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Indian Freedom Struggle (1707–1947 A.D.)

Notes • They were under considerable pressure from Mrs. Annie Besant, who had just joined the Indian
National Congress and was keen to arouse nationalist political activity, to admit the Extremists.
• Annie Besant, already sixty-six in 1914, had begun her political career in England as a
proponent of free Thought, Radicalism, Fabianism and Theosophy, and had come to India in
1893 to work for the Theosophical Society.
• In early 1915, Annie Besant launched a campaign through her two papers, New India and
Commonweal, and organized public meetings and conferences to demand that India be granted
self-government on the lines of the White colonies after the War. From April 1915, her tone
became more peremptory and her stance more aggressive.
• This is clear from the fact that at the meeting of his followers convened at Poona in May 1915,
it was decided that their initial phase of action would be to set up an agency ‘to enlighten the
villagers regarding the objects and work of the Congress.
• Tilak, not bound by any such commitment, and having gained the right of readmission, now
took the lead and set up the Home Rule League at the Bombay Provincial Conference held at
Belgaum in April 1916. Annie Besant’s impatient followers, unhappy with her decision to
wait till September, secured her permission to start Home Rule groups.
• Tilak promoted the Home Rule campaign with a tour of Maharashtra and through his lectures
clarified and popularized the demand for Home Rule. ‘India was like a son who had grown
up and attained maturity. It was right now that the trustee or the father should give him
what was his due. The people of India must get this effected. They have a right to do so.
• At a conference for the removal of untouchability, Tilak declared: ‘If a God were to tolerate
untouchability, I would not recognize him as God at all.
• By March 1917, her League had 7,000 members. Besides her existing Theosophical followers,
many others including Jawaharlal Nehru in Allahabad and B. Chakravarti and J. Banerjee in
Calcutta joined the Home Rule League.
• when Annie Besant was externed from the Central Provinces and Berar in November 1916,
most of the branches, at Arundale’s instance, held meetings and sent resolutions of protest to
the Viceroy and the Secretary of State. Tilak’s externment from Punjab and Delhi in February
1917 elicited a similar response.
• The turning point in the movement came with the decision of the Government of Madras in
June 1917 to place Mrs. Besant and her associates, B.P. Wadia and George Arundale, under
arrest. Their internment became the occasion for nation-wide protest. In a dramatic gesture,
Sir S. Subramania Aiyar renounced his knighthood. Those who had stayed away, including
many Moderate leaders like Madan Mohan Malaviya, Surendranath Banerjea and M.A. Jinnah
now enlisted as members of the Home Rule Leagues to record their solidarity with the
internees and their condemnation of the Government’s action. At a meeting of the AICC on
28 July, 1917, Tilak advocated the use of the weapon of passive resistance or civil disobedience
if the Government refused to release the internees.
9.5 Key-Words

1. Bubonic plague : A zoonotic disease, circulating mainly among small rodents and
their fleas
2. Homogenous country : A country with diverse group of people

9.6 Review Questions
1. What was the aim of A.O. Hume behind the establishment of the Congress? Discuss.
2. Explain the theory of safety-valve of Congress.
3. What do you mean by Home Rule Movement? Discuss the role of Lok Manya Tilak and Anne
Basent.
4. Who were moderates and extremists? Discuss their role in freedom movement.

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