INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS ROLE IN INDEPENDENCE
1. Background
- Indian National Congress, by the name of Congress Party, is broadly based political party of India.
- Formed in 1885, the Indian National Congress dominated the Indian movement for Independence from Great Britain.
- It subsequently formed most of India's governments from the time of independence and often had a strong presence in many state governments.
2. The Pre-independence Period
- The Indian National Congress first convened in December 1885, though the idea of an Indian nationalist movement opposed to British rule dated from the 1850s.
- During its first several decades the Congress party passed fairly moderate reform resolutions, though many within the organization were becoming radicalized by the increased poverty that accompanied British imperialism.
2.1 Swadeshi movement
In the early 20th century, elements within the party began to endorse a policy of swadeshi (of our own country), which called on Indians to boycott imported British goods and promoted Indian-made goods.
2.2. Home Rule
By 1917 the group's "extremist" Home Rule wing, which was formed by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant the previous year, had begun to exert significant influence by appealing to India's diverse social classes.
2.3. Noncooperation
In the 1920s and 30s, the Congress Party led by Mahatma Gandhi began advocating nonviolent noncooperation.
| The new change in tactics was precipitated by the protest over the perceived feebleness of the constitutional reforms enacted in early 1919 (Rowlatt Acts) and Britain's manner of carrying them out, as well as by the widespread outrage among Indians in response to the massacre of civilians in Amritsar (Punjab) that April. |
2.4. Civil disobedience
- Many of the acts of civil disobedience that followed were implemented through the All India Congress Committee formed in 1929 which advocated avoiding taxes as a protest against British Rule.
- Notable in that regard was the Salt March in 1930 led by Gandhi.
| Another wing of the Congress party, which believed in working within the existing system, contested general elections in 1923 and 1937 as the Swaraj (Home Rule) Party with particular success in the latter year, winning 7 out of 11 provinces. |
2.5. World War II
- When World War II began in 1939, Britain made India a belligerent without consulting Indian elected councils.
- That action angered Indian officials and prompted the Congress Party to declare that India would not support the war effort until it had been granted complete independence.
2.6. Quit India
- In 1942 the organization sponsored mass civil disobedience to support the demand that the British "quit India".
- British authorities responded by imprisoning the entire Congress Party leadership, including Gandhi and many remained in Jail until 1945.
- After the war, the British government of Clement Attlee passed an independence bill in July 1947 and independence was achieved the following month.
- In January 1950 India's constitution as an independent state took effect.
For Prelims & Mains
| For Prelims: Indian National Congress, Swadeshi Movement, Home rule, Non-cooperation, Rowlatt Acts, civil disobedience, Salt March, World war-II, Quit India, Independence Bill,
For Mains:
1. What role did the Indian National Congress Play in the Indian Independence Movement? (250 Words)
|
Source: Britannica
