Surat Split
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2020) |
The Surat Split was the splitting of the (INC) Indian National Congress into two groups - the Moderates and Radicals aka extremists - at the Surat session in 1907.
History
1885-1907 was known as the period of the moderates because they dominated the Indian National Congress. The Moderates used petitions, prayers, meetings, leaflets, pamphlets, memorandums, and delegations to present their demands to the British government. Their only notable achievements were the expansion of the legislative council by the Indian Councils Act of 1892. This created dissatisfaction among the people. The 1907 INC meeting was to be held in Nagpur. The Radical leaders were not released till that date. Some of the new Radicals came into being with the same policy of prior Radicals. The Moderates supported Rash Behari Ghosh. Gopal Krishna Gokhale moved the meeting place from Nagpur to Surat fearing that in Nagpur, Bal Gangadhar Tilak would win. The partition of the Bengal Presidency drove the rise of radicalism in INC.
Surat was in Bombay Presidency/Province, Tilak's birthplace. Nagpur Province was the province of
The Moderates and the Radicals patched up their differences for a year, but in 1907 the two groups permanently split up. When they met at Surat for their annual session, they shouted at each other and threw chairs and shoes. The police stopped the meeting.
A further split occurred between Hindu and Muslim nationalists due to the militant nationalism that had long existed, set in place due to the multifaceted culture and tradition. Radicals such as Tilak advocated for the Hindu culture that was prevalent in the country. While he succeeded in creating a strong political identity, he also used Shivaji and Akbar to stimulate religious beliefs as a unifier. To this day, there is a false perception that the Tilak was against Muslims, but he developed a good rapport with Muhammad Ali Jinnah before he joined Muslim League. Jinnah was Tilak's lawyer when the British colonial government charged him with sedition. Muslims were seen by the colonial government as an effective counter-balance to the demands of Hindu independence activists, which influenced them to grant Muslims separate electorates in the Indian Councils Act 1909.[2]
In the light of the split, the Moderates restated the goal of Congress to be the attainment of self-government within the British Empire. The Indian National Congress was also split into two different groups called Moderates and Radicals because Moderates wanted to go against the British peacefully but Radicals wanted to go against the British violently, but the aim of both was to expel or suppress the British Empire from India.
Background
Moderates believed in the policy of settlement of minor issues with the government by deliberations. But the radicals believed in agitation, strikes, and boycotts. Nationalists led by
In Surat Session (1907), The Radicals or Extremists wanted Lala Lajpat Rai or Tilak as a presidential candidate, and Moderates supported Rash Behari Ghosh to be the President.[5] But Lala Lajpat Rai stepped down and Rash Behari Ghosh became the President. The colonial authorities immediately clamped down on the extremists and their newspapers were suppressed. Lokmanya Tilak, their main leader, was imprisoned in Mandalay (present-day Myanmar ) for six years.[6]
See also
References
- ^ "Desi antecedents of shoe-throwing". Times of India Blog. 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
- ^ Kulke, Hermanne; Rothermund, Dietmar (2004). A History of India (PDF) (4th ed.). Routledge. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2015.
- ^ "Surat Split 1907". ias.org.in. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
- ^ "THE SURAT CONGRESS". Documents in the Life of Sri Aurobindo. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
- ^ "Surat Session (1907)". Retrieved 24 August 2013.
- ^ "Split in Congress - Part II". IndianSaga.com. Retrieved 24 August 2013.