UNIT 1 INDIAN

POLITICAL SYSTEM
Moderates, Extremists and Gandhism
Acts of 1909, 1919 and 1935
Beginning of modern nationalism
• Political, administrative and economic unification of the country
• Western thought and education
• Role of press
• Rediscovery of India's past
• Progressive character of socio-religious movements
• Rise of middle class intelligentsia
• Impact of contemporary world movements
• Reactionary policies and racial arrogance of rulers
Political associations before the Indian
national congress
• Bengal British India society
• East India association
• Indian association of Calcutta ( Indian national association)- by Surendranath Banerjea
and Anand Mohan Bose
• Poona sarvajanik Sabha (M.G.Ranade)
• Madras Mahajan Sabha (Viraraghavachari, Anand Charlu, Subramaniya Aiyer)
Pre congress campaigns
• Against arms act
• Against vernacular press act
• Against plantation labour, Lytton's Afghan adventure
• Indianistaion of government service
Foundation of the Indian national
congress and the moderate phase
• All India organisation
• A.O Hume
• 1885
• Womesh chandra bonnerjee- presided over the first session in Bombay 1885 , had 72
delegates.
• Different opinions related to formation of Congress:
- Lightening Conductor- Gokhale, Bipin Chandra
- Conspiracy theory – Marxist scholars – conspiracy to abort a popular
uprising
- Safety Valve- Lala Lajpat Rai- valve for releasing popular discontent
Moderate phase (1885-1905)
• Dadabhai Naoroji, Gokhale, Pherozshah Mehta
• Constitutional agitation within confines of law
• Slow but orderly progress
• Moderates believed that British wanted to be just to the Indians but were unaware of the
real conditions
• Resolutions, petitions, meetings
• Create strong public opinion, educate and unite people
• Persuade the British government and british public opinion to introduce reforms in India on
lines laid out by nationalists
• Political connections with the British were in the interest of indians.
Contributions of moderate
nationalists
• Economic critique of British nationalism- drain theory, salt tax abolition,
reduction of military expenditure, promotion and protection of Indian industry
• Demanded constitutional reforms- expansion of councils
• Indianisation of government services
• Separation of executive and judiciary
• Called for increased expenditure on welfare
• Criticism of aggressive foreign policy
• Demand for better treatment of indian labour abroad
• Protection of civil rights
Drawbacks

• Narrow social base, masses played a passive role

They represented the most progressive forces of the time, created a strong social base,
exposed the exploitative nature of the colonial state, they trained people in political work
and popularised modern ideas
Growth of extremism
REASONS:
• Recognition of true nature of British rule
• Natu brothers and Tilak were arrested without trial
• Growth of confidence and self respect
• International influences- colonial powers were being defeated
• Growth of education
• Reaction to increasing westernisation
• Dissatisfaction with the achievements of the moderates
• Reactionary policies of Curzon- official’s secrets act, partition of Bengal, racial arrogance
• Existence of militant school of thought
• Partition of Bengal – the British tried to partition Bengal on the justification that it would contribute in effective
Administration. When implemented it separated the muslim and hindu majority areas.
The movement under extremist
leadership
• Aurobindo, Tilak, Bipin chandra pal

• Ideology -Swadeshi, swaraj, boycott, mass struggle, self sacrifice, passive resistance
• New methods-
- boycott of foreign goods
- public meetings and processions
- Enterprises –Chidambaram Pillai started the Swadeshi steam navigation Company
- volunteer corps- Swadesh Bandhab Samiti by Ashwini Kumar Dutta
- imaginative use of traditional popular festivals- Tilak used Ganapati festival
- emphasis on self reliance- atma shakti, building character
- national education- national council of education and Bengal National College were formed
- impact in the cultural sphere- works of Nandlal bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Jagdish Chandra Bose became
inspirations for the nationalists. Artists like Abanindranath Tagore broke domination of victorian Naturalism and
drawing inspiration from Indian subjects
Achievements
• Annulment of partition
• All India aspect
• Masses participated
• Untouched sections participated, social base widened
• The future struggle was to gain heavily from this
• Attempt made to in still self confidence in people
Run up to Surat Split (1907)
Reasons- the extremists wanted to spread boycott and swadeshi beyond Bengal and
wanted to include all forms of organisations
• The extremists wanted a strong resolution supporting their programme
• Extremists wanted either Tilak or Lajpat Rai as the congress president
• Extremists felt that time had come for big push to drive the British out and considered
the moderates to be a drag on the movement
• Extremists wanted this session to be held in Nagpur. The moderates were against it.
• In the Lucknow session 1916 of the congress( Presided by Ambika charan Majumdar),
the extremists were readmitted.
Gandhism
• Career in South africa- satyagraha against registration certificates. A new legislation
in South Africa made it compulsory for Indians there to carry at all times certificates of
registration.
- Campaign against restriction on Indian migration
- Campaign against invalidation of Indian marriages
- Protest against Transvaal Immigration act
- Started Natal Indian congress, Passive resistance association, Indian opinion ( paper)
• Ideology – satyagraha, non violence, trusteeship, upliftment of all, fearlessness, non
submission, truth, self sacrifice, both ends and means were important, truth, suffering,
make efforts to change the heart of the enemy, do not harbour ill feelings for the
enemy, Control impulses, religion to be brought in politics for moral purposes, willing
acceptance of pain and suffering
• With his association congress became a truly mass, dynamic, action oriented organisation. Terrorism was
condemned as opposed to congress policy
• He persuaded people to give up titles, resist foreign rule and fight against social evils
• He talked about human dignity, building self confidence and self reliance
• He used local languages, dressed like Indian masses and used relatable symbols like charkha ( to break
divide between mental and physical Labour, it was to provide supplementary income to the masses). He had
a psychological appeal.
GANDHI IN INDIA-
• GANDHI returned to India in 1915. Then he toured the country.
• Champaran (1917) – After the discovery of german synthetic dyes, European planters started to demand
high rents and illegal dues before the peasants could shift to other crops. Gandhi used civil disobedience here
and the peasants received 25% compensation . He was supported by rajendra Prasad, mazhar ul haq and
Narhari Pareek.
• Ahmedabad (1918) – Mill workers wanted to discontinue pleague bonus, workers were demanding wage
increase to combat war time inflation. Ambalal sarabhai firmed the Ahmedabad Mill Owners association.
Gandhi used hunger strike here. Wages were increased by 35%.
• Kheda(1918) – Gandhi was the spiritual head of this movement. Vallabhai Patel lead the people there. The
region was facing crop failures and going against the revenue code the officials were demanding revenue.
Gandhi had asked the peasants not yo pay taxes and resist peacefully.
• Rowlatt satyagraha- First mass strike, there were hartals, accompanied by fasting and prayers
and civil disobedience against specific laws ; against anarchical and revolutionaries crimes
act, popularly called the Rowlatt act. It was based on the recommendations of the Rowlatt
commission headed by Sydney Rowlatt. It allowed political activists to be tried without juries or
even imprisoned without trial. It allowed imprisonment of Indians merely on the basis of suspicion.
The law of habeas corpus was sought to be suspended. It brought the war time restrictions on
speech and expression.
• Non cooperation movement – Discontent against jallianwala bagh massacre, hunter
commissions recommendations on this incident and montague- chelmsfird reforms, khilafat issue
also included, Boycott of Government schools and colleges, boycott of law courts and legislative
councils, boycott of foreign cloth and renunciation of government honours; with the chaura- chauri
incident
• Civil disobedience movement – unjust laws were broken, began with the Dandi march to break
the salt law
• Quit India movement- Gandhi gave the slogan ‘do or die’. Gandhi asked government servants to
not resign but to declare there allegiance to the Congress, soldiers were asked to not fire on
compatriates, students were asked to leave studies if they were confident, princess were asked to
support the masses and accept sovereignity of their people, pesants were asked to not pay rent if
Zamindars were Pro government.
Indian council’s act 1909
• This Act is also known as Morley-Minto Reforms (Lord Morley was the then
Secretary of State for India and Lord Minto was the then Viceroy of India).
1. It considerably increased the size of the legislative councils, both Central
and provincial. The number of members in the Central Legislative Council
was raised from 16 to 60. The number of members in the provincial
legislative councils was not uniform. Punjab, Assam, Burma- 30; UP, Bombay,
Madras-50
2. It retained official majority in the Central Legislative Council but allowed the
provincial legislative councils to have non-official majority.
3. It enlarged the deliberative functions of the legislative councils at both the
levels. For example, members were allowed to ask supplementary questions,
move resolutions on the budget, and so on.
4. It provided (for the first time) for the association of Indians with the
executive Councils of the Viceroy and Governors. Satyendra Prasad Sinha
became the first Indian to join the Viceroy's Executive Council. He was
5. It introduced a system of communal representation for Muslims by accepting the
concept of 'separate electorate'. Under this, the Muslim members were to be elected only
by Muslim voters. Thus, the Act 'legalised communalism' and Lord Minto came to be
known as the Father of Communal Electorate.
6. It also provided for the separate representation of presidency corporations, chambers
of com- merce, universities and zamindars
 Governmemt of India act 1919
• On August 20, 1917, the British Government declared, for the first time, that its
objective was the gradual introduction of responsible government in India.( August
Decalration by Montague). The Government of India Act of 1919 was thus enacted,
which came into force in 1921. This Act is also known as Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
(Montagu was the Secretary of State for India and Lord Chelmsford was the Viceroy of
India).
1. It relaxed the central control over the provinces by demarcating and separating the
central and provincial subjects. The central and provincial legislatures were
authorised to make laws on their respective list of subjects. However, the structure of
government continued to be cen- tralised and unitary.
2. It further divided the provincial subjects into two parts-transferred and reserved. The
transferred subjects were to be administered by the governor with the aid of
ministers responsible to the legislative Council. The reserved subjects, on the other
hand, were to be administered by the governor and his executive council without
being responsible to the legislative Council. This dual scheme of governance was
known as 'dyarchy'-a term derived from the Greek word di-arche which means double
rule. However, this experiment was largely unsuccessful.
3. It introduced, for the first time, bicameralismand direct elections in the country. Thus, the
Indian Legislative Council was replaced by a bicameral legislature consisting of an Upper House
(Council of State) and a Lower House (Legislative Assembly). The majority of members of both the
Houses were chosen by direct election.
4. It required that the three of the six members of the Viceroy's executive Council (other than the
commander-in-chief) were to be Indian.
5. It extended the principle of communal representation by providing separate electorates for
Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans.
6. It granted franchise to a limited number of people on the basis of property, tax or education.
7. It created a new office of the High Commissioner for India in London and transferred to him
some of the functions hitherto performed by the Secretary of State for India.
8. It provided for the establishment of a public service commission. Hence, a Central Public
Service Commission was set up in 1926 for recruiting civil servants.
9. It separated, for the first time, provincial budgets from the Central budget and authorised the
provincial legislatures to enact their budgets.
10. It provided for the appointment of a statutory commission to inquire into and report on its
working after ten years of its coming into force.
• Simon Commission
In November 1927 itself (i.e., 2 years before the schedule), the British
Government announced the appointment a seven-member statutory
commission under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon to report on the condition
of India under its new Constitution. All the members of the commission were
British and hence, all the parties boycotted the commission. The commission
submitted its report in 1930 and recommended the abolition of dyarchy,
extension of responsible government in the provinces, establishment of a
federation of British India and princely states, continuation of communal
electorate and so on. To consider the proposals of the commission, the British
Government convened three round table conferences of the representatives of
the British Government, British India and Indian princely states. On the basis of
these discussions, a 'White Paper on Consitutional Reforms' was prepared and
submitted for the consideration of the Joint Select Committee of the British
Parliament. The rec- ommendations of this committee were incorporated (with
certain changes) in the next Government of Inida Act of 1935
• Communal Award
In August 1932, Ramsay MacDonald, the British Prime Minister, announced a scheme of
representation of the minorities, which came to be known as the Communal-Award. The
award not only continued seperate electorates for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians,
Anglo-Indians and Europeans but also extended it to the depressed classes (scheduled
castes). Gandhiji was distressed over this extension of the principle of communal
representation to the depressed classes and undertook fast unto death in Yeravada Jail
(Poona) to get the award modified. At last, there was an agreement between the leaders
of the Congress and the depressed classes. The agreement, known as Poona Pact,
retained the Hindu joint electorate and gave reserved seats to the depressed classes.
 Government of India act1935
1. .The Act marked a second milestone towards a completely responsible government in India. It was a lengthy and detailed
document having 321 Sections and 10 Schedules.It provided for the establishment of an All- India Federation consisting of
provinces and princely states as units. The Act divided the powers between the Centre and units in terms of three lists-Federal List
(for Centre, with 59 items), Provincial List (for provinces, with 54 items) and the Concurrent List (for both, with 36 items). Residuary
powers were given to the Viceroy. However, the federation never came into being as the princely states did not join it.
2. It abolished dyarchy in the provinces and introduced 'provincial autonomy' in its place. The provinces were allowed to act as
autonomous units of administration in their defined spheres. Moreover, the Act introduced responsible governments in provinces,
that is, the governor was required to act with the advice of ministers responsible to the provincial legislature. This came into effect
in 1937 and was discontinued in 1939.
3. It provided for the adoption of dyarchy at the Centre. Consequently, the federal subjects were divided into reserved subjects and
trans- ferred subjects. However, this provision of the Act did not come into operation at all.
4. It introduced bicameralism in six out of eleven provinces. Thus, the legislatures of Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Bihar, Assam and the
United Provinces were made bicameral consisting of a legislative council (upper house) and a legislative assembly (lower house).
However, many restrictions were placed on them.
5. It further extended the principle of communal representation by providing separate electorates for depressed classes (scheduled
castes), women and labour (workers).
6. It abolished the Council of India, established by the Government of India Act of 1858. The secretary of state for India was provided
with a team of advisors.
7. It extended franchise. About 10 per cent of the total population got the voting right.
8. It provided for the establishment of a Reserve Bank of India to control the currency and credit of the country.
9. It provided for the establishment of not only a Federal Public Service Commission but also a Provincial Public Service Commission
and Joint Public Service Commission for two or more provinces.
10. It provided for the establishment of a Federal Court, which was set up in 1937.