot, to make him the first Muslim president of the
Congress.

In time, Tyabji initiated a debate through his letters to Sayyid Ahmad Khan on the merits and
demerits (advantages and disadvantages) for the Muslims of joining or avoiding to join the
Congress.
But, subsequently (later), Tyabji had to concede (admit) that the majority of the Muslims was
opposed to the Congress.

Low Muslim Attendance in Congress Sessions : Muslim Representation Remained

Symbolic

 In this regard, after a cursory glance (brief look) at the record of the annual sessions of
the Congress, one thing that comes to light, through comparative study of the number of
Muslim participants on different occasions, is the fact that a large majority of the
Muslims did not support the Congress.
 It would be interesting to note that the Congress offered return fare to persuade Muslim
delegates to attend its sessions.
 The twenty-two years long period (1885–1906) saw only two Muslims becoming the
president of the Congress.

Hindu Dominance and Token Muslim Leadership : Muslim Presidents in Congress:

A Minority

During a much larger chunk (portion) of its life, stretching over sixty-three years, since the
inception (beginning) of the Congress from 1885 to the partition of India in 1947, it remained
dominated, in consonance (agreement) with its political colour and creed (belief system), by
Hindu leadership.

There were only seven Muslims who became the presidents of the Congress till 1946.

They were:

 Badruddin Tyabji (1887)

 Rahmatullah Siani (1896)
 Sayyid Mohammad Bahadur (1913)
 Hasan Imam (1918)
 Mohamed Ali Johar (1923)
 Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari (1927)
 Abul Kalam Azad (1940–46)

Muslim Press and Public Opinion

Widespread Muslim Hostility toward Congress

No doubt, there existed a sharp difference of perception (viewpoint) with regard to the INC
among the Muslim leadership in India but as it is evident from the facts and figures mentioned
above, a large majority of the Muslim populace viewed the Congress with an inherent hostility
(natural opposition) born of centuries-old experience of betrayal and treachery (disloyalty).

This hostility was manifestly (clearly) projected by the Muslim press, from Calcutta to Punjab,
which unanimously opposed joining the INC.
Views of Muslim Newspapers

 The Rafiq-i-Hind (Lahore) reflected the anti-Congress feelings of the Muslims of the
Punjab and asserted that the Muslims could not continue to participate in the Congress
agitation as their interests differed from those of the Hindus.
 The Muslim Herald (Madras) questioned the application of the word 'National' for the
Congress since this term could only be applicable to a people "descended from one stock,
speaking a common tongue, amenable (submissive) to a uniform law and united under one
Government".
 The only thing common between the Hindus and the Muslims was their common alliance to
the British, otherwise, "In all respects, they are widely sundered (separated) in race, religion,
social forms and customs".
 Similarly, the Mahomedan Observer (Calcutta) dispelled (rejected) the fear that abstention
from the Congress would undermine Muslim political interests.

Post-Sir Sayyid Era and Continuing Opposition

Muslim Opposition Remained Strong After 1898

 It is a significant fact that Muslim opposition to the Congress continued even after Sayyid
Ahmad's death.
 Alfred Nandy, Secretary of the INC, in a statement claimed that now Sayyid was dead so
his policy of opposition to the Congress was also dead.
 The Muslim Chronicle reacted that the opposition to the Congress of the general body of
Musalmans was as strong as it was 14 years ago.
 Sahibzada Aftab Ahmad Khan reminded Nandy that the Muslims of the present day
might be poor and backward but with all their poverty and backwardness they still had
some sense of self-respect and honour and no sensible and responsible Muslim would
ever join the Congress.

Modern Acknowledgment of Muslim Opposition

Even Hindu Historians Admit the Truth : The present-day Hindu historians have now begun
to concede (admit) the fact that the Muslims were strongly opposed to the Congress in its nascent
(early) period and that a large majority of them stayed away from it.

B.R. Nanda testifies:

"It must be acknowledged that Muslim opposition to the INC in these early years was stronger
and more stubborn than the Congress leaders then – and for many years later – were prepared
to recognise".

How the Indian National Congress (INC) Was a Pro-British Party

(Initially)

When the Indian National Congress (INC) was formed in 1885, it was widely seen as a pro-
British organization. This perception is supported by the following historical facts:
1. Founded with British Support

 Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant, was one of the main founders of
INC.
 British officials initially encouraged the formation of the Congress to channel Indian
political aspirations into a moderate, loyalist framework that wouldn't threaten British
rule.

2. Early Congress Leadership Was Loyalist

 Early Congress leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and
Pherozeshah Mehta were moderate nationalists who believed in constitutional
reforms, loyalty to the British Crown, and gradual political change.
 The Congress passed resolutions of loyalty to the British government in every session
from 1885 to 1905.

3. Avoided Mass Mobilization and Revolutionary Politics

 INC kept its activities limited to educated elites and Westernized Indians.
 It avoided mass movements and focused on petitions and speeches, believing that
reforms could be achieved through dialogue with British rulers.

4. Viceroy Dufferin’s Involvement

 Lord Dufferin, the British Viceroy, welcomed the formation of the Congress and held
meetings with its early leaders.
 This suggests that the British saw Congress as a “safety valve” to prevent revolt — a
theory often associated with Lala Lajpat Rai (though debated among historians).