Extremist Nationalism in India

Extremist Nationalism

• A section of the congress began to lose faith in the methods of the congress.
• The leaders of this section were Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Bal), Bipin Chandra Pal (Pal), Lala Lajpat Rai (Lal) and Arabind Ghosh. 
• They had a strong determination to fight for Indian independence.
• They advocated a radical way of the political agitation and due to their radical ideas they were called “Extremists“:
• Thus the militant nationalists desired to change not only the aim of the congress but also the means to attain it.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Maharashtra)

• Tilak declared, “Swaraj is my Brith Right and I shall have it“.
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak edited Kesari in Marathi and Mahratta in English.
• He revived the celebration of “Ganapathi” and “Shivaji” festivals to arouse national feelings.
• He setup Home Rule League at Poona in 1916.

Lala Lajapathi Rai (Punjab)

• Played important role in Swadeshi Movement of Punjab and found Indian Home Rule League in USA in1916.
• Died in November 17 1928 due to severe injuries caused by British Police force during procession against Simon Commission. 
• He is called as Punjab Kesari (Lion of Punjab)

Bipin Chandra Pal Bengal

• He was Moderate turned into an Extremist.
• He was one of the main architects of the Swadeshi movement.
• He is known as the Father of Revolutionary Thoughts in India.

Arabindo Gosh

• He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as Vande Mataram.
• He faced charges of treason for Alipore Conspiracy but he was released when no evidence could be provided.
• During his stay in the jail, he had mystical and spiritual experiences, after which he moved to Pondicherry, leaving politics for spiritual work.
• In 1926 Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded by him.

• Aurobindo Ghose would write, ‘The mission of Nationalism, in our view, is to recover Indian thought, Indian character, Indian perceptions, Indian energy, Indian greatness and to solve the problems that perplex the world in an Indian spirit and from the Indian standpoint.”
• Sometime around 1905, Aurobindo Ghose was asked by a man as to how to become a patriot. In response Aurobindo pointed to a wall map of India, and said “Do you see this map? It is not a map but the portrait of Bharat Mata: its cities and mountains rivers and jungles form her physical body. All her children are her nerves, large and small…. Concentrate on Bharat as a living mother, worship her with nine-fold bhakti.”

Swaraj or Political Independence

• One of the common goals of the militant leaders was to achieve Swaraj or Self Rule.
• For Tilak, Swaraj was restricted to the Indian control over the administration or rule by the natives, but not total severance of relation with Britain.
• In Bipin Chandra Pal’s view, Swaraj was the attainment of complete freedom from any foreign rule.

Surat Split

• Leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai were advocating radical approaches instead of merely writing petitions, prayers and memorandums.
• Their objective became clear in 1897 when Tilak raised the clarion call “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it“.
• The partition of Bengal in 1905, by the colonial government, was vehemently opposed by the Indians.
• The Swadeshi movement of 1905, directly opposed the British rule and encouraged the ideas of Swadeshi enterprise, national education, self-help and use of Indian languages.
• The method of mass mobilisation and boycott of British goods and institutions suggested by the radicals was also accepted by the Moderates.
• The tension between the militants and the moderates became more pronounced with the appointment of Lord Minto as the new Secretary of State to India in 1906.
• As the tension was rising between the two groups, a split was avoided, in the 1906 Calcutta session, by accepting demands of moderate leaders and electing Dadabhai Naoroji as president.
• Most of the moderates, led by Pherozeshah Mehta, were defeated in the election.
• The next session of Congress was originally planned to be held in Poona, considered to be a stronghold of the militants so the moderates shifted the venue to Surat.
• The militants proposed Lala Lajpat Rai‘s name for the next Congress presidency opposing the moderate’s candidate Rash Behari Ghosh.
• Lala Lajpat Rai, however, turned down the offer to avoid the split.
• The matter finally boiled down to the question of retaining the four resolutions that were passed in the Calcutta session in 1906.
• The Pherozeshah Mehta group sought removal of those items from the agenda.
• The congress session held at Surat in 1907, was a battle ground between the moderates and the extremists.
• The congress was divided and the extremists left the congress.
• Bala Gangadhar Tilak became the leader of Extremists and Gopala Krishna Gokhale became the leader of Moderates.
• The Congress which emerged after the Surat split was more loyal to the British than they were before.
• The new Congress, minus the militants, came to be known as Mehta Congress.