Essays

Indian aspirations to be an independent entity remained unfulfilled till the second half of the 20th century. National Movement was always subdued due to the lack of organized efforts against the well-organized masters. The real organized effort to achieve the political, social and economic liberty was felt only after the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885. The first reason for evolving a feeling of nationalism was the political unification of India. Before the advent of the British, the subcontinent presented a collage of selfish kingdoms under rival chiefs and rulers. The coming of the British brought western influence, which inspired western education. The liberal and radical ideas of Europe influenced the Indian intelligentia and created a new educated middle class. The use of western education and English as a language for communication brought closer the population in various regions. Thus it helped in exchange of ideas and aspirations for liberty from the foreign rule. The initial Indian rebellion of 1857 sparked when soldiers serving in the British East India Company's British Indian Army and Indian kingdoms rebelled against the British hegemony. After the revolt was crushed, India developed a class of educated elites whose political organizing sought Indians political rights and representation while largely remaining loyal to the British Empire However, increasing public disenchantment with the British rule— owing to the suppression of civil liberties, political rights, and culture as well as alienation from issues troubling common Indians — led to an upsurge in revolutionary activities aimed at overthrowing the British authority.

The revolt of 1857 was a major turning point in the history of modern India, The British abolished the British East India Company and replaced it with the direct rule under the British crown. A Viceroy was appointed to represent the Crown, In proclaiming the new direct-rule policy to "the Princes/ Chiefs, and Peoples of India” Queen Victoria promised equal treatment under the British law, but Indian mistrust of British rule became the legacy of the 1857 rebellion. The British embarked on a programme of reforms, trying to integrate Indian higher castes and rulers into the government They stopped land grabs, decreed religious tolerance and admitted Indians into the civil service, albeit mainly as subordinates. However. they also increased the number of British soldiers in relation to native ones and allowed only the British soldiers to handle artillery, Bahadur Shah was exiled to Rangoon, Burma where he died in 1862. finally bringing the Mughal dynasty to an end- In 1877, Queen Victoria took the title of Empress of India.

The socio-religious movements brought forth by various social reformers all over the country inspired national consciousness to improve their social condition and invoked the spirit of patriotism in the Indian masses.

The promotion of vernacular language and its use in the Indian and vernacular papers infused a feeling of nationalism in the people. Throughout the British rule in India, Indians were discontented and were exploited politically, socially, economically and spiritually. They took up the mission of subduing the British diplomacy and hoped to revive self-rule. The development of the means of communication eased travelling and exchange of ideas that inspired the freedom movement. The inculcation of religious reforms and social pride was fundamental to the rise of a public movement for complete independence. The work of great men like Swami Vivekananda. Ramakrishna Paramhansa. Sri Aurobindo, Subramanyam Bharati, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Rabindranath Tagore and Dadabhai Naoroji spread the passion for freedom. Lokmanya Tilak, though with non-moderate views, was very popular amongst the masses. He gave the concept of 'Swaraj' to the Indian people while standing trial. His popular sentence "Swaraj is my Birthright, and I shall have it" became the source of inspiration for Indians The flames of the spirit of freedom were ignited by learned men like them, who gave reasons to common Indians to feel proud of themselves, demand political and social freedom and seek happiness. They intelligentsia became the teachers who sparked the passion of learning and achievement in thousands of Indians, and the poets expressed the inner fires of the freedom-fighters' souls.

Inspired by a suggestion made by A.O. Hume, a retired British civil servant, seventy-three Indian delegates met in Bombay in 1885 and founded the Indian National Congress. They were mostly upwardly mobile and successful western-educated provincial elites, engaged in professions such as law, teaching, and journalism. They had acquired political outlook from regional participation in various professions by securing nomination to various positions in legislative councils, universities, and special commissions.

The Indian Nationalism witnessed development but in phases. In the first phase ever since the evolution of Indian National Congress, a moderate movement with the will to co-operate for the grant of a better living conditions for the Indian people prevailed. They believed in the gradual realization of their national goals.

By the first decade of the 20th century, the Indian National Congress grew more sceptic of the British government. This was mainly due to increase of extremist tendencies among many Congress members. These extremists criticized the moderate policies of the early Congress members. This resulted into more attacks on the British power. The British government on its part continued its 'damn care' attitude. To divide the National Movement, the British even played the divide and rule card, which led to the rise of Muslim League, With Muslim League on their side, the British always tried to stall the demands of the Indian National Congress. Though the Congress and the League came together in 1916 but the truce was short-lived. By the 1920s, the mood of the National Movement had become more aggressive- With Mahatma Gandhi at the helm of affairs, the Congress launched movements against the British rule having a pan-India spread.

The first of a series of national movements was the Non-cooperation Movement (1920-1922). It was followed by the Civil Disobedience Movement, after a lull. Though the Congress was in the forefront of the freedom struggle hut there were many other organizations and individuals who also played important roles The Struggle for Independence continued in the 1930s but the- real momentum came with the Second World War. The Indian National Congress began to co-operate with the British government in their war efforts. The Congress thought that after the war the British might leave India, but the real intentions of the British became clear soon after, The Congress, under the leadership of Gandhi, began to prepare for the 'Quit India Movement' in 1942. With the pace of developments all over the world (after the Second World War), the British came to realize that it was not possible to rule India any more and they decided to quit.

In the second phase owing to the repression of the moderate policy of the Congress, the rise of extremism resulted. Steered by a young and vigorous zeal, extremists resorted to violence and conflict for achieving their goals. Boycott, resistance and demonstrations were their political weapons- Side by side, this phase also saw development of revolutionary activities which indirectly forced the Congress to change its strategies under the young leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru. Apart from a few stray incidents, the armed rebellion against the British rulers was not organized before the beginning of the 20lh century. The revolutionary philosophies and movements made its presence felt during the 1905 Partition of Bengal. Arguably, the initial steps to organize the revolutionaries were taken by Aurobindo Ghosh, his brother Barun Ghosh, Bhupendranath Datta etc when they formed the Jugantar Party in April 1906- Jugantar was created as an inner circle of the Anushilan Samiti which was already present in Bengal mainly as a revolutionary society in the guise of a fitness club. The Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar opened several branches throughout Bengal and other parts of India and recruited young men and women to participate in the revolutionary activities. Several murders and lootings were done and many revolutionaries were captured and imprisoned. During the First World War, the revolutionaries planned to import arms and ammunitions from Germany and staged an armed revolution against the British, The Ghadar Party operated from abroad and co-operated with the revolutionaries in India. This party was instrumental in helping revolutionaries inside India catch hold of foreign arms.

After the First World War, the revolutionary activities suffered major setbacks due to the arrest of prominent leaders. In 1920s, the revolutionary activists started to reorganize. Hindustan Socialist Republican Association was formed under the leadership of Chandrasekhar Azad. Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb inside the Central Legislative Assembly on April 8, 1929 protesting against the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill- Following the trial (Central Assembly Bomb Case), Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged in 1931.

The third phase of the Indian National Movement was dominated by the Gandhian ideology; non-violence, Non Co-operation and Civil Disobedience movements, the Quit India Movement with the slogan of 'Do or Die’ all ultimately resulted in the freedom at the mid-night stroke on 15th August 1947.